I'm going to admit, I've only read the first 5 pages, and I'm sure what I'm saying has been said numerous times.
But to voice my opinion anyways;
Quote:
Originally Posted by acdcfan259
Now for my question. If this were adapted for all of FIRST, the way I understand it teams would have to stay in state. Correct me if I'm wrong. One thing that I enjoy about our team is that we travel to a far away regional. Now traveling isn't the only reason I'm here, but it certainly is a big bonus. It's nice to get away from home and to see other places.
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This was my first thought when a mentor told us about the change.
I'm prolly preaching to the choir but;
Benefits from being Away From Home;
Team Bonding
Everyone is togeather for the three/four day span (therefor no unexpected absenses, no accidental lateness, etc)
Seeing Teams you wouldn't see otherwise...
And I'm sure you can fill in other reasons.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cory
I have a couple of main issues with this plan:
1) Regionals will feel more like high school sporting events. They will not be nearly as impressive as they currently are. Which is going to look better to sponsors, potential benefactors, etc: taking them to a high school gym, without all the A/V, and everything else that makes a FIRST event special, or taking them to a professional sporting venue filled with FIRST teams, professional A/V, etc? It'll be like a bunch of offseason events.
2) Quality/variety of teams. This probably won't be noticed in MI, since MI is home to many of FIRST's best teams, but I can guarantee it will be elsewhere. In states without an abundance of top teams, the competitions will not be very exciting. It's boring watching FRC events without good robots,and without having non-local talent coming in to the historically weaker events, you end up with the same group of teams, and a not very exciting competition. Even if we disregard such situations, one of the best parts of a regional event is getting to meet and play with new teams from all over the country (and Canada, Mexico, Brazil, etc).
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Everyone is mentioning the lack of quality that the new events will have, which will make it harder to impress sponsors.
And although the new system will hopefully make things cheaper, its still hard to get sponsors. Which also mentioned periodically throughout the thread.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hachiban VIII
-One major advantage I see from this is that more competitions will allow teams to improve their robots more over the course of the competition (particularly the rookies). For rookies that only attend one event, they do not get another chance to improve their robots.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken Streeter
Michigan teams, for a lower initial entry fee then teams in other states, will get to attend two district events, rather than one regional event. This is a big benefit, as not only do these Michigan teams get more playing time for less money, but they have the opportunity to think about, and then fix, the robot in between the two district events. In order for teams in other states to have that opportunity, they need to register for not only one regional, but two regionals, at a total cost of $10000 - ($6000 for initial event; $4000 for the subsequent event.)
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Yes, there will be an advantage, but if this works out and makes FIRST that much better, then we can handle it. And if it doesn't work out? Now we know. I don't think this should really be an issue. Its unfair to us, but its also unfair to Michigan teams. I'm sure some of them aren't happy about this, and we might think they're lucky, but I'm sure they're thinking we're lucky.
The grass is always greener on the other side.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hachiban VIII
-If FIRST didn't take risks, we'd still be playing 1v1 on a feild covered in corn. Right?
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True that.
Sot sum up my veiws;
If this becomes the future, I'll miss out-of-state events
The smaller regionals won't be as much fun
It'll be cheaper for some teams (but maybe not for others)
It might discourage sponsors
Michigan team advantage shouldn't be a concern right now.
FIRST encourages us innovate, we need to encourage them innovate.