[Cory]

I don't think it levels the playing field at all.

Maybe it simplifies drivetrains. That's certainly the case. It seems to me that teams who make traditionally strong drivetrains will continue to make better, faster, more reliable, more controllable robots than those who struggle to make a robot that can drive.

If anything it widens the gap. Now those of us who have the resources to replicate a full field and make practice robots have a MASSIVE advantage over everyone else. This game is going to be all about driver control and programming to give the driver more control, which you can't do if you can't practice.

Ultimately it comes down to what Jason said. The reason great teams are great is because of their people, not because of how much money or how many CNC machines they have. This game doesn't remove the people from the equation; so the great teams simply adapt and make more great robots, while the teams who struggle will do so even more mightily since their robots will be nearly impossible to control.