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Originally Posted by swamp_child
I keep hearing people say that the GDC has leveled the playing field this year, however I feel this is simply not true.
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To a point, they have. You're never going to get the playing field completely level, but throwing a curveball forces everybody to take a long, hard look at their current approach.
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While it is true that we are playing on a totally different surface, there are still many, many aspects a rookie team will not be able to over come.
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Rookies have a long history of pleasantly surprising. 1902 came within reach of Einstein their first time out, 2377 ran with the best of them at IRI in 2008, and two-thirds of the 2000 KSC regional finalists? Rookies--but really, who's heard of 342 and 343?
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As wildstang demonstrates in this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JS_I0cRmGIE) there is still going to be a huge advantage to anyone who has a crab drive system, perhaps this year more than ever (as discussed in another thread simple tank drive is going to have tons of problems this year).
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Right, but even WildStang might opt for a skid-steer if they don't think the resource demands require it.
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Additionally we are starting with a whole new programming platform, however this platform was beta tested by many teams, all of which are many year veteran teams.
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Yes, veteran teams that had to hold workshops, release
all of their code developed during the beta test, open their facilities to teams wanting to come by and get a feel for it, and a whole host of other requirements. If anything, they had to take resources away from other activities in order to beta test.
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I could rant on for quite a while about this, and if anyone wants me to expand upon any of my points, go ahead and ask, and I'll do my best to explain. But come on people this game isn't leveling anything, if anything it's just broadening the gulf between the vets and rookies.
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It eliminates variables--nobody's got any secret sauce to getting grip this year, and everybody's got to figure out the most effective method of turning these wheels to move around the field. The playing field won't be perfectly level, but nobody ever said it would be. FIRST is not, nor has it ever been, fair.