[BradMello]

I think one of the most important aspects of any game is for it to be able to be played more than one way. Game designs that promote one type of robot design are not interesting. This year, there were two types of robots (basically), shooters and dumpers. I think the gdc does an awesome job at making the game playable in different ways every year. An example of a game design that didn't allow for much diversity in design is this years VRC (vex..) game, "Elevation". There was pretty much only one basic design, (an escalator type).

Diversity in robot designs could also lend into the "spectator friendly" category, because seeing different types of robots compete each other is probably more interesting than seeing duplicates of the same robot.

*edit*

oh yeah, and making sure the drivers are able to see the field, like last year that middle lexan divider was very reflective under lights.