[Joel J]

I began participating in the FIRST program in 2000. In 2000, the game was excellent: it was fairly obvious what the game involved; the competition was intense; and so many things took place at any one point in a match, that it hardly became boring (unless of course, a robot died). The spectators generally had a blast watching the matches. If I were to judge the 2002 game as it compared to the 2000, I would vote "not too happy with the game"

In 2001, the game was below average at best: a fairly large period of time would elapse before a spectator would have any idea what the game involved; the competition was nonexistant (from a spectactor's point of view); and so many things went wrong in a match that it often became boring. If I were to judge the 2002 game as it compared to the 2001, I would vote "love it"

In 2002, the game was (all things considered) really good: it was fairly obvious what the game involved; the competition was OK; and so many things could go wrong at any one point but didn't, that it was a thrill to watch at times. If I were to judge the 2002 game as a newcomer, I would vote "it was alright..."

[BTW.] The 2002 game was a bit lacking as a crowd pleaser (kinda boring to watch two tanks fight over a goal), but was a great improvement over the 2001 game. If the main objective of the 2002 game involved the creation of light and fast machines (think back to 2000) that could do various tasks, then it would have been much better. I would rather watch speedboats race, than battleships with no guns..