[Brandon Holley]

Originally Posted by EricH

But the rack would have been much, much different, and so would have been gripper designs. Spare tubes would be plentiful, and so would repair methods.

But that isn't the route taken, and I think it made the game better. Even though FIRST teams had to deal with custom item hassles, the game overall was very good.

Object-dependent games may not help supply chain issues; supply-chain-friendly games may not help playability/team-friendliness.

Look at this past year for another point of reference. A soccer ball, how simple is that. I would say these are even more readily available than a tire tube. However, as FIRST teams made up of engineers and competitive personalities, we want the EXACT ball that FIRST will be using. Yes, certainly there were some differences amongst balls, and that is why teams wanted the exact ball being used at official competitions.

The point is, it doesn't really matter what the game piece is, I feel there will always be some issue with obtaining it. Obviously there are going to be worse game piece issues than others (soccer balls vs. orbit balls). If it's not quantity, it will be price, or if its not a game piece it will be a field element. I think teams have become more adept at dealing with these issues, and I feel FIRST has made some steps to better design the games without sacrificing too much "playability".

-Brando