[Ian Curtis]

I only competed at Week 1 regionals, but I really liked them. I agree there was occasionally "character building*", but I think its much easier to build a great Week 1 bot than a great Week 5 robot. The feel I've gotten over the past 7 (eep, I'm old!) years, is that if you can reliably score the game pieces you start with in week 1, you'll be playing on Saturday afternoon. Later on in the season, as everyone gets tuned up, you really need to be able to make a 2nd and 3rd trip to the goal. (Obviously, winning isn't everything, but it is more fun to be in the hunt!)

*To be fair though, outside of 2009's static issues, I can't remember any of the other field delays.