[alicen]

I think I've read several times now the suggestion of the entire field being covered in tennis balls to create an uneven terrain (referencing to Maize Craze and "Loco-motion"). Personally, I don't see this as much of an option because there are so many rules implemented for the safety of volunteers and competitors alike.

Remember last year, how you could not walk across the bump carrying your robot? Now imagine a floor covered in tennis balls that you've decided to walk around on for fun. Add 150 pounds of robot and it's a recipe for disaster and hospitals. I realize that some people might try to refute this argument and say they'll add the tennis balls after all the robots are on the field, but logistics of picking up and depositing THAT many tennis balls is insane. The turn over rate for matches would go from 5 minutes to 30. And in the past couple years, the push for more matches (meaning lower turn over rates) has been obvious.

Personally, I think the game is going to be called Locomotion, the game pieces will not be round (the last students to see non-spherical game pieces have now all graduated, or at least are supposed to), and autonomous will have more importance*.

*Every year there is one aspect of the game that is weaker than the others. Human Player for Overdrive for example. I think that based on opinions gathered at regionals and Championships and after, the GDC tries to improve on that aspect to make a more well-rounded game. This is why I think autonomous will gain a lot of importance this year.