2013 ACTUAL game hint!!!

[cmrnpizzo14]

First off...
"This is one of the first puns/jokes/whatever that I've seen on CD that doesn't make me immediately facepalm.

Well done, good sir."
Thank you Libby.

Next, I think that we are digressing from the actual hint a bit to much. While Pi is relevant, I don't think that we really needed that post..... Also, I think that we are stretching this hint a bit too far. While the GDC hints are often vague, they usually have a fairly direct correlation, the trick is just finding it. With the exception of the "moonfish" in '09, I think that most of the hints haven't required so much stretching.

I also think that we are placing too much weight in interpreting the hint as a clue to the actual gameplay. I don't remember a hint that actually told us how the game would be played. Most of the time, the hints reference part of the game that is insignificant, such as the name (Logomotion) or the field elements (Breakaway & Rack and Roll).

Also, I don't think that some of these suggestions are even plausible. 2v2v2 games would be cool, but take one look at the elimination bracket and I think that all of us would rather stick with the traditional 3v3. Betting points on games? As fun as that may be, that quickly would end poorly too (See the 1114 comment). Most regionals do not have enough parity in the competition to enable such a system. Teams would see that their alliance was far superior than their opponents and immediately jump to betting all points. Barring a red card, those teams would jump up far too high in the standings. Also, imagine trying to keep track of how many points each team bets, that is just begging for a mistake.

I think that we are on the right track with the cryptogram approach. The seal references might or might not be intentional. We probably should accept that we might be on the entirely wrong track with this. We should probably try and use this hint to come up with some sort of game detail that is not actual gameplay.

If you want to determine how the game actually would be played, I recommend that you see the post referring to FIRST trends over the years.
2011 resembled 2007
2012 resembled 2006
2013 will resemble 2005?

It is true that FIRST seems to alternate between a sport and a concept game and between a ball and an object game. Seeing as last year was a sport game with a ball, it seems to show that this year will be a concept game with an object.

Also, FIRST has not used a large and unwieldy game piece in a while (Think trackballs from 2008). I think that we are due for something huge like that.