FRC Blogged - Frank Answers….Monday? Again?

[PayneTrain]

Originally Posted by Taylor

I've thought for a while the GDC works on games two or three years in advance. Looking back, you'll see game elements or challenges that are 'piloted' in one game, then a more fully developed version of it pops up about two to three years later.
I'm sure we'd all love to be a fly on the GDC wall - not for the specific game knowledge "cheats", but just to watch the process unfold and track the thoughts and reasons behind the games.

I believe Frank said somewhere that 2013 was a special case where they took everything everyone said about 2012 and retooled the 2013 game around it. No idea if it was a clean sweep or not, but there is precedent for games being affected one year apart as well as 2. The most obvious has to be the way the GDC has developed safe zones for scoring from the penalty party in 2011 to a very specific set of requirements in 2013, and the new way they score fouls (which has both good and bad qualities).

There's no question that there have been significant improvements over the years that are a result of feedback seen on the field and spoken of off it. Some stuff takes time to adjust to (there was some animosity to current bumper rules at first, I recall, but now I can't see how you could identify alliances any better) and I wager the 2014 game will take everything everyone liked about the last 3 seasons and blend it together pretty effectively.