Why does everyone hate this game so much?

[pfreivald]

Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber

Fun fact that most people don't know - My degree is Computer Science with a concentration in Game Design. So, the following is based primarily on that...

I'm not a computer game guy, but I've been paid in real life for design work on card, board, roleplaying, and tabletop miniatures wargames. I think the best parallel between any of these and FRC is the last one, because it's very open-ended in terms of strategy (including force selection) and tactics (in-game actions).

[As an aside, the absolute hardest part of wargame design is balance between forces; fortunately, FIRST doesn't worry about that overmuch beyond some power, money, and time restrictions--we don't have a point system for force-building to exploit.]