A New Age of FRC?

[FrankJ]

Did somebody say Regolith?

[cadandcookies]

I wouldn't be surprised if we saw another game that had separated alliances, but I don't think it's indicative of any greater change in FIRST-- other than a more visible statement that FIRST really isn't held to some sort of game template, and that rules can and do change.

[cglrcng]

This game is both a thinking game of play strategy, & a robot design challenge that can be very deep (it isn't just simply building stacks and walls)....People need to give it a chance...It will be much more exciting than you possibly think, and definitely a large challenge on field and off. Even more so, since "The Litter Dilemma" has been officially cured. (See todays 1-9-2014 updates).

Just give it a decent chance, as it was never intended to be "Battle Bots," and will be far from grown up FLL. (From 1 who taped enough carpet during 1 single regional event last year, to simply last a lifetime, those ultra-pushing matches and fully open field, aren't really all they seem to me cracked up to be from a gameplay/fan/schedule flow aspect). The field prep required between matches, delays you playing the game faster.
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Way OFF TOPIC:
Did anyone else notice the yellow banana's on the "Official Arena/Field Drawings?" (They are spread all over the field from 1 end to the other and must be cookies planted as watermarks....Or, were/will be left to help feed the field building/teardown volunteer crew, and keep them from cramping up later those nights).

[kmusa]

Originally Posted by cglrcng

Way OFF TOPIC:
Did anyone else notice the yellow banana's on the "Official Arena/Field Drawings?" (They are spread all over the field from 1 end to the other and must be cookies planted as watermarks....Or, were/will be left to help feed the field building/teardown volunteer crew, and keep them from cramping up later those nights).

Actually, official parts on the Field Assembly Drawing (FE-00038)

Item___Part Number___Qty___Description
1_______BANANA______6___Banana for Scale

[Foster]

I was happy to see this post. It means that people are working through the 5 stages of an FRC season and are almost through to the last step

Denial - Oh no, not a game without a defense! How can it be a robot competition if there isn't defense. All sports have defense! We are no longer a sport.

Anger - I've been a <mentor, roboteer, parent, fan> for X <months, years, decades> and RecycleRush has completely ruined my entire robotics experience.

Bargaining - Please GDC can't we have these minor rule changes.

Depression - "A new Age of FRC?" How can this be, I want my old FRC back.

So soon (once teams get moving robots) there will be acceptance

[jaykris284]

Overall I believe that FIRST wanted to create a new game to fend off the criticism they got last year. In future years I see a middle ground between defense and offense being incorporated in the game.

[Foster]

So with the recent rules update does this thread just die .... Everything is back to being fine!

[Jaxom]

Originally Posted by nuclearnerd

If it works, we'll see more of these (*cough FLL*) style games. If it doesn't, we won't.

If you want to consider this a FLL style game, program everything & don't use any human controls during teleop.

[philso]

Originally Posted by Amar Shah

Not to mention sending out the kit of parts next year inside this years' game pieces.

Do you think they may charge more for a KOP shipped in a tote certified as having been used on Einstein?

Originally Posted by cadandcookies

I wouldn't be surprised if we saw another game that had separated alliances, but I don't think it's indicative of any greater change in FIRST-- other than a more visible statement that FIRST really isn't held to some sort of game template, and that rules can and do change.

Originally Posted by cglrcng

This game is both a thinking game of play strategy, & a robot design challenge that can be very deep (it isn't just simply building stacks and walls)....

Maybe FIRST is wanting to shake up the existing mindsets about how best to play the game. I feel this is good since your (future) employer may give a project that is quite unlike what you had worked on before requiring you to approach your job in a very different way and/or to develop new skills.

Originally Posted by nuclearnerd

Uber-teams might have a freer hand to dominate than years previous. I expect there to be a pretty strong correlation this year between OPR and team budget / experience.

So it could swing either way. I'm more ready to give it a chance than I was at kickoff. If it works, we'll see more of these (*cough FLL*) style games. If it doesn't, we won't.

The only aspect of this game I see that is similar to FLL is that the Uber-teams are likely to develop "Monster-bots" that span large parts of the field to score much more rapidly than a robot that must drive back and forth. These are great fun to watch if you appreciate mechanical ingenuity. I feel they are probably more likely to appeal to spectators outside of the FRC community compared to the appreciation and reverence that teams like 16, 67, 254 and 1114 get within FRC community since knowledge of the subtleties of the game in not required to appreciate them.

[Brandon_L]

Originally Posted by Wyatt Jordan

1. FIRST re-structured the manual, it is organized very differently from previous manuals and might be a template for future manuals

One of the first comments I made on kickoff day after the game was released was something along the lines of "Wow, the manual actually makes sense if you read it in order now". I've always hated how the past manuals were set up.

+1 I hope this sticks around.

[g_sawchuk]

I wouldn't be surprised to see them separated again, but I think they would be interacting more, and not just with coopertition.

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by Foster

I was happy to see this post. It means that people are working through the 5 stages of an FRC season and are almost through to the last step

Denial - Oh no, not a game without a defense! How can it be a robot competition if there isn't defense. All sports have defense! We are no longer a sport.

Anger - I've been a <mentor, roboteer, parent, fan> for X <months, years, decades> and RecycleRush has completely ruined my entire robotics experience.

Bargaining - Please GDC can't we have these minor rule changes.

Depression - "A new Age of FRC?" How can this be, I want my old FRC back.

So soon (once teams get moving robots) there will be acceptance

Acceptance will come next year when everybody PMS (pre emptive snipes) the new game and misses the previous year's game.