Petition to end things that confuse the public

[Lil' Lavery]

Coming into this thread I expected it to be about confounding rules, complicated scoring, inconsistent real-time scoring, or possibly even mentor involvement levels. Those are thing that actually tend to confuse the public, in my experience. But dancing and excitement?

I know more spectators and VIPs who are thrilled with the dancing than are turned off by it. In fact, while it's not what draws many to the event, I don't think I've encountered any visitors that were openly upset or confused by the dancing. I see judges or other guest speakers engage in the dancing or encourage it, which seems to suggest to me that outside observers might actually, you know, enjoy it.

[Kevin Sevcik]

Originally Posted by ToddF

I think the biggest improvement regionals could make would be displaying informative graphics on the big screen between matches. There should never be a time when an audience member should need to ask, "What's going on?"

Suggestion: There should be ever present graphics between matches with the following info:
-Time since last match ended, previous match number, teams that played, outcome of the match.
-Upcoming match number, teams that are playing and their current ranks
-Some sort of graphic showing the phases between matches, with the current phase highlighted (scoring, robot removal, robot placement, connecting to field, ready for match) If a timeout is called, display the number of the team that called it, and a countdown clock. If there is an administrative timeout between finals matches, put up that graphic and countdown clock. If it's lunchtime, put up a graphic with a countdown clock until matches resume.

Having this info displayed would also make watching online streaming matches much easier to follow.

So, my solution to ending public confusion is simply to provide the information the public (and everyone else) wants to know: What's happening right now? What just happened? What's going to happen next? When will the next thing happen?

This would definitely be helpful, but you're going to have to figure out how to integrate it with the standard sponsor roll. I'm pretty sure the sponsor roll is a mandatory element.

For match info, etc. you could probably use the real time scoring overlay area for the display, and just keep it up all the time. The sponsor roll would get squeezed a bit into the match video area. This would actually probably help the venues that apparently don't have chroma keyed overlay equipment and have to manually adjust the overlay area when switching between the match, results, and sponsor roll.

I don't think you'll get your wish on displaying field reset stages, beyond a simple Scoring Match/Field Reset/Match Ready cycle. Anything more granular than the green indicator lights already on the field is going to require someone updating the exact stage field reset is in, and everyone's busy enough as it is.

[efoote868]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

Coming into this thread I expected it to be about confounding rules, complicated scoring, inconsistent real-time scoring, or possibly even mentor involvement levels. Those are thing that actually tend to confuse the public, in my experience. But dancing and excitement?

If the game takes more than 10 seconds to explain, the general public is going to have a hard time with it.

[Sperkowsky]

Originally Posted by efoote868

If the game takes more than 10 seconds to explain, the general public is going to have a hard time with it.

its true and the argument with say football or basketball is slightly invalid. I mean think about they all share a common apsect of scoring defense, and rules. Even people who dont understand whats really going on understands it to an extent. With frc they can be completely in the dark.

Some games make sense to other people just watching like ariel assist and rebound rumble but most like recycle rush really confuse people.

[GreyingJay]

Originally Posted by Sperkowsky

Some games make sense to other people just watching like ariel assist and rebound rumble but most like recycle rush really confuse people.

I think people can quickly figure out the general gist of it. "They're trying to stack the grey boxes as high as they can, and put the green containers on top."

The questions I heard most were about the nuances. Coopertition was the biggest one. Questions about why/what/how autonomous works. And finally, "what's with all the pool noodles being thrown around?"

[BlueLipstick]

Originally Posted by Sperkowsky

2.do crowd activites. Anything from small quiz games about Frc or even showing small videos the community has been made will make a difference.

3. Play the game animation constantly. New people need to know what they are watching and being the announcer called them barrels consistently even though in the manual it says containers it really annoyed me.

4.end the blue Alliance red Alliance chant. Everyone not part of Frc I have brought also thought it was the most annoying thing and made no sense. Just please stop it. If the people want to shout their Alliance fine but when it's done 50 times every match It makes me want to get on the mic and scream purple Alliance.

The game/quiz idea is great, and I've seen teams do it as an activity and it's very effective. But the personalization of it is usually what makes it fun (a selfie contest that involves getting shots with different teams and mascots is a lot of fun). However it might lose some of its fun if it's turned into what they do before movies in the theater, with generic quizzes playing on the scoreboard.
I don't know about your competitions, but ours plays the animation a lot. And seeing it repeated over and over again would be super annoying. Maybe if someone created a short cut that people could go to on their phone to see the game animation and other important links. I don't know, but putting it on repeat to fill the silence seems like overkill.
If we end the blue alliance, red alliance chant, someone will make a new one that will become the adopted chant. That particular one's nice because everyone knows it, so three different teams could be cheering simultaneously and it becomes a group effort. In all honesty, I'd like to see an end to the super long, confusing chants that no one can ever tell what's being said because it just seems like extra noise. Yes, the repetition should stop because hearing it over and over again is awful. This could be solved by someone making generic cheers that everyone could adopt, and more of them so that if someone wants to chant they have a myriad of things already available, and wouldn't always default to red alliance.
But overall, I don't think the dances and songs have to stop. Sports games do them, and that's basically what we're emulating. Reiterating my previous point, more variety in the songs, dances, and games might make them more bearable for people who aren't into them and more enthusing for people who are.

[GreyingJay]

One thing I saw at GTR Central and North Bay was they would play videos made by teams. For example, Team 4001 made a music video "It's all about the totes" that got played presumably at every regional they showed up at.

We also saw safety videos and videos from other teams (including FRC Rhapsody). I thought this was neat, and inspiring. So if you want to help shake things up, encourage your team to make a video!

[Christopher149]

Originally Posted by Sperkowsky

New people need to know what they are watching and being the announcer called them barrels consistently even though in the manual it says containers it really annoyed me.

Between both teams and announcers, it can get very confusing when people refer to the game pieces variously as totes, containers, RCs, litter, noodles, crates, bins, barrels, garbage cans, yellow totes, coop totes, "cooperation" totes, cans, et cetera. Can we get some consistency (especially from the announcers)?

Edit: Regarding chanting "red/blue alliance", it's very similar to chanting "Let's go Huskies [or insert other team name here]".

[scca229]

Originally Posted by GreyingJay

One thing I saw at GTR Central and North Bay was they would play videos made by teams. For example, Team 4001 made a music video "It's all about the totes" that got played presumably at every regional they showed up at.

We also saw safety videos and videos from other teams (including FRC Rhapsody). I thought this was neat, and inspiring. So if you want to help shake things up, encourage your team to make a video!

Both of these were also played in Las Vegas during Playoffs field timeouts. I know I enjoyed them.

[Sperkowsky]

Originally Posted by Christopher149

Between both teams and announcers, it can get very confusing when people refer to the game pieces variously as totes, containers, RCs, litter, noodles, crates, bins, barrels, garbage cans, yellow totes, coop totes, "cooperation" totes, cans, et cetera. Can we get some consistency (especially from the announcers)?

Edit: Regarding chanting "red/blue alliance", it's very similar to chanting "Let's go Huskies [or insert other team name here]".

I usually go by the manual

Litter
Yellow totes
Grey totes
Recycling containers

Step
Scoring platform
Tote chute
Auto zone
Landfill


Those are the manuals words and what I think the words announcers should use.

[Joseph1825]

One way to confuse the public less is to simplify the scoring rules when explaining them. "Each grey tote stacked is worth 2 points, and if there is a recycling container on top that triples the score of that stack, and if there is a pool noodle in the container then it is worth 6 more points." That explains the game well enough for an observer. and occasionally say "If they can stack four yellow totes on the center step that is worth 40 points for both teams."

[serenagh]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

I know more spectators and VIPs who are thrilled with the dancing than are turned off by it. In fact, while it's not what draws many to the event, I don't think I've encountered any visitors that were openly upset or confused by the dancing. I see judges or other guest speakers engage in the dancing or encourage it, which seems to suggest to me that outside observers might actually, you know, enjoy it.

I got the chance to walk a seventh grader who had heard of FIRST but hadn't experienced it first hand through the semi-finals and finals at the Sacramento Regional. Seeing the joy on his face when he saw what robotics was like for the first time was amazing. He loved the dancing and the craziness (as well as the pool noodle range)- it's a window into an important part of the experience for other teams, and a great reminder that FIRST is more than an engineering competition. The pits were closing and people were packing out, but there were still things to check out. This is a cool way to show outsiders an element of the "fun" side of things, and to keep it light.

[wilsonmw04]

Yes, no more dancing. Robots is serious business

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by wilsonmw04

Yes, no more dancing. Robots is serious business

To the people in the pits (who are usually the most vocal CD users) it is to the general FIRST public they're there for fun so to be honest this thread is really us being a bunch of grumpy killjoys (me included. I can go hide if they start playing the Chicken Dance). Let the people who tend the robots do their thing and let the people who are there to enjoy the show, enjoy the show including the part that doesn't involve robots.

[Jeffrafa]

Originally Posted by Sperkowsky

2.do crowd activites. Anything from small quiz games about Frc or even showing small videos the community has been made will make a difference.

One cool crowd activity they did at the Wilsonville District in 2014 was a single-elimination rock-paper-scissors tournament. I think it was to fill a field timeout (so the MC could plan it ahead a bit), but basically he got everyone to stand up, and you would play someone near you, and sit down if you lost. Eventually it ended with the top 4 playing off in the middle of the field.

Not related to FRC or the teams, but it was a fun break and nice alternative to 2 more dance songs.