Future First Championship News

[vhcook]

Well, I guess I now understand how the Georgia teams felt when Championships left Atlanta. I'm going to miss being able to go every year as a volunteer and spectator. When I do go it's going to be a lot more expensive and require more vacation days, and I'm going to have to pick which half of the world I want to see playing, since there's no way I can afford the vacation time or the travel costs of going to both.

I really dislike the idea of my team being cut off from half the teams in the world with whatever the geographic border ends up being. We're about equidistant from Detroit and Houston, so I can't guess which way we'll get assigned. There are so many amazing team combinations that will never be possible at a regular-season event again -- for example, the Texas and FIM powerhouses will never see each other before off-season events. I understand that Championships has turned into a city-melter in terms of event logistics/hotel space/etc, and I am somewhat sympathetic to wanting to get more teams to championships, particularly for FTC/FLL; however, I think this is going to reduce the quality of the FRC event substantially.

Initial reaction:

[Wetzel]

Originally Posted by Cory

Pretty simple... I'm sure FIRST profited from Champs last year, at 400 teams. Run a second version of Champs and you're profiting a second time.

I was under the impression that they didn't, but I'm running from anecdotes and conversations rather than hard data.

[Eugene Fang]

Originally Posted by AlecMataloni

Taking the community and slicing it in half may have benefits, but they are absolutely outweighed by the negatives. I don't even know where to begin.

This. I don't always attend champs, but when I do, I look forward to catching up with familiar faces from across the country. With this change, I would have to choose seeing one half over the other each year.

[Hallry]

I would much rather have gone the Super Regional --> World Championship route...

[jwfoss]

So basically... FRC now stands for FIRST Robotics Convention

[Munchskull]

Can we start a petition against this?

[BigJ]

Originally Posted by zachrobo1

Out of the things I have seen in this thread, most people are opposed to this change because of the competition aspect. People like competition, and they want to crown a champion.

That's great, but does that line up with FIRST's vision? I don't think so. If you need a reminder, FIRST's vision is:

"To transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology leaders."

If that means making it more accessible to more students by making two championships, so be it. From what I've seen, FIRST really isn't very concerned with the drawbacks that this system has in regards to competition. They feel like Champs is a totally unique experience, and the more kids that go experience it, the better they fulfil their mission.

I get what you're saying but FRC is supposed to be the competitive level of FIRST.

I guess teams should be looking forward to more Recycle Rush type games if this attitude is what the GDC and FIRST staff have in mind for FRC now.

[dodar]

Originally Posted by Munchskull

Can we start a petition against this?

Thats what this thread is.

[WillRobinson]

Was this video previously released on April 1st?

[JVN]

Originally Posted by Tom Bottiglieri

So....

Inaugural Vex Pro Competition in 2017?!?

VEX Robotics and Innovation First International, Inc. are proud supporters and Crown Suppliers of FIRST.

We remain committed to supporting the FIRST Robotics Competition and FRC Teams everywhere.

[Hallry]

Originally Posted by Munchskull

Can we start a petition against this?

Originally Posted by dodar

Thats what this thread is.

Has there been a single positive post about this change yet in this thread?

[dodar]

Originally Posted by Hallry

Has there been a single positive post about this change yet in this thread?

Ive seen all negative, some neutral, but not a single positive post; and thats counting as this is the 88th post.

[Carl C]

I really wish that FIRST would have asked for feedback before signing the contracts.

At this point, it is probably too late for anything to change.

[Kpchem]

Originally Posted by Hallry

I would much rather have gone the Super Regional --> World Championship route...

I'd completely forgotten about this! I remember seeing this when it was first released and I loved the concept, even if the regions seemed to be too large in some places.

What happened to this, and has it ever been discussed that this wasn't the plan (until now)?

[pastelpony]

This is a real step backward. This means that teams from NE and such will be unable to physically contact those in the West and make it virtually impossible to crown a real champion.