Do we want another game without defense?

[Brandon Zalinsky]

Originally Posted by Loose Screw

snip
Those matches were still exciting to watch, but you knew who would win.

snip

How? How can it possibly be exciting if the ending is already ruined for you? If someone spoils your favorite TV show, you're not going to extract as much enjoyment out of the dramatic ending that you would otherwise.

I think a good way to judge the excitement of a game is to watch Einstein and watch the crowd and the people there. This year, the crowd was completely dead, as far as I could see/hear. This was a far cry from any previous year, where sometimes it felt like a minor earthquake in the arena during the finals.

This was due, in my opinion, to exactly what you stated. The crowd knew the match would be decided in the first second of auto, and barring major screwup, they were guaranteed a win. It felt to me like, in football, if the team that loses the cointoss has all their players kneecapped and sent back onto the field with one less guy.

Also,

Originally Posted by Brad Hanel

On contrary to "Teams can't upset or make comebacks," at the two regionals I went to, the winning alliances were the #6 and #7. Prior to this year I had never been to one where an alliance outside the top 3 won.

I do not agree with the premise behind your statement. The "favorite" is not always about seed. At regionals, where scouting quality is lower, the alliance that will obviously win may not be the #1 seed. Often the 1 seed just won schedule roulette and picks a bad first pick. You could take one look at the alliances and say "Whelp the #? seed is stacked, it's all over" and be right most of the time.

At the district championship level of competition, the #1 seed holds much higher value because the scouting is far higher quality and the top team might not just be the schedule roulette winner. The 1 seed would usually pick the right teams and be the best alliance, therefore getting a near guaranteed blue banner. In four of the five District championships, the #1 seed took home the trophy. The exception was PNW, in which the #1 seed lost in the finals.

I promised in January to hold my judgement until I saw this game played. What I saw was incredibly creative and awesome machines playing an atrocious and boring game.

On to 2016.