[FRC Blog] 2017 International Game Piece Option

[Matt Ciprietti]

Yeah, don't read too much into that. Likely you're only going to get one more of whatever the game piece(s) are that are included in the basic kit of parts. This was the case in 2016 - the kit contained one boulder, and we received one more boulder by opting in to this. Which, by the way, was a terrible deal for 20% of your FIRST Choice credits.

I was hoping that they might try and address this lack of value this year, but it seems that they have doubled down on it - apparently the "inflated" cost is intentional? That doesn't sound too logical when you think about it. The whole point of the option is to rectify an inherent disadvantage that international teams have. So if you opt in to get a game piece, you aren't so much getting an advantage over other teams, you are just not at a disadvantage in comparison.

So for Canadian teams at least, I'd think twice about this. If nothing else, there are lots of cross-border pick-up options if you feel you need more game pieces quickly and don't mind going for a little drive.