Will Alliances Win?

[mrnoble]

Looking back at FRC history, there have been many games where a well-designed robot could effectively win most matches on its own, and only a few where alliances with specialized and effective partners were necessary. The Coopertition Bridge in 2012 seems like a forced effort to get teams to work together, so I'm not counting that. Aside from 2014, I can't think of many games where effective partnerships were super important.

What about this year? It seems possible that we might have actually received a game where the "we-will-do-it-all-ourselves-please-stay-out-of-our-way"robots may not be able to do it all, and where specialized machines in symbiotic partnerships will win more than a do-it-all. I may be wrong in this assessment, and would to hear your points of view.

It's also my opinion that, if the above turns out to be true, it will be an especially bad year for mediocre do-it-alls. My advice to mid-level teams echoes that from a few earlier threads: please don't try to do both major scoring objectives. Do one of them well, and climb. Maybe I'm wrong there too, though.