What FIRST did RIGHT...

[Ian W.]

I'll admit, when I first saw this game, I thought to myself, "wow, this sucks." Driving back down to Worcester through the blizzard though gave me a good two hours to mull it over, and I have to admit, I do like the game now.

I think that this year FIRST, unintentionally perhaps, made a game that won't necessarily make for unique robots (simply because there's only really one way to score, placing tetras on the goals), but I'm expecting to see many new and unique strategies because of the 3v3. Usually I enjoy build the most, but I'd almost rather just jump right to the first regional and see what's going to happen, it'll definitely be exciting. For the first time now teams will be able effectively play defense and offense, and while yes, there's the odd chance that there will be a 3v1 match, I highly doubt that will be a regular occurance.

The only problem I see is the field size being possibly a bit too small for 3v3, especially when some of the scoring tetras start getting thrown around, but FIRST can't change that because some of the venues don't have anymore room, so I can't complain about that. In any case, it adds to the fun, and extreme challenge, of driving this year. Almost makes me wish I was still a high school student...