On Rules, Referees, and Rewards (aka Penalties)

[Kris Verdeyen]

Originally Posted by The Lucas

D... ChiefDelphi is meant to be an "Open Forum" where people in the FIRST Community can share opinions ... I would recommend this thread be closed.

What kind of "open forum" would we have if we closed any thread started by someone with an opinion?

...back on topic...

I agree that it's good that the rules are being enforced consistently. The 30 pointers seem excessive, but they are having the desired effect on play. Basically, I'd like for the penalties to be less serious, but when it comes right down to it, that would make the game what I wanted it to be, and not what it is.

I do take issue with the characterization of rough play as something inherently bad. FIRST has the same problem that the NFL has - it's a fact that hard hits are more exciting, and make more people want to watch. It's also a fact that hard hits make for broken robots, and neither broken robots nor broken quarterbacks can play the game.

It is, however, entirely possible to make a rough game that is both interesting and not battlebots, and FIRST did that in 2002 and 2003. They have also moved as far as possible away from a rough game, in 2001, and you'll be hard pressed to find people that liked the 2001 game better than either of the years that followed it.