Limitations too far?

[smurfgirl]

Originally Posted by Alexa Stott

That seems like some sort of punishment.

I don't think it's punishment, I think it's forcing you to be creative. Why, you ask? Well, I explained it in this post which also answers your other complaint, below:

Originally Posted by Alexa Stott

But hey, like everyone always says, it's not really about what happens on the field, right? So why not encourage creativity? Why does the on-the-field competition need to be fair if it doesn't really matter in the end?

Also, in response to:

Originally Posted by Alexa Stott

They make our entire knowledge of effective drive trains and manipulators that extend beyond your bumper zone obsolete. ... I simply don't understand why we need to make it "fair." Teams that build effective robots will succeed in the competition.

Your knowledge of effective drive trains and manipulators which extend beyond the bumper zone is most definitely not rendered obsolete by this game. More than anything else, it is the process of developing said effective devices that is the important thing for you to get out of FIRST. One drivetrain (manipulator, etc.) will probably not fit all... knowing how to design a working drivetrain (or any other engineered assembly) to fit your needs is a skill which you can apply throughout your life. FIRST is being realistic, and is teaching you skills which you can use in the real world. Cut-and-paste isn't always going to get you what you need to solve problems; sometimes you have to create an original work as the solution.

Furthermore, there will never be a game that is completely fair. Why? Well... all the stuff I mentioned in my previous paragraph, the skills and the knowledge of processes and thinking and designing carry over from year to year, game to game in FRC. Veteran teams and experienced team members have an advantage, no matter how you slice it. I don't think Lunacy was designed to "be fair" by "making us all rookies again", I think it was designed to bring us real-world engineering issues, and to push us out of our comfort zones to help us learn new things instead of relying on what we already know.