FIRST Rule Changes

[GaryVoshol]

We often think of exploitation as being negative. Dictionary.com gives 3 senses of exploit - positive, negative and neutral:

–verb (used with object)
1.to utilize, esp. for profit; turn to practical account: to exploit a business opportunity.
2.to use selfishly for one's own ends: employers who exploit their workers.
3.to advance or further through exploitation; promote: He exploited his new movie through a series of guest appearances.

Taking advantage of game rules for the team's benefit is exploitation of those rules, but in and of itself that is neither positive or negative. It's how teams should look at strategy.

If a team thought any particular strategy or design would be negative exploitation of the rules and chose not to do it, that's their decision. That another team decided it would be a positive benefit is another decision. Neither is right or wrong.