Partial

[Nick Mac]

Does anyone else feel like off season competitions are so much harder than the rest? I know that it does feel like it, because often times, more teams are competing in post- season comps. Do you ever think first would award partial points to teams that win these competitions. An example would be that the winner gets 1 point or something...tell me what you think.

[Mike Schroeder]

i dont see how they are harder, on top of that, if someone were todo this, make a note, most off season competitions dont do inspections, so you can add as much unnoticable weight/parts that they want to improve its design, fix its flaws

[JVN]

Some teams go to 10 off season competitions. Some go to none.
I hardly think this is fair.

I mean... if this was true, after last season Rhodewarriors would be qualified for nationals.... forever.

[Nick Mac]

You're definitely right about that...but maybe there could be some kind of cap on it. Like how many you could be eligible for or something. But, teams would still have to prove themselves to get the points.

[sanddrag]

The events are not harder. It is just harder to get the robots to perform as well as they did in the past.

[Pin Man]

I'd have to say no because they are not harder, they have a lot less teams and because of the fact that they are off season...

[Lisa Rodriguez]

off season are not harder, they are a bit more relaxing to me, It's a competition where you can have fun, without worrying about doing well or qualifying for the alliance pickings. It's a fun easy way to have a competition without all the regular pressures. As for having FIRST give teams points for winning or caping the amount of events teams can go to, I'm totally against it, competitions would [in my mind] be less fun and relaxing, and aren't off-seasons comp's fun because they cost less and there's no limit?!?
giving off-season comps points or limiting them would take half the happy-go-lucky-fun out of it
just my thought

[Kel D]

I agree. I love off season competitions because we go to have fun. I know 433 goofs off and goes crazy at off season competitions, so we never do well, but they are the best. It is the perfect oppertunity to show new members what FIRST is about and there is no pressure. What more can you want? But I dont see any way that points can be awarded. There are just too many factors, as people have mentioned already, like teams that dont do any off season competitions, the fact that they are not official (?) FIRST competitions, and that there are no regulations on robots. It was a nice try though.

[Kevin A]

The attitude of off-season comps would change too. Right now most teams are training a new drive team, trying to pass down the power from the seniors or current drive team. By making winning worth points, you loose the teams willingness, so its a trade off - train new team and do better next season, or dont train new team, do better now and worse later?

Thats a hard decision that teams shouldnt have to face.

[Jeff Waegelin]

Originally posted by Kevin A
The attitude of off-season comps would change too. Right now most teams are training a new drive team, trying to pass down the power from the seniors or current drive team. By making winning worth points, you loose the teams willingness, so its a trade off - train new team and do better next season, or dont train new team, do better now and worse later?

Thats a hard decision that teams shouldnt have to face.

To say teams shouldn't have to face that decision is not correct. All teams face that decision anyways. The difference, however, lies in the amount of pressure that is placed on that decision. You still have to decide if you want to use your old drivers and do well, or train new people, but when there's nothing on the line, you can make that decision easier.

For the record, I think off-season competitions should stay as-is- unofficial and with no consequence on the actual FIRST season. That is the way they should be- just for fun.

[Madison]

There's already an existing trend that suggests winning will become more important.

Let's not talk about furthering that trend along.

[Pin Man]

I think that winning a Regional should be worth less than it is now...