What is missing from this years game?

[Eugenia Gabrielov]

I think I post from a unique point of view in this case. My team is competing this coming weekend at BMR and then the weekend after at MWR, but I had friends to see and really needed some of that competition soul, so off I went to GLR...totally teamless.

My first impressions of this game slide between "random person" and "cheer on teams you know of or random other teams". I really enjoyed the game at the level that I knew the teams on the field and enjoyed watching the intesnity and focus of the event. I think the game was planned well to incorporate strategy. Sure, this isn't going to be a quick fix to the inspiration of random people issue, but is any game? Last year I heard people discussing the pros and cons too, but come Atlanta, attitudes change, and priorities change. So find yourself a pet Average Joe, and get them hyped: introduce them to a friend, to your team, and most importantly into your community, because that sense of team ethics is where the true inspiration lies.

My Dad, who has never been to a FIRST comp, stated blatantly in my presence how exciting it was in comparison to my school's "silly sporting stuff." In essence, you will have a difficult time getting the average average joe. However, though it may sound like some whacky theory to some of you, I feel as though this game was a lesson to every individual in inspiration, whether or not it was intended. Once myself and Pat McCarthy (67) explained the game to my dad, he loved it. It's important to communicate the priorities of the program in your behavior and your explanation, not just in what your robots do.

Good luck to everyone
- Genia

[JulieB]

Well this year game is not as good as some of the others but its OK
i like last year game a lot more.

This years game it missing the SAFETY. Some of the judges and field reseter at the Peachtree regional nearly hit in head with tetras.

[Justin Montois]

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/at...achmentid=2765 What a Great Program that is. Very Impressive

Thats whats missing right there. Real time scoring. I dont understand for the life of me why there wasnt some sort of live scoring program. Perhaps it was just the Finger Lakes Regional but i havnt heard of any other regionals having live scoring. I think that If FIRST had incorperated this program or something VERY similar then the fans could not only watch the game but watch the screen for LIVE scoring. At any other sporting event you know the score the whole time. i dont think that this should be any different.It would solve the spectator confusion problems. So thats what i think is missing the most.

[Joe Matt]

When I first saw the game, and from what I saw and heard from Dean, Woodie, and Dave, they wanted the idea of making rows, columns, and diagnonals as the big finish, but that didn't pan out.

Now, I know FIRST won't change the game now, but here is my idea. It's simple, easy to implement, and very cheap. It involves only a little bit of rules change and a small modification to the center goal.

My idea is to have a hanging, yellow tetra in the middle goal. This would hang like the ones on the side of the field. The yellow tetra underneight the goal would be 3 points, ontop of the goal it would double the points in the goal. BUT, there is one downside, when stacked it turns the ownership the goal to both teams, so if placed on your endzone it would possible hurt you. The yellow tetra would only multiply the capped tetras underneight the yellow one, and the yellow tetra can be removed and placed on other goals.

[TheRoche]

I think FIRST just took more time on creating the gearbox, chaise, and the camera than the game. But it did help out the new teams. Having a new shape to try to pick up was nice, and made you think, but it was almost like the game wasn't complicated enough. Don't get me wrong, it was a complicated game, but the things that you could do with the tetras was limited. I agree that there should be a big finish, something that could make the alliances win or loose the game. I do have to hand it to FIRST, though, for thinking all this up, and it was a really fun game. It just wasn't made for audiences to like, it was made for teams to like.

[Don Wright]

Well, after a second tournament, My opinions might be swayed a little. But, not totally in the opposite direction.

Again, I can't speak for the casual observer since I'm not one, but as the season has progressed and people have figured out the game, the game has gotten more exciting. I still think it's missing the big "you know if they get something, they will win" ending, but it's still exciting.

But, I also think this game is much more complex that previous games. The practice field at West Michigan ALWAYS had people and robots on it...and not just rookie teams. Well established teams were there practicing, working on autonomous, etc... I don't remember that last year at all.

So, this should lead to a very exciting Championship event. I can't wait.

[Beta Version]

the following is quite long, but I think very true,

I love this year’s game, I think they did an excellent job of simplifying the game, while still keeping it challenging. (Something Dean tried to convey at the kick off.) In the past years, the challenge has kept getting more and more complex, up to the point where last year you had to: hang from a pole, corral balls, move goals, cap goals, and try to climb stairs in one robot! (or blindly hope that you alliance partners would complement your abilities.) It was nearly impossible to try and focus on trying to do everything last year, and I'm sure it was a nightmare for the rookie teams. In the end all the robots could do was try and push each other around. Last years competition turned into some idiotic battle-bots game with the only reward having to watch other robots push yours around.

This year’s game is completely different. Autonomous mode is more of what it should be, something complex and challenging that wields a strong reward for completing. I think it's sad that at the sight of an actually challenging autonomous challenge, most teams cowered and didn’t even try. While the vision thing is new and some things need to be ironed out, autonomous isn’t supposed to be some easy thing on the side. And as with the game, this year robot is actually scoring the points, a much more invigorating notion, and the robot only has to have one ability, but can try to do multiple and increasingly complex things with it. This allows rookies and veterans to complement and help each other, and to compete on the same level, just in different ways. I actually think this year’s game is more exciting. The only people that find it boring are those that are sitting there dumbly not thinking. Since the points are scored with large, visible objects instead of stupid little balls (a nightmare to manipulate), you can psychologically participate and actually think, “Ok, they have 18 and we have 9, we can form one row and still win,” leading to some very tense and exciting matches. I also think that the matches do have exciting endings, in the last 10 seconds when you’re screaming and praying that your robot can cap that goal and win the game, or miss and lose, it can be very nerve racking. Unlike last year, idiotic ramming and pushing doesn’t do any good, while strategic positioning and blockading can greatly benefit your strategy and game play. The game also moves from one match to the next faster because the robots are encouraged to get back to starting positions instead of being left in a tangle dangling from a pole.

I think this year FIRST really stepped back and looked at was wrong with the game, and truly endeavored to fix it. While the general populous may not find it as exciting or climactic, it is much more inspiring and invigorating on an innovative, technological, and fair level, which is what FIRST is truly about.




P.S. To answer what is missing, I would say a better set of rules more designed to this game, its strategy, and to the sensitivity of color recognition (i.e.: forbidding substantial yellow and green objects like caution tape on the field.) This lack of adequate rules has led to so many strange penalties.