What did FIRST do particularly well this year?
Great game.
The GDC has hit it out of the park two years in a row.
I got a nice rental car for about $250 for a whole week. Now if I can get a hotel room for that long for that much we’ll be all set.
The volunteer catering was amazing!
FIRST volunteers in general wherever I go are awesome beyond compare. FIRST events are in very good hands.
Things that made me love FIRST even more than before:
- Frame size being determined by perimeter.
- WildCards.
- Being able to choose between a KitBot and a voucher for AndyMark.
- Making Judges Award, Rookie All-Star and Rookie divisional awards.
- Higher numbered teams recieving a lot more recognition than in past years.
- the new ‘Making it Loud’ award.
One of the best games in a while, it forced teams to have to make rough decisions. The point values were fairly balanced in my opinion. Overall it was a very fun season.
Guys lets do our best to make this Positive Thread be longer then the negative one, We did it last year with Einstein being what it was we can do it this year:
Quick List:
Straight forward ranking system
New Game piece
Exciting Endgame
Straight forward scoring
Balanced game between Auto, Tele, and Climb
The addition of 2 more full Cims to be used legally
WildCard.
Long Elaborating List:
The volunteers at the two regionals and championship were the best I have dealt with in my 8 years attending events, (And no I am not just saying that because Ed was doing queuing at Orlando and Newton, though I am sure it helped), It seems like we are getting to the point where the volunteers at are a part of or at the very least “get” what FIRST is about.
Ri3D should get support from FIRST if they need it since though my team had to deal with our share of bots that could not score disks, the number was MUCH less than I thought it would be before I found out about Ri3D. I feel many teams were able to build scoring machines thanks to this crews videos and I really hope they continue.
This years game allowed the return of defense that I feel we have sorely missed since 2006/2007, allowing for upsets that would not have been possible with all the protected areas of previous games.
FIRST being willing to admit: “You know what we were wrong and we are sorry” This was done through the change of the throwing disks at the end of a match (which now that I have done a whole season and have not been a part of a match where at least one colored disk on each side was not thrown clean over the field) I think was a smart move on their part. This also goes on to the hand counting of disks since the weight sensors were not going to work and we as a community knew it. Last for this point Semi-final 1 match 2 on Einstein with the score being falsely reported I feel horrible for the Newton Teams but imagine if FIRST would have bit their tongue to save face? We would have new World Champs right now.
I don’t have anything to post in the negative thread. Either I’ve just gotten used to how things work, or else the events are run in a good way by great people so that everything just works.
I like that.
Great game, there are a lot more robots “playing the game” this year than in past years.
My biggest positive is how open FIRST has been this year. It has been really nice to get answers on why most decisions have been made, and I really hope it continues is the future.
This game was also amazing, and the tradeoffs were very interesting.
Also switching the rookie awards to divisions was a great idea, but I might just be a little biased. 
My philosophy with my crew is always “let the talent be talented”. FIRST is stocked to the brim with talented, smart, capable can do people who do not need to be micromanaged to be honest. You give them the vision of what you need and have them execute what is required. I am rarely disappointed…
This game is awesome. The last TWO games have been awesome. I don’t think the GDC has made games this enjoyable to watch in consecutive years since the mid-2000s. The point system is well balanced and it is fairly easy to explain the game to spectators.
The Wildcard system is a great idea and based on the scores from Champs that I saw (didn’t get to watch it) it has increased the level of competition there.
Kitbot frame voucher, it would have been very difficult for us to afford the parts to simplify our mecanum drive without it this year.
Taking feedback from the community and the transparency in Frank’s blog posts. FIRST giving the “why” behind rule changes and decisions this year makes them much easier to accept, even if we disagree with the decision.
The number of robots able to play the game this year. I don’t know if it is due more to game piece choice or resources like Ri3D but I hope this is a trend for the future.
Michigan State Championship broadcast by Detroit Public Television. I hope all of the District systems look into this type of live stream for their Championship level competition, and FIRST does something similar for the World Championships in the future.
Highest retention of teams ever this year was a quote I heard from someone at FIRST.
Audience friendly game.
Frank’s frankness on the blog.
The way the scoring problem was handled on Einstein.
Uploading business plans (although there are still kinks to work out)
Best game I’ve had the chance to play.
Wildcard system is the best.
More places need the district system so the best teams attend Championships.
Frank really listens to the teams.
I just want to echo how great the wild card system was. There were some situations where it seemed almost magical. ie. Crossroads finals, due to wild cards ALL finalists were able to get their tickets to worlds. This was also the case at the Spokane regional.
The standing ovation for the Air Force general speaking on Einstein. I was quite proud of the members of FIRST for recongnizing someone service to up our country.
The game is fantastic and well balanced.
Robot in 3 Days had a visible impact on median level of play.
Fewer comms problems than ever before in the NI era.
I liked the perimeter rather than length/width restrictions.
Fantastic motor choices.
Wild card system was a great idea, just needs to be expanded.
Driver station logging improvements were much appreciated.
My favorite Good Things, in order (highest to “lowest”):
- Wild cards. I love that teams that deserved to go, but happened to attend the regional where someone else was taking another qualification spot, got to go to CMP.
- The game. It was a well-balanced, fun to watch game that required hard design choices. But it even with that it was accessible, and I think that a higher percentage of teams were able to contribute successfully to their alliances.
- Frame perimeter instead of dimensions. Please, Please, Please keep this, GDC. This allowed more creativity in base designs than I’ve seen before.
I have other positives, but I have other posts to write. 
Great game, because it forced you to choose between several successful design options. The point structure for options (discs, climb, pyramid discs) was well balanced.
Good call to change the HP throwing of white discs. I think this made a better game and a safer game.
Wild Card system that gives top teams from events a spot at the CHP.
KOP vouchers rock, including the kit chassis in the system this year was a great choice. The reduction in waste and allowing teams more choices works.
The GDC hit the game out of the park. A diverse game that had many way to play that gave every team down to the most resource challenged a chance to be competitive.
Wildcards a good idea and a nice addition, just needs a little tweaking.
Kit voucher was awesome, obviously.
And although we didn’t use it, seeing the teams that did use it, the kitbot this year was REALLY REALLY REALLY good.
Love defining FP by perimeter, not dimensions
Awesome awesome game that made prethinking your overall strategy/approach to the game a difficult, intricate decision.
I’m sure there are plenty other positives I’ll think of later.
I also have to say this was the first year I actually regret having to leave St. Louis. The city put on a good show (no scare me to death weather events helped alot. The floods never affected me) and the event was great.
This was probably my favorite year I’ve ever had in FIRST.
Game was great. There weren’t any truly game-breaking strategies, and there was enough to do (and appropriate numbers of points to do each thing) that a team could be successful doing anything as long as they did it well.
Wildcard change was amazing. No more whiny threads of “BUT THEY ALREADY QUAAAAALIFIIIIEEED, THEY’RE JERKS FOR STEALING OUR SPOOOOOOOTS”. I also noticed much more cheering for our local unstoppable robots at the regional I attended. probably because the horde of stoppable teams felt like they finally had a fair chance to qualify for championships.