Wow, I didn’t know that! That explains a lot - I was wondering why FIRST made the theme more abstracted from gameplay this year (i.e. cargo which is actually spheres loaded into a “plane” which is a large funnel). In the context of a playground everything makes so much more sense.
Its getting better.
The 2016-2018 genre of games was a bit too over the top for my liking. A theme can be good and introduce a storyline. 2017 was too much and the theme intensity has gone down a bit since then, but had a Star Wars comeback in 2020. Too much theme and it can create a space where people don’t like sharing FRC videos, animations, etc. to people outside the program they are trying to promote interest. That doesn’t help us increase the visibility of the program.
I really liked not having an in your face theme this year. It was a refreshing.
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I agree. What happened to all the cool team-designed games that were made over the pandemic?
Pieces of those will be used and credited in future games. But Rapid React was largely designed and complete before the submissions were done in 2021, since this was slated for 2021 originally.
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Personally I like truss themed games.
Now that FIRST has used the same truss two years in a row, all games should be truss themed.
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When will we be getting the GreyT truss?
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hahaha
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Truss themed games are great. Much easier to see what’s going on for both the spectators and the drive team than 16/17/19 that were large opaque panel-themed.
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The trusses were added to the evergreen field drawings so expect to see them in some regard for the next few years.
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I liked the stronger themes of 2016-2019 that influenced the actual game challenge better than the more dilute/disconnected themes of 2020-2022, and provided real opportunities for teams and individuals to brand for the season. But the improvement in the games and sightlines more than makes up for it.
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I think the real value with FIRST is not necessarily the technical skills but (and I know this is cliche) to inspire. The students working as a team in a competitive environment really does give a comparable experience to sports and can be such a valuable experience for a student, especially those without the physical capabilities of an athlete.
I know this is anecdotal but it certainly changed my life. I started on my local team in 2015 with no STEM experience or interest. I mainly joined because I had friends on it who recommended it to me. Now here I am 8 years later still involved as a mentor, I have a degree in Software Engineering, and I am working for a major automotive supplier. I give credit to a lot of my life direction to FIRST.
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I strongly agree. I’ve had many students over the years who’ve said their biggest regret was not joining the team earlier, and that they didn’t join freshmen year because they didn’t want to get called nerds. Students who didn’t have the self-confidence to ignore the haters and follow their interests until they were sophomores, juniors, or even seniors. How many other kids never got there during high school? Some of my favorite students, and biggest success stories, are kids who resisted joining at first because they didn’t think of themselves and “nerds” and didn’t think they’d enjoy a “nerdy” activity, and ended up becoming some of the most passionate kids on the team.
De-stigmatizing nerdiness is great! But it’s work that’s not finished yet, and I much prefer more neutral themes to the hyper-nerdy ones. I think the hyper-nerdy themes send a subtle message of “FIRST is for people who love cosplay and can quote every line of Monty Python” rather than “FIRST is for everybody”.
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I liked the era of sports themes.
They were easy to explain to those not already in FIRST, and cast a wider net to make FIRST approachable for different students than it otherwise would. The theme isn’t the game, it’s just a coat of paint on top that makes it more (or less) approachable to incoming students, mentors, and volunteers. A great theme brings people in who might not otherwise be interested in robots and engineering, and alienates few, if any, people, and feels generally fresh to the community.
2019 was the best balance I’ve seen yet. Space is cool, certainly to nerds, but to a much broader audience. And while Lunacy in 2009 was similar, it had been long enough I didn’t hear much “we’ve already done space” sentiment.
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I have met so many people who were like “i went to a meeting with my friend and fell in love with it even though im not a nerd”
I think outreach to many types of people is really helpful because once people start frc they usually stay
I feel the exact same way, I’m not in robotics because I’m a pro athlete. Im in robotics because im an unathletic nerd. Most of what I remember from PE was people competing to have the best BMI, my friend having an asthma attack while running and getting yelled at by the teacher, and getting hit in the face with various projectiles.
However, maybe it would help outreach to the quote unquote jocks if themes are sportier?
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Anyone else disappointed in the latest FRC themes?
Nope, personally I found the themed years to be exclusionary. I would rather we have neutral or universal themes (sports) than culturally insular ones.
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I think my dissatisfaction with this year was the disconnect between theme and game design, not really the theme itself.
I don’t know, I feel like the ‘nerdy’ aspect of FIRST was half of the appeal for me
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Also has the possibility of enabling use of LiDAR?? The new ones only cost as much as a Limelight 
I definitely agree about the neutral themeing. I wasn’t around for the 2016 season so I don’t know what that was like, but I hated the themeing and integration of Steamworks. Definitely felt like it would have alienated students (and maybe adults looking to mentor for the first time) that liked robotics but didn’t like the nerdy culture. The last) 2019 and 2020 were much better; felt like they struck a nice middle ground with main stream slightly nerdy stuff. This year definitely felt like a game feels like one from the 2010-2014 era.
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