A smaller event would be fine. Of course, then they’d have to qualify fewer teams per event, and I can imagine that some of the same people would have complaints about that as well.
Can’t make everyone happy.
For the current amount of teams that can qualify for the Championship Event, this is probably the best that we can have for now. I expect we’ll go back to a shorter Championship once the District system is fully implemented.
-Nick
Or 6 divisions.
I would prefer that, in the long term moving up to 8 divisions. Of course it’s a while before that ever happens, especially finding the space to hold double the fields, pits, and teams, as FIRST is still growing at an extremely fast pace.
This was predictable given the amount of feedback that teams wanted more matches.
Add to the fact that 32 teams make each divisional playoff, this already is going to be a better championship than last year.
Another option FIRST has is the concept of the super regional: an intermediate event between Regionals/District Championships and the World Championship. This allows more teams to advance to a higher level of competition while keeping the number of teams at the world championship lower. They’re testing the idea with FTC this year, and if it goes well I wouldn’t be too surprised to see it implemented in FRC down the road. Of course, this brings in its own set of complications in terms of event staffing and days off for FRC…
It’s an uncomfortable number for an easy way to play it out, but maybe a round-robin style preliminary would work, though it would add more time to an already long competition. You could do the uneven bracket, the divisions already play each other in a unspecified fashion anyway (meaning Archimedes always plays Curie, there’s no specific factor determining this other than the fact that’s just how FIRST decided it should be).
I’m still waiting for two field divisions… you know, field reset on one while a match is played on the other.
This is really great. A lot of people were really ticked off that they only got 8 matches last year, and FIRST has done a good job of addressing their concerns. Kudos.
You mean something like…this? 
http://i.imgur.com/gUAmXmg.png
You mean a total of 9 FRC fields, including FTC/FLL? Never gonna’ happen. Chief Delphi’s already gone through the argument that there would be no way to fit such an idea after last season.
It would be great if everybody had the opportunity to ensure that their robot was crated “inspection ready”. A “Fix-it Window” prior to crating and shipping for World Championships seems like it would enhance the process.
I am very pleased to see the changes; it will significantly enhance the experience. Well done, FIRST FRC.
I’m pretty positive its still capped at 400 teams, 4 divisions, 10 qualification matches each.
Sorry, Tesla isn’t getting a field anytime soon.
For all those interested, the most interesting logistic process at Champs is Load Out and frequently its still happening while everyone is still watching Einstein. Very interesting.
Seems like the next logical step, and one that I could support.
+1.
I would support giving CMP teams some robot access time during which they can run through the inspection checklist and get the 'bot ready to sail through Wednesday.
Frank, can you give it some thought please? 
Theoretically, every robot will already have passed inspection at a prior event. It shouldn’t be that hard for a team to put a legal robot in the bag at the end of their last competition before it gets shipped to the Championship.
So why is it that so many robots aren’t legal when they come out of the bag once they get there? 
Legal/illegal is different to in need of repair…
Regional level inspectors are often fairly lenient in letting things slide that the majority of veteran inspectors at Champs will not let teams off the hook for.
When in doubt, blame the shipping company.
Most probably are legal but like our team for example, we have made heavy modifications to our robot the first day of championships. This includes using our witholding allowance as well as fabricating new parts and adding them to the robot. As such, the robot weight is different and some parts could be deemed unsafe or out of dimension.
Example: Last year Team 2220 cut our robot in half in the first hour or so after uncrating at Championship (not that it was a particularly good idea…)
Probably one our all time worst decisions (right after diung swerve in 2011 without ever practicing, and creating a loader using car tires in 2009).
Still, I suppose theoretically there wouldn’t be too many changes…