RE: Requesting Other GM's Opinions
"Adam Kuehn" <[email protected]> Tue, 17 Jul 2007 09:34:51 -0400
| Newsgroups | gmane.games.diplomacy.cat23.gm |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
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Trout wrote:
> The
> question that seems to divide everyone though is which side
> of the fence you fall on - is an incorrect unit designation
> invalid or ambiguous.
There's absolutely nothing ambiguous about it. "F Lon" is not the same unit
as "A Lon".
The real problem is what to do with it. Everyone knows it is an easy
mistake to make, and it is even easy to overlook when proofreading. Humans
just aren't very good at that level of detail. We tend to see the "Lon",
because that is the part receiving the action, and we overlook the unit type
because we know perfectly well that the unit is not changing. So just
because "A Lon" is an unambiguous reference, does that mean we should treat
it as invalid if we can see that "F Lon" is the unit actually on the board?
There's no pat answer to that question. It is a judgment call, pure and
simple. The rulebook itself doesn't resolve the question adequately (as
many debates on this list have shown). The rulebook talks about "illegal"
orders, and "order[s] which admit[] of two meanings", and legal orders that
are "badly written" but have only one meaning. But it never actually says
that an unambiguous order must ALWAYS be interpreted precisely as written.
Therefore, this is something house rules should cover so that players know
what to expect. If a player receives the house rules, screws up anyway, and
then moans and groans about it...well, perhaps that player should have found
a different game to begin with. I don't have much sympathy for them.
I really think you've done everything you could in this situation. (I tend
toward the "strict constructionist" camp, myself, but I seem to be in the
minority.)
-Adam
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<p>Trout wrote:<br>
<br>
> The <br>
> question that seems to divide everyone though is which side <br>
> of the fence you fall on - is an incorrect unit designation <br>
> invalid or ambiguous.<br>
<br>
There's absolutely nothing ambiguous about it. "F Lon" is not the same unit<br>
as "A Lon".<br>
<br>
The real problem is what to do with it. Everyone knows it is an easy<br>
mistake to make, and it is even easy to overlook when proofreading. Humans<br>
just aren't very good at that level of detail. We tend to see the "Lon",<br>
because that is the part receiving the action, and we overlook the unit type<br>
because we know perfectly well that the unit is not changing. So just<br>
because "A Lon" is an unambiguous reference, does that mean we should treat<br>
it as invalid if we can see that "F Lon" is the unit actually on the board?<br>
<br>
There's no pat answer to that question. It is a judgment call, pure and<br>
simple. The rulebook itself doesn't resolve the question adequately (as<br>
many debates on this list have shown). The rulebook talks about "illegal"<br>
orders, and "order[s] which admit[] of two meanings", and legal orders that<br>
are "badly written" but have only one meaning. But it never actually says<br>
that an unambiguous order must ALWAYS be interpreted precisely as written.<br>
Therefore, this is something house rules should cover so that players know<br>
what to expect. If a player receives the house rules, screws up anyway, and<br>
then moans and groans about it...well, perhaps that player should have found<br>
a different game to begin with. I don't have much sympathy for them.<br>
<br>
I really think you've done everything you could in this situation. (I tend<br>
toward the "strict constructionist" camp, myself, but I seem to be in the<br>
minority.)<br>
<br>
-Adam<br>
<br>
</p>
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