Should Top Defense be eliminated?

[joseki]

Adding a poll to see what we all think.

[albpilot]

How bout a follow on poll when this is done to see if top defense should be arbitrarily and illogically limited to the front 3 squares?

[AP]

I don't play many boardgames, so I am not sure if this is 'normal', but in any other games do people just arbitrarily decide to change the rules? The whole notion of creating new rules seems a bit much. If there is a question about the interpretation of the rule, the game creator is still actively involved in the game...why not just go to the source instead of endlessly arguing about it?

[albpilot]

cubsfan4life said:

I don't play many boardgames, so I am not sure if this is 'normal', but in any other games do people just arbitrarily decide to change the rules? The whole notion of creating new rules seems a bit much. If there is a question about the interpretation of the rule, the game creator is still actively involved in the game...why not just go to the source instead of endlessly arguing about it?

After 20 years, do you think something as silly as referring to the creator will cause someone to give up a dearly held position? ;D

[joseki]

cubsfan4life said:

I don't play many boardgames, so I am not sure if this is 'normal', but in any other games do people just arbitrarily decide to change the rules? The whole notion of creating new rules seems a bit much. If there is a question about the interpretation of the rule, the game creator is still actively involved in the game...why not just go to the source instead of endlessly arguing about it?

Thanks Andrew I am sooooo going to enjoy replying to this.

Since I moved down to Arizona in 1990 and met my current gaming group I have talked with and argued rules with the designer of every game I've become attached to and won a few battles. Our most infamous night we called WOTC and argued rule interpretation on a card of Magic the gathering. I went first and in talking to the guy convinced him that I was right. My roomy Dan talked to him next. He made an equally compelling argument and was ruled correct. I got back on the phone and asked what had happened, listened to the response and refuted it. I was right again. Dan got back on the phone applied similar steps and he was found right again. The guy told us both to do something anatomically impossible and hung up. All in all a quality night. We both threw our cards away and have not played magic since.

Now for more fun. If you remember at the mini-con in one of the tournament games(think it was the open) we had all flown to the edge of the tournament box. At the beginning of the next turn "The game designer" said and I quote. "Oh lets move the box."

Every voice in that room yelled back, and I quote again. "You can't move the box."

Mike went on to explain that 'the box' was just an artifice to keep the combat located in one area and that as we were all within 5 squares we could move the box to put the combat in the middle without effecting anything. I think the comment I enjoyed most was "I've bounced off the box you can't move it."

In the end the box was not moved.

OK that being said. It does happen in other games and. Have you tried to nail down Mike on rule clarifications?