[ASLML] FG's are just plain wrong...

[Bruce Bakken]

>
> >I have been compiling a list of those who have expressed one viewpoint 
>over
> >another in this issue.  Here are the numbers I have as of 1:28 EST, 
>United
> >States:
>
>Good heavens, Bruce, I hope you're not being so naive as to include only
>those who've made public statements about it on the ASLML.  No-one could
>seriously take that as being indicative of anything.
>

I have stated more than once that one cannot draw firm conclusions based 
upon the data I have collected.  However, surveys are a time-tested method 
employed by social scientists, and meaningful conclusions can be inferred 
from even the smallest sample.

The sampling I have compiled can be seen as very significant, not only for 
the numbers they represent (an usually high response rate by ASLML 
standards) but also by the views expressed in them.

>No, I based my "apparent majority" statement on my experience with the
>dozens of people I've played FTF, through e-mail and various private
>comments I've received

Every player from both sides of the issue has said the same thing.  "I play 
it this way, and I don't know anyone who plays it differently."  To me, that 
is just another indication that this is no small difference of opinion.

>as well as supporting comments from people such as
>J.R. and Sam who collectively have played many more folks than I have.

Each side is equally supported using this method.

>Also, I strongly doubt that Perry would have answered the question the way
>he did if *he* had any perception that "lots of folks do it different".
>

This is speculation on your part.

Perhaps Perry has been surprised to learn how many players have taken a 
different path to interpretation than he has?  Perhaps if Perry had a true 
inkling that there was such an apparently large split on the issue, he might 
have taken more time?

>I'll concede that more people have been playing it incorrectly than I would
>have initially assumed (given how straightforward the rule is).
>

"Straightforward" is a purely subjective term, and can be discounted as a 
means of argument.  Each side believes the rule is straightforward.  I would 
suggest that it is not straightforward from either perspective, because a 
logical argument can be made for either case.

>What's very strange is how *every* ASL player regularly and consistently
>goes "gee, I've been playing that rule wrong for ever, you learn something
>new every day"; it's a well-known normal ASL phenomena.  And yet, on this
>issue, those who have been playing it wrong seem completely blinkered on 
>the
>issue and determined to deny that they could possibly have misunderstood
>anything.  Very odd indeed.
>

It is this very phenomenon which has gotten my attention.  Since I landed in 
the ASLML, this is by far the most devisive and vocal issue.  Maybe it *has* 
come up before, so what?

This issue in question is not Falling Rubble landing in a Bridge, or 
Bypassing Passengers attempting to Unload into a Fortified Building and 
being tele-transported three hexes away.  Those effects may occur perhaps 
once in 500 *games*, if that.

This issue is more fundamental: it involves DR and DRM, the very essence of 
ASL.  The determination of DRM may occur 500 times in *one scenario*.

An objective analysis of the situation would suggest that it will require 
much more than an *unofficial* Perry Sez to resolve this issue.  I have been 
careful since the publication of Perry's opinion to not argue that either 
belief is correct, or that I don't agree with Perry's decision.

Rather, what I have been trying to demonstrate is the ineffectiveness of the 
"Perry Sez" method of rules dissemination.

Regards,
Bruce Bakken


>----------------------------------------------------------------
>Bruce Probst              bprobst at netspace.net.au
>Melbourne, Australia      MSTie #72759
>"A planet where apes evolved from men?"
>ASL FAQ              http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/mantis/ASLFAQ
>

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