[ASLML] Scenario Balance

[Bruce Probst]

On Mon, 1 Mar 2004 12:17:33 -0600, Tate Rogers <gr27134 at charter.net> wrote:

>Bidding for sides using balance merely gives the advantage to the guy who has experience with the scenario.

That might be true *if* one of the players has experience with the scenario
and the other doesn't.  But then, if one player has experience with the
scenario and the other doesn't, he automatically has the advantage even when
the scenario is played straight-up.

If *neither* of the players has experience with the scenario, then bidding
tests the abilities of both players to analyse a scenario card and determine
whether they can win it even if they sacrifice something.  The better player
will probably bid higher (and thus give up more).

If *both* players have experience with the scenario, again bidding will
probably favour the "lesser" player (since the "better" player will probably
be willing to give up more).  (If the scenario is a complete howler, and
both players know it, it's unlikely that it will be played at all.)

>I never use any balance. I prefer the agree and dice method.

So do I, but trashing the bidding system completely is nonsense.  It *can*
be used to shark, but there's no requirement that it *must* be so used (and
the more balanced the scenario is to begin with the harder it is to use it
to shark).  More normally, it's used to test a player's abilities.

(Note the difference between "bidding" and "balancing".  "Balancing" says,
one of the two sides needs help to make it a fair fight, assuming that both
players have equal skills.  Bidding says, I think I can give up this much
and still win.  Different viewpoints -- balancing is about the scenario,
bidding is about the player's opinion of his own skills.)

----------------------------------------------------------------
Bruce Probst              bprobst at netspace.net.au
Melbourne, Australia      MSTie #72759
"It's like a Warhol movie, only kind of weird."
ASL FAQ              http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/mantis/ASLFAQ