Subject: Re: Proposed 6E rule changes Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1998 08:05:29 PST From: Chris Warren To: MTG-STRATEGY-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM Wade Wilson wrote in response to my 3-page reply: >I have little time to research the rules. I would like to see the >game simplified so that I won't have to spend hours learning the >rules. >Anything they could do would be great. I think you missed what I was saying. My point was that the game's so intricate just due to the cards that unless we change it to C-23, you'll NEVER be able to have a complete understanding of it without putting in some hours. Is that a bad thing? No, not really. Look at wargames. There's Risk, and then there's something like Third Reich. I love Reich as a game, there are a lot of terrific strategic and tactical tricks and maneuvers. The strategies aren't immediately obvious and springing something new on your opponents can be amazingly fun even if it fails, just to see their faces, plus even tried and true plans, if you fall back to them, can hinge on a single random chance. The game takes hours and hours to learn both all the rules and how to play really well, and you learn by losing. Sound familiar? Then, there's Risk. The family will play it, and though there are certainly strategic elements to it, it's boiled down so far that the choices are pretty clear-cut, and you don't have much latitude for really innovative play or anything. But that's fine, since some people don't want to learn to play Third Reich. It's a game. This is where we're at. To carry the analogy further, I think it comes down to this: The players of Third Reich don't want their game boiled down to Risk. Not because they want to close out Risk players, but because, in general, a more complex game tends to carry a more complex rules system by necessity. The fear is, if you try to play Third Reich with a 3-page rulebook like Risk -- you're playing Risk. Magic's a little different since casual players CAN play the game in its native form with a little work. I think the crux is, the rabid players don't want the game moved from what made it so interesting to them in the first place for the benefit of the casual players who could just play Portal and be almost as happy. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com