From: wwallace@ucrengr.ucr.edu (wayne wallace)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Re: Star Trek III Combat Simulator
Date: 30 Sep 92 20:59:57 GMT
Organization: University of California, Riverside

In article <BvB8rx.F1I@mcigate.apdev.mci.com> rmwise@mcigate.apdev.mci.com (Bob_Wise) writes:
>In article <v-dz0c+@rpi.edu> woodc@aix.rpi.edu (Christopher A. Wood) writes:
>>  And the best aspect of STIII: No rule lawyers!  It seems
>>to me that the true Rule Lawyer (tm) only has two games 
>>to play:  Champions and Star Fleet.  So I avoid them both.
>Screaming "rules laywers!" is an expression of frustration from weak minds.
>1/2 :-)
>-Bob

So let's see: a rules lawyer is bad. Not so.  Or rather, an obnoxious rules
lawyer is bad. Imagine playing let's pretend. Imagine playing ST3 combat
simulator by ignoring most of the rules and just making up battles. No
difference. The people who most often complain about rules lawyers, in my
experience, (the non-obnoxious ones. stopping the game to quibble over a
point of damage for 5 hours is BAD.) are those who have no mind for strategy
and are continually embarrassed by being around those who remember the rules
while they are unable to. The biggest refuge of such people is the referee,
to whom they plead to ignore rules in favor of fun.

Let me make the point:

In any sort of well-thought-out combat system you should not need to make up
rules, and should remember the rules from game to game. If you let the game
degenerate to who can curry the referee's favor the best, you might as well
toss the rulebook out the window instead of pretending to play a wargame.
These same people who abhor rules lawyers also want the success of a player to
depend on luck and the best die rolls instead of any real strategy. There
is nothing wrong with this if this gives you and your friends pleasure and
fun, but as a rules lawyer myself, I will not play in a game where the rules
change from session to session, and luck counts more than skill. (Exception:
occasionally people want to vegetate and play games like Wiz War and Nuclear
War. If I also want to vegetate I don't mind playing then.)

To make peace amongst a divided group (rules lawyers and "let's pretend"-ers)
you should divide the players up into seperate groups and let them play
whatever games they want. To have everyone play in the same game, both sides
should make an effort to please the other. Unfortunately, while it is easy to
go from a strategy game to a beer & pretzels game, the reverse is much harder.
Instead of nagging the rules lawyers all the time to change their ways, either
split up or learn a bit of strategy yourself. The more games you are capable
of playing, the better. Some suggested b&p games with a hint of strategy to
get you started in the skill department:

Modern Naval Battles
Cosmic Encounter
Modern Naval Battles II: Campaign Game
Battletech (this is a bit of a cash outlay, so I suggest finding some friends
who have it or play it at a con.)

If you have good experiences with the above games, and get a good sense of
move and counter-move out of them, then you too can play the tougher games
and win at them. (sometimes)

I would even add the video game Street Fighter II to the above list, as you
must be able to move and counter-move to be successful, and the variety of
moves therein is great.

As for Champions, the rules lawyers you speak of are those who abuse the
system. While a powergamer is more effective if he can easily abuse the
given game system because he's also a rules lawyer, not all rules lawyers
are powergamers. I refuse to powergame the points of a character or the
tonnage and armament of a mech. Try this simple character design for
Champions: be The Strong Guy. Buy a high strength and relevant stats, a few
skills and combat bonuses to hit, and you'll never have to look up a single
rule beyond how much damage you do and the chance you'll hit someone.
Sometimes the simplest designs are the best.

As for SFB, it really is a game of rules knowledge used to help out the
move and counter-move strategies. It does scare off many people. If rules
frighten you for some reason (maybe you're ordered around by your boss and
friends too much, so you yearn for some chaos in gaming) then I cannot help
you.

Above all, have fun, but don't stereotype the rules lawyer as a powergamer and
rules-abuser. Most importantly, if your gaming group isn't broken, don't fix
it.
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