Re: Star Grunts Point System (Beware flame war erupting...)

At 06:33 PM 5/27/97 -0400, Alexander Williams wrote:

>YOU may be paying him so, but not not suppose to presume what *I* am
>giving my hard earned dinar to Jon for.
>
>I've invested in DSII and SGII for reasons entirely unrelated to the
>absence of a point system in a negative sense; its absence actually
>/encourages/ me to invest more, because I know I won't have to deal
with
>the munchkin min-maxers turning what should be an enjoyable game of
>complex forces into an act of the accounting gods.  I give Jon money
>because I think his system is /excellent/, smooth running and
intuitive.
>I do it because SGII doesn't look down its nose at my intelligence, it
>presumes I have a brain-cell or two to rub together and don't need my
>hand held for every little thing.
>
>In short, I give Jon money because I find his games are for the
>'thinking man', not the point-allocating power trippers, because I have
>great fun playing his much deeper game, and I have no interest in
>pandering to the lowest common denoiminators.

	I don't have the time to sit down and do the point analysis of
weapons effects, movement, etc.  I spend enough of my time in High order
mathematics as it is.  I pay game designers to write and evaluate good
game
designs.  The games should be well design, smooth in operation and have
done
the complex algebra required to ensure that value of units mean what
they
are rated for.
	This gives me a common mathematical language to use to evaluate
a
scenario without having to examine the die types, expected values
maneuverability ratings and Skirtosis in the rules mechanics to then
generate a scenario.  Give me a thumb nail point system and then I can
take
into account all the other variables we've been talking about.
	Some of us have a living to make and do not have the time to
waste
to generate a common standard to start from before making the myriad
adjustments required.  If you don't want to use the point system, then
please ignore that portion, it took up a whole two pages in DSII...
	If you don't want to play against the power point players, etc.
Then don't play them.  There is far more room for abuse in an open
mathematical system than in a closed one.
	Phil Pournelle