thread: 2009-04-08 : The Mechaton Campaign Rules
On 2009-04-09, David Artman wrote:
RE Increasing rewards - I'd make that a sort of "toggle" or option for campaign play, for the very reason pointed out by Ralph (and Vincent's math teacher): too much endgame reward. The early "training rounds" idea could be captured with something as simple as Skins (golf): first couple of battles are for 1x VPs, the next several are for 2x VPs, the last couple are for 3x VPs (if there's not already a mathematical certainty of victory—though that makes a sort of "narrative" out of desperate fighting to the end versus the ethics of pounding an already beaten force).
RE Gamism and honor - My basic take on that would be that following the rules is an aspect of honor, and attention to rule minutiae is a factor of (a) having the most level playing field (FAR more important, to gamist play) and (b) avoiding any excuses by the vanquished (e.g. "damned refs gave 'em the game!"). So if folks are finding minutiae unfun... well, either they haven't gotten the rhythm of play yet (where it all becomes automatic) or they don't much care if the playing field stays level. In either case, there's not much call for folks being anal penny-pinchers; and anyone who does is is clearly coming from another agenda (call it Extreme Gamism versus Meh-Whatever Gamism). And never forget that, as an agenda, competition ultimately is about gaining social recognition. If one is dickish to win, well, that sort of defeats the purpose of playing to win (almost as much as cheating does).
