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The sausage factory

Posted By: Phil Simborg
Date: Tuesday, 4 June 2013, at 1:07 p.m.

In Response To: The sausage factory (David Rennie)

Often discussions about rules, ethics, and other things we consider important start to sound like a discussion of how many angels can fit on the head of a pin, but those of us who really want to have rules that make the game friendly but very fair, easy to understand, and eliminate, as much as possible, disagreements that can lead to an unpleasant experience, get a lot out of these discussions.

If you read every post in this thread, you will see that some people had misconceptions about what the rules were, are now, and why they need to be what they are. You will also see that as one of the authors of the rules, I got a better understanding of how the rules should be written to avoid some misunderstandings, and I even got a comment that pointed out something important that we forgot to cover in the rules (that turning the cube should be treated the same as if you roll regarding your accepting or rejecting an opponent's illegal move).

Very new ideas, like allowing the dice to land on the checkers was immediately rejected by people who didn't fully know that the intent of the new rule is that with dimpled checkers it's still okay, even if the dice are on a slight slant, and if a die is clearly between two checkers or on edge between a checker and the board, it is still considered cocked.

Now, I know there are many who could care less about getting into lengthy, in depth discussion about the rules, and they can simply ignore the thread. When I am out for dinner with friends and they begin talking at length about the latest gossip about movie stars or what is happening on a TV show I don't watch, I put a nice smile on my face and think about how I am supposed to play a second roll 2-2 at gammon-save after my opponent has pointed with 6-4. I doubt they would be very interested in what I am thinking!

From this thread I have more insights and more opinions, and if I hope to have a positive influence to make things better, it helps to hear the opinions of others, and I know of no other place than this forum to discuss issues with highly-knowledgeable people who truly care about the game.

Personally, I don't know how any serious player is not extremely interested in what the rules are and should be. What the rules are, and how they are interpreted and applied, is a major factor in our ability to enjoy the game, and we have all been distracted far too long by rules that were unnecessarily ambiguous or that put us into ethical dilemmas about whether we should or should not enforce them on ourselves or our opponents. Many of those problems are either solved or at least diminished by Pat's new rules. Of course, many will not agree...we will NEVER have complete agreement....but discussions like this help us all understand each others point of view. (I even respect the idiots who don't agree with me!)

Messages In This Thread

• Rules Breakthrough in LA
  Phil Simborg -- Sunday, 2 June 2013, at 11:12 p.m.
  • Rules Breakthrough in LA
    BenF -- Sunday, 2 June 2013, at 11:31 p.m.
    • Rules Breakthrough in LA
      Phil Simborg -- Sunday, 2 June 2013, at 11:57 p.m.
      • Rules Breakthrough in LA
        Steve Mellen -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 1:34 p.m.
  • Rules Breakthrough in LA
    Bill Riles -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 12:07 a.m.
    • Rules Breakthrough in LA
      Phil Simborg -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 12:27 a.m.
  • Rules Breakthrough in LA
    Bob Koca -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 1:04 a.m.
    • Rules Breakthrough in LA
      Bill Riles -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 1:10 a.m.
      • Rules Breakthrough in LA
        Phil Simborg -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 1:34 a.m.
        • Rules Breakthrough in LA
          Bob Koca -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 11:25 p.m.
      • Rules Breakthrough in LA
        Chuck Bower -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 4:54 p.m.
        • Rules Breakthrough in LA
          Bill Riles -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 5:57 p.m.
          • Rules Breakthrough in LA
            Bill Riles -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 5:59 p.m.
        • Rules Breakthrough in LA
          Bob Koca -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 11:19 p.m.
  • Rules Breakthrough in LA
    Michael Petch -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 1:08 a.m.
    • Rules Breakthrough in LA
      Phil Simborg -- Tuesday, 4 June 2013, at 1:30 a.m.
  • Rules Breakthrough in LA
    Art Grater -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 2:36 a.m.
    • Rules Breakthrough in LA
      Sam Pottle -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 8:22 a.m.
      • Rules Breakthrough in LA
        Art Grater -- Tuesday, 4 June 2013, at 2:48 a.m.
    • Rules Breakthrough in LA
      Phil Simborg -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 3:09 p.m.
  • Rules Breakthrough in LA
    Ken Larsen -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 6:55 a.m.
    • Rules Breakthrough in LA
      neilkaz -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 5:42 p.m.
      • Rules Breakthrough in LA
        Bill Riles -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 5:49 p.m.
        • Rules Breakthrough in LA
          Ken Larsen -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 7:00 p.m.
          • Rules Breakthrough in LA
            Chuck Bower -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 8:07 p.m.
      • Rules Breakthrough in LA
        Dmitriy Obukhov -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 6:08 p.m.
        • Rules Breakthrough in LA
          Bill Riles -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 6:21 p.m.
          • Rules Breakthrough in LA
            Colin Owen -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 6:49 p.m.
            • +100000
              neilkaz -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 6:54 p.m.
            • Rules Breakthrough in LA
              Bill Riles -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 7:12 p.m.
          • Rules Breakthrough in LA
            Dmitriy Obukhov -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 7:51 p.m.
        • Rules Breakthrough in LA
          The Hammer -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 7:03 p.m.
          • Rules Breakthrough in LA
            Dmitriy Obukhov -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 7:46 p.m.
          • Rules Breakthrough in LA
            Phil Simborg -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 7:57 p.m.
        • Rules Breakthrough in LA
          Phil Simborg -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 7:54 p.m.
    • Rules Breakthrough in LA
      KenB -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 6:58 p.m.
      • Rules Breakthrough in LA
        Phil Simborg -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 7:51 p.m.
  • Beltway Club as well....
    Bill Finneran -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 12:28 p.m.
    • Beltway Club as well....
      Bob Koca -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 9:29 p.m.
      • Beltway Club as well....
        Wolf -- Tuesday, 4 June 2013, at 8:55 p.m.
      • Beltway Club as well....
        Bill Finneran -- Wednesday, 5 June 2013, at 1:01 a.m.
  • Rules Breakthrough in LA
    Daniel Murphy -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 6:27 p.m.
    • Rules Breakthrough in LA
      Phil Simborg -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 7:50 p.m.
  • Rules Breakthrough in LA
    Chuck Bower -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 8:03 p.m.
    • Rules Breakthrough in LA
      neilkaz -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 8:10 p.m.
      • + 1,000,000
        Bill Riles -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 8:25 p.m.
        • + 1,000,000
          Colin Owen -- Tuesday, 4 June 2013, at 3:23 a.m.
      • Rules Breakthrough in LA
        Dmitriy Obukhov -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 10:11 p.m.
        • Rules Breakthrough in LA
          Chuck Bower -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 10:27 p.m.
  • The sausage factory
    David Rennie -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 8:15 p.m.
    • The sausage factory
      Bob Koca -- Tuesday, 4 June 2013, at 3:47 a.m.
    • The sausage factory
      Phil Simborg -- Tuesday, 4 June 2013, at 1:07 p.m.
      • The sausage factory
        David Rennie -- Tuesday, 4 June 2013, at 5:18 p.m.
  • Rules Breakthrough in LA
    Daniel Murphy -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 9:02 p.m.
    • Rules Breakthrough in LA
      Bob Koca -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 9:24 p.m.
      • Rules Breakthrough in LA
        Phil Simborg -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 9:55 p.m.
        • Rules Breakthrough in LA
          Bob Koca -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 11:12 p.m.
        • Rules Breakthrough in LA
          Daniel Murphy -- Monday, 3 June 2013, at 11:45 p.m.
  • Rules Breakthrough in LA
    lenny -- Tuesday, 4 June 2013, at 4:59 a.m.