[MUD-Dev] Re: let's call it a spellcraft

[Caliban Tiresias Darklock]

On 02:37 AM 9/27/98 -0500, I personally witnessed Vadim Tkachenko jumping
up to say:
>
>The problem with D&D (or AD&D, for that matter) is (was, I've read your
>next message) is that it's not actually a set of _rules_, rather a set
>of _exceptions_ from rules (IMHO). It lacks consistency and resembles a
>very heavy legalese. It's impossible to formalize.

Not impossible, just very very difficult. There's a saying that I heard
many years ago which I think may quite possibly be the best general rule on
design I have ever come across: "If you have too many special cases, you're
doing it wrong."

It should be pretty evident that AD&D did virtually everything wrong. Which
leads to the basic tenet of marketing I quote so often, "It is better to be
first than to be best; if you're the best, someone can always come along
and be better, but if you're the first -- you're ALWAYS the first." ;)

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Caliban Tiresias Darklock <caliban at darklock.com>   | "I'm not sorry or 
Darklock Communications <http://www.darklock.com/> |  ashamed of who I 
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FREE KEVIN MITNICK! <http://www.kevinmitnick.com/> |  - Charles Manson