Obtuse rulebooks

Silent Disapproval Robot · July 23, 2015, 06:22:35 PM

I finally received my copy of Empire of the Sun, 2nd Ed about a week and a half ago and I've been working my way through the rulebook since then. I would hate to see how muddled the rulebook for the first edition is because the 2nd edition rulebook is one of the worst I've seen in a long time. Firstly, there are an embarrassing number of typos, spelling mistakes, and examples of poor grammar. This isn't really a big deal but it just goes to show the overall lack of effort to come up with a well designed set of rules.

The game starts of with a glossary of terms and abbreviations but it's incomplete. One of the key components of the game system is amphibious transport and assault. The rules keep referring to ASPs but they don't bother to define what an ASP is (Amphibious Shipping Point) until halfway through the rulebook. They then go on in the same paragraph to explain how many ASPs it costs to move certain types of units but don't explain how many ASPs each side gets or how they are replenished until 6 pages later.

There are almost no examples of play and very few illustrations. There are many types of counters that come with the game but only a few are even referenced so I have several different markers but no idea what they're meant to be used for. Others are explained, but the explanation is buried deep within the rules. For example, air units have two numbers for movement, normal range and extended range. On some counters, the number indicating extended range is in parenthesis, on others it is not. It turns out that those units whose number is in parenthesis cannot make an attack if they use extended range movement while those without parenthesis can. This information is basically just mentioned in passing in the middle of a 14 point, multi-page explanation on how offensives work.

I haven't seen a manual this poorly laid out since the days of AH's Third Reich.

Anyone else got any good examples of poorly designed rules?

Ubercat · July 23, 2015, 07:02:00 PM

Lock and Load. Although LnL might have fixed that by now. They're under new ownership.

That's bad news about EotS. I received my copy a few weeks ago but haven't tackled it yet. I've been giving OCS: Reluctant Enemies and Unconditional Surrender: Europe priority.

And, God Damn, did I hate 3R. That was my 2nd most anticipated war game as a teenager after Europa: FitE. I walked around 2-3 miles to my FLGS to buy it and was so let down.

BanzaiCat · July 23, 2015, 07:04:05 PM

I had Empire of the Sun for the longest time, but never played it - I sold it on eBay to someone in Germany last year or so. Thankfully I didn't get to see that kind of a mess.

IMO, if one is going to communicate in a written medium, then they damn sure well better know how to spell and put sentences together. People that cannot do that have no business being anywhere near Word, InDesign, or any other type of writing implement. Those kind of egregious errors in a manual of instruction are ridiculous, and in a game manual, unforgivable.

Once long ago, I ordered "Trader Captains and Merchant Princes" from FASA. When it came, half the pages were double-printed, several were blank, and at least a third of the content was missing. That really pissed me off and was one of the worst things manual-wise to happen to me. I think I still have it, because the company never responded to my calls or letters. I still get angry just thinking about it - how the hell they could let something that bad out the door, just makes no sense.

Third Reich gave me all kinds of headaches as a kid, but I plowed stubbornly through it. Probably part of what has made me so anal about writing and technical writing.

Bison · July 23, 2015, 07:10:58 PM

I agree with LnL's manual. Horrid.

Pinetree · July 23, 2015, 09:29:15 PM

I still remember the arguments people had with Mark Walker on Consimworld over rule interpretations in the LnL rulebook when Forgotten Heroes came out in '03. I'm hoping the living rulebook will be much better.

LongBlade · July 23, 2015, 10:56:55 PM

Quote from: Pinetree on July 23, 2015, 09:29:15 PM
I still remember the arguments people had with Mark Walker on Consimworld over rule interpretations in the LnL rulebook when Forgotten Heroes came out in '03. I'm hoping the living rulebook will be much better.

I love Mark Walker.

He is, however, a Shoot-Ready-Aim developer. He needs a second to help adjust windage.

GJK · July 24, 2015, 05:45:04 AM

I sold "Day of Heroes" because I just could not get through that rulebook. I blamed it on having been stuck on ASL for so long. I regret it now as I'd love to play that thing and I understand that there's a "user friendly" version of the rules on the that Geek site somewhere.

Even worse is anything written by Richard (Dick) Berg. Look at any of his ramblings on facebook and you'll see why. I refuse to own or even play anything done by that guy.

That's a shame about the rulebook for EotS as that is supposed to be one of the "classics" for WW2:PTO. It would be interesting to see if the quality of writing declined from the first edition to this one or if it was mostly a straight reprint.

TacticalWargames · July 25, 2015, 11:35:27 AM

Examples of play for me are very important. Find it much easier tio learn a game when it has alot of examples in the rule book.

Silent Disapproval Robot · July 25, 2015, 11:40:27 AM

As I get older and stupider, I find that I pretty much have to set up and play through the game on my own before things start to click.

The designer of Empire of the Sun has a few videos up on YouTube that help clarify some things but he gets excited and sometimes forgets that he's trying to explain the rules and just starts blitzing through things without proper explanation.

Bison · July 25, 2015, 12:36:00 PM

I can identify with what you're saying SDR. I don't really "get" more complex games until I put them out on the table look at the map, fiddle with the pieces, read the cards, and whatnot.

panzerde · July 27, 2015, 06:34:45 PM

I'm grateful for the number of games that have Youtube play-throughs now. It helps a ton to lay out the pieces and play around with them, but I really find things clicking when I can watch one of those videos.

Nefaro · July 28, 2015, 08:46:42 AM

I'm halfway through the Genesis rules and I gotta say - it is one of the better rulebooks I've seen from GMT, or any other wargame company for that matter.

While it doesn't have the complexity of some "mega" wargame, it's also not the simplest. This one is not only structured well but also uses just the right amount of verbosity to be clear & concise without too much minutiae, rambling, or related rules displaced in different sections. Yet still has plenty designer's notes and examples. It just makes logical sense. A notable improvement over the Pax Romana rules, in which even the revised version seemed a bit of a scattered mess.

I've been impressed with how easy it's been to read the Genesis manual, in small bits. I would best describe it as "efficient" as far as wargame manuals go. Sure, there is a page and a half on army Interception (for example) but it makes sense and isn't difficult to pick up by the way it's written.