On Thursday, October 16, 2003, at 10:32 AM, Alex Ferguson wrote:
> On Wed, Oct 15, 2003 at 10:31:10PM -0400, Dave Camoirano wrote:
> > Hi!
> >
> > On Wednesday, October 15, 2003, at 06:50 PM, Alex Ferguson wrote:
> >
> > > On Wed, Oct 15, 2003 at 04:17:42PM +0100,
> stephenmcg_at_....uk
> > > wrote:
> > > > That's the long and short of it - the contest ends when
> someone's AP
> > > > reach zero.
> > >
> > > Or if someone withdraws from it.
> >
> > That in itself won't end a contest. It just changes the objective.
>
> My bad, slight HW hangover here.
Trust me, I get it a lot! :-)
> Then again, I'm not at all sure this
> makes much in the way of procedural sense; as I mentioned before, my
> personal test of whether something is the 'same' contest is precisely
> whether the objective has changed -- here it explicitly has, and I'd be
> very much inclined to say it's a new contest. Granted there are cans
> of
> worms there, but...
Lots. What's to stop anyone (including opponents and other NPCs) from just saying "ok, I run away. New contest!" when they're at 1 AP. How is anyone going to actually lose unless their opponent causes them to lose their starting AP total in one swell foop?
> Needless to say it doesn't make a great deal of simulationist sense,
> and
> is also potentially a recipe for someone feeling somewhat hosed
> "gamistly" -- if you decide to withdraw from a contest because you're
> getting a hiding, if your opponent decides to 'pursue', chances are
> you'll be comparably hosed in trying to do that, too.
That's exactly why it *does* make sense from a simulationist POV. If you're getting the tar kicked out of you and are down to 2 AP, you're probably hosed no matter what. Don't forget, the 'A' in AP stands for 'advantage'. If you're that disadvantaged (backed into a corner, frex), why should you be able to just say "bye!" and get away? On the other hand, one of the the big reasons for changing the goal of a contest is to give yourself a better chance of winning. If your 'Sword and Shield Fighting' is 3W and you're losing but your 'Run Like the Wind' ability is 15W2 (and it turns out your opponent's 'Chase Down Wuss is only 6W), you probably have a decent chance of turning the tide on the contest. With a little luck (and perhaps a HP or 2), you could even end up with some AP transfers to put you into a better position and run to where you can turn around and ambush the pursuer.
Camo
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