rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad

LSJ please explain: mandatory equipment and retainers

15 messages from 9 participants · 22 October 2003 – 27 October 2003
original thread on Google Groups

andrea

Hello until yesterday i did not know equipment use is mandatory (and i discovered it in the worst way). And now i wonder WHY? why couldn't i choose if i want to intercept using my sport bike or not? why a laptop is always on? why can't i choose to have a walk, leave my bike parked and use my senses (enhanced)? i would love to press that small button and shut off the laptop i'm using, sometimes. also retainers can't be left home? mr. wintrop please today stay home cleaning thanks.... I know, i know the rules say..... but there's a deeper reason? some balance issue? consistency problems? it seems to me so illogical, and i do not see why should be this way and not reversed. Andrea

Kevin M.

"andrea" <andrea....@infinito.it> wrote in message news:8b06c4c.03102...@posting.google.com... > Hello Hi! :) > until yesterday i did not know equipment use is mandatory (and i > discovered it in the worst way). > And now i wonder WHY? See the rulebook: [6.1.3.] EQUIP (+1 stealth) "Equipment cards are action cards that give minions special abilities." So, by definition, when you successfully equip an equipment card, you *get* those special abilities. > why couldn't i choose if i want to intercept using my > sport bike or not? [6.1.3.] > why a laptop is always on? [6.1.3.] > why can't i choose to have a walk, leave my bike parked > and use my senses (enhanced)? [6.1.3.] > i would love to press that small button and shut off the > laptop i'm using, sometimes. That contradicts [6.1.3.] unfortunately. > also retainers can't be left home? [6.1.4.] EMPLOY RETAINER (+1 stealth) "Retainers are action cards that give minions special abilities." So, by definition, when you successfully employ a retainer card, you *get* those special abilities. > mr. wintrop please today stay home cleaning thanks.... [6.1.4] > I know, i know the rules say..... It's those pesky rules again! Sorry, but the RULES are the RULES. :( > but there's a deeper reason? some balance issue? consistency problems? It sounds like YOU feel there's a deeper reason that the rules are the way they are. It's just my opinion, obviously, but instead of asking LSJ about balance issues and consistency problems, it might be more constructive to tell us about how you feel the rules should be changed, and why. > it seems to me so illogical, What *exactly* is illogical about it? > and i do not see why it should be this way and not reversed. Reversed to be... what? > Andrea Kevin M., Prince of Henderson, NV (USA) "Know your enemy, and know yourself; in one-thousand battles you shall never be in peril." -- Sun Tzu, *The Art of War* "Contentment... Complacency... Catastrophe!" -- Joseph Chevalier

Janne Hägglund

andrea....@infinito.it (andrea) writes: > until yesterday i did not know equipment use is mandatory (and i discovered > it in the worst way). And now i wonder WHY? > but there's a deeper reason? some balance issue? consistency problems? > it seems to me so illogical, and i do not see why should be this way > and not reversed. I'd wager a guess it's a balance issue. There are a lot of cards out there that say: you *may* do this. You *may* give a vampire +1 intercept. You *can* burn 1 blood to get +1 bleed. You don't *have* to use a weapon in a combat, etc. If your vamp with Mr. Winthrop is blocking an action at +1 stealth, you can't cycle that Enhanced Senses out of your hand. But if your vamp has a .44 Magnum, you don't have to use it, if you want to get rid of that Undead Strength that's clogging your hand. No, it's not realistic. But hey - how realistic is it that a vampire forgets how to use his disciplines, just because the player does not have the right cards in her hand? -- hg@ It's better to open your mouth and appear stupid, iki.fi than to hold it shut and keep thinking you know it all.

LSJ

andrea wrote: > Hello > until yesterday i did not know equipment use is mandatory (and i > discovered it in the worst way). > And now i wonder > WHY? > but there's a deeper reason? some balance issue? consistency problems? Cards in play are mandatory unless card text says otherwise. -- LSJ (vte...@white-wolf.com) V:TES Net.Rep for White Wolf, Inc. Links to V:TES news, rules, cards, utilities, and tournament calendar: http://www.white-wolf.com/vtes/

Timlagor

LSJ expounded: > andrea wrote: > > Hello > > until yesterday i did not know equipment use is mandatory (and i > > discovered it in the worst way). > > And now i wonder > > WHY? > > but there's a deeper reason? some balance issue? consistency problems? > > Cards in play are mandatory unless card text says otherwise. WHY?

Timlagor

LSJ expounded: > andrea wrote: > > Hello > > until yesterday i did not know equipment use is mandatory (and i > > discovered it in the worst way). > > And now i wonder > > WHY? > > but there's a deeper reason? some balance issue? consistency problems? > > Cards in play are mandatory unless card text says otherwise. The qustion is: WHY? My guess is that whatever you want, your minion is going to use the resources at their disposal. You are not the minion -just their controller.

LSJ

Timlagor wrote: > LSJ expounded: >>Cards in play are mandatory unless card text says otherwise. > > WHY? Card text. [ quoted text not captured ]

Colin McGuigan

Timlagor wrote: > WHY? The example I think of is Writ of Acceptance. Think about what could be done if you have a, say, Sabbat Cardinal with a Writ of Acceptance that is non-mandatory. The controller of this vamp would be able to determine, at any given time, if it was a Sabbat or Camarilla vampire. Said Cardinal can call a Praxis Seizure (being a Camarilla member), and then immediately cast three votes for (being a non-Camarilla member). Afterwards, the vamp could play cards requiring a Cardinal, and cards requiring a Prince. Or, the Cardinal could nip down to eat at the Hungry Coyote while being immune to Protect Thine Own. Etc. As for +1 intercept/+1 bleed, I'd wager that it's simply to keep it in line with inherent abilities, or other card effects. Ozmo can't refuse his +1 bleed, nor can the recipient of a superior Pulse at some point down the road refuse the +2 bleed. --Colin McGuigan

andrea

LSJ <vte...@white-wolf.com> wrote in message news:<3F9655EE...@white-wolf.com>... > andrea wrote: > > Hello > > until yesterday i did not know equipment use is mandatory (and i > > discovered it in the worst way). > > And now i wonder > > WHY? > > but there's a deeper reason? some balance issue? consistency problems? > > Cards in play are mandatory unless card text says otherwise. so it is just to keep coherence between all the different types of cards you can play? well......OK i still find it inconsistent storywise but....OK Thanks Andrea

andrea

"Kevin M." <you...@imaspammer.org> wrote in message news:<1jrlb.33249$Rd4.20357@fed1read07>... > > I know, i know the rules say..... > > It's those pesky rules again! Sorry, but the RULES are the RULES. :( > > > but there's a deeper reason? some balance issue? consistency problems? > > It sounds like YOU feel there's a deeper reason that the rules are the way > they are. It's just my opinion, obviously, but instead of asking LSJ about > balance issues and consistency problems, it might be more constructive to > tell us about how you feel the rules should be changed, and why. > > > it seems to me so illogical, > > What *exactly* is illogical about it? > thanks for using your time writing a very long mail and saying nothing new. probably i was not clear...i know the rule(from yesterday) and i can accept it from a game point of view not from a story point of view if you imagine hugo on a sport bike he can decide if he wants to use it or not. i was wandering if this is a rule that is a result of deep reasoning or just a construction on older ruling. even more as there was a time when the ruling was reverse LSJ 1998/01/27 said "since using equipment is always optional" http://groups.google.com/groups?q=laptop+optional+group:rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&group=rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad&safe=off&selm=34CDE4AD.2781%40wizards.com&rnum=1 (BTW when did the rule changed?) and don't say "the RULES are the RULES!" as if that is true then we would still play with the repeat action rule or with the "more than one political card" rule Andrea

Colin McGuigan

andrea wrote: > thanks for using your time writing a very long mail and saying nothing > new. > probably i was not clear...i know the rule(from yesterday) and i can > accept it > from a game point of view not from a story point of view > if you imagine hugo on a sport bike he can decide if he wants to use > it or not. Not any more illogical than Gilbert Duane not being able to become Lost in the Crowds unless he's blocked, or Stanislava not being able to have a Skin of Rock even when no one's punching her. Certainly not any more illogical than Arika being able to use her Majesty sometimes and not others, depending upon what cards you have in your hand. =P --Colin McGuigan

VTES2004

andrea....@infinito.it (andrea) wrote in message news:<8b06c4c.03102...@posting.google.com>... [ quoted text not captured ] We as players often lose sight of the original thematic reason that minions are unruly. You are controlling the minions indirectly. Having a minion telling Mr. Winthrop is too fine a (non-combat) control over that minion.

Kevin M.

andrea <andrea....@infinito.it> wrote: > "Kevin M." <you...@imaspammer.org> wrote in message > news:<1jrlb.33249$Rd4.20357@fed1read07>... > >> > I know, i know the rules say..... >> >> It's those pesky rules again! Sorry, but the RULES are the RULES. >> :( >> >> > but there's a deeper reason? some balance issue? consistency >> > problems? >> >> It sounds like YOU feel there's a deeper reason that the rules >> are the way they are. It's just my opinion, obviously, but >> instead of asking LSJ about balance issues and consistency >> problems, it might be more constructive to tell us about how >> you feel the rules should be changed, and why. >> >> > it seems to me so illogical, >> >> What *exactly* is illogical about it? >> > thanks for using your time writing a very long mail and saying > nothing new. You're welcome. > probably i was not clear... You were perfectly clear. Your English is good. I'm glad all you European folks know my language, so that we can have a good time discussing our favorite game! :) > i know the rule(from yesterday) and i can accept it from > a game point of view not from a story point of view Come on, Andrea. You're smarter than this. You have been around reading this newsgroup for long enough. You have seen LSJ state OVER and OVER and OVER that the rpg and corresponding backstory is secondary in consideration to the consistency and rationality of the ccg. > if you imagine hugo on a sport bike he can decide if he > wants to use it or not. See above. > and don't say "the RULES are the RULES!" as if that is > true then we would still play with the repeat action rule > or with the "more than one political card" rule How in the heck did you come to THAT conclusion? :) I wasn't talking about the rules from the Jyhad days. When talking about "the RULES are the RULES" we are obviously talking about the CURRENT rules. [ quoted text not captured ]

Noal McDonald

"Kevin M." wrote: > andrea wrote: > > i know the rule(from yesterday) and i can accept it from > > a game point of view not from a story point of view > > Come on, Andrea. You're smarter than this. You have been around reading > this newsgroup for long enough. You have seen LSJ state OVER and OVER and > OVER that the rpg and corresponding backstory is secondary in consideration > to the consistency and rationality of the ccg. This should, perhaps, be stated a bit stronger. V:TES is a card game. V:TES is NOT a story. If you want a story, read a book. You do not play characters. If you want to play a character, go get your dice, paper & pencil and go play a RPG. The reason that equipment was ruled non-optional in the 7/7 rulings was to close a number of loopholes. For example, if equipment was optional, Ozmo with a Laptop could survive a Justicar Retribution and then go on bleeding people for 3. For another, a vampire with a Sport Bike could play an Enhanced Senses to cycle a card even though they didn't really need to. (The practice of limitless card cycling for the sake of doing so is not generally encouraged by the rules.) If memory serves me correctly, even the NJL agreed with LSJ on this issue back in the day. I don't recall anyone having an problem with it. > > and don't say "the RULES are the RULES!" as if that is > > true then we would still play with the repeat action rule > > or with the "more than one political card" rule > > How in the heck did you come to THAT conclusion? :) I wasn't talking about > the rules from the Jyhad days. When talking about "the RULES are the RULES" > we are obviously talking about the CURRENT rules. Quite. Never mind that those changes were made for the same reason that equipment was made mandatory; game balance and consistency. Regards, Noal

CurtAdams

andrea....@infinito.it writes: >until yesterday i did not know equipment use is mandatory (and i >discovered it in the worst way). >And now i wonder WHY? I notice you got a number of answers that boiled down to "because", which doesn't answer your question. Somebody else mentioned balance issues but IMO the big reason is there's currently no mechanic in the game to turn equipment off and on. The interactions of that kind of thing with other events can create a lot of timing issues and there's just no reason to put up with a blizzard of extra rules and rulings for a minor "storyline" benefit. Curt Adams (curt...@aol.com) "It is better to be wrong than to be vague" - Freeman Dyson