"Rules as Written vs Rules as Intended (Rant) " Topic

"So there have been a lot of rules conundrums lately, all of which seem to be surrounding the latest Space Marines and Dark Angels releases. So many so that an FAQ REALLY REALLY REALLY needs to get released, but GW seems to be in no rush to do so.

WARNING This may be my longest post ever, so continue on if you dare…"
From main page
link

Amicalement
Armand

So…a proofreader and an editor are a good idea?

It might also be groupthink resulting from a too cozy relationship between the author and the editors and playtesters.

Not an easy problem to overcome, but humility helps.

GW shouldn't have to address every loophole power gamers would exploit outside the intention and spirit of the rules or background. Players should come to an agreement on any "obscure" parts of the rules before rolling dice. If a player insists on RAW, just walk away.

GW shouldn't have to address every loophole power gamers would exploit outside the intention and spirit of the rules or background

No what GW needs to do is write rules that are clean and that do not look like some office troll wrote them.

The only thing these rules are meant to do is get the GW Fanboyz to shell out alot of money for lousy rules.

GW has done this too many times to still be issuing half-baked nonsense. It's like they want to be FASA or something.

Over 30 years a wargamer and I've rarely encountered any set of rules which could boast a truly literate author.

It would help if rules writers knew the difference between "effect" and "affect" – and that's just for starters.

Would a proof reader be able to cope with the accepted jargon of gaming?

From a language POV, the best were always WRG. But then you have to cope with several pages of definitions, plus all those sentences which fail the 'plain English' test. Frinstance: +1 if loose order, except female camp followers in gap mode, occupying difficult terrain but not giant mushroom forests unless they have lost their Cullen mushroom-cutting devices, but not desert pygmie ski troops with crew-served GPMGs unless conducting preparatory bombardment against unshielded close order ducks on barded horses (………………and so on.)