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TimS comments on Open Thread, December 1-15, 2012 - Less Wrong Discussion
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Comments (177)
Hey, I resemble that remark!
Although the actual practice of law is about as rules-lawyer-y as programming a computer. More than the average person has any reason to be, but the purpose is precision, not being a jerk.
I contest that loophole exploitation and leaving room for doubt and interpretation is equivalent to being a jerk.
In real life? Legal and factual uncertainty favors the unjust (particularly those with power in the current status quo who desire more power). And even institutional players who would want to be unjust make game-theoretic decisions about whether they prefer cost certainty or greater upside (and variability).
But in RPG environment? It depends a far bit on whether the goals of the other players are Gamist, Narrationist, or Simulationist. Playing the munchkin in an Narrationist environment has significant jerk potential.
Not if, like in Harry Potter And The Natural 20, you postulate that you the characters have an innate, total knowledge of the source-book, and that these are to them as the laws of physics are to us. Exploiting them to the utmost becomes a matter of common sense and enlightened self-interest. Also, their psychology becomes strangely inhuman and quite interesting; it's, essentially, xenofiction rather than fantasy.
Or gives legal institutions flexibility to deal with the case-by-case problems the original legislators could never have thought of. I'm thinking of the US Constitution as an instance of that, which was left deliberately as vague as possible so that it could be used for centuries and by all kinds of different ideologies. Countries that have written constitutions that were too specific have found themselves having to change them more frequently, as they became obsolete more rapidly. Am I right, so far?
I'm not sure what advantage deliberately unclear rules provide when there are legitimate methods to modify the rules and the processes to change rules can be invoked at any time. If your social governance lacks sufficient legitimacy to change the rules, the specificity or vagueness of the current rules is the least of your problem. And if rules can be changed, certainty about results under the current rules is a valuable thing - as multiple economists studying the economic value of the "rule of law" will attest.
Knowing the laws of physics better is a great way to be more powerful. But be careful about distinguishing between what the player knows and what the character knows. If character doesn't know that +1 swords aren't worth the effort, but +2 swords are great values, then having the player make decisions explicitly and solely on that basis (as opposed to role-playing) can be very disruptive to the interactions between players or between player and GM.
That is true in Real Life. But, in the world of, say, Dungeons and Dragons, believing that you can run and cast a spell at the same time, or down more than one potion in the span of six seconds, is tantamount to insanity; it just can't be done. The rules of the game are the laws of physics, or at least the most important subset thereof.
Your comment on rules is very interesting. Every time the topic came up, the citizens of those United States of America have been bashing me over the head with the common wisdom that the rules being flexible and accommodating, and therefore not requiring to be changed or rewritten, is a wonderful thing, and that the opposite would be a source of political and legislative instability. And that's when they didn't call the much more frequently-changed constitutions of European countries "toilet paper".
I think the reason US citizens care so much about keeping things the way they are is that they have allowed a great deal of regional diversity within the Federation, and creating a clearer, more modern, more specific set of rules would be a dangerous, complex process that would force outliers into convergence and create tons of resistance and a high chance for disaster. It's no coincidence that constitution changes in Europe and other places have come from fighting (especially losing) wars that involve their own territory, getting invaded by foreign powers, or having a revolution. The US haven't had any of these things since... the war with Mexico?