SteveMartin wrote:
Personally, I still feel that it is cheating and to say that it is "a part of the culture of WSIM" is TOTALLY inaccurate. I have played WSIM often enough in game clubs and conventions and I can think of no time that I have seen members of a team holding conclave to coordinate their moves before writing out their orders.
I meant on this site. People have asked several times in the forum and in-game comments and the response (not always mine) is the same: email is fine.
You complained about the historical inaccuracy of communicating like that. I agree, but several historical inaccuracies have been raised about WSIM. To become a stickler about this one and raise it to the level of cheating is, I still contend, unfair. The whole idea of one person controlling an entire fleet in battle is silly, yet it's available.
The site doesn't ban or discourage it. If it did, I would comply and so would many others.
It's not part of BM because it makes sense that you can't talk to someone while he's flying around in another plane without a radio. Naval battles took much longer and ships could exchange some kind of rudimentary signals, so where does one draw the line?
It is, in the end, a game. There have been many threads debating historical tactics vs. game tactics. I've always argued you have to adapt game play to the game rules regardless of historical precedent, and email communication is a kind of house rule.
I would encourage anyone who wants to create games banning email, or any inter-ship communication, to do so. |