Comments by JamesSpratt

Hi, David:  Looks like that took care of it.  I'd forgotten that trick;
sorry to be so slack, and thanks.

Sh-SHAY, Roberto!!! *hic!*  Th-THAT sh-shoundsh like a WI- *hic!* WINNER!! 
B-but Ah'll B-BETCHA we *hic!* cudnen--cudddnnn--*hic!*--CUDDENT play it
HERE!!  F-F-FERGUSH wud SHMACK ush!! *hic!*  WOONCHOO, F-Fergush??!!??

SSHAY, you call that a Q-Q-QUEEN??!!?? I thought*hic!*hic!!* QUEENZHZH wur
s'pose ta be sh-*hic!* sheckshy!!!....

(THUMP!)

I think 'feminized' pieces, or entire teams, even, are a pretty cool
idea, and in keeping with the open-minded spirit of our times.  I've had
people ask me for just the female counterparts to make a whole female side
for my Jetan-Sarang sets (there's a link to the graphics etc. in the
alphabetical index under Je), so that one side would be all females.  
I made counterparts for all the male pieces, naming them by just dropping
the final consonant on the male names, and empowering them with slightly
different but similar moves, e.g., Than (male) moves two orthogonally, and
Tha (female) moves one OR two orthogonally, based on the theory that male
and female have different survival strategies which average to equal in
the long run. Panthan (male pawn) does not move straight backward, but
Pantha (female pawn) does, with no loss of face; we understand the
differences and forgive them, y'see. Girls have one bag of tricks to help
them get through life, and guys another, different set of assets, and
that's that. The overlap is that we're all playing the same game, which
you might call 'Seeking Pleasure and Avoiding Pain,' or 'Stiff-Arming
the Reaper'.
  As long as we remember it's a game, vive les differences, sez I, and
anyone who gets hot about gender issues can take it somewhere else, as far
as I'm concerned; I don't see it as a war that anyone wins.
  Pink works well with black, white and gray; four good connotations to
counterpoise--happiness, evil, purity and doubt.

Stock?  Board?  Bank?  Doesn't sound very chessy to me...
War's more fun. (Hey, call me simple, I don't mind...nyuk...)

Hi, Gary:  I think I know what you mean with the 'pink' business. 
Someone wanted me to do some doll-heads, hands, etc., and after seeing the
doll-show, it dawned on me that they're overdoing their gender roles, in
the same way macho tough-guys overdo theirs, and I feel some revulsion for
it, sort of like they're trying too hard to be what they have no choice
about anyway.
  Thanks for the kudos on Sarang; I put a lot of work into that whole
thing, and still am.  I think I'm still in a couple of games of it here,
too, if someone would make a MOVE!(Yeah, I know it's new and tricky..)
  Big Suzie sez she's decided not to beat you up after all, you MCP
you...(har-de-har-har!)

I filed for a copyright for my Chess for Three game, and it was returned
'Denied.'  The explanation was that since the board is a geometric
shape, it can't be copyrighted (as opposed to other board-games whose
boards contain artistic graphics,like, say, Risk or Monopoly) the precise
text of any particular version of a rules page can be copyrighted,
although its intellectual content can't, and the sculptural patterns of
the pieces physically produced in 3d can, although their moves cannot.
I don't see anything wrong with just giving something to the world once
in a while; share the joy!

Just an observation on how the page-changes at the comments lists are
defined:  I note that 'previous' comments are actually the newer ones,
and that going from old to new comments seems backwards, and it seems to
me that this might be confusing to newcomers.  What would be wrong with
'Newest Comments' and 'Previous Comments?'

'Any up to four pieces within a 'box' formed by any four cells may move
in concert with the seniormost piece--the 'leader'--moving as he does in
his normal move and landing in the same position relative to him at the end
of the move.  Only the 'leader' must be clear to move, and the others
travel under his auspices for that move.'

I call it the Squad Move, and I think it's a lot of fun. If properly done
it enables compound captures and sudden, nasty surprises.  It works well in
Imperial and Jetan-Sarang, but I think those games have so many unknown
pieces in them that many people are hesitant to try them, so how 'bout in
a game everyone knows already?

Would anyone like to try it with standard Chess, or maybe Double Chess? 
We'll have to find a preset that doesn't enforce rules.  Any takers?

Thanks, Joe.  Yeah, you do get kind of fond of a few of those little
Barsoomians, especially some of the little Barsoomianettes.  I think ERB
would approve, and am glad you do, too. I like highly-detailed graphic
icons, although I realize they're not essential to play.

Tony put up several presets for Jetan a while back, and we rassled with
the colors for a black-and-orange board with black-and-orange figures as
an alternate board (which really should be the official first preset) and,
although it's not filled out yet, I think it's stunning.  It's there in
the Alphabetical Index under Jetan presets.  The mapboard is a real 2' x
3' board I made for the 4-inch sculpted set, painted as a map of ERB's
Mars.  If you mean adding more decorative Mars-Art graphics, I might do
some around the border sometime, kinda low-key so's not to distract.

Thanks again for the positive rating, too!

I just moved twenty-seven pieces in one legal move.  Twenty-seven. 
Twenty...Seven.  WHUMP! and they're out there. (Jetan-Jeddara on GC.  Now
Tony's gonna whip my butt.  Maybe.)

I made a three-player game a while back, and the same things apply as to
any more-than-two-player game--the King need not respond to 'check' (it
may not be his TURN next,) the King may go 'suicidal,' (interpersonal
play ALWAYS causes weaker players to gang up on a strong one, and you
might trust the following player not to take advantage of your King's
exposed condition,) and the pieces of a 'dead' King must be dealt with
somehow.
It hadn't occurred to me to remove the dead King's pieces; I decided to
let them remain as obstacles, capturable at leisure as required by the
surviving players (on a real table it's fun to have a bigger stack of
'prisoners',) and actually your 'pandemonium' which ensues by removing
the dead King's pieces would be quite exciting, and in a way, for him, a
revenge from the grave. 'Kill ME, huh?!  Well, here's some confusion for
ya, ya dogs!' What fun. Good idea and thanks for it.

Hi, Roberto:  That Puerto Rico game sounds very interesting; is the
metaphor based upon a new land to be plundered/'developed,' and how do
the end-games tend to run? I mean, is it zero-sum, like winner-take-all,
or could it leave two players in balance? 
I wonder if it's in stores around here (NC/USA).

Aw-w, c'mon, guys; de gustibus non disputandum est.

Hi, Roberto:  Thanks for all the info on 'Puerto Rico.' I can see why the
American market might be slow to pick it up-- but then that may be from
ignorance of it, not sensitivity. Maybe I'll see if Walmart's got it:-)
'Evolver' sounds a lot like 'REvolver,' and with such a powerful
program I'd want to know for sure which way it's pointed before hooking
into it; with my none-too-sophisticated user skills, maybe I'd better
google around on it some more.

Well, y'know, we can all get hot sometimes about things we care about;
welcome to humanity.

Shucks, now I'll have to take back all the rotten things I said about you
to my cat.  That's so sad because it confuses him, and when he gets
confused he's hard to deal with; he already thinks I'm a sap. (smilie)

Roberto, I went to the local Walmart store, which is the biggest department
store in this town and on earth, I'm told, and was advised that they do
not carry the Puerto Rico game, which is the #1 game on earth.  I find
that to be very odd, wonder why, and now am even more curious about it.
(This particular store brings in so much money that the city police
department put a branch office in the building; states are actually
altering their laws to accommodate the chain, I hear.)
Veritas semper vincit, doesn't it?

Hi, Joe; interesting, my brother's VOMA Greensboro, finishing out 30;
didn't want to go management because he likes his soul too much.
Kitty says he's allergic to you, too; three dogs! Fer shame..
Dogs have masters, cats have staff.
Hey, how 'bout a 'Postal Chess' variant?  Lessee, pieces are the
Inspector, Supervisor, Letter Carrier, Mailbox Lurker, Mean Dog and
Wild-Eyed-Laid-Off-Just-Divorced-Guy-With-An-AK.

I'm inclined to agree with you, Joe.  We're all our own judges of
comments and games anyway, and it's actually a plus that person X
actually says anything, good OR bad, qualified or not.  I say let's give
'em all a chance to say what they feel, good or bad, qualified or not. 
The exchange is more important than any one specific item that is
exchanged.