Bug#128734: debian-policy: criteria for Games/Puzzles is not precise enough

[Chris Waters <xtifr@debian.org>]

On Fri, Jan 11, 2002 at 02:39:27PM +0100, Yann Dirson wrote:

> Games/Puzzles is defined as "tests of ingenuity and logic".  This
> definition, unfortunately, includes many board games, and some board
> games get incorrectly classified as "puzzles" (eg: g5).  A better
> definition could be given.  For example:

I don't think it's a major problem to have some overlap between the
categories.

I tend to think of "board" as being a category for traditional board
games which have been ported to the computer.  I'm not sure that g5
(my program) actually qualifies under that definition.  (OTOH, I'm not
sure it doesn't.)

> Board:
> 	games with several players, played on a board (possibly only
> 	against the computer)

Technically, no computer games are played on a board -- they're played
on a computer!  :-)

Nitpicking aside, though, if you really want to clarify things, I
would say that there are other categories more worthy of attention:

  "strategy" vs. "board"
  "strategy" vs. "simulation"
  "simulation" vs. "board"
  "arcade" vs. "tetris-like"
  "puzzles" vs. "toys"

All of these, it seems to me, have potential for ambiguity and
overlap.  In some cases, more than "puzzles" vs. "board".

As for the case of g5 (5-in-a-row), although I've never seen it played
on a board (which is why I originally put it in Games/Puzzles), I
agree that it could be played on a chess or go board, so I am willing
(and planning) to move it to Games/Board.  Which should resolve at
least part (if not all) of the current dilemma.

But as for the proposal itself, I think there's a danger in over-
specification of categories here too.  If the categories overlap, then
someone may put a program in a less-than-optimal category, but if the
categories have fixed and very distinct boundaries, then there may be
cases where something doesn't fit into *any* category.  Which, IMO, is
a worse result than the status quo.

In any case, I neither support nor oppose this proposal, but I do feel
that if we're going to do something about our categories, it should be
a little broader in scope.  Frankly, I'm more worried about the
"arcade" category, which is rather over-full on my system.

cheers
-- 
Chris Waters           |  Pneumonoultra-        osis is too long
xtifr@debian.org       |  microscopicsilico-    to fit into a single
or xtifr@speakeasy.net |  volcaniconi-          standalone haiku