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From: mkinyon@peabody.iusb.indiana.edu (Michael Kinyon)
Subject: Re: Who's best/worst at I-F?
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References: <Pine.SGI.3.93.960424115314.4195A-100000@ebor.york.ac.uk>
Date: Thu, 25 Apr 1996 15:49:44 GMT
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In article <Pine.SGI.3.93.960424115314.4195A-100000@ebor.york.ac.uk>,
Den of Iniquity  <dmss100@york.ac.uk> wrote:
>Then this person, having accumulated scores (as percentages of the maximum
>score) by numerous people on many adventures can try to figure out some
>averages and declare the world's greatest and world's most amateur
>adventurer                                                 ^^^^^^^

One minor quibble: using the modern meaning of "amateur", I believe none
of us are paid to play these games, so I'm not sure how one of us could
be more "amateur" than anyone else.  (OK, now everyone who plays games
while at work can jump in make some crack.)  Even using the original meaning 
of the word, it does not connote the idea you are trying to convey.

How about "lousy"?

>Obviously this is yet another one the
>playtesters can't enter, the poor dears.

*sigh* the sacrifices we make....  In fact, one reason I got hooked
on playtesting is that I am a lousy player (as authors who have had to
bail me out of fixes can attest).   In fact I started testing in earnest
in the belief that the only way I could convince an author to give me
a hint was to trade a bug report.  Later I discovered that most authors
of the nonZarf persuasion are more than willing to give a nudge, but by
then I was addicted to trying to break things, so it was too late.

>I'm only doing this so I can say conclusively that I'm worse than
>everbody else...

I'm glad you act on the basis of well-founded principles.  In any case, 
I don't see what harm your idea could do, so modulo working out the details, 
why not?

-- 
Michael Kinyon                  | email: mkinyon@peabody.iusb.edu
Dept of Mathematics & Comp. Sci.| http://sun1.iusb.edu/faculty/mkinyon/
Indiana University South Bend   | phone: (219)-237-4240
South Bend, IN 46634 USA        | fax:   (219)-237-4538
