April Fool ... or not

[paulg]

As some will know, I am married to one of the top Scrabble players in the world. Like most bridge players they take their game very seriously. They view most of the non-tournament scrabble-playing public with the same regard as a tournament bridge player looks at those playing Snap.

 

So on Sunday it was announced that Mattel were going to permit proper nouns in Scrabble. The reaction of the tournament scrabble playing community was interesting:

1. Denial - this is an April Fool that is a few days late
   
2. Panic - the item was run on the BBC News and Scrabble players were contacted by their local media
   
3. Horror - it is actually true!
   
4. Pacification - Mattel say that is a 'new' version of the game
   
5. Sense - who is going to provide the list of permitted words for this new game?
   
6. Complete and utter panic - Mattel will not have a rule about what words are permitted
   

The danger for the Scrabble community is that the 'new' version of the game will effectively relegate their game to the 'classic' genre - how will that last?

 

I guess this is akin to introducing a fifth suit to the pack of cards. How would we react?

 

Paul

[gwnn]

when I am at my Grandma's she always plays with proper nouns. She knows outrageous 'rural nicknames' and exotic islands from the S Indian Ocean so I stand no chance. Even with no capital letter words I only beat her once.

[vuroth]

Not a huge fan of unenforceable rules. On a related story, I'm changing my firstborn's middle names to Zx Xz Jz Zj Jx Xj Vzxj Qvxj Qx Xq Qz Zq

[WellSpyder]

on Sunday it was announced that Mattel were going to permit proper nouns in Scrabble. The reaction of the tournament scrabble playing community was interesting:

1. Denial - this is an April Fool that is a few days late

...

I saw a short story on this in my paper this morning and my first comment to the person I was with is that this has to be an April Fool that accidently got carried over when they ran out of space. Fortunately I'm only a once-a-year social player not a tournament player, so it doesn't really matter to me.

[jdonn]

Hate this change. It is blurring the line between any combination of letters at all being acceptable and not.

[Gerben42]

I hope the international Scrabble federation will now proclaim their word list as official and renounce any Mattel rules. I mean just because they have the copyright doesn't mean they get to call the rules...

 

Besides, how can you check if Qax (Azerbaijan) isn't a proper noun?! Okay it's often spelled Qakh but who is counting.

[paulg]

I hope the international Scrabble federation will now proclaim their word list as official and renounce any Mattel rules. I mean just because they have the copyright doesn't mean they get to call the rules...

I think it does if you want to call it a Scrabble tournament.

 

In practice, the tournament game rules and tournament dictionary are written by the Scrabble players and then endorsed by Mattel.

[gwnn]

Can you actually change your kids' names? I mean it sounds plausible at a few days' age if you made some typo but it shouldn't be allowed at, say, 14 (even though that sounds like a powerful weapon in the arsenal of a displeased parent).

[kenberg]

I hope the international Scrabble federation will now proclaim their word list as official and renounce any Mattel rules. I mean just because they have the copyright doesn't mean they get to call the rules...

I think it does if you want to call it a Scrabble tournament.

 

In practice, the tournament game rules and tournament dictionary are written by the Scrabble players and then endorsed by Mattel.

 

Maybe it could be called the tournament formerly known as Scrabble.

 

 

Honestly I can't see why Mattel would want to play hardball here. Surely it is in their best interest to have a high profile tournament and if the organizers want to use the earlier rules, why on Earth would Mattel want to say nay? If they do, then you say neigh (scores better I assume) and call it something else.

 

 

I have, by the way, played six suited bridge. For some reason it did not catch on.

:) :unsure:

[Echognome]

Seems it's not as bad as thought:

 

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-20001840-52.html

 

Well, lest you worry that, in fact, the sky is falling, the good news is that it's not. According to John Williams, the executive director of the American Scrabble Association, the news is just not true. Williams said in a phone interview that what's happened is that Mattel, which owns the rights to Scrabble in England, is going to release a completely new version of the game there called Scrabble Trickster, in which anything goes, including the use of proper nouns, spelling words backwards, stealing letters, and so on.

 

That seems more like introducing goulash in bridge. Or playing versions where 2 is highest and A is lowest or where you pass your cards to the left. They are amusing, but won't be considered anything serious for the game.

[Gerben42]

I played 6-handed bridge. That was fun, although you quickly overbid with so few cards.

[Phil]

I played 6-handed bridge. That was fun, although you quickly overbid with so few cards.

Bridge with jokers? mmmmm.

[paulg]

NewsBiscuit ("The news before it happens ...") news streamer is running the tag line that the "Kyrgyzstan riots sparked by news they still won’t be recognised under new Scrabble rules."

[pooltuna]

I played 6-handed bridge. That was fun, although you quickly overbid with so few cards.

Bridge with jokers? mmmmm.

nothing new there as this seems to adequatedly define most of my pickup partners