Comments on: Changing the Rules http://www.game-ism.com/2010/07/09/changing-the-rules-2/ game critique. game design. game development. game culture. Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:51:22 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.4 By: David http://www.game-ism.com/2010/07/09/changing-the-rules-2/comment-page-1/#comment-9159 David Sat, 10 Jul 2010 15:40:30 +0000 http://www.game-ism.com/?p=546#comment-9159 At the heart of your argument (and why I enjoy reading your column) is the point that "if there is unacceptable play, discourage it through rule (or enforcement) changes." Personally, I've always thought those two rule changes you highlight would strongly discourage diving; that sentiment probably comes from my love of Hockey as that sport employs these rules. FIFA has attempted to punish diving by increasing the penalty if it is called: an automatic yellow card. That doesn't help one bit as it still requires the referee to be perfectly placed and with eagle-eye vision to recognize a dive instead of a foul. Player's will count on the fact that the referee is halfway across the field and obstructed by other players. There's no way one ref can fully supervise 22 players to that level of detail. Either increase the power of the linesmen or add a second referee. Just like in Hockey... At the heart of your argument (and why I enjoy reading your column) is the point that “if there is unacceptable play, discourage it through rule (or enforcement) changes.”

Personally, I’ve always thought those two rule changes you highlight would strongly discourage diving; that sentiment probably comes from my love of Hockey as that sport employs these rules.

FIFA has attempted to punish diving by increasing the penalty if it is called: an automatic yellow card. That doesn’t help one bit as it still requires the referee to be perfectly placed and with eagle-eye vision to recognize a dive instead of a foul. Player’s will count on the fact that the referee is halfway across the field and obstructed by other players. There’s no way one ref can fully supervise 22 players to that level of detail.

Either increase the power of the linesmen or add a second referee. Just like in Hockey…

]]> By: Daniel http://www.game-ism.com/2010/07/09/changing-the-rules-2/comment-page-1/#comment-9158 Daniel Sat, 10 Jul 2010 05:31:21 +0000 http://www.game-ism.com/?p=546#comment-9158 I actually really enjoyed <a href="http://www.bogost.com/blog/there_are_no_blown_calls.shtml" rel="nofollow">Bogost's thoughts</a> on the flawed refereeing recently, and I think it paints FIFA's stubbornness to include video replays and the like in a different, more interesting light. "In some situations, you can do everything right, and you still can get screwed." I really bizarrely like this idea in sport - football is undeniably a sport with much of its appeal based around drama or the pure aesthetics of play, given both the Brazilian <i>joga bonita</i> and Dutch <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2259911/" rel="nofollow"><i>totaalvoetbal</i></a> ideals of play, not to mention some of the more theatrical referees over the history of the game. In that sense, I disagree with your stop the clock suggestion - there is something enjoyably imprecise in the nature of football, and one of the purest expressions of this is the estimation of play time. However, I don't think your delayed penalty idea is a bad one - despite my thoughts on the agreeable unfairness of football above, I do think that much more should be done to discourage diving in the sport. It is a blight on the game and I would enjoy football so much more if it were routinely played with a spirit of honesty on behalf of the players. I actually really enjoyed Bogost’s thoughts on the flawed refereeing recently, and I think it paints FIFA’s stubbornness to include video replays and the like in a different, more interesting light. “In some situations, you can do everything right, and you still can get screwed.” I really bizarrely like this idea in sport – football is undeniably a sport with much of its appeal based around drama or the pure aesthetics of play, given both the Brazilian joga bonita and Dutch totaalvoetbal ideals of play, not to mention some of the more theatrical referees over the history of the game.

In that sense, I disagree with your stop the clock suggestion – there is something enjoyably imprecise in the nature of football, and one of the purest expressions of this is the estimation of play time. However, I don’t think your delayed penalty idea is a bad one – despite my thoughts on the agreeable unfairness of football above, I do think that much more should be done to discourage diving in the sport. It is a blight on the game and I would enjoy football so much more if it were routinely played with a spirit of honesty on behalf of the players.

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