@Black_Elk:
I think L. Hoffman et al, that you are missing the point of the names I suggested and Wild Bills comment, and I don’t see how this is in any way confusing or bucks tradition of the other games…
Well as far as I know, production facilities have only ever been called Industrial Complexes. Switching them over to Factories (in written rules) endorses a full name change. The Halifax rules do not stand on their own, meaning they are a modification of existing rules and reference back to those existing rules. Changing the naming convention in the rulebook is very different from whatever colloquialism different players might use during gameplay. So, yes, I do believe it deviates from tradition… if only in print and not in spirit. This is a minor point perhaps, but consider if Halifax were to become the basis for a future A&A official rule set… I doubt that Larry would alter the naming convention that has been used for the past 30 years in favor of something entirely new (even if it doesn’t change how the units work).
Maybe this is splitting hairs, but it is just my thought… please do not take it as only for the sake of argument.
@Black_Elk:
The point is that the words “Factory” and “Industrial Complex” are synonymous. They have always been synonymous in every A&A game since classic. If you try make them mean different things all of a sudden you will confuse people.
Well, no, they really are not. I think YG already explained his conception of the term “Industrial Complex” which is near to the true meaning. For strictly game purposes, either term could be used and I know that some people call them factories or industrial complexes interchangeably… but this does not mean that the definitions are interchangeable or that the words themselves do not have different connotations. If we want to get into linguistics… a factory implies an isolated and singular building where production takes place (i.e. small, focused and not widely developed). An Industrial Complex implies an undefined number of multiple production elements grouped together in a large and expansive conglomerate. At least, that is what it says to me.
@Black_Elk:
We don’t need to over think this…
Major Factory Major Industrial Complex
(Normal) Factory (Normal) Industrial Complex
Minor Factory Minor Industrial Complex
This is the only wording that doesn’t require you to change definitions. The confusion I am worried about is not that people won’t know how to refer to the units on the gameboard (trust me they will all call them whatever they usually do). I’m concerned more about rules references for consistency. In other words, I don’t want a house ruleset that refers to things in different ways than other rulesets.
Well, if you cannot control what other people call them, you have just the same amount of control over how they refer to or change the terms in their house rule sets. And if they are all called factories… that just goes back to my point above that it would do a disservice when refering to the ultimate rule set: the Official A&A rules.
The rules that you, we, YG, whoever creates can be just as specific and clear as they need to be if they are written that way. I would say that by having two different categories of production facility (small factory, large factory, Industrial complex) (or factory, Minor IC, Major IC) it will force people to be more specific in what they call them. It will foster that distinction between bigger and smaller and the perhaps tactical implications of each.
@Black_Elk:
Ps. This is not the most important issue ever, since its just a reference name, but it is relevant. How about this, just put the number in front of the name.
10 Factory (Major)
5 Factory (normal)
3 Factory (Minor)
Synonymous with…
10 Industrial Complex (Major)
5 Industrial Complex (normal)
3 Industrial Complex (Minor)
Let the numbers lead, then for shorthand, you can Refer to them as 10s, 5s, and 3s, Major Minor, small medium large, or whatever you want, since the numbers make it crystal clear in the rules description which value is attached to each.
This is a perfectly fine method for clarity’s sake, if rather uninteresting. As a shorthand for the game it would probably work well, but it might be a little more confusing to read in a rulebook.
Anyway, I have submitted my opinion and my reasons. I am fine leaving it at that.
–- Is this naming convention going up for a vote, or is the overlord of the thread just going to decide?