June 17, 2007 - As Blogged on My BGG Blog

Things I Just Don't Understand on the BGG
Why are some games split and others not. Why are there 354165432^2 editions of Monopoly and yet there isn't a separate listing for the Decennial edition of El Grande. There was, prior to the game coming out, but then they got merged. That makes no sense whatsoever. My version of El Grande is very different from someone with the original. Not a small difference, like German vs English printing. If I list El Grande in a math trade, what is the first thing that will get asked? Which edition?

There are all kinds of inconsistencies like this on the geek. How about Twilight Imperium? This has 3 listings - one for each version. This makes sense, since the versions are substantially different. Cosmic Encounter does not, despite the vast differences between the Eon, Mayfair and AH/Hasbro versions.

How about Ave Caesar? The original has different maps than the new release. QJett is essentially the same game as the original, but the pieces and theme make it really different - should it have a separate entry? Why not? Monopoly does.

What about Hoity Toity? It and Adel Verpflichtet are lumped together, despite different publishers, packages, and contents (including the fact that HT plays 6 players). It is a different game - why not allow it its own entry?

The new Age of Steam has a new entry (3rd ed), yet the first and second editions are still lumped together (ok I know, 1st and 2nd were really just printings with a few minor corrections, so this is ok). But if the changed rules etc for AoS3ed warrant its own entry, why not Conquest of the Empire? The re-issue of Conquest is pretty different (in nearly every way) from the original Milton Bradley Game Master version.

I guess if I had a choice, I would vote that editions of the game that are different (i.e. not a reprinting with corrected rules or including the scenarios on the internet ala C&C:Ancients or Twilight Struggle) should have their own entry. Let us list our collections correctly. As for the language question (is this the English, German, or Dutch printing of Union Pacific?) - maybe the entries should have a some sort of additional metadata so when I list C&C:Ancients, I can select 2nd ed, or I can select English on my copy of Traders of Genoa.