Obvious Rule Patch: Difference between revisions

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[[File:7_4358.jpg|link=Magic the Gathering (Tabletop Game)|right|[[Self Deprecation|Yes]], this is an [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=9771 official card.]]

[[File:7_4358.jpg|link=Magic the Gathering (Tabletop Game)|right|[[Self-Deprecation|Yes]], this is an [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=9771 official card.]]

]

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Compare and contrast [[Nerf]]. May, if the situation is enough of a corner case, result in [[That One Rule]].

== Board Games ==

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** The worst examples of this in Yu-Gi-Oh are Yata-Garasu and the two Envoys. All of the other cards on the Forbidden list are pivotal in combos; these three cards were banned just because they were ''[[Game Breaker|that broken]]''. Not helping the Envoys' case is a rule known as priority, which allows the player to activate their effects (which can normally only be activated at times when the player could activate a Normal Spell) immediately when they're Summoned, before the opponent has the chance to activate cards that would destroy them.

*** Following the introduction of the Xyz monsters in the game, the OCG and TCG had their priority rulings patched to prevent people from calling priority on Ignition monster effects.

** Green Baboon, Defender of the Forest, is another monster with an unusual [[Obvious Rule Patch]] story; its effect allows you to pay 1000 LP to summon it from your hand or graveyard if a Beast-Type monster you control is destroyed, but too many duelists were exploiting that effect by bringing it out by purposely suiciding their Beasts in battle. As such, Konami arbitrarily decided its effect can't go off, if the Beast monster was destroyed by battle. This significantly weakened the monster's power and caused many duelists to declare [[They Changed It Now It Sucks]], but there's a twist to the tale; shortly after the ruling was implemented, guess what came out? A new monster, with the ''exact same stats'' as the original Baboon (and even named ''Yellow'' Baboon, ''Archer'' of the Forest), and the ability to summon itself from the hand if a Beast you control is destroyed by battle. Nice way of covering your ass there, Konami...

** Green Baboon, Defender of the Forest, is another monster with an unusual [[Obvious Rule Patch]] story; its effect allows you to pay 1000 LP to summon it from your hand or graveyard if a Beast-Type monster you control is destroyed, but too many duelists were exploiting that effect by bringing it out by purposely suiciding their Beasts in battle. As such, Konami arbitrarily decided its effect can't go off, if the Beast monster was destroyed by battle. This significantly weakened the monster's power and caused many duelists to declare [[They Changed It, Now It Sucks]], but there's a twist to the tale; shortly after the ruling was implemented, guess what came out? A new monster, with the ''exact same stats'' as the original Baboon (and even named ''Yellow'' Baboon, ''Archer'' of the Forest), and the ability to summon itself from the hand if a Beast you control is destroyed by battle. Nice way of covering your ass there, Konami...

** Also, the "Archfiend" cards, an issue resulting from [[Bowdlerize|bowdlerization]] of card names. In the Japanese version, several cards used the word "demon" in their names, and this word was changed into a bunch of different words in the initial American releases: "Demon's Summon" became "Summoned Skull", "Demon's Axe" became "Axe of Despair", and so on. This worked fine until a series of cards that dealt with "demon" cards started to come out, so a ruling had to be issued to declare "Archfiend" as a "special category of card" which included all the cards that had "demon" in the Japanese name. From then on, "demon" would always be translated as "archfiend".

** With the recent release of Xyz Monsters, there was a brief period where there were very few written rules about how they actually work - one key problem was the fact that the monster used for Xyz Summoning stayed on the field until "detached" by an effect. Fine, but when does "leave the field" effects trigger? [[Word of God]] said when detached, and ''all hell broke loose''. Two already powerful cards got so absurdly broken that a copy could easily fetch well over 100 dollars. Konami quickly made an rule change: These cards ''never'' trigger their effects because they aren't treated as cards anymore. It's just as weird as it sounds.

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School Rule No.148 : Regardless of how persuaded he feels, Jelks Minor in Form IV is a boy.<br />

School Rule No.149 : Arguing over the wording of school rules is forbidden. }}

** This is surely a [[Historical in Joke]] referring to Lord Byron. He wanted to keep a dog when he was at Cambridge, but school rules forbid it. He inspected the rules carefully and found there was nothing prohibiting [[~~Everythings~~ Worse With Bears|pet bears]], so he got one. It's unknown when Cambridge applied the highly-necessary patch.

** This is surely a [[Historical In-Joke]] referring to Lord Byron. He wanted to keep a dog when he was at Cambridge, but school rules forbid it. He inspected the rules carefully and found there was nothing prohibiting [[Everything's Worse With Bears|pet bears]], so he got one. It's unknown when Cambridge applied the highly-necessary patch.

* In 2008 when the State of Nebraska tried to implement a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safe-haven_law Safe Haven Law] it neglected to notice that its definition of "children" included anyone 18 or younger which resulted in 36 teenage children being driven in from out of state and abandoned at Nebraska hospitals. The law was patched to exclude older children later that year.

* In 2010, the polar bear was granted the status of Threatened under the Endangered Species Act...with a rider attached by Secretary of the Interior stating that the bear's new status couldn't be used to sue oil companies or greenhouse gas emitters (arguably, the two biggest threats to the species). The environmental activist organizations that had planned to do just that were not amused.

* In many places, there are obsolete, oddly specific, and/or downright weird laws that are still on the books, many of which are clearly patches created due to some [[Noodle Incident]] or another. One has to wonder what prompted lawmakers in San Francisco to prohibit [http://www.dumblaws.com/laws/united-states/california?page=80 elephants from strolling down Market Street unless they're on a leash or wiping one's car with used underwear.]

* The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Fantasy_Award_for_Best_Short_Fiction World Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction] is an extremely prestigious award intended for short stories, but was originally only defined as "speculative fiction under 10,000 words". That is, until 1991, when the judges selected [[Neil Gaiman]] and Charles Vess' "A Midsummer's Night Dream" issue of [[The Sandman]], which (horror of horrors) ''[[What Do You Mean ~~Its~~ Not Heinous|is a comic book]]''. The World Fantasy Convention sniffily [[Executive Meddling|changed the rules]] almost immediately, relegating any future graphic novel submissions to the Special Award: Professional category. This means the [[The Sandman]] is the only comic book that ever has or ever will win this particular award.

* The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Fantasy_Award_for_Best_Short_Fiction World Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction] is an extremely prestigious award intended for short stories, but was originally only defined as "speculative fiction under 10,000 words". That is, until 1991, when the judges selected [[Neil Gaiman]] and Charles Vess' "A Midsummer's Night Dream" issue of [[The Sandman]], which (horror of horrors) ''[[What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?|is a comic book]]''. The World Fantasy Convention sniffily [[Executive Meddling|changed the rules]] almost immediately, relegating any future graphic novel submissions to the Special Award: Professional category. This means the [[The Sandman]] is the only comic book that ever has or ever will win this particular award.

** According to Gaiman, "It wasn't like closing the stable door after the horse had gotten out, it was like closing the stable door after the horse had gotten out and won the Kentucky Derby."

* In 2011, UK supermarket chain Tesco ran a promotion that if whatever they had happened to be cheaper at its competitor Asda, they will pay you double the difference (e.g., an item that costs 8 pounds but is only 5 at Asda would earn you 6 pounds). However, the difference in prices could be big enough that shoppers would get back more money than they spent. Naturally, many [[Genre Savvy|savvy]] shoppers exploited this by finding products they didn't even need but potentially gave them the biggest profit and using that to do their actual grocery shopping. Tesco had since put the difference cap to 20 pounds.

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* In ''[[GURPS]]'', it is possible to enchant a pair of permanent Gate spells and then arrange them to create a perpetual motion machine using electromagnetic principles that could then be tapped for an unending mana supply. (Click the link in the subtopic below if you're curious as to technical details.) However, due to the various components required, this would need a setting where both modern science existed, magic existed, and the Draw Power spell from ''GURPS Grimoire 3e'' specifically existed. In the one GURPS setting where this is canonical (''GURPS Technomancer''), three guesses which spell has an entire sidebar devoted to explaining how it specifically does not exist. Hint: Four-letter word, begins with "G".

** This probably had something to do with the fact that David R. Pulver, the writer of ''Technomancer'' [http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.frp.gurps/browse_frm/thread/f65e43a91c0ee511/5f5ba1346c6a7203?hl=en#5f5ba1346c6a7203 participated/lurked in a Usenet thread] where the "Infinite Mana Well" construct was first proposed... at the exact same time ''Technomancer'' was in final playtest.

* In ''[http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/05/11/090511fa_fact_gladwell?currentPage=6 The Trillion Credit Challenge]'' (using [[Traveller]]), contestants had to purchase and field a fleet of ships to do battle with other fleets. Doug Lenat fed the parameters of the tournament into a computer (in 1981) which suggested that instead of sending in a balanced fleet of carriers, battleships, cruisers, and so on, he should instead build thousands of tiny patrol boats. He won in a rout - though he took incredible losses, he overwhelmed his opponents through sheer numbers. The organizers then made their first [[Obvious Rule Patch]] - they added 'fleet agility' as a parameter for the following year's tournament. When Lenat entered again, his computer used much the same strategy with one change - whenever any of his ships was damaged, they would ''sink themselves'', which kept the average mobility of the fleet up. The organizers then made their second patch - tell Lenat that it was weird to have his unorthodox plans keep winning (since, after all, they relied on ordering millions of men to knowing suicide) and say that if he continued to enter, they would [[Stop Having Fun Guys|stop holding the tournament]]. Lenat then bowed out gracefully.

* In ''[http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/05/11/090511fa_fact_gladwell?currentPage=6 The Trillion Credit Challenge]'' (using [[Traveller]]), contestants had to purchase and field a fleet of ships to do battle with other fleets. Doug Lenat fed the parameters of the tournament into a computer (in 1981) which suggested that instead of sending in a balanced fleet of carriers, battleships, cruisers, and so on, he should instead build thousands of tiny patrol boats. He won in a rout - though he took incredible losses, he overwhelmed his opponents through sheer numbers. The organizers then made their first [[Obvious Rule Patch]] - they added 'fleet agility' as a parameter for the following year's tournament. When Lenat entered again, his computer used much the same strategy with one change - whenever any of his ships was damaged, they would ''sink themselves'', which kept the average mobility of the fleet up. The organizers then made their second patch - tell Lenat that it was weird to have his unorthodox plans keep winning (since, after all, they relied on ordering millions of men to knowing suicide) and say that if he continued to enter, they would [["Stop Having Fun!" Guys|stop holding the tournament]]. Lenat then bowed out gracefully.

* The rules for creating abominations in [[Old World of Darkness|old]] ''[[Old World of Darkness|World Of Darkness]]''. Briefly: if you attempt to turn a werewolf into a vampire, the werewolf gets a skill roll. He wins, he dies peacefully. He loses, he dies horribly but his soul is free. He [[Critical Failure|botches]], he becomes an abomination, essentially a walking [[Game Breaker]] balanced out by [[Heroic BSOD|crippling depression]]. Since there are all sorts of abilities in ''tWoD'' that can cause a skill roll to fail or critically fail, the editors in Revised Edition state that nothing short of divine intervention can affect the roll <ref>except the werewolf spending a Willpower point for an automatic success; this is the "in-character" thing to do</ref>.

* ''[[Pathfinder]]'' is basically a tweaked ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]] 3.5'' and (to make up for an initial lack of content) was said to be compatible with 3.5 which lead to some game breakers. They tend to fix these by introducing their own version of the feat/skill/class ability/prestige class. Especially noticeable with spells. The Irresistable Dance spell used to be a no save incapacitation spell. Now, it allows a save though even those who make it have to dance uncontrollably for one round.

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* In an early release of ''[[Battlefield 2142]]'', it was entirely possible for two soldiers with nothing better to do to destroy their own Titan (and thus force their team to lose the round) by forcing a transport through the floor of the hangar bay and into the Core.

* ''[[Eve Online]]'' has had several updates that were borderline Obvious Rule Patches. However, the patch that prevented carriers from transporting loaded cargo ships was a glaringly Obvious Rules Patch.

** Similarly, nowadays [[Hand Wave|graviton harmonics]] prevent [[Stop Having Fun Guys|players]] from taking a 3000m^3 cargo container that holds 3300m^3 of cargo... and putting another 3000m^3 container that holds 3300m^3 inside it leaving 300m^3 of free space. With enough cargo containers you could once haul an entire solar system's worth of ore in a single, moderately sized and priced ship.

** Similarly, nowadays [[Hand Wave|graviton harmonics]] prevent [["Stop Having Fun!" Guys|players]] from taking a 3000m^3 cargo container that holds 3300m^3 of cargo... and putting another 3000m^3 container that holds 3300m^3 inside it leaving 300m^3 of free space. With enough cargo containers you could once haul an entire solar system's worth of ore in a single, moderately sized and priced ship.

* A fairly obscure item from ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' called the Luffa would remove any bleed effect. A boss over 20 levels later would put a hefty bleed dot on raid members at fairly regular intervals. Everyone would equip their Luffa and make Moroes a total joke. The next patch put a spell level cap on the Luffa ie. you couldn't remove bleed effects over level 60 anymore.

** Then there's the infamous Corrupted Blood incident from the release of the Zul'Gurub dungeon, which gained enough notoriety to be mentioned in major news media as an example of how populations reacted to the spread of communicable disease. In a nutshell, an exploit of a boss encounter allowed a pet who acquired the debuff to be dismissed and then resummoned in a populated area, instantly spreading it to everyone in the vicinity and decimating entire cities as a result. It was patched several days later so the debuff could not exist outside of the dungeon.

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[[Category:Game Tropes]]

[[Category:Obvious Rule Patch]]

[[Category:Trope]]

[[Category:Trope]][[Category:Pages with comment tags]]