[Squirrelloid]

See, lack of accuracy is a major flaw in my eyes. its not that I want the manual to explain every possible interaction of effects, but it should give a fundamentally sound account of the rules so people playing the game understand the rules they are playing under. I realize in this game of computers where the player doesn't need to know the rules to move pawns around that its fashionable to hide rules from the player, but it really detracts from interesting play because it encourages players to do stupid things. Basically, it creates a barrier to entry that inhibits players from doing their best because they don't know what they're actually doing.

I like to know how rules of a game I am playing function, so I can plan strategies and work out tactics that work under those rules. Blind button mashing isn't very interesting in a fighting game. Running around shooting randomly isn't very interesting in a FPS. And buying units at random isn't very interesting in a war simulation game.

That fundamental aspects of the rules are poorly explained or wrongly explained in the manual only means that new players have to do the equivalent of blindly mashing buttons for their first couple of games before they have any clue what's going on - wasted time that could have been ameliorated by writing an accurate manual. So yes, i think the actual algorithms from the code for things like combat resolution should be represented in the manual somewhere, probably in an appendix, but they should be openly accessible so everyone can know.

Edit: The reference aspect of the manual is nice, but imho that should be *expected*. Call me old fashioned, but all the games I grew up with had full spell lists in the rule manual.