ninjadorg wrote:

You are clearly trying to drain the life from a richly entertaining game by way of a mathematical chore.

This kind of absolutist condemning statement pops up occasionally when someone proposes a mathematical or formal thought experiment, and I find it disturbing, as if people should always have only 1 lens through which they view the world.

Is a botanist unable to appreciate the beauty of a rose simply because sometimes he analyzes roses scientifically? Do botanists try to drain the life out of beautiful flowers?

Is a painter unable to appreciate the beauty of a landscape simply because sometimes she analyzes the colors and shades and textures of the scene she is painting? Do painters try to drain the life out of beautiful scenes?

Is a novelist unable to appreciate the beauty of a story simply because they sometimes make formal outlines and lists of characters and research the meanings of words in dictionaries and check technical rules of grammar and punctuation? Do novelists try to drain the life out of fiction?

Is a wine lover unable to appreciate the taste of a nice wine due to thinking about what ingredients must be in it, or how long it might have fermented?

Etc etc.

Many people enjoy geeky analysis and thinking formally about game systems. If you personally are not into that, then cool... but please don't assume that others who doenjoy it are unable to enjoy and appreciate other aspects of games (especially when they themselves explicitly acknowledge that formal mathematical analysis is not what the play of this particular game is about), or assert that they are trying to drain the life out of things.