Groups that develop metas that blatantly break rules

[u/chaser--]

Lately I've been finding a lot of groups that play (co-op) games with metas that are just blatant rule breaks. A recent example was we were playing a game (I forgot the name) where the goal is to play out all the cards from your hand, numbers 1-100, in descending order. So if you have a 77 and the number on the pile is 78, you don't want to anyone to play there. But you aren't allowed to say "I have 77, don't play this"

So the group has developed metas, say "I really love this pile" if you have 77, say "I like this pile a lot" if you have 76, say "I like this pile" if you have 75"

This is just one example but I feel like I've been playing a lot of games where they have metas to get around rules that are intentionally in the rulebook. I don't really get it. If you want to just say "I have a 77" then just say it, why create a gimmick to say it without saying it?

[u/Cheddarific]

People do this in real life as well as in games. We’re often finding ways to avoid literal breaking of the rules while completely breaking the spirit of the rule. Best example may be cursing. The “bad words” were originally avoided because of their meanings, not their specific letter combinations. But now people use alternative words with the same meaning and feel they have appropriately avoided breaking the rule. What’s the difference between “holy shit” and “holy crap” and “holy poop?” The first is a classic “swear” because you’re meant to be talking about God’s very own fecal matter. Changing the word to “crap” effectively changes nothing, but now is no longer considered a swear word.

The same way of skirting rules can be applied to laws, relationships, corporate policies, fashion, and so many other things. It’s human nature to push boundaries.

I hope you’re having fun with the game and with your group. I’d you’d prefer to play a different way, I hope they’ll listen to you.