1566: Board Game - Revision history

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@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 This is one of several xkcd comics that suggest going to comically extreme lengths to avoid doing something (in this case, his taxes) that might have been simpler to do normally than the way Randall proposes. In this case, Cueball suggests that his motives may actually be to get the most thorough preparation possible, rather than to simply find a way to get the task done. There is actually a pretty solid basis to for this.  Both {{W|gamification}} and {{w|crowdsourcing}} have been shown, in at least some cases, to produce results that can match or exceed those produced by professionals. For example, the University of Washington created {{w|Foldit | an online game}} in which users tried to optimize the folding of protein structures. The results produced by players produced useful new structures more quickly than computer simulations were able to. In this case, the work is being done by people who presumably have at least some enthusiasm for games, and who are likely competing with one another for the best results. Randall can then use the best outcome (that created by the winner) to optimize his own tax return.
-A similar situation of Randall secretly exploiting someone's interest for his own purposes occurs in [[1323: Protocol]], and another board game can be found at [[492: Scrabble]]. This was the first time Randall made a comic about people having trouble understanding the US tax system. Since then he has two years in a row made comics in relation to an approaching tax day. See the title text of [[1805: Unpublished Discoveries]] and the entire comic [[1971: Personal Data]].
+A similar situation of Randall secretly exploiting someone's interest for his own purposes occurs in [[1323: Protocol]], and another board game can be found at [[492: Scrabble]]. [[Megan]] tries a similar trick in [[3235: Types of Board Game]].
 ==Transcript==

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:05, 8 August 2025
Line 41:		Line 41:
	[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]		[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
	[[Category:Board games]]		[[Category:Board games]]
		+	[[Category:Taxes]]

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ==Explanation==
-In this comic, [[Cueball]] is shown explaining the rules of a {{w|board game}} to three other players ([[Hairy]], [[Ponytail]], and [[Hairbun]]) of a local board game club – a hobbyist group that gets together to play board games. However, the board game Cueball is explaining is actually his own creation which is designed to trick the club into preparing his {{w|income tax}} return. The caption indicates that Cueball does this every year, which makes this comic reminiscent of the [[My Hobby]] series.
+In this comic, [[Cueball]] is shown explaining the rules of a {{w|board game}} to three other players ([[Hairy]], [[Ponytail]], and [[Hairbun]]) of a local board game club – a hobbyist group that gets together to play board games. However, the board game Cueball is explaining is actually his own creation which is designed to trick the club into preparing his {{w|income tax}} return. The caption indicates that Cueball does this every year, which makes this comic reminiscent of the [[:Category:My Hobby|My Hobby series]].
-An income tax return is an annual document which most adults (and some teenagers) in many countries must prepare and submit to the government agency responsible for tax collection. The document sets out that person's income for the year, along with offsets including deductions and credits, and calculates the amount of income tax the person is required to pay to the government (used by the revenue service to compare it to the value that person had actually paid).
+An income tax return is an annual document which most adults (and some teenagers) in many countries must prepare and submit to the government agency responsible for tax collection. The document sets out that person's income for the year, along with offsets including deductions and credits, and calculates the amount of income tax the person is required to pay to the government (used by the revenue service to compare it to the value that person had actually paid). The return requires understanding of a number of forms which may seem complicated to those not familiar with them. It is an annual task that is stereotypically met with confusion and disdain. Many people hire professionals to prepare their taxes. More recently, software-based solutions that walk the user through a series of more understandable text-based questions are available to aid taxpayers in completing their returns. However these are not always ideal for those with complicated returns.
 In this comic, Cueball has developed his alternative method of tax preparation which utilizes the collective intelligence of several board-game-club players, and also capitalizes on the fact that members of such a club are likely very competitive and eager to succeed at board games. As a result (as the title text suggests), Cueball thinks the board game players are more thorough than the tax preparation professionals he has previously used. Such professionals would prepare perhaps hundreds of returns per year and as a result, might indeed be less thorough with each individual return which may all be viewed as fairly simple and repetitive by the professional.
@@ Line 27: / Line 25: @@
 This is one of several xkcd comics that suggest going to comically extreme lengths to avoid doing something (in this case, his taxes) that might have been simpler to do normally than the way Randall proposes. In this case, Cueball suggests that his motives may actually be to get the most thorough preparation possible, rather than to simply find a way to get the task done. There is actually a pretty solid basis to for this.  Both {{W|gamification}} and {{w|crowdsourcing}} have been shown, in at least some cases, to produce results that can match or exceed those produced by professionals. For example, the University of Washington created {{w|Foldit | an online game}} in which users tried to optimize the folding of protein structures. The results produced by players produced useful new structures more quickly than computer simulations were able to. In this case, the work is being done by people who presumably have at least some enthusiasm for games, and who are likely competing with one another for the best results. Randall can then use the best outcome (that created by the winner) to optimize his own tax return.
-A similar situation of Randall secretly exploiting someone's interest for his own purposes occurs in [[1323: Protocol]].
+A similar situation of Randall secretly exploiting someone's interest for his own purposes occurs in [[1323: Protocol]], and another board game can be found at [[492: Scrabble]]. This was the first time Randall made a comic about people having trouble understanding the US tax system. Since then he has two years in a row made comics in relation to an approaching tax day. See the title text of [[1805: Unpublished Discoveries]] and the entire comic [[1971: Personal Data]].
 ==Transcript==