Difference between revisions of "Talk:1507: Metaball"

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
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Reminds me of Hich-Hiker's "Brockian_Ultra-Cricket" <ref>{{cite web|url=http://hitchhikers.wikia.com/wiki/Brockian_Ultra-Cricket|title=Brockian Ultra-Cricket - Hitchhikers|accessdate=2015-04-04}}</ref> :
 
Reminds me of Hich-Hiker's "Brockian_Ultra-Cricket" <ref>{{cite web|url=http://hitchhikers.wikia.com/wiki/Brockian_Ultra-Cricket|title=Brockian Ultra-Cricket - Hitchhikers|accessdate=2015-04-04}}</ref> :
  
"Rule Four: Throw lots of assorted items of sporting equipment over the wall for the players. Anything will do – cricket bats, basecube bats, tennis guns, skis, anything you can get a good swing with.
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''"Rule Four: Throw lots of assorted items of sporting equipment over the wall for the players. Anything will do – cricket bats, basecube bats, tennis guns, skis, anything you can get a good swing with.
  
 
Rule Five: The players should now lay about themselves for all they are worth with whatever they find to hand. Whenever a player scores a “hit” on another player, he should immediately run away as fast as he can and apologize from a safe distance. Apologies should be concise, sincere, and, for maximum clarity and points, delivered through a megaphone.
 
Rule Five: The players should now lay about themselves for all they are worth with whatever they find to hand. Whenever a player scores a “hit” on another player, he should immediately run away as fast as he can and apologize from a safe distance. Apologies should be concise, sincere, and, for maximum clarity and points, delivered through a megaphone.
  
Rule Six: The winning team shall be the first team that wins." [[User:Briantist|Briantist]] ([[User talk:Briantist|talk]]) 13:57, 4 April 2015 (UTC)
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Rule Six: The winning team shall be the first team that wins."'' [[User:Briantist|Briantist]] ([[User talk:Briantist|talk]]) 13:57, 4 April 2015 (UTC)
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Revision as of 13:59, 4 April 2015

This... looks amazing! I wonder if this is going to be a case of xkcd influencing real life, like geohashing, the "citation needed" on speeches or cory doctorow cosplaying... cory doctorow. 173.245.48.29 08:26, 3 April 2015 (UTC)

Over here in Rightpondia (UK), "Hockey" means "Field Hockey" (I'm sure I've never actually heard "ball hockey" as a term before, ever, although must be the same)... although it's mostly popularised as a (often very vicious!) girl's sport; see the St. Trinians cartoons/films. Although we understand Leftpondians (and especially Upper-Leftpondians) mean Ice Hockey when they miss off the qualifier. Just as vicious, of course (except now that everyone wears armour... also c.f. usual comments regarding Rugby League/Union vs 'American Football'/Gridiron). But none of these have anything on the near-variant of these games (mainly in Ireland) that is Hurling..! (As to Field Hockey as Aussie Rules Football is to Association Football?)141.101.98.192 16:25, 3 April 2015 (UTC)

Suspiciously similar to Calvinball. --108.162.221.100 21:18, 3 April 2015 (UTC)A Martin

I agree, but there seem to be preset rules (the sheet that Ponytail is holding), suggesting that it isn't made up as they go along 141.101.98.33 09:01, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

I see influences of Hofstadter's Godel,Escher,Bach, which has 1) the idea of how the play-by-play of a football game would be altered if it were baseball (among other counterfactuals), and 2) the idea of a boardgame whose rules change according to where pieces are on the board. Fewmet (talk) 22:26, 3 April 2015 (UTC)

I wonder how the concept of 'out' (as opposed to 'in') would be dealt with as the ball passes into (and eventually out of) the volleyball zone.173.245.54.216 05:58, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

Baseball zone... ;-) Although I'm sure there is a volleyball zone somewhere... --Kynde (talk) 13:35, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

OK I guess this is not a complaint since the explanation seems to make sense. But I'm still confused about something. In the third panel the invocation of the infield fly rule is entirely wrong, The infielder must either catch and drop the ball or appear to deliberately refuse to catch the ball. The panel shows the ball still in the air when the call is made. As an athletophobe I just spent 20 minutes of my life researching the infield fly rule (http://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5322&context=penn_law_review) (!!!) so... well... I get it but how do you make the leap?ExternalMonolog (talk) 09:01, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

The comic explanation had it wrong. It is Megan (the batter/kicker) who is Out when Ponytail yells. A high ball in Baseball can be called infield fly before anyone even tries to catch it. So it is of no consequence weather Cueball tries to catch it, or actually tries to dunk the ball. I have corrected the explanation acordingly. And also added the fact that the rule is hard to understand to outsiders of baseball.

A quick comment about hockey: there a variation, hockey cosom (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indoor_field_hockey). It is played normally indoor and with a ball. But it is also a cheap variant that school in Quebec use in winter in PE, as skating equipment with proper gears for rink hockey is both expensive and require skill that kids might not have. It would better fit with the Metaball title.--Labreck (talk) 10:03, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

No problem playing golf with a football? Then why anyproblem playing Ice hockey with such a ball? It is easier to get a foot ball into a ice hockey goal than to it into a golf hole. --Kynde (talk) 13:35, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

The title reminds me of J H Conway's paradoxical "Metagame", whose rules are: the first player (L) names a finite game (e.g. Nim), and then the two players (L and R) play that game. Is Metagame a finite game? If it is, then each player in turn can name Metagame, and the process never ends, so it isn't finite. But if it isn't finite, L must name another finite game, so the game does end. 141.101.98.216 10:04, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

Reminds me of Hich-Hiker's "Brockian_Ultra-Cricket" [1] :

"Rule Four: Throw lots of assorted items of sporting equipment over the wall for the players. Anything will do – cricket bats, basecube bats, tennis guns, skis, anything you can get a good swing with.

Rule Five: The players should now lay about themselves for all they are worth with whatever they find to hand. Whenever a player scores a “hit” on another player, he should immediately run away as fast as he can and apologize from a safe distance. Apologies should be concise, sincere, and, for maximum clarity and points, delivered through a megaphone.

Rule Six: The winning team shall be the first team that wins." Briantist (talk) 13:57, 4 April 2015 (UTC)