LG: Always read rules and scenario before writing anything? Forum

[lsat_hopeful]

According to The Trainer, you should always start a game by reading the scenario and rules (in their entirety) before setting pen to paper (b/c "allows you a moment to make key decisions about how to set up game".)

Curious to hear others' opinions on this strategy.

[jk148706]

I did not follow that strategy.

I suggest reading the scenario first. But when I go to the rules, I transcribed them as I went -- one by one, and amended as needed.

It worked for me. Do what works for you.

[lsat_hopeful]

I did not follow that strategy.

I suggest reading the scenario first. But when I go to the rules, I transcribed them as I went -- one by one, and amended as needed.

It worked for me. Do what works for you.

So far I've been writing down the elements as I'm reading through the scenario, then read the rest of the scenario, followed by writing each rule as I go (like you said.)

I'm going to try different methods and see what works best, but just wanted to get an idea of what has worked for others. I'm definitely going to try waiting until after reading the entire scenario at least before writing anything down.

Thanks for the suggestion.

[sunsheyen]

I read scenario first, visualize and establish a diagram/draw it. Then I note the rules and fill in my diagram where possible before splitting based on restrictive rules.

[brooklynboy]

I think this is just a matter of personal preference, as various people have achieved LG success through differing approaches.

J.Y. of 7sage writes everything as soon as he reads that, and sometimes has to amend what he wrote. That clearly works for him, but might be frustrating for others.

My recommendation is to try out various strategies and see what works best for you.

[sfoglia]

According to The Trainer, you should always start a game by reading the scenario and rules (in their entirety) before setting pen to paper (b/c "allows you a moment to make key decisions about how to set up game".)

Curious to hear others' opinions on this strategy.

Interesting you mention, because I was just debating the merits of doing that last night. I ignored the Trainer at first, but then re-thought it. So, I tried to read everything first, although I'm definitely in the habit of not.

I think that the only benefit I noticed was in having the opportunity to see where rules connect, and then to write them all in one sweep (e.g. "S > PS," rather than "S > P" and "PS" in two separate rows) rather than having to go back and erase when I realize I can make an inference. Also, I sometimes misread rules (like thinking X > Y and applying as such through the whole game, when I had definitely correctly written X > V!), and this helps to slow me down so that I don't make silly mistakes like that. So there's a secondary benefit for having to read all the rules first.

Not to derail, but I have a question, while everyone is in here: I find that I sometimes diagram in really counter-intuitive ways, and I'm sure that costs me time. Is this a common problem for beginning LGers? Am I having this trouble because I don't understand strategy well enough, and need to re-read Trainer, or is it something that will reconcile itself with enough practice?