Re: [dq-rules] Plain Text Files Preferred

[rthorm@cornellbox.com]

I'm not sure what benefit we would get from RTF.  These are game rules, so there
are not many things that need to be bold or italic.  There may be some
standards for using bold, eg the first sentence in each rule paragraph is in
bold in 2nd Ed rules.  But that can probably be handled when it comes time to
create finished, formatted pages for printing or electronic display.  

If we use RTF, then it adds the complexity of making sure it is properly used,
and a whole additional set of formatting standards need to be followed and
enforced.  I'd rather not have to worry about those factors, and just
concentrate on the content.

I'm not against the use of other formats.  But the base standard for writing and
archiving the rules should be the cleanest and simplest.  And it should be
relatively simple to take the plain text and plug it in to your favorite
program and enhance it with RTF benefits.

  --Rodger



Quoting "J. K. Hoffman" <ryumaou@sbcglobal.net>:

> If a professional geek might chime in here...
> 
> Can I suggest a middle-ground?  How about RTF?  Rich-
> Text Format is like txt on steroids.  It would allow 
> for things like bold and italic, as well as pictures, 
> but it's a fairly universal standard.  To the best of 
> my knowlege, there are a multitude of programs on 
> *every* platform that will read RTF, not just PC and 
> Mac, but Linux, too.
> MS Word will read and write RTF, as will OpenOffice 
> and Star Office, which are available for multiple 
> platforms.
> 
> And, just side note, I'm not really interested in 
> contributing to the rules themselves, per se, since 
> I'm not actively gaming, but I would be happy to be a 
> technical advisor/grunt for formats and conversions, 
> etc.
> 
> Thanks,
> Jim

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