Scrabble rules to be amended, now allows proper nouns

[Norellicus]

Proper nouns come into play in Scrabble rule change

The rules of word game Scrabble are being changed for the first time in its history to allow the use of proper nouns, games company Mattel has said.
Place names, people's names and company names or brands will now count. Mattel, which brings out a new version of the game containing amended rules in July, hopes the change will encourage younger people to play. Until now a few proper nouns had been allowed which were determined by a word list based on the Collins dictionary.

In Scrabble, players try to gain the highest points by making words with individual letter tiles on a grid board. Each letter tile has a points value between one and 10, based on the letter's frequency in standard English. Various coloured squares on the board can double or triple a player's points.

'New dimension'
Mattel said there would be no hard and fast rule over whether a proper noun was correct or not. A spokeswoman for the company said the use of proper nouns would "add a new dimension" to Scrabble and "introduce an element of popular culture into the game". She said: "This is one of a number of twists and challenges included that we believe existing fans will enjoy and will also enable younger fans and families to get involved."

However, Mattel said it would not be doing away with the old rules altogether. It will continue to sell a board with the original rules.

Scrabble was invented in 1938 by American-born architect Alfred Butts. He later sold the rights and it was trademarked in 1948.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8604625.stm

[Correction]

In b4 'HAY TABLETOP GAMING FORUM'

[Seanr]

awwww shit. Time to whoops some ass. My mother loves to play this shit, I wouldn't say her vocabulary is bigger than mine, she just knows how to make better words out of the jumble of shit that is 7-9 letters.

[Norellicus]

In b4 'HAY TABLETOP GAMING FORUM'

Scrabble is transcendent of tabletop gaming

But no actually I just totally forgot we had one

[Day]

Do i have to buy the new version to access the new content?

[Seanr]

naw man, the wonders of DLC

[Karshe]

Who didn't play this way anyway? Also, dirty words are worth double. Duh.

[Kaisha]

Scrabble: Easy Mode?

[Norellicus]

Who didn't play this way anyway?

Anyone with an IQ over 110?

Completely destroys the challenge of the game and you have no means of arbitration over terms that are vernacular but not vocabulary.

[Kyo]

What the fuck is this shit.

[miokomioko]

I am seriously pissed.

My guess is that it's an excuse to start selling a million different themed scrabble boards in the likes of:

http://www.mariowiki.com/images/thum...opolyBoard.jpg

[rezn0r]

is this seriously because of the iPad? i've seen dozens of tweets/articles/links/comments about Scrabble for it along with iPhones in the past 2 days, and now this

[miokomioko]

I don't understand the link with the iPad, the game has been on the iPhone for a long fuckin' time now. Perhaps it was just one of the first games that got developed for the larger resolution right away, not to mention, an iPad would be honestly pretty sweet for on-the-go board games now that I think of it. The thought seriously is the strongest argument in my head for an iPad right now.

[rezn0r]

i don't have any links saved to back up that thought, i just know clicking through random early iPad review shit (plus reading certain tweets by people like Rob Sheridan, etc.) yesterday i spent a few minutes reading about "how cool Scrabble is on this machine" (it works along with the iPhone client btw), when i've really never even heard the name Scrabble mentioned in the past few years... at all. just seems like a really odd coincidence, but it could be just that

[Draylo]

Ah proper nouns is just the easy way out!

[Kaisha]

an iPad would be honestly pretty sweet for on-the-go board games now that I think of it. The thought seriously is the strongest argument in my head for an iPad right now.

You know, it probably would. With it's size (and multi-touch functionality) you could easily play with four people sitting on each side of it.

[Seanr]

Anyone with an IQ over 110?

Completely destroys the challenge of the game and you have no means of arbitration over terms that are vernacular but not vocabulary.

This

Ah proper nouns is just the easy way out!

and this.

[Qalbert]

this could be good
Mxyzptlk is 35 points base

[Diamicles]

house rules will still apply

[Warudo Ecksu]

i hope words with friends on iphone implements this change