D&D 4E Should 4e convert to metric?

[Plane Sailing]

Well said, TwinB.

I was going to post something similar but less erudite. In order to prevent this being just a 'me too' post I'll mention that

Decimals based on 10 only divide nicely by 2 and 5. Imperial 12's (inches, dozen) divides nicely by 2, 3, 4 and 6, and you can divide it into half and quarters and still have whole numbers. Base 10 loses whole numbers after that first halving. You see the same thing carry over in the divisions of an inch, since you have 1/2", 1/4", 1/8", 1/16" and so forth in my dads toolbox - the halving process works really nicely there too.

Ounces are equally nice as starting from 16 you can halve it, halve it, halve it and halve it again - very important for measuring stuff out if you've just got a balance available, for instance.

In the UK there was a technical initial switch to metric halfway through my education - at least we decimalised money at that point; officially the switch from pounds to kilos happened much later (thankfully they've stepped back from the idiocy of making it illegal to quote figures in pounds and oz). One of the fun things that we saw for many years was jars of foodstuff in 254g containers. An odd number of grammes that happened to nicely match an imperial measurement!

Of course, we still use Miles for distance and pints for beer, and I don't expect to see that change in my lifetime

Cheers

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

No, no, no.

Beer is still in imperial (mostly)

It comes in pints? [Curious: when they translated LotR to other languages, how did they translate/dub that line?]

Human weight and height has never been a issue for me being in Imperial.

I've personally never been able to calculate in stones.

I prefer Imperial for the flavor, though I'm equally fluent in both systems. Metric just feels to artificial and modern for a D&D setting ... but it is definitely my preferred choice for sci-fi settings.

 

[Teemu]

Well said, TwinB.

I was going to post something similar but less erudite. In order to prevent this being just a 'me too' post I'll mention that /snip

That's really cool and all, but ultimately, the only thing that matters is which system you've grown used to.

 

[Cirex]

It comes in pints? [Curious: when they translated LotR to other languages, how did they translate/dub that line?]

"Pinta". I have no idea what measurement it is, I just know that when I ask for a Beamish, they ask if I want a pint and I reply "Hell yeah!".

 

[WhatGravitas]

...it is a lot easier to pour a gallon of water into two even half-gallons, and divide those into four even quarts, than it is to evenly divide a liter into ten deciliters without measuring.

Which is why we are using half litres and quarter litres.

The more I read about this discussion, the more I see that's a matter of preference.

Funny thing: At the beginning, the poll was pretty much 2-1 for metric, later that shifted... it followed the time zones. When it was afternoon in the US, the votes for the imperial system kept coming and coming! Now we almost have an even result!

Cheers, LT.

 

[Aeolius]

It comes in pints?

That's what 4e is all about... Pints of Light.....beer

 

[boolean]

Nah, they should just convert everything into squares.
- "What's your weight?"
- "34 squares"
- "Dang, I can only teleport up to 30 squares!"

That's just silly. Everybody knows weight should be measured in cubes.

 

[TwinBahamut]

Which is why we are using half litres and quarter litres.

Well, it goes to show that sometimes base ten doesn't work. Sometimes I wonder if this whole thing could have been solved if some guy way back when started math off in base 12, rather than base ten...

The more I read about this discussion, the more I see that's a matter of preference.

Certainly. It just annoys me a bit when I see people acting like metric is an inherently better system than traditional measurements, when it really is the case that both have their strengths and their weaknesses (for the record, I don't have a clue about the difference between fluid and dry ounces, but I can't relate to Metric measurements at all).

Also, I will say that I didn't vote in the poll, since I am not a subject of the Queen.

 

[Mishihari Lord]

That's really cool and all, but ultimately, the only thing that matters is which system you've grown used to.

Well, metric really is easier for science and engineering. But since we're not talking about doing science or engineering you're essentially correct.

 

[see]

Maybe for the older generations but hasn't metric been taught in American schools for some years now?

Well, if you call a couple of weeks' instruction in elementary school "being taught".

Oh, and the poll question is faulty. The U.S. does not use and has never used the Imperial System.

[begin pedantry]

The Imperial System was passed into law by the British Parliament in 1824, and came into force in 1826, decades after the Metric System was invented. Accordingly the Imperial System had neither the justification of being traditional or the justification of being a modern, rationalized system; it was an arbitrary mix of the two with neither rhyme or reason. You know, like the modern House of Lords.

The U.S. measurements were the ones inherited from England prior to independence, such as the Queen Anne gallon created by the English Parliament in 1707, or the distance units established in 1592. None of the changes that were part of the Imperial System were ever adopted in the U.S. (though the British and American inches were harmonized to match the Canadian inch in the 1950s).

[end pedantry]