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<blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 9431241" data-attributes="member: 6790260">Absolutely. A game--something made with rules and instructions, rather than with factual information (nonfiction) or a rendition of a novelist's text (fiction)--is quite clearly more similar to software than it is to other forms of print media in this sense.Hence why &quot;3.5&quot; made so much sense. It was an iterative update that did not totally replace the old software, but did make significant under-the-hood changes. Software uses this sort of naming all the time--because it is reasonable, convenient, and quickly conveys version information in a concise manner. You even get X.Y.Z sometimes, where you have within some specific patch smaller sub-patches that make only very small tweaks. While MMOs are obviously a famous example of this sort of thing, it runs the gamut from operating systems to individual applications all the way down to plugins or tools that only work by being employed by some other thing.There's a reason the RULES of a game can't be copyrighted. Rules are a procedure. Procedures do, in fact, get version numbers as they get iterated upon.Would it be better if D&amp;D had used the term &quot;version&quot; rather than &quot;edition&quot; for its numbered entries? Probably. Blame Gygax--or I guess Zeb Cook?--for calling it &quot;Advanced Dungeons &amp; Dragons, 2nd Edition&quot; rather than &quot;2nd Version.&quot;</blockquote>

[QUOTE="EzekielRaiden, post: 9431241, member: 6790260"] Absolutely. A game--something made with rules and instructions, rather than with factual information (nonfiction) or a rendition of a novelist's text (fiction)--is quite clearly more similar to [I]software[/I] than it is to other forms of print media in this sense. Hence why "3.5" made so much sense. It was an iterative update that did not totally replace the old software, but did make significant under-the-hood changes. Software uses this sort of naming all the time--because it is reasonable, convenient, and quickly conveys version information in a concise manner. You even get X.Y.Z sometimes, where you have within some specific patch smaller sub-patches that make only very small tweaks. While MMOs are obviously a famous example of this sort of thing, it runs the gamut from operating systems to individual applications all the way down to plugins or tools that only work by being employed by some other thing. There's a reason the RULES of a game can't be copyrighted. Rules are a procedure. Procedures do, in fact, get version numbers as they get iterated upon. Would it be [I]better[/I] if D&D had used the term "version" rather than "edition" for its numbered entries? Probably. Blame Gygax--or I guess Zeb Cook?--for calling it "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 2nd Edition" rather than "2nd Version." [/QUOTE]

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