[Fluxx] Why You Can't Apply the Hand Limit During Your Turn

[James Hazelton]

I would like to preface this by saying that this has absolutely nothing to
do with Playing Before Drawing, except for that I realized this after the
issue made me take a closer look at my cards. In fact, I'm done arguing for
Drawing Before Playing. I've made my point (loudly), and I can now only let
others make the choice for themselves. Now, on with the logic!

Hand Limit 2
If it isn't your turn, you should only have 2 cards in your hand. If you
have extra cards, discard them immediately.

During your turn, you may ignore the Hand Limit, as long as you discard all
but 2 of your cards when you end your turn.

To recall, the basis for the decision that you can apply the Hand Limit
during your turn comes from the third sentence. "During your turn, you
mayignore the Hand Limit..." The use of the word "may" implies that
you may
also choose not to ignore--and thus apply--the Hand Limit during you turn.
This is a very specific ruling based on a loophole in the text. However, if
we look more closely at it, we see that no loophole actually exists.

What part of the Hand Limit does the "During your turn" player (hereafter
known as the "turn player") get to ignore? Obviously not the first
paragraph, as that is clearly directed at players whose turn it isn't
(hereafter known as "non-turn players"). The only part of the Hand Limit
that applies to the turn player is the power to ignore the Hand Limit. In
effect, he can ignore only his power to ignore.

The compulsion to discard applies to only the non-turn players, and the turn
player when his turn ends. Since neither of these affect the turn player
when it is his turn, he does not have the power to not ignore (and thus
apply) the power to discard cards.


This was terrible to try and explain. I deleted whole paragraphs three times
because they weren't clear enough. If anything doesn't make sense now,
please let me know.
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