Why are GURPS directions better than Real Life?

[Alden Loveshade]

Which directions are more important? Those for a role-playing game, or for a smoke detector that could save your life?

GURPS supplement: author's first draft, editor's review, author's second draft, editor's review, author's revisions, playtest/team review, author's revisions, editor's edits, final version.

Smoke detector: I learned, after questioning the company, that the activation directions on a smoke detector I bought don't actually work.

What does GURPS describe better than directions for "real-life" things?

[naloth]

Not much of a mystery. For most products directions are an afterthought. For GURPS, directions are the product.

[Varyon]

Product directions are generally there for avoiding legal liability, or are an afterthought, as naloth notes. In a GURPS product, the directions are the product.

[Alden Loveshade]

Originally Posted by naloth

Not much of a mystery. For most products directions are an afterthought. For GURPS, directions are the product.

Originally Posted by Varyon

Product directions are generally there for avoiding legal liability, or are an afterthought, as naloth notes. In a GURPS product, the directions are the product.

I do see your points. Still, I'd rather get stuck with a role-playing game that's has misleading directions than a smoke detector, fire extinguisher, blood pressure monitor, etc., with bad directions.

[edk926]

I've helped write instructions before. It was a small part of a previous job. We didn't have a dedicated writer or editor. GURPS does. It helps immensely when you have people specifically devoted to the roles of writing and editing.

[whswhs]

A long time back, when I studied technical writing, our instructor told us about one of her students, a firefighter, who wrote instructions on how to put on an oxygen mask. He tried his first draft out on a co-worker. The co-worker put on the mask and started to suffocate—because the student hadn't put in "turn on the oxygen" as an earlier step!

[Pursuivant]

Tech manuals don't have playtesters. These days they barely have editors and proofreaders.

[Anders]

Just have a ChatBot write the instructions.

[RGTraynor]

Originally Posted by Pursuivant

Tech manuals don't have playtesters. These days they barely have editors and proofreaders.

Beyond that, far too many product directions are written in the countries where they're made, and haphazardly "translated" into English.

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by RGTraynor

Beyond that, far too many product directions are written in the countries where they're made, and haphazardly "translated" into English.

Which (with the rise of computer translation) occasionally creates the problem of the 'instructions' just saying things like 'Could not connect to translation server.'