Diagramming Not Laws in Advanced Linear Games

[kitmit2800]

Hi all!

I just have a quick question about how to diagram Not Laws under certain Advanced Linear Set-Ups.

Let's assume that I have a game that is hosting interviews, Monday through Wednesday with morning and afternoon slots. (the spacing is not perfect, but you get the idea!)



M T W

With this diagram let's now assume one of the rules says a variable (let's just pick G) cannot be scheduled on Monday morning. What is the best way to diagram this so it is clear that G just cannot interview on Monday morning rather than not being able to interview at all on Monday?

I have seen diagrams where rules like this (where G cannot interview on Monday morning) would be shown as not G under the Monday column. However, I have also seen this exact same representation taken to mean G cannot interview on Monday at all.

I know I could just use Not Laws to represent only the space that they are under, but this causes problems when looking at bigger set ups. If we extrapolate out our diagram to represent the whole week (Monday-Sunday with morning and afternoon slots) and are given a rule like "G does not interview in the first three days" that means we have to write out 6 not G laws as compared to 3. This seems to unnecessarily clutter the diagram and to waste precious time.

Would it make sense to leave a little space between the first line and Monday to show not G that way, so it is clear it is just the morning slot it cannot occupy, rather than all of the Monday slots, like this?


not G
Monday

I know it comes down to personal preference to some extent, but I want my set-ups to match the powerscore set-ups so I can check them properly!

Thank you so much!

[Jeff Wren]

Hi kitmit,

This is a very good question!

It is really important to somehow distinguish a rule that states "G cannot go on Monday morning" from a rule that states "G cannot go on Monday at all (morning or afternoon)."

Personally, I do write the not laws under each space for this very reason. Visually, I like my not laws to show exactly what they mean so I'm not going to make a mistake. If G cannot go anywhere on Monday, I'll write both not laws. It really doesn't take that long (a few seconds).

Others may have a different way to handling this situation.

My advice is that it is generally better to be a bit more precise with the diagram than to make a mistake. Making a mistake during a game (such as thinking the not law under Monday only means Monday morning) can really cause problems, so be careful and don't rush the setup! With the proper setup, the questions will go more quickly.

Having said that, there may be more efficient ways to capture the same idea. In your example, if a rule stated that G cannot go in the first three days, perhaps you draw a "G" above the remaining days in a bracket or parentheses, especially if it combines with other inferences to limit where variables go. If you get a different rule that says G cannot go in the afternoon, you could use a side not law next to the afternoon row, etc..

The key is to figure out what works best for you so that you don't make a mistake.