You know, the first and greatest sin, or deception, of television - is that it simplifies. It diminishes. Great, complex ideas, stretches of time, whole careers become reduced to a single snapshot. At first I couldn't understand why Bob Zelnick was quite as euphoric as he was after the interviews, or why John Birt felt moved to strip naked and rush into the ocean to celebrate. But that was before I really understood the reductive power of the close-up. Because David had succeeded, on that final day, in getting for a fleeting moment what no investigative journalist, no state prosecutor, no judiciary committee or political enemy had managed to get: Richard Nixon's face swollen and ravaged by loneliness, self-loathing and defeat. The rest of the project and its failings would not only be forgotten, they would totally cease to exist.
— Reston, Frost/Nixon
"That's just wrong. That violates every possible rule of game design. Look, the rest of this game sounds like it might make sense, sort of, for a sport I mean, but you're basically saying that catching the Snitch overwhelms almost any ordinary point spread."
— Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, on the Trope Namer.
As Ron explained about the Golden Snitch, Milo considered it thoughtfully. From what he could tell, the Seeker's success or failure completely invalidated everything that the other players did. It was as if the sport was set up entirely to give Seekers a backdrop to compete against.
"I like it!" Milo said. "It has everything. Magic, danger, and rules blatantly skewed for the PCs to shine."
"I like it!" Milo said. "It has everything. Magic, danger, and rules blatantly skewed for the PCs to shine."
"Now our final round, which counts for 98% of the total score - making the previous rounds a complete waste!"
—Duffman, The Simpsons
"This (event)'s worth more points than all the other events combined! That's to create false dramatic tension...otherwise this competition would be over already."
—Soar the Eagle, Sonic Boom, "Robot Employees", on a competition between Dave the Intern and Eggman's Job Stealing Robots.
"That just invalidates ALL our efforts. If catching that thing is so important, why do anything else? There is NO reason to watch any of the other players! THAT’S SUCH A STUPID RULE!”
—Luz Noceda on the Rusty Smidge, The Owl House
"It's like the first round doesn't even matter!"
—Binjpipe Lady, You Don't Know Jack: Full Stream
"And now, the final challenge: The Plaza Relay! The winner will be awarded five BILLION points, rendering all previous rounds... WORTHLESS!"
—Dynamite Watkins, OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes
"The rule/function of the golden snitch in quidditch is stupid and completely ruins what would otherwise be an awesome sport to watch.
"Imagine if in basketball each team had a player out in the parking lot trying to catch a frog for the win. Youre watching a great game that's been neck and neck and then suddenly the buzzer sounds half way through. 'The games over, Ramirez has just got the parking lot frog'"
"Imagine if in basketball each team had a player out in the parking lot trying to catch a frog for the win. Youre watching a great game that's been neck and neck and then suddenly the buzzer sounds half way through. 'The games over, Ramirez has just got the parking lot frog'"
—Reddit user jscarry
