[Saxon]

True, SP does not prepare you for the intense competition of MP, but nor does Little League prepare you for the Major League. However, they both teach you how to play the game and serve as a recruiting ground for new players. Take it away and the MP/Big League suffer. Also, many more people have fun playing in the small leagues than in the Big League. It would be interesting to set up a poll and see if the sports analogy is true with Dom. Let me see what I can do.

I also agree that SP people should be very careful about talking about balance. In the Van thread, you will note that my comments specifically state they are regarding SP and that my observations are based on how the nations relate to each other, in SP. My concerns are specifically about how it effects the SP game and my perception that it was harmful to the SP game. In addition, it is worth noting that I backed down when presented with a large sample of SP data. Just as SP data is not much use in talking about MP, MP data is not much use in talking about SP.

SP and MP are very different, but they are linked. Issues of balance arise in both types of games and, as long as the writer is clear about what they are discussing, both types of players can and should post. I don�t mind an experienced MP player discounting a SP person talking about MP, but I do have a problem with a MP player discounting a SP person talking about SP and claiming that the SP world is not important. The two are linked, just like the two communities are linked.