[Rails-users] 1889 Private Power Issue

[Justin R. <jus...@gm...>]

I wouldn't call this a bug, but I found something in 1889 that may be
worth some polish if/when someone feels like it. I was unclear on the
1889 rules with regards to the Private Company E (which can be traded
by the owning player for an IR share). The rules didn't clearly state
whether this should be done during a stock turn, stock round, OR, etc.
So, in rails, I tried to use the power during my corporation's
operating turn (since some other games have privates which would allow
this trade IIRC) and the message I got was: "Unexpected action:
UseSpecialProperty: Swap E for 10% share of IR".

I didn't know if this was a rails limitation on what should be allowed
or whether rails just was following rules but not making that clear to
me. I inquired on BGG and JC (who I generally consider an authority on
rules) suggested that in this game, the trade must be done as a stock
buying action.

As such, rails appears to be following the rules accordingly, but it
would be helpful if the response message to the user was clearer, such
as "This special property must be used during your stock turn" or
similar.

I obviously have no idea if the code supports dynamic responses for
things like this, but figured I'd point it out in case it matters to
anyone.