Uncyclopedia:Pee Review/Game theory

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Game theory

Needs strategic review.

 GlobalTourniquet: UnAstrologer, UnJournalist, shameless narcissistic America-hating liberal atheist award-winning featured writer 20:50, February 24, 2010 (UTC)

I'll do this later tonight during penalty tour study hall --Sir Skinfan13 Talk {< CUN RotM FBotM VFH ΥΣΣ Maj. SK >} 17:57 EST 24 Feb, 2010

or not (had some real world work that had to be done), this will be done in the next 24 hours --Sir Skinfan13 Talk {< CUN RotM FBotM VFH ΥΣΣ Maj. SK >} 01:05 EST 25 Feb, 2010

starting now --Sir Skinfan13 Talk {< CUN RotM FBotM VFH ΥΣΣ Maj. SK >} 19:07 EST 27 Feb, 2010

Humour:	8	The way I review, I generally put the majority of my comments and suggestions in the humor section. This allows me to be lazy keep all of my thoughts organized. I'll give you my first impressions after one read through and then go in section by section for a more detailed look. Initial Impressions Although short, this article is fairly entertaining. There's a little bit of excessive goofiness, and usually too much goofy is a bad thing, but you pull it off rather well here and I would actually consider it a plus in this case. Also, as a student of international relations a international political economy, game theory is something I'm forced to deal with a lot, so it's nice to see the uncyclopedic side of it. Section by Section Introduction I like the illusions to game theory being able to explain how the Illuminati run our lives, however, you seem to focus the bulk of your article on parodying the actual concept of game theory as opposed to this. I would add on to your introduction to make clear to the reader that the entire article isn't about the Illuminati. I feel as though your introduction needs to be a bit more descriptive, either by defining game theory explicitly or going into more detail with what you have. There also needs to be a clear distinction that the theory is in spite of the forces controlling life, not that the theory came from them, which is a leap I made after reading through the introduction the first time. What I'm trying to say is that at first blush, the introduction doesn't mesh with the rest of the article well in terms of content. After reading through carefully a few times over, I can see where you were going, but the tone between the introduction and the rest of the article needs a smoother transition. History of the Game This section is a very good comedic take on the "history" of game theory, very all encompassing in terms of timeline, I especially like the 2001 reference. I feel like you could expound on pre-1944 game theory however since you imply that a basic theory or idea of the theory existed prior to 1944. "a couple of smart math geniuses were allowed to uncover too much inside information about the conspiracy, and they published their findings in the seminal game theory work, Mongo Only Pawn in Game of Life. " This needs to be explained out a bit more. Who were these math geniuses? how did they uncover the information from the Illuminati? I also don't get the Mel Brooks joke. Either I'm really retarded or the joke needs to be clearer (probably the first). I also do not get this last sentence, "It should be noted, however, that this does not eliminate the possibility that they might get hit by a train tomorrow for no apparent "strategic" purpose." I think some clearer wording would be a good idea. Types of Games I like what you've done with this section by highlighting a few example of game theory sets. zero sum ok, what you have is ok, but it's a little confusing I think to the average reader. you need to make explicitly clear that zero-sum game theory is zero sum because one wins exactly the amount one's opponents lose. It's the concept of all or nothing, much like Israel operates from a zero-sum position in international relations. Your example at the end is pretty good at describing equilibrium though, but I'm not sure it correctly describes a zero-sum situation in terms of pure theory, which I suppose isn't a problem since this isn't supposed to be a factual piece. Cutting cake is often a classic example of zero-sum game theory, and perhaps there is a way to humorously include this in your zero-sum example. A mention of prisoner's dilemma almost seems obligatory here too. Cooperative vs. non-cooperative Same deal as a above, but this time the example is very clearly a representation of the part of the theory. The problem, however, is that you left out a step in the middle, the part of cooperation to avoid punishment. you need to describe the cooperation that takes place. Infinitely Long Games great comedic stab at cricket, love it. One player games weak sexual joke imo, but I understand the need to mix low-brow humor in amongst the "dry" high brow humor (of which I tend to enjoy more). metagames Now this is fairly funny, nice little poke here at the theory's more abstract qualities. implications Well, I think this section falls really short of its potential. It's short and goes for a cheap laugh. While I think the joke is a good one, the section can't just ride on it. The article feels a little too short and I think this section has the best potential for expansion. So many ideas come to mind right away that I'm a little disappointed that you didn't take full advantage of the section's potential. You could go into the implications for the average person, for the government, for the human race, for the Illuminati... I could go on. The point is I would love to see this expanded, I like what you've done so far. final humor comments Good effort and solid high-brow humor. Some people may not like the style you've taken (because it won't be accessible to them simply because they don't know what game theory is), but I don't think it's much of a problem.
Concept:	8.5	This is fairly entertaining. I like the notion that game theory helps explain that ours lives are a part of a conspiracy and that we are so simple and predictable that our actions can be boiled down to simple little games or scenarios. The high brow humor is pretty entertaining. Solid and entertaining throughout in terms of ideas, my one concern is the short length and underdevelopment of some ideas, which I addressed in the humor section. Making some additions should help this along its way.
Prose and formatting:	7	For the most part you do a good job with spelling and grammar, but you have a few syntax issues here and there. I mentioned a few in the humor section, but I'll include those and add on here. the first sentence under the history section is fairly long run-on that could easily be broken up into two or three distinct sentences. under "zero-sum" you have this, "unlikely to change unless and until conditions change..." You need to have only unless or until, having both is extraneous. This sentence does not flow well with "unless and until" in the middle. It would flow better if you got rid of one of those words. the section heading for "cooperative..." is smushed up against the picture to the left, I would add some spacing or extra words in order to bump the heading down so it's underneath the picture instead of up against it. under the "infinite" section heading, "to situations in which there is not a finite number of moves" this doesn't flow so well, a rewording would be a good idea. what I'm particularly referring to it "not a finite," it almost reads like a double negative would. Also, the section heading itself I think was meant to read as "Infinitely Long Games" as opposed to the current "Infinitly long games"
Images:	7.5	I thought the images you used were above average to good, but weren't especially spectacular in producing laughs. I'll go through each image and caption separately. fairly average image, but the captions improves it with the double tie-in to the gay joke, which in turn is a tie in to the prisoners dilemma article. When you realize all of that, it becomes funnier than a bunch of pink dice. This works well as a first image for the article. again, average image, but the caption really improves it. I wouldn't change anything about this one, other than making ti perhaps just a tad bit bigger. This is a good picture, pretty funny too. It barely ties into the text though, I would find a way to include the dog-fighting vs. football bit just a little bit more, perhaps an extra sentence on the subject would suffice. Your captions are the best part of these images by far.
Miscellaneous:	8	my level of enjoyment from reading this article
Final Score:	39	Really good first effort here, I just feel like the article could be longer, particularly in your last section on ramifications. If you choose to do only one thing to improve this article, I would suggest expanding this section. otherwise you've done a fine job so far, but you aren't finished imo, a little more work and this will be a fine article. As always, if you have comments, complaints, or questions, drop me a line.
Reviewer:	--Sir Skinfan13 Talk {< CUN RotM FBotM VFH ΥΣΣ Maj. SK >} 00:46 EST 28 Feb, 2010 If you found this review helpful, I would appreciate your vote for ROTM!