If you don't want to be abrasive, try not cursing, not telling people that their OPINIONS are WRONG in all caps (there's a big difference between 'I disagree' and 'You're WRONG'), not trying to argue via reductio ad absurdum, etc. People don't like this.
I put words in caps or italics that I mean to stress. I don't believe I said anyone was flat out wrong, anywhere, especially not in caps...?
Addressing this privately, as flame wars are baddddd, mmkay?
This (the analogy to 2p as you make it) is an arbitrary way of looking at it. I can just as easily make the argument that 2p dominion is all about not getting last, and why should that change by adding another player.
But also, why should 2p, 3p, and 4p be anything like the same game? They're totally different in almost every respect.
How is it arbitrary? I didn't pick "2 player" out of a hat - over 99% of my games are played 2-player, and I'm sure the ratio is similar for most people on this board, including you.
That said, you're absolutely right that they are not the same game (and shouldn't be held to the same standard).
You're missing my point. I'm not saying using 2p is arbitrary. I'm saying that viewing 2p as 'the whole point is to win' is arbitrary. You can just as easily view it as 'the whole point is not to lose'. Or 'the whole point is to not get last' (which is the most supported by the rulebook, IMO, ('...rejoice in their shared victory...')). Or 'the whole point is to maximize your position'. Which is what the point system advocates, basically. You continue to privilege your own position, without considering the other side.
I seriously doubt you have the most experience with tournaments of anyone on this forum. Be shocked. You've barely been here, so I wouldn't expect you to know, but...
I've run a plurality of the total online english-language Dominion tournaments/competitions. There have been 33 that I know of. I have operated 13 and was founder of the league that ran another 12. All of those came after years of running other competitions on other boards for other games.
You don't know me very well, but this is my bread & butter.
I don't know you very well, because you only just showed up here! And now you're trying to act like THE authority. Which is a frustrating thing. It's your 'bread-and-butter'? You do this for a living? Certainly not the dominion thing. 15 tournaments online over the past several years is pretty unimpressive, considering the size of things. Trust me, I know many people who have WAY more organizing experience than this (not with Dominion itself, but more established competitive games), including one or two who are on the site (not that they've posted in this thread). I don't know what their positions here would be, because they don't deal with multiplayer messes really. But suffice it to say, unless you've really buried the lead in those 'years of running competitions'. Finally, if you're counting BGGDL as 25 separate things, a) don't take credit for the 12 you didn't run, but more important, b) there have been WAY more than 33.