Perhaps outdated tradition (i.e. never did it before - why start now?).

Given the complexity of modern Stern rulesets and scoring algorithms though, I think it's ludicrous to leave it up to players to figure rules out via trial and error or studying code update ReadMe docs.

Games are MUCH more enjoyable when you fully understand what gameplay options you have and can make decisions accordingly.

Disagree as a rule. For some yes. Others would like to know what the hell the rules are at the outset. Why not provide the info and give the customer the choice as to whether they wish to explore or not?

Stern is in business to sell pinball games. Period.

My guess is that they have made a business decision that the potential increase in game sales from providing (and updating) detailed rules info is not worth the cost required.

Seriously? You honestly think that this is a concern of Stern's and that's why they don't provide detailed rules info?

I don't share your concern. If you don't want the availability of detailed rules information to spoil the fun of exploring the game for you, THEN DON'T READ IT. It really is that simple.

Applying your logic, my creating a detailed Mustang rules document and sharing it with the pinball community was a disservice to the pinball hobby as it ruined the joy of discovering the game's rules. I contend that the opposite is true as it allowed many players to understand and appreciate features in the game that they might not otherwise ever have become aware of due to their skill level, inability to get past their initial dislike of the theme, unavailability of Premium/LE models near them, etc. In my communications with John Trudeau when I was writing the Mustang rules doc, he never once expressed any concern regarding people not discovering the rules on their own. Rather, he seemed happy that people would now likely play and enjoy Mustang even more.

Additionally, I've yet to see a single person complain when detailed rules information is available. In my case, 100% of the comments sent to me were expressing thanks for providing them.

So did Stern providing rules/strategy info for GoT at its release devalue the game for players?

I still think (and it's just my opinion) that it comes down to a money issue. If the effort required to provide detailed rules information resulted in a greater profit (i.e. resulted in selling enough additional games) for them, I think they would do it. As it is, Stern apparently doesn't see a value in typically doing so.

I did not ask John Trudeau as it would have been beside the point of our communications. What I did ask him was if Stern had any additional Mustang rules information that they could provide me to supplement what my doc contained. He told me that regretfully, Stern can't share this info outside of their organization as it would be a conflict of interest for them and they had already maxed out their hours allotted for the game/code design. He also said that the Stern design teams spend many overtime hours, both at Stern and at home in order to create the best games that they can; each game is a labor of love for them.