The Sid of 1st ed. and the Sid of 2nd
A somewhat late response, but I now found what seems to be the
1st ed. manual and a
PDF detailing changes from 1st to 2nd ed. And it appears that the original Sid Ketchum discarded
three cards for his single one life point. Reduced to two cards/life point in the 2nd edition.
Also, among
Emiliano's comments on the 1st ed. characters (2002):
Emiliano - on BGG in 2002 - píše:He may discard 3 cards to regain one life point. This is generally considered the weakest character of the set. However, if you play carefully you could be able to remain one of the last two players alive. In this case this is an extremely dangerous opponent since he can regain lost life points while his opponent cannot play Beer in the final fight to the death.
And in the 2003 change FAQ:
daVinci games, in 2003, píše:Overall, Sid Ketchum was considered to be the weakest character in the lot. His new ability now can be activated more easily: theoretically he could regain one life point per turn, by discarding the two cards he draws. This makes Sid a formidable opponent, suited to resist to the most dangerous shootouts, while keeping (or slightly increasing) his victory chances as the game prolongs.
So it seems that Sid Ketchum
was, in 2002, considered the weakest (which I can understand), though still apparently not horrible ("extremely dangerous" in the end game). But in 2003, when the cost had been reduced from 3 to 2 cards per life point, Sid is just described as "a formidable opponent".
The new (?) Panic-countering Sid
The quote by Emiliano in my first post is from 2005. So either he changed his mind after that, and decided Sid
still needed to have his power boosted even more, after all – now able to counter Panic cards too. Or I misread that quote, and Sid was always meant to be able to prevent Panicking him (if played with fast enough reflexes and/or firm enough gumption). The phrase "at any time" seems to have been always in Sid's rule entry, even if not on his card.
Either way, it did come as a shock to me to read Emiliano's later ruling in this forum. On the one hand, since this chaos and craziness is unique to Sid (as far as I can tell) – even when including the otherwise wackier Wild West Show expansion – it may not have a big impact on the game as a whole. It otherwise still seems highly structured to me, mostly (a case in point is the well-designed Suzy Lafayette, whom I have written about elsewhere) – if with occasional inconsistencies in rules terminology. On the other hand, this only makes the anarchic play order determination that comes with Sid's new (or not?) ability stand out the more – to me better belonging in an entirely different kind of game. Though, I have no doubt, of course, that it will appeal to some.
By the way, does anybody know how Sid's ability works in the recent computer version of Bang! Is it truly "at any time"? I mean, with Sid in the game, can you affect the game outcome by how fast you manage to press some button there?