Writing Desk Timing

[poltorgeist]

Writing Desk: "Each time you use a lessons action space, you can play 1 additional occupation for an occupation cost of 2 food"
Potato Harvester: "When you play this card, you immediately get 3 food..."

Why should the potato harvester food not allow me to proc writing desk?

e.g. this is not allowed:
Have 1 food -> Lessons -> Potato Harvester -> Writing Desk 2nd occupation

In fact, the original card text should allow you to do this:
"Whenever you use an 'Occupation' Action, you may play 2 Occupations one after another. The second Occupation costs you 2 food."

Based on the original text, Writing Desk should proc after playing the 1st occupation. And in the BGA text, there is nothing that says that it shouldn't.

I can't think of a coding reason why Writing Desk can't proc after the first occupation. Why should it proc only before playing the first occupation?

Edit:
Similar to these two bug reports:
https://boardgamearena.com/bug?id=51619
- I agree with Robin and Fiscused here - a key word in the text is "additional" - you cannot do something additionally without doing something first.
- I disagree with the alternative rules interpretation - when you use the lessons action space with writing desk in play, you have essentially created two "when" actions in the "queue" - the "space" lesson (when you use a lessons space, play an occupation for the required food) and the "writing desk" lesson (when you use a lessons space, play an additional occupation for 2 food) - these are either simultaneous actions (and Agricola, on the board and in BGA, has always allowed players to choose the order of simultaneous actions) or the writing desk action comes second (due to the word additional AND the fact that the action space has to be "used" first AND the occupation cost should be paid to play the occupation, not the right to pay the occupation)
https://boardgamearena.com/bug?id=59480
- Not resolved

There are a few ways to look at this:
1) Did the developers of Agricola wish to change the effect of Writing Desk between Original and Revised?
2) Does the word additional imply an order?
3) What does "use" mean?
4) Should an "occupation cost" be played immediately before the occupation?
The rulebook states "the occupation cost is what you must pay when playing the occupation card from your hand"
Therefore, you pay the cost WHEN you play the card
Therefore, you should not pay the writing desk "occupation cost" before playing the first occupation
- I think this issue with the word "occupation cost" might be the key to my argument. I know this has been discussed before, but the rulebook is clear what occupation cost means. The writing desk cost must be payed when you play that second occupation, not before you play the first occupation, because it is an occupation cost.

[Tisaac]

1) you mean the game designer/publisher right ? Then yes, it is one of the multiple timing changes between original and revised.
2) no, just understand it as "another", probably it was less confusing in german.
3) already cleared up many times
4) also cleared up, paying cost happens for playing the occupation, not for taking th space.

[Ranior]

From the other thread you were in and saw, Lumin stated the key thing:

Occ has to be first, effects like Teacher's Desk "when you use" an action space were ruled to need to come before taking any of the actions provided by the space

The "Each time you use" is part of that ruling clause. So while I agree that an intuitive reading of Writing Desk would suggest it should work like you (and others) think, the specific and actual ruling for revised edition Agricola is as they have it programmed. If you wish to use Writing Desk, you must pay the 2f occ first, then you get to play the regular 1f occupation cost.

[Tisaac]

Just want to make it clear that i personnaly also think it makes more sense to trigger "when you use" after taking the effects of that space, but i was not hired for my opinion, i was hired to developp the game as the publisher want, and lookout was very clear on that timing during dev.

[poltorgeist]

From the other thread you were in and saw, Lumin stated the key thing:

Occ has to be first, effects like Teacher's Desk "when you use" an action space were ruled to need to come before taking any of the actions provided by the space

The "Each time you use" is part of that ruling clause. So while I agree that an intuitive reading of Writing Desk would suggest it should work like you (and others) think, the specific and actual ruling for revised edition Agricola is as they have it programmed. If you wish to use Writing Desk, you must pay the 2f occ first, then you get to play the regular 1f occupation cost.

It's not intuitive, it's just the meaning of the word "additional" in English

[Tisaac]

From the other thread you were in and saw, Lumin stated the key thing:

Occ has to be first, effects like Teacher's Desk "when you use" an action space were ruled to need to come before taking any of the actions provided by the space

The "Each time you use" is part of that ruling clause. So while I agree that an intuitive reading of Writing Desk would suggest it should work like you (and others) think, the specific and actual ruling for revised edition Agricola is as they have it programmed. If you wish to use Writing Desk, you must pay the 2f occ first, then you get to play the regular 1f occupation cost.

It's not intuitive, it's just the meaning of the word "additional" in English

Go explain that to the publisher then

[poltorgeist]

I received this message from Grzegorz at Lookout Games as a result of an inquiry:

“Yea, this card allows you to play 2 occupations in one go: first, you pay the normal cost for your first occupation granted by the Lessons action space; then, you pay 2 food to play a second occupation.”