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They need to up the intelligence on the snitch. Make it so hard to catch that it hardly ever happens. Seekers now spend most of their time as normal players, while keeping an eye out for the snitch, then darting away every once in a while for a catch attempt
That was my take when watching the movies (never read the books). I figured the snitch was near to impossible but Harry just had main character syndrome, being able to actually see the snitch.
Frankly I think it's just JKR's understanding of sports being mostly the same as her understanding of anything else.
Like anything in those books, she pulled shite out of her arse with no thought to consistency or sense.
I think people focus on things that had little or no meaning to begin with. I don't see why the rules of the game had to make sense in the first place.
It's a part of good world building to have things make sense. Good world building increases immersion, which makes the stories more engaging for many. It's not a requirement for telling a good story, but it can make a good story better.
Also the inconsistencies of bad world building will be a deal breaker for some, while good world building will be a deal breaker for no one.
Yeah harry is just cracked at the game for no particular reason (never even flew before he went to Hogwarts)... they allude to some quidditch games lasting days, at which point 150 points isn't a big deal anymore.
never even flew before he went to Hogwarts
Or so he thought. We later find out that Sirius sent him a toy practice broom for his first birthday. Harry could have had three months of practice at a very impressionable age, which could account for some of his "immediate talent" when he gets to Hogwarts.
"I road a tricycle for a handful of months when I was one years old and then moved to a country that outlawed bikes until I was 10. Of course I'm qualified for the men's varsity cycling team. Yes, I'm still ten. So what?"
When was this revealed?
DH10, in Lily's letter to Sirius:
Dear Padfoot,
Thank you, thank you, for Harry’s birthday present! It was his favorite by far. One year old and already zooming along on a toy broomstick, he looked so pleased with himself, I’m enclosing a picture so you can see. You know it only rises about two feet off the ground, but he nearly killed the cat and he smashed a horrible vase Petunia sent me for Christmas (no complaints there). Of course, James thought it was so funny, says he’s going to be a great Quidditch player, but we’ve had to pack away all the ornaments and make sure we don’t take our eyes off him when he gets going.
If anything that just tells us that he has always been talented on a broom.
Totally forgot about that, thanks! I kind of like that it implies that he has a natural talent with the broom.
I'm often hesitant to dismiss skills which can be acquired through practice and persistence as "natural talent", but in this case, that could be a valid interpretation as well.
Yeah, the first book mentions that there have been matches that lasted days or even months.
This helps but doesn't address the other issue, which is spectators can't see anything related to the snitch.
Another option would be to add other win conditions, like the game automatically ends after an hour. That would add some strategy too- if your team is up and the clock is starting to run down, you could devote a couple players to blocking the other teams seeker. But you would have to be careful because then the other team would have an advantage scoring goals, and could sneak back into the game that way. With a few minutes left, unless the score was very close, the game would turn into a mad scramble for the snitch since that would be the only way to make up the score difference, with maybe just a couple people playing defense to keep the other team from getting free goals.
Another way to balance would be to simply make it not an instant win. Instead it's just worth a large amount of points, but the other team could still win if they score enough before the game ends.
It's not an instant win. It's already 150 points and an instant end to the game. It usually happens that whoever catches the snitch wins, but not always. See: Quidditch world cup in Book 4 of the series.
Which is also dumb because he caught the snitch, causing his team to lose the game.
Yeah that was dumb. The rationale in the book was his team was getting clobbered and he just wanted to end it on his terms, but at that moment his team was only down 160 points! They were perfectly capable of scoring ONE more goal, after which if he caught it it would go to overtime or sudden death or whatever they do in the quidditch world cup when it's tied.
It's technically not an instant win, just a ton of points and an instant end to the game. In a lopsided enough match a team could catch it and still lose.
In a lopsided enough match a team could catch it and still lose.
That literally happens in the books
In the world cup, right? All these people discussing how the snitch is an instant win got me thinking I totally imagined that happening
And once also in a game Harry didn't play in cause he was... banned I think. Although that made more sense because the quidditch cup is based on point differential not w/l, so catching the snitch and ensuring getting the 150 points is a good idea even if you lose.