From the official CS guide:
"NOTE: Some people have expressed confusion about how opposed variables are displayed. I think of them as bar charts; in the above example, the top bar is mostly red, because the dragon has 85% Brutality and 15% Finesse.
But some people look at the chart and see the opposite; they imagine that the chart is like a needle on a speedometer gauge; when the needle points all the way to “Finesse,” the dragon has lots of Finesse. Those people look at the chart and incorrectly think that the dragon has 85% Finesse! I think this is a bug in the way we display stats; I hope to fix it in a future version of ChoiceScript."
I have to say I absolutely disagree with the first part of this quote, and agree with the second part. The entire point of a visual representation like a bar, is to give a VISUAL guide to the data. This visual component is, in my opinion, useless if it is counter-intuitive or illogical. If it were a “bar chart” as the first paragraph suggests, it would (should) be measuring only one stat. On the other hand, a visual representation of opposed pairs should work like a slider on a control panel. When the slider is in one given direction, it should be a measure of increase IN THE DIRECTION THE SLIDER INDICATES.
So for the example used in the official CS guide:
http://www.choiceofgames.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Screen-shot-2010-12-21-at-17.21.26-.png
Because the slider is closer to the “Finesse” side of the bar it should be rightly and logically a measure of Finesse, and not “Brutality.” If you simply wanted to measure brutality, you could have made it a single stat. I think the opposed pairs feature is cool, but pointless and not-so-cool if it’s confusing the readers / players.
However, I write this not purely as constructive criticism. I want to address this part specifically “I think this is a bug in the way we display stats; I hope to fix it in a future version of ChoiceScript.”
While it would be nice to see a quick-and-easy solution to this problem seamlessly integrated into the code, there is what I feel to be an easy work-around. IMO it simply makes it so this “mental reversal” does not have to be made by the poor gamer, but rather the intrepid author. Simply put the name of the Stat which you truly want to be measured (when the slider is closest to it) on the RIGHT hand side of the bar. In simpler language-- When writing opposed pair stats, put the variable you truly want measured on the RIGHT and not the left side of the bar. Simply the opposite of the way you normally think of it, and *POOF* it becomes logically consistent to the way most people perceive a visual representation of data.