joshi tm: I think what he means is if a current rook drops to a pawn, they know to just bid 1 more then their last bid. If Fencer changes it so they can play and does not let everyone know, then they will fall in the pond because of the rule change. (at least that is what I took from it.)

My opinion - let pawns play, but limit to 5 ponds at a time (5 ponds where they are still running - if they fall in, let them join another) (and if they are a bishop+ and have more then 5, and drop down to a pawn - let them continue all that they started.)