This is giving me a headache.
Not angry, just disappointed. And frankly, it's why inexperienced hosts shouldn't even begin to try their hand at a bastard game.
A bastard game is not supposed to just be a game where the host lies about everything. There is an expectation of things not following convention, of not being able to trust your own role PM, of not being able to trust what the host outright says in public writeups. But there should always be an angle to figure it out, whether that be through writeups or mechanics or hints. A bastard game is supposed to be a puzzle, a game where the players have to think flexibly and use the fact that conventions aren't being followed to figure it out.
Seeing people use "but it's bastard" and defend a game just being trollish for the sake of it with no element of a puzzle in the game is just making me want to bury my face in my hands, because none of you seem to know what you're talking about lol, and I don't say that to be rude. It's really not easy for any host to host a bastard game because it's a fine line between exciting puzzle and trollish waste of time.
Think of it like a detective story that breaks Knox's Decalogue or something. But it's aware of this, and has a route to solve the mystery via being aware of this, and fundamentally remains fairly solvable. At the end, is when the author, or in this case the host, should be turning to us and saying "ha, here are the clues, here is the solution, here are the elements you needed to think about, what do you think of that?" - and we all say "damn, well played, we were outwitted" or perhaps some caught on. To further this analogy here, this reveal is like the author triumphantly telling us there was no mystery, and then us as readers celebrating this because anything goes if it's bastard. No, it doesn't work that way, it's not supposed to work that way.
Please can we have some respect for the term and not host a bastard game until we're at a comfort level as a host where we can tread all over conventions and rules and still create a game that is solvable. Please can we not fall into the trap of "anything is fine if you say it's bastard".