Description of Problem: Typing 'rpm --help' one can see this: --force[|=0x74] short hand for --replacepkgs --replacefiles This indeed used to be true. Currently if one tries to "force" a re-installation of an existing package (for whatever reasons - say that some files got corrupted) this will be rejected. Luckily '--replacepkgs --replacefiles' still works (and which means that the help text is misleading). '--force' is actually a short hand for the two above plus '--oldpackage' and the later check apparently become a bit too aggresive.
The fix for this -- if I'm permitted -- is gonna be to remove the --force option entirely, there's more to package management than Applying The Big Hammer. Since I will never be permitted to remove --force, I choose to leave bad enough alone.
I can understand that you are fed up with whines from folks which used The Big Hammer to hit their thumbs but there are situations when uninstalling and reinstalling packages, instead of using '--force', is not a feasible option. As the old principle goes "if you will ban stupid things you will prevent smart things as well" and attempts to make things "idiot-proof" either dismally fail or cripple them beyond usability.