The point is that it hardly matters whether you're putting an asterisk near a piece of text or near a form field. The usage is the same either way. The issue, I

The point is that it hardly matters whether you're putting an asterisk near a piece of text or near a form field. The usage is the same either way. The issue, IMHO, is when the asterisk isn't explained on the same page, because that's the point at which it evolves from "I have something else to say about this" to "this field is required."