Subject: [ISSUE] Cheating and Human Nature Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1998 19:22:15 -0400 From: "Bins" To: In a game like Magic, where it is extremely easy to conceal your actions at key points (such as shuffling, searching your library, etc.), it is always going to exist in some capacity. Especially, but by no means exclusively, with cheating often ignored or only assigned only a very minor penalty.To draw a paralell, why would you use the small tennis racket when the big ones are legal? In tournament M:TG, many forms of cheating are, for all intents and purposes, legal. 'Ethics' or not, it is a small minority, especially with a PT/Nationals/etc.-quality prize on the line, who are going to put themselves at an intentional disadvantage, and those who do are going to be the ones who lose. I am only a casual Magic player, and I make no claims that I am tournament material. In fact, I freely state that I'm not. My main interest in Magic is the psychological study it provides of the players (myself included), and the cheating issue is an excellent example. At heart, despite any 'ethical' claims they make, people are no further above any other animals, we just have cooler stuff. In the wild, who survives - the lion that 'puts itself to the test' going after the strongest antelope, or the lion that takes the 'easy way' and takes down the young, elderly or wounded animal? Obviously, it's the latter. And, given the choice, what option does every lion take? To carry on on the same metaphor (which gets more and more mangled as I go, but I'm getting to the point, so bear with me), which animal has it easier - the one that hunts its own prey, or the one that steals kills and scavenges? For a more human example, look at any business venture. The plain truth is, voluntarily taking the 'hard way' in any situation is most often a declaration of forfeiture. With Magic players, no-one's life is on the line (well, that's debatable, but it's also another rant...) but the same theory applies. With a shot at a major prize compared to a considerable loss of time and money for bombing out at a major event, what reason is there to not 'steal a kill' and cheat when the option arises? Those few that try to go the 'ethical' route are taught a harsh lesson when they lose, and will likely change their approach when the situation arises again. I don't preach 'banned-from-the-DCI-for-life', public execution, or any other penalty for cheating, not because I am specifically for or against it (that's a lot like being for or against breathing air), but because any effort to eliminate cheating would be essentially pointless anyway. Cheating will always exist, and, for those who can do it well, it's an easy way to win. If the DCI makes cheating harder than playing by the rules, there will be a shift, but, ironically, it will still be the players who cheat the most who prosper - in an environment where fewer people can beat the system, the benefits are even greater for those that can find a way to. Any changes the DCI tries to make will be, in the long run, only a cosmetic improvement. There will always be cheating, and cheaters will always win - that's just the way it is. In Magic, there are multiple opportunities to benefit by cheating, and more often than not avoid penalty. In that kind of situation (which can't be changed without stripping the actual game to the core and redesigning it - which nobody wants to see, and which shouldn't happen), it is the person who realizes that a shortcut is available and takes it that comes out on top. Chris Binstock bigevilzeke@hotmail.com