Subject: The Cheating Problem Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 01:09:42 -0700 From: "Gamemastyr" To: Frank: This is my first letter to the Dojo, so please forgive me if I break any rules of etiquette right out the gate here.... I've been reading the Dojo for going on six months now (since I got back into Magic after a semi-retirement) and I've found that the threads are always interesting and informative....however, in the case of the cheating incident--I'll go out on a limb here--I think that alot of people are missing the point. I do not know Mike Long. I have never met him. I will probably never meet him. I do not play Magic professionally. I am, in the immortal words of many-a-dojo-author, a chumly of the first order. My idea of a big tournament is the local card shop's sealed deck on saturday night where the prize is a box of product if you come in first and no one has ever been involved in a top 8. I cannot fathom what it would be like to play Nationals or a pro-tour event. However, this said, I do know about games. Games all have one thing in common. They all have rules. And to break these rules, to "cheat" is to violate the spirit of the game. Now, when you're playing a game with friends or family, you certainly aren't likely to cheat. Why? There's a personal investment in that game. The personal relationships which have given rise to the commencement of the game in the first place outweigh your need to win the game. Now, we certainly aren't going to get all the Magic players of the world to engage in a group hug or anything like that, so we can't expect personal relationships to keep players honest. But that's the reason we have these people at tournaments meant to supervise the competition. These people are the judges. Here's my point: Mike Long is not the problem. Cheating is not the problem. **The judges are the problem.** There have been several solutions to the so-called "cheating epidemic" offered here through this thread. Some have been simple -- "Ban him for life if he's caught cheating -- anyone, not just Mike Long." Some have been complex -- "Let's have a table of penalties so that the judge can look up the violation and he/she won't have to deliberate or adjudicate a penalty on the spot." And some have been downright awful -- "People cheat so I'll just stop playing." Ok partner, take your ball and go home. Only one person, so far as I can tell, has even come CLOSE to hitting the heart of the problem, and that's Brian Chew of Neutral Ground, San Francisco, who spoke of the difference between what is essentially a "reasonable doubt" policy versus a "more likely guilty than innocent" policy. But this sort of a policy is COMPLETELY irrelevant unless the judge at the tournament in question has the guts to enforce it. The DCI and WOTC should be challenging judges (and potential judges) on more than just their knowledge of the rules. We're I head of the DCI, I wouldn't be asking if Mike Long cheated...that is completely beside the point. I'd be asking the judge in question just why the hell was Mike Long not DQ'ed from Nationals (assuming, of course, he really did have the card in question in his lap. There's certainly a difference between dropping a card on the floor and having the most critical card in your deck sitting in your lap after you cast Natural Balance.) And if the answers were not satisfactory, that person damn sure wouldn't be judging anymore...be it Joe Schmoe the Level 1 judge or Mike Donais, himself. In order to effectively curtail the cheating problem (I would say eliminate, but I think that's being a bit optimistic...there will always be a few bad apples in any bunch, no matter how stiff the penalty), judges must be called upon to use their authority when on the tournament floor, and this call should come from both the DCI and players alike. Additionally, judges should be held accountable for their decisions (or lack thereof) in tournament settings. Certainly, discretion is important. If an obviously inexperienced player at a local sealed deck tournament casts impulse then shuffles his deck afterwards, he/she should probably get off with a "hey buddy, there's a change to that card and you don't shuffle after you use it anymore...don't do it again..." and a smile. If a pro-tour player in the semi-finals of PTLA does the same thing, he probably deserves a game loss. Discretion and judgement are important...thus the word "judge," but some teeth are also important, and if the judges continue to shake their fingers at the Mike Longs of the Magic world and say "No no, Mike. Bad boy. Keep your Cadaverous Blooms in your deck, not your lap," the opportunistic cheats and poor sports will dominate and, eventually, destroy this very enjoyable game. James Deignan Gamemastyr@worldnet.att.net