rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad

[Report]Blood Siege (Sabbat Master) Paris, 12/08/2002

35 messages from 14 participants · 10 December 2002 – 18 December 2002
original thread on Google Groups

The Tzimisce Lord

Sitting order: Franþois Morand bleeds Nicolas Wargny (weenie PRE votes), bleeds Christophe baltazar (!malkav bleed/Stealth/Vote/Bloat), bleeds Denis Gerard (Nosfe/FOR), Bleeds Kamel Senni (low cap Ani/Intercept). Franþois plays Dreams Of the Sphynx on the first turn, Nicolas plays 3 weenies on the second turn and passes a Praxis vote, Denis plays Vermulen. Then that starts being tight for Kamel which tries to equip with a .44 and is intercepted by Vermulen and the little soldier of Kamel goes into torpor. Nicolas is rather blocked by the many votes on the table. Denis continues his effort of war and bum's Kamel's Devin Bisley, another minion in torpor. Franþois shows the way with the first action of legendary Queen Ann... A bleed of 9 to Nicolas, who takes it, the round after, the table considers Franþois being very dangerous and Queen Ann becomes again simple Prince de Londres (not legendary anymore). On Denis' turn, Vermulen is empty and hunts, but Kamel with its last minion Bear Paw intercepts and sends it into torpor (21 min of play). An alliance of vote occurs between Franþois and Denis, Franþois leaves Vermulen in torpor. Franþois is still considered dangerous and Christophe Baltazar Kindred Spirit him for 4. On the 36th minute of play Nicolas is at 4 pool... Franþois will make his first VP. On the 46th minute of play Nicolas draws the card which saves him: Dramatic Upheaval!!! It passes, he changes his place with Franþois. New Sitting Order: Nicolas (weenie Presence 4 pool) Franþois (Ventrue B/S votes), Christophe (!malk bloat B/S) Denis (Nosfe/FOR) Kamel (low course ANI, 1 minion ready). Later, Christophe, after long discussions, tries to change place with Franþois but the table denies. Then it is the return of the weenie which although low in pool does not have to fear the only minion of Kamel and passes thanks to Christophe 2 Conservative of 4 on Francois, Franþois is at two Pool. After 1h41 of play, Nicolas makes a VP and ousts Francois, then that deals a lot bus Kamel can withdraw and give a VP to Denis, that deals prizes... Finaly, Christophe falls in agreement with Denis, Christophe Kindred Spirit Kamel and kills him giving a VP to Denis and Time Limit occurs. Thus: 1st Nicolas Wargny (1.5 vp) who gains the Sabbat Master (the Cup and 5 Sabbat boosters, 4 Dimple custom cards, 1 Vitel, 1 Wind Dance, a CE Booster and one Bloodlines booster) Second, a Priscus: Denis Gerard (1.5 vp) 3rd Chistophe Baltazar (0.5 vp) 4th Kamel Senni (0 vp) 5th Franþois Morand (0 vp) but who does never move for nothing since each time he comes to Paris it goes in final. --- 6th Jean NoÙl Jourdan (whom had a prize for missing the final so close) Thank you all for coming, and to have attended a tournament in a good mood! Many deals this day and especially many brokendeals, 2003 will be a year where people will pay more attention to the deals they pass... One also sees emerging the practice of the prize deals in finale... not desirable IMHO. -- Meshenka, Head Judge http://sabbatinfrance.free.fr

Johannes Walch

> One also sees emerging the practice of the prize deals in finale... > not desirable IMHO. Not desirable at all and not allowed by the V:EKN tournament rules, because it is an "out of game" consideration. If I was the judge myself I would have told the players not to make such deals and give them a warning for trying. Should they continue dealing with "out of game" considerations even more drastical measures can be applied (e.g loss of VP, game loss, redistribution of their price ...) johannes walch v:ekn germany

reyda

Johannes Walch wrote: ::: One also sees emerging the practice of the prize deals in ::: finale... not desirable IMHO. :: :: Not desirable at all and not allowed by the V:EKN tournament :: rules, because it is an "out of game" consideration. allowed by the current rulings, sorry.

The Tzimisce Lord

[ quoted text not captured ] from vekn Penalty Guide: 161. Cheating - Bribery/Collusion Definition: A player attempts to bribe an opponent into changing the results of a game. Philosophy: Players in the finals of a tournament should not be considered in violation of this rule as long as they meet the following criteria: * No player introduces outside incentives such as cash, cards, or other items. (For example, *splitting the prize money would be acceptable*.) * All players involved in all affected matches agree on the outcome. Penalty: Disqualification without Prize. so penalty is Disqualification AND it is allowed as the example state to split prize, so it is allowed -- TzimisceLord http://myvtes.free.fr http://sabbatinfrance.free.fr

Johannes Walch

> so penalty is Disqualification AND it is allowed as the example state > to split prize, so it is allowed You are right. damn, should have reread the rules before :-). Anyway. It is not desireable :-) Imagine mighty Metusalehs arguing about 10 booster packs. Make me laugh. [ quoted text not captured ]

Miller Delmardigan

"Johannes Walch" <joha...@scram.de> a écrit dans le message de news: at4oa0$nab$1...@stu1id2.ip.tesion.net... > > One also sees emerging the practice of the prize deals in finale... > > not desirable IMHO. > > Not desirable at all and not allowed by the V:EKN tournament rules, because > it is an "out of game" consideration. I'm afraid, that's allowed in the current penalty guidelines, here is an extract: 161. Cheating - Bribery/Collusion Definition: A player attempts to bribe an opponent into changing the results of a game. Philosophy: Players in the finals of a tournament should not be considered in violation of this rule as long as they meet the following criteria: a.. No player introduces outside incentives such as cash, cards, or other items. (For example, splitting the prize money would be acceptable.) b.. All players involved in all affected matches agree on the outcome. Penalty: Disqualification without Prize. [ quoted text not captured ]

The Tzimisce Lord

Johannes Walch wrote: >> so penalty is Disqualification AND it is allowed as the example state >> to split prize, so it is allowed > > You are right. damn, should have reread the rules before :-). > Anyway. It is not desireable :-) > Imagine mighty Metusalehs arguing about 10 booster packs. Make me laugh. 400% agree, hope vtes staff will change this part of the penalty guide to disallow it. It's definitely not wanted. > > johannes walch > v:ekn germany > > [ quoted text not captured ]

Kamel SENNI

The Tzimisce Lord <Tzimis...@NOSPAM.seclogd.org> wrote in message news:<3df5bfa0$0$14005$afc3...@news.easynet.fr>... > > Then that starts being tight for Kamel which tries to equip with a .44 > and is intercepted by Vermulen and the little soldier of Kamel goes > into torpor. I've played the combo Terror Frenzy carrion crows aid from bats (10 times in the deck....). With a lots of intercept (6 forced awakening, cat's guidance, 4 falcon's eye, 7 raven's spy, Mr winthrop, tabloid newspaper, KRCG...). Devin was, during two games, with four raven's spy on her... But Denis played, each time he blocks, drawing out te beast.. Arggg. And each time i block except one time, he'd done the same, and i didn't have any direct intervention (six in my deck...). An awful final...at least for me lol.

hamdamcwa

<snip> > One also sees emerging the practice of the prize deals in finale... > not desirable IMHO. Surely illegal under VEKN rules - under "out of game considerations"? Prizes are not an element of the game, they are outside the game... whereas VP are part of the game. It is possible to optimise your points score, but if an integral (indeed deciding) part of a deal is "I will give you some of my prize if I win" (or whatever), surely this is NOT a valid in-game deal? Pelase elaborate on what you mean by "prize deals in the finale". DH

The Tzimisce Lord

[ quoted text not captured ] hum from 161 the example state that splitting prize is legal in the final of a tournament. my opinion is that it's illegal in previous round but legal in final round. i cant' find reference in Tournament rules and penalty guide of "out of game consideration". LSJ ? [ quoted text not captured ]

LSJ

The Tzimisce Lord wrote: > hum from 161 the example state that splitting prize is legal in the > final of a tournament. > > my opinion is that it's illegal in previous round but legal in final > round. > > i cant' find reference in Tournament rules and penalty guide of > "out of game consideration". > > LSJ ? You seem to have it well covered there, with citations and everything. I'm not sure there are prizes for anything but the final round. -- LSJ (vte...@white-wolf.com) V:TES Net.Rep for White Wolf, Inc. Links to V:TES news, rules, cards, utilities, and tournament calendar: http://www.white-wolf.com/vtes/

Curevei

>> One also sees emerging the practice of the prize deals in finale... >> not desirable IMHO. > >Not desirable at all Why? I find the concept fairly interesting. I'm not sure it would work well, but then, I'm not aware of any evidence one way or the other for this game. Seems to work just fine for Magic.

Kevin M.

"Curevei" <cur...@aol.commetal> wrote in message news:20021210153454...@mb-cb.aol.com... [ quoted text not captured ] Remember, the Magic rules allow dealmaking for prizes ONLY when EVERY other player currently involved in the tournament is in agreement. That is why you don't have dealmaking until there are only 2-4 players left. If there are only 2 Methuselahs left at the final VTES table, they STILL probably can't make any deals, unless they make a deal to end up 1st and 2nd, since the person currently in 2nd or 3rd has the ability to rightly object. Kevin M., Prince of Henderson, NV (USA) "Know your enemy, and know yourself; in one-thousand battles you shall never be in peril." -- Sun Tzu, *The Art of War* "Contentment... Complacency... Catastrophe!" -- Joseph Chevalier

Halcyan 2

>> hum from 161 the example state that splitting prize is legal in the >> final of a tournament. >> >> my opinion is that it's illegal in previous round but legal in final >> round. >> >> i cant' find reference in Tournament rules and penalty guide of >> "out of game consideration". >> >> LSJ ? > >You seem to have it well covered there, with citations and everything. >I'm not sure there are prizes for anything but the final round. Hmmm...in some tournaments, there may be special prizes for fulfilling certain conditions. For example, I've heard of Hazimel tournaments where someone who ends the game with control of the Eye gets an extra copy of the Eye. Other tournaments might offer minor prizes for getting a Table Win. And specially themed tournaments might have prizes for pulling off interesting combos or certain conditions (i.e. having a Hell Hound torporize 3 vampires or somethin). Biggest bleed or biggest strike are also common so maybe someone trying to deal the most damage with a hand strike might make a deal with his opponent to split the prize if the guy doesn't prevent it? Halcyan 2

hamdamcwa

LSJ <vte...@white-wolf.com> wrote in message news:<3DF64321...@white-wolf.com>... > The Tzimisce Lord wrote: > > hum from 161 the example state that splitting prize is legal in the > > final of a tournament. > > > > my opinion is that it's illegal in previous round but legal in final > > round. > > > > i cant' find reference in Tournament rules and penalty guide of > > "out of game consideration". > > > > LSJ ? > > You seem to have it well covered there, with citations and everything. > I'm not sure there are prizes for anything but the final round. Disagree. For reference: "161. Cheating - Bribery/Collusion Definition: A player attempts to bribe an opponent into changing the results of a game. Philosophy: Players in the finals of a tournament should not be considered in violation of this rule as long as they meet the following criteria: No player introduces outside incentives such as cash, cards, or other items. (For example, splitting the prize money would be acceptable.) All players involved in all affected matches agree on the outcome. Penalty: Disqualification without Prize. " How can prize-splitting NOT be seen as "cards or other items"? OK, it is a prize that is implicit in the final positioning of the players, but it is still using bribes as a deciding factor. As such, it fails the first criteria. This sort of play needs to be DISCOURAGED as it gives the game a bad rep. THe more this is the accepted norm, the more the game becomes tied into the greed ethos, which means that we become more like ickle magic players. Sure, in the current company this is not a problem, but these are dangerous precidents to be setting. This is why the rulings were introduced. There should be no deals in the final other than those that improve your chances of: a) Survival b) Winning By either implication or cicumstance. This is not Vampire: The Eternal Card Buffet. The prizes are not part-and-parcel of the game. From the VEKN rules: "5.2 "Players must not play toward goals that conflict with the goal of the game as stated in the V:TES rulebook."" Nowhere in the rulebook does it say that you should take a lesser position in the final in exchange for boosters, sure. However, it does say that the idea of the game is to maximise your VPs and win games. By taking bribes and settling for a lesser positioning with a prize split, or using prizes as an incentive in part of a deal, even if you could do no better otherwise in normal play, is contrary to the rules above. I say you are wrong not to enforce this. If it is currently legal in your eyes, tighten this up - if not for now, for later. DH

LSJ

hamdamcwa wrote: > "161. Cheating - Bribery/Collusion > No player introduces outside incentives such as cash, cards, or other > items. (For example, splitting the prize money would be acceptable.) > All players involved in all affected matches agree on the outcome. > > How can prize-splitting NOT be seen as "cards or other items"? OK, it > is a prize that is implicit in the final positioning of the players, > but it is still using bribes as a deciding factor. As such, it fails > the first criteria. Prizes are not introduced by the player. [ quoted text not captured ]

Andrew S. Davidson

On 12 Dec 2002 07:53:08 David Hammond wrote: >This is why the rulings were introduced. The VEKN rules on bribery/prize-splitting were just copied from the DCI rules for Magic - they were not created especially for VTES. They are not appropriate because Magic is usually a two-player game while VTES is not. They might be construed to allow two rush decks to collude to split a final table and then divide the prizes. This abuse would not arise in Magic because you only have two players in a game. >"Players must not play toward goals that conflict with the goal of the >game as stated in the V:TES rulebook."" > >Nowhere in the rulebook does it say that you should take a lesser >position in the final in exchange for boosters, sure. Indeed. The rule you quote overrides the rules inherited from Magic because it was specifically written for VTES and is intended to be a mission statement for the players - their primary focus and goal. Ignoring this would clearly be unsportsmanlike conduct. Andrew

hamdamcwa

LSJ <vte...@white-wolf.com> wrote in message news:<3DF8B6B6...@white-wolf.com>... > hamdamcwa wrote: > > "161. Cheating - Bribery/Collusion > > No player introduces outside incentives such as cash, cards, or other > > items. (For example, splitting the prize money would be acceptable.) > > All players involved in all affected matches agree on the outcome. > > > > How can prize-splitting NOT be seen as "cards or other items"? OK, it > > is a prize that is implicit in the final positioning of the players, > > but it is still using bribes as a deciding factor. As such, it fails > > the first criteria. > > Prizes are not introduced by the player. Yes, but prizes being distributed in any means other than the organisers intent or the advertised manner as part of a deal is an abstract introduced by the player, therefore just as bad. The game should be the sole element for discussion when making a deal in the final. If a player starts saying "If you help me win, I can fix it so that you come 3rd as opposed to last AND I'll give you half my prize", then he is making an element extranious to the game-in-hand a factor in deciding the deal. Surely it should be good enough that he is offering a better position alone - if he is NOT offering a better position, the deal is illegal. I think that, as a point of order, I would have no problem if the winner did the same deal as above WITHOUT the prize offer, and then after the event gave the other player some cards anyway. My objection is for players using stuff outside the game to influence deals in the game. And whatever you say, prizes ARE outside the game - Are they used to play the game? No. Are prizes mentioned in the current V:TES rulebook? No. Prizes are not even mentioned as explicit in the VEKN floor rules (only some minor mentions, usually in the penalty guidelines). The are NOT of the game. The closest thing to prizes that have ever appeared in the rules are Ante... and funnily enough it's the Ante cards that are all banned. I am having what appears to be a one-man campaign to close this "loophole" in the rules (yes, I know it is technically not a loophole, but it just feels wrong and with some clarification it could be stopped). If the game ever gets a player base (and prizes to match) level to even half that of "that other game" then prize splitting will cause HORRIBLE problems. Currently, it just provokes bad feeling. This in itself is not a great thing, as not all players are of the consistently high moral calibre that we almost take for granted on this group. It could lead to newer players being exploited and being turned off the game by perceived sleaziness. I know I feel VERY uncomfortable with this, and a few others have already spoken out about it. Let's just make it clear to people that OFFICIALLY it's the taking part that counts (i.e. throughout the game and in all "in game" deals) and UNOFFICIALLY we have fabulous prizes to be won, without blurring the two. DH

David Cherryholmes

On 13 Dec 2002, hamdamcwa wrote: > I am having what appears to be a one-man campaign to close this > "loophole" in the rules (yes, I know it is technically not a loophole, > but it just feels wrong and with some clarification it could be > stopped). If the game ever gets a player base (and prizes to match) FWIW, I'll add my voice to your side of the issue. Dealing based on prize splitting should not be allowed. I haven't really been able to spend a lot of time recently on the newsgroup, so I'll admit I've come in mid-thread and I haven't read LSJ's input on this issue, but if I've inferred correctly that he supports this kind of thing, then I wish he'd reconsider his position. Apologies in advance if I've misconstrued something. David Cherryholmes Prince of Durham, NC

LSJ

hamdamcwa wrote: > LSJ <vte...@white-wolf.com> wrote in message news:<3DF8B6B6...@white-wolf.com>... > > Prizes are not introduced by the player. > > Yes, but prizes being distributed in any means other than the > organisers intent or the advertised manner as part of a deal is an > abstract introduced by the player, therefore just as bad. All deals are "abstracts introduced by the players" by definition. [ quoted text not captured ]

LSJ

[ quoted text not captured ] The V:EKN rules have always supported it. [ quoted text not captured ]

LSJ

"Andrew S. Davidson" wrote: > > On 12 Dec 2002 07:53:08 David Hammond wrote: > > >This is why the rulings were introduced. > > The VEKN rules on bribery/prize-splitting were just copied from the > DCI rules for Magic - they were not created especially for VTES. They > are not appropriate because Magic is usually a two-player game while > VTES is not. They might be construed to allow two rush decks to > collude to split a final table and then divide the prizes. This abuse > would not arise in Magic because you only have two players in a game. The current DCI MtG rules prohibit it [DCI UTR 25]. [ quoted text not captured ]

Curevei

>The game should be the sole element for discussion when making a deal >in the final. If a player starts saying "If you help me win, I can fix >it so that you come 3rd as opposed to last AND I'll give you half my >prize", then he is making an element extranious to the game-in-hand a >factor in deciding the deal. Surely it should be good enough that he >is offering a better position alone - if he is NOT offering a better >position, the deal is illegal. > >I think that, as a point of order, I would have no problem if the >winner did the same deal as above WITHOUT the prize offer, and then >after the event gave the other player some cards anyway. My objection >is for players using stuff outside the game to influence deals in the >game. So, you aren't opposed to people throwing games, just people doing it for good reasons? Rewind a bit. There's two ways to prize split. One is an agreement that should either player involved the agreement win, the prizes will be split between them. Okay, that wasn't terribly specific. A couple of feature of this are making the agreement prior to play and a sense that no one is trying not to win. For instance, two buddies go into a tournament with a 75-25 agreement, winner gives 25% of the prizes to the nonwinner. The incentive is still to try and win as the winner still gets more. But, there's also a collusion aspect as you want to give your buddy, in this example, as good a chance at winning as possible. Then, there's throwing results to get what you want once it becomes clear how events are likely to play out. It's not unusual for someone who has qualified for a pro tour event in Magic to concede the finals to someone who hasn't for the winner's prizes. Not only could similar things be done in V:TES with qualifying but with storyline wins, in prelim rounds to get someone into the finals, or just when someone really wants their deck in the TWDA. Most of the discussion seems to be about the latter, probably for the very good reason that it's hardly differenced from bribery, though the DCI sees it differently. It might be interesting to ask them why they see a difference. But, regardless, what I come back to is: why prevent people from making deals that are clearly in their best interests? The sanctity of trying your best to win argument doesn't fly with me because it's never existed. People have not maximized their efforts to win for worse reasons - spite, boredom, player bias. It very well could be that endorsing prize splitting only encourages behavior we don't want to see. But, I'd like to see it first. Course, I think prize distributions for multiplayer CCG tournaments should be extremely flat to discourage putting great emphasis on winning with the idea being that that, in turn, gives less incentive for players to cooperate to affect results.

Kevin M.

"LSJ" <vte...@white-wolf.com> wrote in message news:3DF9D7DC...@white-wolf.com... > "Andrew S. Davidson" wrote: > > > > On 12 Dec 2002 07:53:08 David Hammond wrote: > > > > >This is why the rulings were introduced. > > > > The VEKN rules on bribery/prize-splitting were just copied from the > > DCI rules for Magic - they were not created especially for VTES. They > > are not appropriate because Magic is usually a two-player game while > > VTES is not. They might be construed to allow two rush decks to > > collude to split a final table and then divide the prizes. This abuse > > would not arise in Magic because you only have two players in a game. > > The current DCI MtG rules prohibit it [DCI UTR 25]. Ummm no, it doesn't *necessarily* prohibit it. Here's the text of [DCI UTR 25]: -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- 25. Conceding Games or Matches Players may concede a game or match at any time within the following guidelines. The conceded game or match is recorded as a loss for the conceding player. If a player refuses to play, it is assumed that he or she concedes the match. The following actions are prohibited: . Offering or accepting a bribe or prize split in exchange for the concession, drop, or draw of a match . Attempting to determine the winner of a game or match by a random method, such as a coin flip or die roll Players who engage in these actions will be subject to the appropriate provisions of the DCI Penalty Guidelines. Players are allowed to share prizes they have won as they wish, such as with teammates, as long as any such sharing does not occur as an exchange for concession or draw of a game or match. Players in the final match of the single-elimination portion of a tournament have the option not to play their match. If both players of the final match agree not to play, one of them must agree to drop from the event (in order for prizes to be awarded). The DCI ratings of the players will not be affected because no match will have been played. The dropping player receives the second-place prize, and the other finalist receives the first-place prize. Example #1: If all players in the Top 8 single-elimination portion of a tournament decide to split the first- through eighth-place prizes equally among them instead of following the original distribution announced by the organizer, they may do so as long as no matches are conceded in exchange for the prize split. Example #2: Two players in the final of a Pro Tour Qualifier may agree to split the prizes (the travel award and the Pro Tour invitation), but this agreement cannot alter the results of the match. One player must drop from the event, leaving the travel award and the invitation to the player who did not drop from the event. That player is then free to split the prizes as agreed upon. The prizes will be sent only to the winner (that is, the finalist who did not drop); Wizards of the Coast will not send the Pro Tour invitation to one person and the travel award to another person. -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- The relevant text here is the part about how only players in the final match have the option not to play their match, and therefore being able to create a prize-splitting situation (i.e. you can't do it if you are in the Top 4, or the Top 8). Realize, too, that this rule is CONSTANTLY "stretched" to allow prize-splitting deals within the Top 8, even at MAJOR M:tG tournaments, so the "rule" should really read that you can split within the Top 8. Andrew's point about this rule having been incorrectly copied from M:tG is *not* a correct one IMHO, as the "Players in the final match of the single-elimination portion" in the above DCI text could just be changed to "Players in the Finals Table", and it would be exactly as fair. I don't know why anyone would have a problem with this. > LSJ (vte...@white-wolf.com) V:TES Net.Rep for White Wolf, Inc. > Links to V:TES news, rules, cards, utilities, and tournament calendar: > http://www.white-wolf.com/vtes/ Kevin M., Prince of Henderson, NV (USA) [ quoted text not captured ]

Halcyan 2

>The following actions are prohibited: >. Offering or accepting a bribe or prize split in exchange for the >concession, >drop, or draw of a match >. Attempting to determine the winner of a game or match by a random method, >such as a coin flip or die roll Hmmm...I'm a bit rusty in "that other game" but aren't there actually a lot of cards that rely on some sort of random mechanism? So if you've reached a point where (let's pretend) you and your opponent each have a life and you have a card that has a 50% chance of doing damage to you and a 50% chance of doing damage to your opponent, you cannot use that ability since it would be "Attempting to determine the winner of a game or match by a random method." Hmmm... Halcyan 2

Kevin M.

"Halcyan 2" <halc...@aol.com> wrote in message news:20021214010420...@mb-mu.aol.com... [ quoted text not captured ] Strictly speaking, you're attempting to determine the winner of a game or match by playing a card, which is obviously legal. That the EFFECT of playing the card induces a random state isn't relevant. > > Halcyan 2 [ quoted text not captured ]

Joshua Duffin

"LSJ" <vte...@white-wolf.com> wrote in message news:3DF9D786...@white-wolf.com... > David Cherryholmes wrote: > > > > On 13 Dec 2002, hamdamcwa wrote: > > > > > I am having what appears to be a one-man campaign to close this > > > "loophole" in the rules (yes, I know it is technically not a loophole, > > > but it just feels wrong and with some clarification it could be > > > stopped). If the game ever gets a player base (and prizes to match) > > > > FWIW, I'll add my voice to your side of the issue. Dealing based on prize > > splitting should not be allowed. I haven't really been able to spend a > > lot of time recently on the newsgroup, so I'll admit I've come in > > mid-thread and I haven't read LSJ's input on this issue, but if I've > > inferred correctly that he supports this kind of thing, then I wish he'd > > reconsider his position. Apologies in advance if I've misconstrued > > something. > > The V:EKN rules have always supported it. This is true. And to that extent, I agree with you that it's not illegal in VEKN tournaments. But I think David Cherryholmes and Dave Hammond are right that it *shouldn't* really be allowed in VEKN tournaments, and suggest that the prize-splitting exemption from "bribery etc" be removed in the next update. As you say, even the DCI doesn't (exactly) allow this anymore. :-) Josh 'the nature of things is in the habit of concealing itself'

Sten During

LSJ wrote: > David Cherryholmes wrote: > >>On 13 Dec 2002, hamdamcwa wrote: >> >> >>>I am having what appears to be a one-man campaign to close this >>>"loophole" in the rules (yes, I know it is technically not a loophole, >>>but it just feels wrong and with some clarification it could be >>>stopped). If the game ever gets a player base (and prizes to match) >> >>FWIW, I'll add my voice to your side of the issue. Dealing based on prize >>splitting should not be allowed. I haven't really been able to spend a >>lot of time recently on the newsgroup, so I'll admit I've come in >>mid-thread and I haven't read LSJ's input on this issue, but if I've >>inferred correctly that he supports this kind of thing, then I wish he'd >>reconsider his position. Apologies in advance if I've misconstrued >>something. > > > The V:EKN rules have always supported it. > LSJ, I just checked the Judges' Guide for 2003. There seems to be a possible conflict between 161 and 164 as 161 explicitly states that prize-splitting is ok in the final round because "incentives outside the current game" does not include prize splitting, but 164 equally explicitly counts prize splitting into the cathegory of "incentives outside the current game". Reading the introduction it seems that 161 has been split into 161 and 164, so from january 1 2003 prize splitting is not bribery during the final round, but prize splitting is always collusion as 164 doesn't exclude the final round. Could you please give an absolute ruling about which clause takes precedence during the final round? Sten During

LSJ

Sten During wrote: > Reading the introduction it seems that 161 has been split into 161 and > 164, so from january 1 2003 prize splitting is not bribery during the > final round, but prize splitting is always collusion as 164 doesn't > exclude the final round. > > Could you please give an absolute ruling about which clause takes > precedence during the final round? Prize splitting is allowed. Deals involving prize splitting are allowed. I've corrected the error in the Judges' Guide. Thanks, Scott [ quoted text not captured ]

LSJ

"Andrew S. Davidson" wrote: > > On Tue, 17 Dec 2002 07:56:52 -0500, LSJ wrote: > > >Prize splitting is allowed. Deals involving prize splitting are allowed. > >I've corrected the error in the Judges' Guide. > > I don't understand how this squares with the play-to-win rule. Would > you permit one player to help another to win in the final in exchange > for a cut of his prize? Since nothing comes after the finals (they're "final"), players are inherently playing to win (barring collusion). [ quoted text not captured ]

Andrew S. Davidson

On Tue, 17 Dec 2002 09:18:06 -0500, LSJ wrote: >Since nothing comes after the finals (they're "final"), players are >inherently playing to win (barring collusion). A player who doesn't need the money might trade all of a cash prize for the glory of 1st place and the title. And a player who does need the money might cooperate for that reason. Their behaviour is influenced by their expectations of what comes after the event - they are arbitraging their personal desires and circumstances rather than competing for the same goal within the pocket universe of the game. I don't think there's much practical or moral difference between whatever you call this and bribery. It's corrupt. Andrew

LSJ

[ quoted text not captured ] Opinion noted. In general such deals are not made based on expectations of what comes after the event - they're made to maximize the players' finishing (as measured by prize outlay). [ quoted text not captured ]

Sten During

LSJ wrote: > "Andrew S. Davidson" wrote: > >>On Tue, 17 Dec 2002 09:18:06 -0500, LSJ wrote: >> >> >>>Since nothing comes after the finals (they're "final"), players are >>>inherently playing to win (barring collusion). >> >>A player who doesn't need the money might trade all of a cash prize >>for the glory of 1st place and the title. And a player who does need >>the money might cooperate for that reason. Their behaviour is >>influenced by their expectations of what comes after the event - they >>are arbitraging their personal desires and circumstances rather than >>competing for the same goal within the pocket universe of the game. I >>don't think there's much practical or moral difference between >>whatever you call this and bribery. It's corrupt. > > > Opinion noted. > In general such deals are not made based on expectations of what comes > after the event - they're made to maximize the players' finishing > (as measured by prize outlay). > Opinion only. I can foresee why, during the final round, I would prefer to selfoust instead of getting 1 VP if I by selfousting got to gain half of my predators prize (assuming of course that my selfousting would indeed be the guarantee that my predator wins). Basically, I have one Caitiff, 1 pool. My prey has zero ready minions and 1 pool. My predator has more or less infinite resources. I roll over and my predator gets two easy kills securing his/her win and I take half of his/her prize. Still, getting my automatic oust would have gained me 1 VP and at least a better placement than my prey, for example. I'm not sure I like this, but I can't say I'm horrfied by it neither. Sten During

David Cherryholmes

On Tue, 17 Dec 2002, LSJ wrote: > Since nothing comes after the finals (they're "final"), players are > inherently playing to win (barring collusion). How can this be necessarily true? For example, I've ousted my first prey. My next prey is down to three pool and in danger of immenent ousting. He offers me a deal: "Let me kill my prey and I will help you carve up the rest of the table and roll over for you, giving you the rest of the VPs" I decline, because I feel confident that I can win the table the old-fashioned way. He looks to his left , and says to his prey "I will never take any action to oust you this game." Something wierd happens, and your game goes to pot. He plays the rest of the game as Meatshield, with a snide smirk towards you, and reminds you over and over again that you should have taken his deal. He has 7 minions, twenty pool, a good combat deck, and his prey has one pool and one minion. He never ousts him, citing his earlier statement as "a deal". As you may guess, this is not entirely hypothetical. Clearly, we are in the finals. Clearly, here is a player not playing to maximize his VPs. Clearly there is no collusion, since my prey is acting independently throughout. Certainly, if I were the judge, I would issue a warning, and eventually remove the player from the game. Please explain to me how this all can be simultaneously true, and it also be true that players in finals are, inherently, playing to win. David Cherryholmes Duke Radiology P.E.T. Facility (919) 684-7714 d...@petsparc.mc.duke.edu

Halcyan 2

>How can this be necessarily true? For example, I've ousted my first >prey. My next prey is down to three pool and in danger of immenent >ousting. He offers me a deal: "Let me kill my prey and I will help you >carve up the rest of the table and roll over for you, giving you the rest >of the VPs" I decline, because I feel confident that I can win the >table the old-fashioned way. He looks to his left , and says to his prey >"I will never take any action to oust you this game." Something wierd >happens, and your game goes to pot. He plays the rest of the game as >Meatshield, with a snide smirk towards you, and reminds you over and over >again that you should have taken his deal. He has 7 minions, twenty pool, >a good combat deck, and his prey has one pool and one minion. He never >ousts him, citing his earlier statement as "a deal". First off, in this case, it really isn't a "deal" at all since he's getting nothing in return from his prey. He simply states that he won't do anything in that direction anymore. Even if he gets a token reward, "don't block this next hunt action and I won't do anything to you for the rest of the game," it would clearly sound fishy enough to warrant calling a judge. However, speaking of prize splitting, I really don't see why everyone is so up in arms. I've never done it myself nor have I seen anyone in any of the tourneys I've been to, but I don't mind having the option. Halcyan 2