Subject: Re: DCI Problems
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1998 19:24:09 +0000
From: bbrown@accesscorp.com
To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com

I recently wrote in trying to get information and solutions to a DCI
tourney I won that was not reported.  First, I have to say I don't
want Jason Carl's job, he is in a no win situation and I do
appreciate his efforts.  I have spoken with him on the phone twice
and via email a number of times and though I was upset after our
first phone call because he was somewhat aggressive in his
questioning I better understand his position.  He has no idea who I
am and the store in question (I won't name names) is a "partner" who
sponsor WOTC products so understandbly they deserve to be considered
innocent until proven guilty.  I believe in my case that won't
probably happen as I did announce to some of the people involved in
the tourney within a month of the tourney that I would report it if
the tourney was not posted (they had time for an alibi).  In the case
of the tourney I won they claim they did not have enough players to
have a sanctioned tourney which is an outright lie but since 2 of the
players in the event  are on the store in questions team they will
have at least 2 who will deny playing.  I won the tourney beating
their player in the second round with an 1822 rating and I believe
thats what kept the event from being posted (the other team member
lost in the first round).  Another factor may have been that I was
playing on another stores team and the other member of our team
played me in the finals, this would have shifted the local bragging
rights somewhat as far as DCI ratings.  I have provided the DCI with
all the information they need to bust this store, they have names,
they know the date and they can get confirmation that there were more
than 8 players at the event but I don't think they will do anything
perhaps because this store has "appeared" to be on the up and up for
a long time.  One of their weaker players suddenly became the top
Type I player in KC with a rating of over 1800 though he loses half
of his games of solitare and I question whether they may "amend"
results to favor their players but its difficult to prove.  I haven't
played in a tourney since all this started and I really miss the game
and I am the customer that WOTC needs, I spend LOTS of money on the
game buying boxes of new product but I am not the player they seem to
value.  Though I have bought a box and a half of Urza's I am resolved
to stop buying because of the bad taste this has left in my mouth.
Don't blame Jason, I don't, right now this is a game that cheaters
can manipulate and it will happen sometimes but hopefully they will
get caught in their own traps.  As I said before its like W.C. Fields
once said "Anything worth winning if worth cheating for", well at
least it appears that should be the team motto for a particular KC
team.

Bill Brown