Subject: dojo article
Date: Tue, 03 Nov 1998 23:34:23 -0600
From: Jennifer Vodvarka 
To: webmaster@classicdojo.org

by Jennifer Vodvarka

I always look forward to reading Cathy’s articles. She usually picks a “hot topic,” spends a good portion of her articles overstating the obvious, finally suggesting a solution that is innovative only in it’s inapplicability to what I’ll call, simply, reality.

This article regarding unsportsmanlike conduct is such a peach that I just had to respond. It’s even kind of ironic that I’m being so pissy in an article about bad manners and unsportsmanlike conduct. I just can’t stand whackness in all its forms. And whackness consists of suggesting bad solutions for bad problems or just not making a correct assessment of a situation. Cathy does both in her article.

Let’s take a look first at unsportsmanlike conduct. Yes, it’s bad. Yes, it’s a problem in Magic. Is there a quick or easy or even feasible solution to this problem? Probably not. Individuals will act they way they deem suitable. That “suitable” behavior may not be proper or right or decent, but it’s suitable only in the respect that it fits their personality. We can blame society or point fingers at parents for a player’s lack of socially acceptable behavior, but let’s get real. Pissy people will be pissy no matter who or what we find at the nexus of their behavior. These people will also tend to be unsuccessful in life because of their utter lack of people skills, but society needs members of the herd to serve the rest of us. Who else is going to make my Big Mac?

So, let’s tackle Cathy’s suggestion: enforcing good manners. Hey, forget about punishing bad manners. Since the DCI is doing such a poor job, don’t seek to change how the DCI functions in this respect, but instead create guidelines to enforce GOOD manners. Her “good behavior guidelines” contain about 15 tenants to force each and every Magic participant to “play nice.” These guidelines include shaking hands before and after each match, fanning your cards out, refraining from any non-Magic related talking, and an “encouraging” word after the match for your opponent.

Two separate images come to mind. The Borg and Big Brother.

It’s one thing to punish bad behavior, but it’s a whole other animal forcing good behavior. Can anyone see the ridiculousness behind forcing me to shake my opponent’s hand and saying something encouraging?” My lack of hand-shaking could have nothing to do with my lack of good manners and everything to do with my opponent’s lack of personal hygiene.

It is not up to the game of Magic or the DCI to teach me proper manners. If my parents failed to do so, then this silly game just ain’t going to do it! The last place I want to receive my moral structure is from this game and most of the people associated with it.

Common sense tells us that we can’t force people to behave in a certain way. We can tell people how to behave, and I’ll even go as far to let people know, at a volume, how rude or whack they are, but I don’t realistically expect to effect any major change.

Another portion of Cathy’s article addresses unethical play. Cathy states:

“To wit, typical unethical play involves a lapse of rules knowledge. Perhaps one player unknowingly
uses a card in an illegal way, and is not caught by an opponent. This mistake compounds over
several turns, sometimes allowing simple rules violations to win a game that would be otherwise lost.
As rulings on a specific card change, sometimes players are left in the dark and break the rules of the
game unintentionally.”

How in the world can unwitting incorrect play be considered “unethical?” In my dictionary, “ethics” is defined as: “the system of morals of a particular person, religious group, etc.” Let’s go a little further and look at the definition of morals: “1. dealing with, or capable of, distinguishing between right and wrong, 2. good conduct or character.” Seems to me like ethics are a conscious choice. Knowing that, does anyone else see something horribly wrong with Cathy’s statement? Well, I do. It’s whack. I’ll even go as far to say that it’s wiggedy-whack. Now you know it’s bad.

Let me pull an example of a play I made a couple years ago. In Cathy’s book, this is “unethical.” I had two Ishan Shades out at one time because I was unaware that the card was a Legend and my opponent didn’t notice the mistake. My mistake was pointed out to me after my game. I felt like an idiot because I DIDN’T READ THE F**KING CARD (a mantra amongst my friends) but I didn’t feel guilty or bad as if I had just stolen a valuable card or some other example of immoral conduct.

My act didn’t contain any malice or intentional bad conduct. It was a mistake because of my lack of specific card knowledge. Now, I know that some players will use the ruse of rules ignorance to get away with cheating. And the line between the two – unintentional and intentional mistakes – is determined only by a player’s acting abilities. The DCI might have to punish “accidental play” without knowing if it was intentional or not. And warnings from judges will teach us “sloppy” players to spend more time with the rules. I’ll pay the price for my ignorance. Perhaps I’ll quit my job and apply myself full-time to understanding the intricacies of Magic. Yeah. Right.

But the concept behind Cathy’s assessment of accidental play indicates a clear misunderstanding of the term “ethics.” I hate to be labeled a cheater because I’m not as versed in some of rules and cards as some other players. There aren’t any ethics or morals involved!

Bad manners and unethical play are huge challenges for those of us who play a clean game, but let’s not try to solve bad problems with bad solutions or incorrect assessments of certain game situations.

Jennifer Vodvarka
vodkinator@earthlink.net