Ethics and cheating

[Grumpy]

Thanks Pete.

I won't waste any more time posting here in the future.

Gl

[--Pete]

Hi,

And if you need that explained, then you probably will not understand any explanation I could give you.

--Pete

[Feryar]

What are you talking about and why did you feel the need to make a whole new thread just to attack someone?

Maybe I'm just dense, but that post did not make any sense to me.

[Kevin]

Grumpy posted at 10:50
Pete posted at 11:03
Grumpy edited his post at 11:09

I would assume that means that Pete responded to the post and then Grumpy just deleted it.

[--Pete]

Hi,

Basically Grumpy posted something along the lines of: "How many of you people that condemn cheating in games never cheat in real life? And if you cheat in real life, what gives you the right to condemn cheating in games?"

As examples of "cheating" in real life, he gave things like jaywalking, riding bikes on sidewalks, etc.

My reply is as you see it. I guess that it pissed him off.

--Pete

[Occhidiangela]

LIfe is unlimited. Games are finite. Games have well spelled out rules. Games offer us an opportunity to be better than average, in purity, due to the simplicity of the rules. It is a damned shame that folks cheat at games, since in a game, the rules define it. Without the rules, we have no game.

RL. The last perfect person I ever heard of was Jesus Christ, and maybe Ghandi came close. Hard to say.

So, if I go 60 in a 55 now and again, am I evil? No, but not pure, and I do risk other travellers on the road who expect me to be at 55. Use judgement.

The finite world of bnet, due to its inherent limitations, requires for us to all make a small sacrifice to others so that the game can exist 'as a thing in itself.' Loop hole exploiting does not bother me as much as blatant cheating wherein the game code is modified.

The cheating in self defense argument will never go away, since no one is pleased with how Blizz deals with the worst hacks: dupes, drops, triggers, scrolls. Too slow, too lame, that is the common perception on how the ref calls the game and penalized cheaters. Even this last round was 'warn' not 'ban' CD keys for cheating. Not good enough.

Last item.

Can't we hope, in this artificial world of Diablo, that we can play the game as presented? And if not, is it not the players who are to blame, since the succumbed to temptation?

Yep. Just as the teenagers, he and she, are to blame when she gets pregnant. They both fell to temptation and forgot what the rules of the game are.

[Occhidiangela]

The first time I saw the title.

Sammy was pretty stand up about the whole thing, I thought, even with the media breathing down his neck everyday. (The price of fame)

"Yep, my fault, I had an illegal bat, I expect to pay the consequences." What more could he say? What more was there to say? Take your lumps and hope you can earn your way back into the hearts of the fans.

I thought it was nice to hear that the investigation into the rest of his equipment showed that he tends to use clean stuff. (Or was that rigged? I sincerely hope not, baseball cannot afford to cover up, even though they know that Sammy is a huge fan pleaser and would hate to make him look even worse. He and Mark McGwire helped bring folks back to pro baseball back in 1998, or so the story goes.)

Good, as a fan it makes me feel better to learn that it was probably just a screw up. The Comish said "You broke the rules, suspend 8 games." Appeal, seven days. Seems fair to me.

The ethics of the media? While I disagree with Gary Sheffield's Great White Conspiracy theory, I will say that Rick Reilly of SI and a few others foamed at the mouth because they want, for reasons that confuse me, to make hay out of Sammy Sosa being brought up short. They seem almost joyful that he has, as we all do, feet of clay. When you look at his warmth, talent, charisma, and how much he is a fan favorite, which is important, why the venom?

If Sammy had stayed legit, and not used Maphack/corked bats ever for any reason, even for show, he would never have set himself up for this embarassment. Why he used a corker, even if for the BP show that he puts on Every Pre Game for the fans (Ya know, he knows the fans love it, so he does it to entertain them) is beyond me, maybe he figured more would sail out and be a better crowd pleaser. He is so powerful, though, that I am a bit perplexed as to why a man of his power even needs a corker, but that is on him.

As I see it, the accountability issue boils down to this: your equipment, your profession, you damned well better know what is in your hand, or for that matter, in your golf bag. Professional Golfers with illegal clubs in their bags are DQ from tournaments. Period. No appeal, you lose the dough. Tough. You may even get worse sanctions. Doctors with non conforming equipment or improperly prepared OR's can be sued, or debarred by the AMA.

I'd say Sammy paid twice: once to the Commish, in the lost dough for his missed games, and another, far tougher loss, in that he lost the trust of some of his fans who only really wished him well, and whose joy in watching him delight them may be lessened somewhat.

He's human, he erred, he will take his lumps, and I hope get right back to doing his thing out there on the baseball field: chase down flies and whack the ball out of the park, with a smile on his face. :) That last bit matters, and I wish more Pro Ball players would remember that.

[--Pete]

Hi,

"Yep, my fault, I had an illegal bat, I expect to pay the consequences." What more could he say?

And I respect him for that. No attempt to pass the buck or to cover up.

As I see it, the accountability issue boils down to this: your equipment, your profession, you damned well better know what is in your hand, or for that matter, in your golf bag.

Yep. Which is why *owning* any illegal equipment is like juggling nitro -- a slip and you're dead. Had he not had a corked bat in the first place, it wouldn't have shown up at the wrong place.

. . . with a smile on his face. That last bit matters, and I wish more Pro Ball players would remember that.

Seems that a lot of them got into ball playing because they loved it, but are still in it just for the money. When that translates into the rude behavior some of them show, then I think they should get canned. Maybe they could take up tennis :)

--Pete