Community

Apr 24, 2010 -- 9:59AM, Killer_Owen wrote:

Well I got banned for 30 days guys, so I won't be on much till then. If you need to get a hold of me send me a message on here and I'll get it. Apparently spliting in the finals = ban your account. I was not aware of this since I have seen it done since way back in v2.5, I think it was even built into MTGO back then I can't remember. Just wanted to give you guys a heads up to watch out for that since I know many people split in the finals all the time. I'll still stop by and check in the boards now and then. Later fellas!

Were you and the other guy both banned?  Did the actual split even take place?  Were you the one to make the offer to split?  If so, how did you word it?

WotC has already stated that splitting (despite the fact that it was actually coded into the game before 3.0) is now a bannable offense.  Offers to split, in WotC's eyes, are equal to bribery. 

So if the conversation went something like this:

You:  Wanna split?
Him:  How?
You:  You concede, I'll give you half the packs.  (I know......not exactly how it works, but you get the point.)

That could (and probably would) be interpreted as offering a bribe. 

If your opponent refused your offer and you guys played out the finals, chances are he turned you in for attempted bribery, and you ended up on the wrong end of a 30 day ban.

Now that being said, if you and the other guy *both* got the 30 day banhammer after sucessfully splitting, then you guys were on the wrong end of WotC's selective enforcement of the rules.  I've watched countless daily/premier events lately, and more often than not, the players split the finals.

It just happens.  Memo to WotC:  You're not going to stop it.

You may have removed the coding to allow both players to split/ID in the finals.  You may even start actually enforcing this by reviewing random tournament results (Though given Wotc's past history, I expect them to enforce it for about a week before things go right back to normal).  But if you start doing that, players will just start playing poorly.  "Darn, guess I drew nothing but lands while you ran over me."  "Darn, gotta go, there's an emergency."  "I don't know what happened -- my internet connection mysteriously gave out for 10 minutes!!!!"

Or are you going to start issuing 30 day vacations to bad players or those with bad internet connections, too?

Just put the offer to split back in already.  You're not going to stop honest players who legitimately want to split from doing so, and all you're doing by removing the code and enforcing such a silly rule is opening up inexperienced players to scams or to the wrath of anyone with an axe to grind. 

Apr 24, 2010 -- 11:37AM, Calavera777 wrote:

Here is the post where we were promised that splits will eventually return to MTGO.

community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758...

I'm pretty sure the ban was for offering packs in return for concession (bribery) as opposed to splitting (which would be split the prize but without a concession as part fo the deal).

Granted, I could be wrong (for obvious reasons), but I'm willing to bet that the OP's intention was to split, but he ended up wording his conversation in such a way as to appear to be a bribe instead. 

And your post was from two years ago.  I'm willing to bet that (a) they'll never mention its existence again, (b) we'll get "wait until 4.0" (Gee, where have I heard that before.......), or (c) they'll claim they changed their minds.

Mar 27, 2009 -- 12:33AM, Ambitious wrote:

I know WotC_MattT said in a  previous thread on this topic that manual prize splits were legal, and  not to be considered bribery, but that if you tried to do a split and  the other guy scammed you you were out of luck. Which would mean that  the rules aren't actually different in that way.  With a bit of work, I can find that post.

And stop confusing cheating for prize splitting in the finals. We're fine with prize splits in the finals, but understand that until we get a system into place to do it through the system, you enter these agreements at your own risk. Sorry about that.

 Until that post I was never splitting (as I do not want to even slightly endanger myself).  But this quote from an official WotC representative (We're fine with prize splits in the finals) clearly states that splitting in finals is legal and therefore nobody should be penalized for that.

So I am now totally confused. 

Edit:  By the way, I want to thank Ambitious for originally pointing out Matt's statement to me.