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The prerelease is over and the release is almost done and I kind of have a moral problem...

I went to 1 prerelease and 1 release (so far) and notice something weird: The TO/HJ is ALWAYS playing with us. I asked around and found out that this is not a rare occurence as they are also playing in their own FNM.

I don't really mind them playing (okay, I'm a bit jealous too!) but I think it's not right for them to take part in the prize distribution as well if they win. My problem is more that their are fellow TOs and I'm quite friendly with them. I've tried to tell them they shouldn't but they did a pretty good job at ignoring me (one of them told me he wasn't the "official" TO and thus could play but the one sanctioning the event wasn't there...).

Can anyone advise me on what I should do? It's silly but I'm very reluctant to "rat them out" and I'm not even sure it will do anything.... will a WotC guy come all the way to Berne to see if it is true? Naaa...

I know.

I'm not asking if it's okay. I know it's not!

I went to 1 prerelease and 1 release (so far) and notice something weird: The TO/HJ is ALWAYS playing with us. I asked around and found out that this is not a rare occurence as they are also playing in their own FNM.

xi_omega:

My first step would be "education." Inform your fellow-TO/HJs about applicable rules and policies and try to make them understand why they are in place and why it's worthwhile to abide by them. After all, these rules and policies are there for a reason ;-). I also feel that talking with each other has the advantage of not splitting the community but of keeping it together.

If they resist your efforts at education, then step two depends on whether the TO/HJ is a certified judge or not. If certified, I'd notify the country coordinator about the misdemeanor; if not certified, then reporting to the DCI seems advisable.

Let me add a personal remark, totally private and unofficial. I'm all for clean play and sticking to rules and policies, no doubt about it. Don't let us become rule-Nazi's, though. If some TO/HJs play in their own events but draw many players, well, then the service they provide can't be that bad that we'd wish to tar and feather them for not doing what we do.

Edit. I'd like to congratulate xi_omega (who started this thread) on becoming a L1 judge. It saddens me, though, for I loved his sig "neither judge nor rules advisor;" it had this anarchistic flavor ...

It seems to me that this issue is a bit more complicated. If these individuals were actually the organizers of record or judges of record for an event, DCI Reporter would not allow them to play and have the event upload.

Therefore, one of two things may be happening. If they are playing under different DCI numbers than the ones they use to sanction or judge, then they are guilty of fraud and are obviously aware that they are breaking the rules and ought to be reported and punished to the fullest extent that the DCI is able.

However, I suspect that the actual problem is more commonplace. While these players may be organizers in the sense of their actual work in putting together the events, they may well not be the organizers of record. If this is the case, then there is not any technical violation. It is not uncommon for some absentee organizer to be the TO of record for events that are then run by others. What is most unfortunate in such situations is that the selfish motivation of these players generally are much greater than their ethics. They do not care that they are stealing from their player base by participating themselves. This same selfishness also causes them to not care that even if they are not winning prizes (not likely given their lack of character) the appearance of inappropriate behaviour and simply the taking of wins and rating points from actually legitimate players is enough to warrant not playing.

Most unfortunately, such behaviour is generally very difficult to police since the world is so filled with evil people and it is nigh impossible without the use of force to cause them to cease in their taking advantage of others.

James Do Hung LEE.