Bruceswar wrote:Define fair play? As for sportsmanship I think we can all say we have lost our cool one time or another. It happens, but best thing to do is take it in stride. Say your sorry and move on. I have PM'ed a few people after a game where I had a mini meltdown. In the heat of the battle we all say things at time we do not really wish to say. How you clean it up is another thing.
I did not start this thread, but I see only a few things, other than cheating, as being not quite fair.
One would be making an alliance in a 3 person game BEFORE that person has gotten strong. That is, when that is the only chance of defeating the person, OK, but to say in round 2 "hey, joe, let's knock this new person out and play 1 V 1" is not right, even if it is announced and therefore technically legal. Doing that in a 4 person is not much better, except that at least the other 2 can reciprocate.
Revealing an opponent's location in a fog game.
Ganging up on one player or a couple of players (and not because they were complete jerks in chat or some such)
Intentionally going out of your way to play only those who are of much lower rank .. and not because you want to mentor them.
Lying. Usually it is pretty obvious ... I just find it plain distasteful. Play hard, but play honest.
Playing freestyle real time and then dilly-dallying to take your turn so you can get the advantage ... is "borderline". If you know the other person cannot stick around, I would say it is over the line.
I am also starting to think that keeping a set team of 2 players, 3 or 4 and limiting who you play severely
could be unfair to people who really want the chance to play better players and move up into the elite ranks. This does not affect me. AND, I want to be clear that it is perfectly understandable that the elite folks want to play better players, that folks will like to team with thier friends, etc. I just think there should be some limit so that it is not an exclusive club based on who they decide to play rather than skill/wins.
Other than that, I think most "sportsmanship" issues are not really "fair play" issues. Someone who throws a tantrum when losing (giving everyone a few passes ... even the nicest people get in bad moods now and then), who eggs on others when they win (joking is one thing... being cruel or obnoxious is something else). Someone who seems to think every sentence must contain foul language, someone who will constantly berate and criticize other players (ironically they are often not the best players themselves!), etc.... those are just plain jerks. Maybe they are fine in "real life", but in CC ... JERKS!