Now, you may have supposed that when I started the last article with a statement like “I’m not looking to turn this into a drama blog” that there was some drama going on in the 40k tournament world. While I still don’t want to turn this into a 40k drama fest, there is an issue worth discussing further, because it’s something not limited in scope to any one event. It’s something that effects all of us as 40k players. That issue is cheating. Simply put, while I consider myself a fairly patient, tolerant guy, I have absolutely zero tolerance for cheating in 40k. So in a way, this is part follow-up to our BeakyCon review and analysis, part personal rant against cheating, and part cautionary tale about loaded dice.
Cheating matters.
Bad sportsmanship is one thing – the hobby in general would be better off if people paid more attention to sportsmanship, and we’ve even got some tips for improving sportsmanship here. If I’m facing a bad sport, most likely I’ll just laugh and continue having a good time and being a good sport (which unfortunately sometimes sets bad sports off more) and mostly just try to set a better example. But deliberately cheat in my presence and I’ll take whatever (reasonable, law abiding) steps I have to to make sure I never roll dice in the same room with you again. As a judge/TO, if that means ejecting you from the tournament, consider it done. I’m happy to say I’ve never had to do that. As a player, if that means convincing the store owner/TO to ask you not to return, or failing that, bowing out of a league/tournament myself, or even switching stores entirely to not be around you, I’ll do that. I have had to do that, and it’s no fun to have to do that. But people in my profession are keenly aware of the effect even one unethical asshole can have on an entire group’s reputation. And as a 40k player I won’t be painted with the same brush as people who have to cheat to win in 40k.
Here at The Rules Lawyers, we did an article a while back which seemed to be well received, and it was all about (and appropriately titled) How to Spot and Stop Cheaters in 40k. It has never been more relevant. The various allegations of cheating made at (and after) BeakyCon included just about everything we discussed in the article. Stories from BeakyCon included everything from fastplay to slowplay to deliberate misinterpretation of the rules to perhaps the most brazen of all, a player being caught with loaded dice. These aren’t just “myths” of tournament play, and unfortunately these things aren’t limited to tournament play, either. I’d strongly urge our readers, newcomer and veteran alike, to take another look at How to Spot and Stop Cheaters in 40k. And for the TL;DR crowd (what the hell are you doing here? I’m a loquacious mother****er) I’ll give you the cliffnotes version: always give the benefit of the doubt, but keep a skeptical eye out for cheating, and don’t hesitate to bring your concerns to your opponent’s and the TO’s attention, or just call a tournament judge over to watch. That’s what we’re there for!
In the wake of the BeakyCon e-drama, it’s more important than ever to remember that first bit: give players the benefit of the doubt. Most people aren’t cheaters. Most people make mistakes. Many people make many more mistakes than we’d like, but that doesn’t make them cheaters.
Disclaimers.
Speaking of BeakyCon, to be perfectly clear, there were absolutely no allegations of cheating leveled at BeakyCon winner Teddy Woody, whose Necron list we discussed in a previous article. We certainly don’t mean to detract from his victory, or the overall success of the event, with this little rant. The player caught with loaded dice was neither of the two players we discussed in that article, and the cheater ended up nowhere near the top standings. And as we mentioned before, BeakyCon was well organized, professionally run, and well reviewed by its attendees. It’s a growing event (this was the 2nd year for BeakyCon) and I wish the BeakyCon TOs continued success – bigger, better tournaments make the world of competitive 40k as a whole more enjoyable.
Now for the disclaimer – I wasn’t there, and none of what follows is firsthand knowledge of mine. This information comes from a variety of sources, including statements from the player who caught this person cheating, as well as statements made by the tournament organizers and judges themselves. But by all accounts, a 40k player was caught using a loaded die in a tournament game at BeakyCon.
What to do with a Cheater.
Let’s talk about what happened to the cheater, the one caught using a loaded die. I’ve chosen not to name him here – see my statement about not wanting to start drama, above. So we’ll use pronouns or just refer to him as “that player / that person / the cheater”. That player was forced to forfeit the 3rd round game where he got caught, his 3rd round opponent was given maximum bonus points (not his round 1 or 2 opponents, though), and the cheater was disqualified from any prize support. But he wasn’t ejected from the tournament. He was allowed to continue playing. That was a decision made on the spot by the BeakyCon TOs/Judges, and they had their reasons, but it’s a decision I disagree with 100%. Cheating with a loaded die isn’t an accidental error or sudden lapse in judgment. Playing with a loaded die is a choice. Pulling out a particular die, designed and weighted to be all but guaranteed to roll a 6, is no accident. Loaded dice feel different. They look different. They roll different. There can be no mistake. This wasn’t one of a massive handful of dice he rolled as a group, this was a single die used for important single-die rolls where a 6 would be important to the outcome of the game. That sort of flagrant, deliberate cheating needs to be made an example of. It needs to be dealt with harshly because when a 40k player cheats, it makes everyone – every competitive 40k player the world over – look bad. The worst of us reflects on all of us.
At that time, the BeakyCon staff didn’t have all the information. They didn’t know that this guy had also been caught cheating (but not reported) by his first round opponent. More on that later. So they took the cheater at his word when he said this was a one-time thing, an accident, and he would never do it again. But even with just the information they had, and even in the face of this player’s story/excuses/promises, I’d argue that the cheater should’ve been expelled from the event (this didn’t happen) and invited not to come back to future events (this happened, but not until a week or two later). In fact, I’d go so far as to opine he should be invited not to attend any 40k events, anywhere, where prizes are offered. Yeah, I realize that’d be harsh. Especially considering this person has almost certainly invested lots of time and money in the hobby. The problem is, this type of behavior cheapens the investments of time, money, and pride, the rest of us have made in the hobby. And that’s not the type of thing the rest of us should stand for.
Also keep in mind the judges didn’t decide this guy was a cheater without good cause. They didn’t just hear somebody say “oh man, this guy is rolling a lot of 6′s”, assume that he must’ve been using loaded dice, and start handing down punishments. I’m sure absolutely everyone wanted to give this guy the benefit of the doubt because he was by all accounts a nice guy. But he was a nice guy who was cheating at 40k. How do we know he was cheating? He’s innocent until proven guilty, right? So how’d they prove him guilty? The tournament judge took the die in question – the die this player reportedly used in his 3rd round game (the judge had no idea he’d also been caught using it in round 1). The judge held the die, examined the die, and rolled the die again, and again, and again. The judge determined that this was, in fact, a loaded die designed to cheat. It was the judge’s call to make, and he made it. It’s surely not the kind of decision a judge would make lightly. And neither was the decision to let the cheater continue playing in the tournament. But I submit it was the wrong decision.
This article isn’t simply to heap more ridicule on the cheater – if that were the case I would’ve included his name. It isn’t meant to criticize Beakycon. This is intended as a plea to future tournament organizers / judges to take this kind of thing seriously, plan for it, and take appropriate action immediately if something like this happens at your tournament. If you’re a tournament organizer or judge, it’s important to have clear rules in place outlining a zero tolerance policy toward cheating. It’s just as important to have a plan in place for what happens if those rules are broken. The penalties for cheating should be laid out as clearly and concisely as the rules against it. Nobody wants to think that cheating could happen at this tournament, but it can. The moral of the story is: the issue of what to do with a player caught cheating shouldn’t be coming up for the first time when someone’s caught cheating on the tournament floor. And in case I didn’t make my point clearly before, the appropriate action is to eject that player immediately.
Loaded dice aren’t a myth.
Recent events are compelling evidence that this sort of thing really does happen. It’s easy for cheaters to get their hands on loaded dice. Loaded dice are sold as novelties and gags, magic tricks, etc. One company sells them in sets of 3 as “character rollers” for RPG players to use during character creation to guarantee high stats. Other sets of loaded dice even include one or more identical “non-loaded” dice to help the cheater get away with it. People actually do bring these loaded dice to tournaments. That doesn’t mean everyone does. It certainly doesn’t mean that if your opponent is getting lucky you should accuse him of cheating. The quickest way to put an end to your suspicions is to just ask to use their dice. Pick ‘em up, handle ‘em, roll ‘em a few times in a clear, open space. If the dice are loaded, odds are you’ll be able to tell right away based on how they feel in your hand or by the way they move while they’re rolling:
“They look oddly wobbly when you throw them, like some odd magnetic force is grabbing them.” – Altmann, the guy who caught the cheater at BeakyCon.
“The dice will easily pass casual examination, but anyone who picks them up or rolls them a bunch will pretty quickly realize that they just about always roll sixes.” – From the manufacturer’s description of ‘Character Builder’ loaded dice
“The 1s face has a cut hole that’s filled with metal. The rest of the die is made of wood and painted black. The slug is kind of obvious if anyone looks. So they are more useful as a practical joke then anything else.” – A re-seller’s description of ‘Character Builder’ dice.
Now, not all of them are going to be of such shoddy construction that it’s painfully obvious, but pay careful attention to the way they move when they’re rolling, and the way they feel in your hand. Look closely at the #1 side, ’cause that’s where the weight would be if it’s rolling 6′s. And don’t hesitate to get the tournament judges involved – I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – that’s what judges are there for. It’s far better to bring the issue to the judges’ attention once you have concrete observations to back up your case than to risk letting a cheater ruin not just your game, but the games of everyone else he’ll play throughout the tournament.
Great, responsibility.
Don’t belive me? Here’s a quote from an email the cheater’s first round opponent sent to the BeakyCon TO after the event, lifted straight from an article regarding the incident on the TO’s blog:
“I caught him on it the beginning of turn 2 in Game 1 and he just stopped using it, so I was like, OK I guess. He used it for many things in the first couple turns, especially cover saves from my Manticore blasts on his parking lot of Land Raiders and vehicles. I was wrong and should have reported him to the judges right away, I apologize to the Game 3 player he got.”
For one thing, the fact that he was caught using the die for important rolls in an earlier game suggests that the cheater’s story about how he’d never seen the die before, and how he just accidentally pulled it out of his dice bag at random after digging it out of a big bin of dice at his local game store, was complete bullshit. Somehow I didn’t buy that from the start.
The apology to the cheater’s Game 3 opponent was sincere and hopefully well-received. But what about the Game 2 player who may have had no idea this guy was cheating? It’s ok because he won anyway? It’s never “no harm, no foul” when it comes to deliberate cheating. It’s no fun to be the Peter Parker of 40k and realize you could have stopped a cheater from ruining more games but didn’t. If comic books have taught us anything, it’s that if you don’t stop the cheater with the loaded die when you have the chance, he’s going to kill Uncle Ben. With great power comes great responsibility, and all that.
Ultimately, the ones with the power have taken responsibility and taken permanent action. It looks like BeakyCon has made the right decision based on the evidence at hand and banned the cheater from all future play.
“I hope he has learned a lesson – he is banned from play in the future.” -BlackBlowFly
Kudos to the BeakyCon TO’s for this decision, and particularly to BlackBlowFly for his post (linked above) confronting the brewing drama and letting people know what was going on. This is vastly, vastly preferable to pretending it didn’t happen or it didn’t matter, sweeping it under the rug, etc. – and I think it enhances his credibility as a TO in a big way.
To anyone who thinks banning the cheater from all future play is too harsh, my argument is this: anyone cheating at 40k is bad for the entire hobby in every way imaginable. It’s up to all of us to spot it, up to us to stop it. Cheating cannot be tolerated in any form. While you can assume that the vast majority of players aren’t deliberately cheating, the harsh reality is, every once and a while someone will try. So keep your eyes open.
