Bad Gamesmanship- This needs to stop NOW

increpar

Aspiring Trainer
Member
I love pokemon and i will knock sombody out for the sake of saving this game for the kids, i am the hottest most athletic pokemon player you can find, so i am gona act tough about this, dont ruin my game, i read this on another site, and agree 1000%, it may not be cheating, but people have to learn respect and manners, because one day your going to mess with the wrong person, and its gona bite you in the bootie..... now read:

EDIT: IF YOUR AWARE MOVE ALONG, DONT WASTE YOUR PRECIOUS BREATH, IF EVERYONE IS AWARE, THEN MY THREAD WILL DIE OUT ITSELF, HAVE A GREAT DAY....
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For those of you who need a definition of “Gamesmanship”, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamesmanship for a brief read.

Now before I continue any further, let me first say that I will not use any names in this post, nor will I state where I come from. I want to at least give those people some dignity, the little from what is left of it, and may be they would get a clue.

The acts these people have done are wrong and contributed to bad gamesmanship, and they have not only done them once, they did it over and over again, consistently from Battle Road to Battle Roads, Cities to Cities, Provincial to Nationals, for the past two years.

The following is just from my observations from this year alone so far done by these players, whether they are playing against me, or playing against other players.

- Played Kingdra against me, Kingdra active after KO one more my Pokemon. Just before my turn begin, counted out loud to 11 at his discard pile, “claiming” to 11 Water Energies in his discard pile. Before I pushed a Pokemon up, I checked his discard pile myself and only found 6. I turned the other cheek on this one and continued playing. Do not ask me why I did that.
- Observed, His opponent uses Gallade's Psychic Cut against his active, knocking it out by flipping one prize, which was a Ralts, his opponent flashed the Ralts and picked it up and his prize for the KO. Just as his opponent does that, he raised his hand and called judge and claimed he didn't showed the prize. Needless to say, his opponent was very crossed for getting on him for a technicality.
- Constantly asking a judge for Raichu Lv. X's Link Lightning ruling about its non-existent time delay, on several occasions, Cities after Cities with different judges, when they clearly knew what the card is and are just stalling for time.

This is just few examples of things these players have done and have gotten away with, and it doesn't stop with gamesmanship. Their basic tactic is to distract judges by chatting with them, and sometimes intimidate their opponent (like the Kingdra example above). They have done this a lot, and have perfected the ways to perform them with little to no delay. More often than not, the judges that arrives at a conflict are confused and they will winded up getting away with it.

I have complained (among a few people) to the tournament organizers, but it is hard to get their attention since gamesmanship is a delicate issue that is hard to deal with. Also, the people that played against him did not wish to come out to the TO with a testimony of sorts, and also that I am a bad sportsman (at certain times, and working on improving it over the years), that didn't go over so well with them, I would suspect.

Honestly, sometimes what these people do is absolutely ridiculous. His opponent has a cold and sneezed, he then asks a judge to bring a Kleenex, the judge done so, and then he has the nerve to ask for a 5 minute extension because of the “delay”.

Also, they are infamous for being “fake” humble after a game, usually a good sportsman will just say “Good Game” after he wins, but this one person from their group says something along the lines of “I learned a lot from playing with you! Thank you so much for a great game!”, when actually he was just playing against another player who has a bad hand playing Machamp, and he was playing Machamp as well. (rolls eyes)

Me and a few of my friends have almost had it with these people, when they are in any of the tournaments, all the players have to constantly deal with their stalling, rulesharking and general poor gamesmanship. For me, I have more fun talking about the things with my friends they have done in the car ride back, then actually dealing with them at the tournament.

I made this post so I can bring some of the things that I have said to light and ask those of you who are judges and Pokemon Professors for advice on what can be done, is there anything in the rules that can be used? One of my friends is a Professor, and he said that these acts can be called on and penalized. If so, I would love to hear it so I can suggest them to the TOs in our tournaments.

And If you are reading this, and actually somehow got a clue that I am talking about you, stop. Because the next time if you and your players do something like this, I would have to resort to reporting to the TO immediately at the tournament.
 
increpar said:
I love pokemon and I will knock sombody out for the sake of saving this game for the kids, I am the hottest most athletic pokemon player you can find, so I am gona act tough about this, don't ruin my game, I read this on another site, and agree 1000%... now read:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For those of you who need a definition of “Gamesmanship”, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamesmanship for a brief read.

Now before I continue any further, let me first say that I will not use any names in this post, nor will I state where I come from. I want to at least give those people some dignity, the little from what is left of it, and may be they would get a clue.

The acts these people have done are wrong and contributed to bad gamesmanship, and they have not only done them once, they did it over and over again, consistently from Battle Road to Battle Roads, Cities to Cities, Provincial to Nationals, for the past two years.

The following is just from my observations from this year alone so far done by these players, whether they are playing against me, or playing against other players.

- Played Kingdra against me, Kingdra active after KO one more my Pokemon. Just before my turn begin, counted out loud to 11 at his discard pile, “claiming” to 11 Water Energies in his discard pile. Before I pushed a Pokemon up, I checked his discard pile myself and only found 6. I turned the other cheek on this one and continued playing. Do not ask me why I did that.
- Observed, His opponent uses Gallade's Psychic Cut against his active, knocking it out by flipping one prize, which was a Ralts, his opponent flashed the Ralts and picked it up and his prize for the KO. Just as his opponent does that, he raised his hand and called judge and claimed he didn't showed the prize. Needless to say, his opponent was very crossed for getting on him for a technicality.
- Constantly asking a judge for Raichu Lv. X's Link Lightning ruling about its non-existent time delay, on several occasions, Cities after Cities with different judges, when they clearly knew what the card is and are just stalling for time.

This is just few examples of things these players have done and have gotten away with, and it doesn't stop with gamesmanship. Their basic tactic is to distract judges by chatting with them, and sometimes intimidate their opponent (like the Kingdra example above). They have done this a lot, and have perfected the ways to perform them with little to no delay. More often than not, the judges that arrives at a conflict are confused and they will winded up getting away with it.

I have complained (among a few people) to the tournament organizers, but it is hard to get their attention since gamesmanship is a delicate issue that is hard to deal with. Also, the people that played against him did not wish to come out to the TO with a testimony of sorts, and also that I am a bad sportsman (at certain times, and working on improving it over the years), that didn't go over so well with them, I would suspect.

Honestly, sometimes what these people do is absolutely ridiculous. His opponent has a cold and sneezed, he then asks a judge to bring a Kleenex, the judge done so, and then he has the nerve to ask for a 5 minute extension because of the “delay”.

Also, they are infamous for being “fake” humble after a game, usually a good sportsman will just say “Good Game” after he wins, but this one person from their group says something along the lines of “I learned a lot from playing with you! Thank you so much for a great game!”, when actually he was just playing against another player who has a bad hand playing Machamp, and he was playing Machamp as well. (rolls eyes)

Me and a few of my friends have almost had it with these people, when they are in any of the tournaments, all the players have to constantly deal with their stalling, rulesharking and general poor gamesmanship. For me, I have more fun talking about the things with my friends they have done in the car ride back, then actually dealing with them at the tournament.

I made this post so I can bring some of the things that I have said to light and ask those of you who are judges and Pokemon Professors for advice on what can be done, is there anything in the rules that can be used? One of my friends is a Professor, and he said that these acts can be called on and penalized. If so, I would love to hear it so I can suggest them to the TOs in our tournaments.

And If you are reading this, and actually somehow got a clue that I am talking about you, stop. Because the next time if you and your players do something like this, I would have to resort to reporting to the TO immediately at the tournament.

1. I'm not sure what to say about the first part, other than that you partially defeat the point of the message with it (oh, and for the record, everyone seems to think that about themselves, but you'll be hard pressed to find many who agree with you).

2. I want a pony and a billion dollars. I try and ask for things I have a shot at getting. There was already a thread on this. Everyone agreed it was a problem. Nothing changed then, and nothing will change now. You can't redefine human nature with a thread.
 
im not trying to lol change people, just raise awareness, and about my personal self, i wont engage in that because i know i am, my ladies can vouch for me lol.....
 
Although I don't enjoy watching people cheat in actual premier events (my friends and I have had cheating fun-events, in which we all cheat and try to catch each other.) The things that you have listed aren't very substantial, nor are they punishable in any way. At best they are just un-savory tactics, not much else. I've seen real poor sportsmanship. I've seen people hit the table in rage because they lost. I've seen people cry because they have lost a big game. I've even heard people call others terrible names because they won a City Championship. Poor sportsmanship is something that we have to deal with, and it occurs more and more as the events become more and more important, just go check out a National Championship, the sportsmanship is pitiful.
 
increpar said:
im not trying to lol change people, just raise awareness, and about my personal self, I wont engage in that because I know I am, my ladies can vouch for me lol...

Everyone is aware. That's why they do or don't do it.

And really, don't flatter yourself. They're probably just as... nevermind. I'm done here.

There's not much discussion value in the topic to begin with.
 
damn im sorry to hear that, "just go check out a National Championship, the sportsmanship is pitiful."
yeah i didnt write all that, but i agree with him/her, im just saying, be careful of how you handle yourself, being honest and polite gets you good place, if you are mean and nasty you can live a good life aswell, but one day you will mess with the wrong people and its not going to be fun, wether at work school or playing this game, some people (like me and my boys) arent to kind to people with no respect or manners


lol and about my girls, lol i doubt ill have competition on here, models, gorgeous......
 
You can report your tournament experiences to POP. Unlike a "thread about human nature," a report to POP about the activities that go on in their sanctioned events surely will make a difference.

Your frustration is understandable, although somewhat excessive. Again, as I said, you can contact POP with any problems you have involving any of their sanctioned events. I don't believe any real harm has been done here as no names or places have been mentioned.

I too agree that there is a lot of poor sportsmanship and negativity surrounding this game; it's a real shame that things have degraded so severely in some areas.
 
This was copied from a thread on 'Gym.

And there's really not a lot a thread will do here. No matter what, someone will cheat without actually cheating, and they'll get away with it. Call it to attention whenever you can, it's all you can do.
 
"Although I don't enjoy watching people cheat in actual premier events "

That is pretty funny seeing as no one really sees you cheat 0_o

But, bad gamesmenship here:

1. Crying--you lost a pokemon match? Go cry me a river and build a bridge.
2. Stalling--you are going to lose, don't act like you have a shot at winning when you are down 5-0 with an active magikarp.
3. Excuses--I never got the TSD I needed...Really? THEN PUT SOME IN!
4. Boasters--Wow, my 8th in a row. Skillz...I can see you won, I got 2nd and you beat me...
5. Wanna-be-reverse-psychologists--You know, I think it would be funny if you put down dusknoir :) How about I use my deck you use yours. I also want you to stop that fake smile before I smack it off! I like conversation but I do what I wan'!

5 worst things.
 
I think that if players are playing the game to win prizes and for nothing else at all, they are playing the game for the wrong reasons. It does not mean that it is wrong to play to win, it means that it is wrong for players to use the TCG as a means to an end and to use whatever tactics, no matter how unethical they are, to win, whether it be for material gain, or to make themselves feel like they are better than everyone else.

Gamesmanship is a violation of the tournament rules. Although gamesmanship isn't as bad as cheating, it is still an extremely serious infraction of both the rules and more importantly, the "spirit of the game". Beyond anything else, the Pokémon Trading Card Game, is just that, a game. The purpose of the trading card game is for people to have fun. People may compare what goes on in the Trading Card Game to sports, but there is an important difference: players are not paid to play.

Yes, there are prizes at stake, and it is understandable that the players who consistently win tournaments that are in a prime position to do well at a major event are in it for the prizes, many other people just play for fun, and these behaviors can ruin the fun for them. Less people go to tournaments, premier ratings go down, and ultimately, it hurts everyone, including the players that win tournaments.

Gamesmanship falls under "Unsporting Conduct: Major" in the Penalty Guidelines (PDF) and can result in a Prize Penalty at events like Battle Roads and City Championships an a Game Loss at bigger events.

Ultimately, my belief is that the heroes of the game are the ones that have good sportsmanship, are honest, help out newer players, give back to the community, and can accept their victories in a manner that inspires others to succeed, rather than use them as a way to brag or sort out "good players" and "bad players".

I was disappointed when I heard that this was bad at the U.S. Nationals. I hope this year, people will appreciate the game more for what it is, rather than what it offers.
 
thanks to those who shared experiences ^^^ and to those with advice, like mentioned before it does create a domino effect pushing people away etc, my leauge , in this great and very populated city, is sad, to say the least, because its filled with poor Gamesmanship, thanks again for those who were constructive in their post....

"This was copied from a thread on 'Gym. " Yes sir hence the : "I read this on another site, and agree 1000%"

oh and is the grammar grade <<< on the side supposed to be for bad "grammar" or when people dont like you, lol thanks VILE....
 
increpar said:
thanks to those who shared experiences ^^^ and to those with advice, like mentioned before it does create a domino effect pushing people away etc, my leauge , in this great and very populated city, is sad, to say the least, because its filled with poor Gamesmanship, thanks again for those who were constructive in their post....

"This was copied from a thread on 'Gym. " Yes sir hence the : "I read this on another site, and agree 1000%"

oh and is the grammar grade <<< on the side supposed to be for bad "grammar" or when people don't like you, lol thanks VILE...

You're welcome. It was well deserved, and if I had time, I would have brought up your inability to capitalize as well. If it was some kind of vendetta, I would have stuck something in there along the lines of "annoyingly arrogant", but I didn't. Why? Because that's not related to S/G, and it would be mean of me to call you such a thing.
 
Wiseman. said:
1. Crying--you lost a pokemon match? Go cry me a river and build a bridge.
2. Stalling--you are going to lose, don't act like you have a shot at winning when you are down 5-0 with an active magikarp.
3. Excuses--I never got the TSD I needed...Really? THEN PUT SOME IN!
4. Boasters--Wow, my 8th in a row. Skillz...I can see you won, I got 2nd and you beat me...
5. Wanna-be-reverse-psychologists--You know, I think it would be funny if you put down dusknoir :) How about I use my deck you use yours. I also want you to stop that fake smile before I smack it off! I like conversation but I do what I wan'!

5 worst things.

Same for me, but with some exceptions.

3. Mostly new players say that, just let them. They feel that their decks are great and this is the first step in building better decks. It was for me at least.

Oh, and it was obvious that I was going to lose one time (one pokemon left at low health), and then the girl I was facing took her time, loading up the bench and then ending it. I asked her why she didn't just end it.

She replied, "My mom says that it would have been a waste of a good turn."

*twitch*
 
I apologize to seem arrogant, i really do, it just annoyed me that you posted, "everyone knows" kinda thing, i mean, if they do , cool you know, no need to post that.... (in my opinion) just let my post die, if everyone knows..... Well guys/gals some funny examples, sad but funny how people can act
 
increpar said:
I am the hottest most athletic pokemon player you can find, so I am gona act tough about this, don't ruin my game

First off,

This little part here just shows how immature and cocky you are. We do not care that you a "hot athletic pokemon player".


For those of you who need a definition of “Gamesmanship”, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamesmanship for a brief read.

Now before I continue any further, let me first say that I will not use any names in this post, nor will I state where I come from. I want to at least give those people some dignity, the little from what is left of it, and may be they would get a clue.

The acts these people have done are wrong and contributed to bad gamesmanship, and they have not only done them once, they did it over and over again, consistently from Battle Road to Battle Roads, Cities to Cities, Provincial to Nationals, for the past two years.

The following is just from my observations from this year alone so far done by these players, whether they are playing against me, or playing against other players.

- Played Kingdra against me, Kingdra active after KO one more my Pokemon. Just before my turn begin, counted out loud to 11 at his discard pile, “claiming” to 11 Water Energies in his discard pile. Before I pushed a Pokemon up, I checked his discard pile myself and only found 6. I turned the other cheek on this one and continued playing. Do not ask me why I did that.
- Observed, His opponent uses Gallade's Psychic Cut against his active, knocking it out by flipping one prize, which was a Ralts, his opponent flashed the Ralts and picked it up and his prize for the KO. Just as his opponent does that, he raised his hand and called judge and claimed he didn't showed the prize. Needless to say, his opponent was very crossed for getting on him for a technicality.
- Constantly asking a judge for Raichu Lv. X's Link Lightning ruling about its non-existent time delay, on several occasions, Cities after Cities with different judges, when they clearly knew what the card is and are just stalling for time.

This is just few examples of things these players have done and have gotten away with, and it doesn't stop with gamesmanship. Their basic tactic is to distract judges by chatting with them, and sometimes intimidate their opponent (like the Kingdra example above). They have done this a lot, and have perfected the ways to perform them with little to no delay. More often than not, the judges that arrives at a conflict are confused and they will winded up getting away with it.

I have complained (among a few people) to the tournament organizers, but it is hard to get their attention since gamesmanship is a delicate issue that is hard to deal with. Also, the people that played against him did not wish to come out to the TO with a testimony of sorts, and also that I am a bad sportsman (at certain times, and working on improving it over the years), that didn't go over so well with them, I would suspect.

Honestly, sometimes what these people do is absolutely ridiculous. His opponent has a cold and sneezed, he then asks a judge to bring a Kleenex, the judge done so, and then he has the nerve to ask for a 5 minute extension because of the “delay”.

Also, they are infamous for being “fake” humble after a game, usually a good sportsman will just say “Good Game” after he wins, but this one person from their group says something along the lines of “I learned a lot from playing with you! Thank you so much for a great game!”, when actually he was just playing against another player who has a bad hand playing Machamp, and he was playing Machamp as well. (rolls eyes)

Me and a few of my friends have almost had it with these people, when they are in any of the tournaments, all the players have to constantly deal with their stalling, rulesharking and general poor gamesmanship. For me, I have more fun talking about the things with my friends they have done in the car ride back, then actually dealing with them at the tournament.

I made this post so I can bring some of the things that I have said to light and ask those of you who are judges and Pokemon Professors for advice on what can be done, is there anything in the rules that can be used? One of my friends is a Professor, and he said that these acts can be called on and penalized. If so, I would love to hear it so I can suggest them to the TOs in our tournaments.

And If you are reading this, and actually somehow got a clue that I am talking about you, stop. Because the next time if you and your players do something like this, I would have to resort to reporting to the TO immediately at the tournament.

Now let me continue on to this:

If you didn't call a judge when you thought there was cheating then that's your own dang fault for letting the player get away with it. Now players have the right to ask a judge for card questions. It's in the rules, you will just have to accept it. I've asked a couple times, but the kid didn't think I was cheating. I simply would like to know the rule future reference. Then you say players are stalling. What if the kid is a slow reader or doesn't understand the card? You call that stalling? I like to take my time and I always offer my opponent to take their time. Why, cause I want the game to be able to be played how it should be not rushed.

My simple answer instead of crying on here about it is to write to POP. The TO can't do anything if he doesn't catch the player and all your statements are he said she said stuff. You wouldn't win anything from those statements. You would need prof. If your worried about cheating, have a judge watch your match.
 
o-ho, what have we here?

Someone took the effort and plagiarized my ENTIRE post from the gym, wow!

As I said at the gym, Kingdra thing, completely my fault. Or rather, I wouldn't know that action would get him DQed. If I knew, I would have done it within a heartbeat.

Allow me to explain it further, these people don't win the game on the table, they win the game on using gamesmanship tactics. Not just once, not just twice, but all the time.

TOs? Ha! They can get so distracted by those people's small talk and stall those precious little seconds, I swear, if those people tries to pulls those stunt off in States or something, I will report to POP regardless if the TOs don't do a thing about it.
 
Clear said:
o-ho, what have we here?

Someone took the effort and plagiarized my ENTIRE post from the gym, wow!

As I said at the gym, Kingdra thing, completely my fault. Or rather, I wouldn't know that action would get him DQed. If I knew, I would have done it within a heartbeat.

Allow me to explain it further, these people don't win the game on the table, they win the game on using gamesmanship tactics. Not just once, not just twice, but all the time.

TOs? Ha! They can get so distracted by those people's small talk and stall those precious little seconds, I swear, if those people tries to pulls those stunt off in States or something, I will report to POP regardless if the TOs don't do a thing about it.

Notice I said get a judge to watch the match.
 
Hmm, This is bad. I cant say I have gone a a tgc tourney, so I don't know about any of this, but this reminds me of when I was younger and played monkey in the middle , I would throw the ball, then the other person would purposely miss so I would get out. Just for the record, YOU WILL GET CAUGHT AND YOU MIGHT BE DISQUALIFIED IF YOU DO THIS IN A TCG TOURNEY.
 
Shuckle said:
Notice I said get a judge to watch the match.

If anything, they like a judge nearby, to show what "goody-two-shoe" angels they are.

If it is a Pokedad/Pokemom judge, they will distract the judge by making small talk and crap. If it is a serious judge, he will keep asking pointless questions/remarks/complaints like "How many cards are in your hand?" at Turn 1 (READ: Turn 1), or "Could you please announce that you took a Psychic and a Baltoy for your Roseannes?" When those cards are plain as day, on the table.
 
Clear said:
Shuckle said:
Notice I said get a judge to watch the match.

If anything, they like a judge nearby, to show what "goody-two-shoe" angels they are.

If it is a Pokedad/Pokemom judge, they will distract the judge by making small talk and crud. If it is a serious judge, he will keep asking pointless questions/remarks/complaints like "How many cards are in your hand?" at Turn 1 (READ: Turn 1), or "Could you please announce that you took a Psychic and a Baltoy for your Roseannes?" When those cards are plain as day, on the table.

And that is how it is suppose to get played. You don't like the rules then don't play the game. Judges can do it and will do it.
 
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