New way of cheating evolving?

By TheDarkPilot, in X-Wing

next we will be seeing people using a wing dials with the x wing top on it, will catch them out when their wedge does a foreward 5 green.

for most players like myself that know what each ship can do and what maneuvers are reds and greens, getting away with that will only work on the most naive people or newer players that don't quite know all of the ships movements by heart

come to think of it i think the only thing i'd get screwed on would be a shuttle. as i don't remember which are green maneuvers.. but i do remember what the reds are

that's what i get for never touching a shuttle =/

Edited by executor

It is truly saddening when scumbags have modify their components in order to win at all costs. This damage deck caper ranks up there with loaded dice. Absolutely intolerable. Some are saying banning was a bit too harsh. I think it fits the crime. They're only banned from one store, but I think anyone at that tournament is going to remember these two clowns and they will most likely come under intense scrutiny at the next tournament.

We recently had an international sportsman get nailed for 'match-fixing'. He's now been banned for life from playing the game, coaching or even being a spectator at matches. He's feeling pretty remorseful about it now. I doubt these two idiots are feeling upset about it.

I am going to be TO at our local gaming club's very first tournament, and this is one thing (of many) I will be checking on before we start. I trust most of our guys as they are a good bunch, but we've got a couple of outsiders attending, and it never hurts to check.

I have never thought the damage deck was a good way of tracking damage for this game. It's time consuming, awkward, messy, and can lead to the problems being discussed here. I think they should just have hit markers for damage, and have a critical hit table that you roll a d20 on when you take a crit. Problem solved. Less mess, less sorting, less setup, less clutter on the table. When we play, it's usually causal, I play with a printed out void state list, and just write the damage on the paper. Sometimes we are halfway through a game before I realize I did not even get it out. Then I take a crit and need it.

Another solution would be to share one deck in a tournament. I know some don't like this, but it a deck of cards, and luck of the draw, whether you are talking about one deck or two. There is no value in rigging the deck if you any your opponent are sharing it.

come to think of it i think the only thing i'd get screwed on would be a shuttle. as i don't remember which are green maneuvers.. but i do remember what the reds are

that's what i get for never touching a shuttle =/

Shuttle is actually easy to check, it's the only ship currently that has a "0" on its dial I believe.

As for the cheaters, they should be banned. The knew the decks were supposed to have a specific number of cards and intentionally restacked them. No other explanation I can see as to how both decks would be missing all the criticals.

I've thought about this multiple times, shouldn't players just share the same damage deck? I have two.

next we will be seeing people using a wing dials with the x wing top on it, will catch them out when their wedge does a foreward 5 green.

This is why it is important to know what maneuvers a ship can do. It's perfectly legal to have a copy of what maneuvers any ship can do available when you play. As long as they stick to "legal" maneuvers there will not be a problem but when they throw down something that isn't available it's time to call the judge.

I have never thought the damage deck was a good way of tracking damage for this game. It's time consuming, awkward, messy, and can lead to the problems being discussed here. I think they should just have hit markers for damage, and have a critical hit table that you roll a d20 on when you take a crit. Problem solved. Less mess, less sorting, less setup, less clutter on the table. When we play, it's usually causal, I play with a printed out void state list, and just write the damage on the paper. Sometimes we are halfway through a game before I realize I did not even get it out. Then I take a crit and need it.

Another solution would be to share one deck in a tournament. I know some don't like this, but it a deck of cards, and luck of the draw, whether you are talking about one deck or two. There is no value in rigging the deck if you any your opponent are sharing it.

"Hit markers for damage?" Oh, that what I use cards from my damage deck for :) A nice stack of cards is sure a lot easier to keep track of than a bunch of odd shaped bits.

What is this d20 you speak of? :huh: I don't remember seeing anything like that in this game. All it's got are some eight sided dice with funny markings on some of the sides. Now if you have some random critical generator how do you track anything that happens from turn to turn? I'm guessing with even MORE markers

Ok, enough with the sarcasm but those points are entirely accurate. When it comes to tracking "face-down" cards just about anything can work provided it is known to the players involved. It's when you get a "face-up" card that you need the damage deck which functions both as your table (with a limit to how many times something can be selected) and as a marker for future reference if/when needed. It's pretty easy to ignore the damage deck until face-up cards start landing but once a ship gets a face-up card that Card should remain even if it is turned face-down; there are effects that can turn a face-down card over and knowing some of what might be there make using those choices much easier.

Sharing a damage deck may have some merit but to say that a "rigged" damage deck is "fair" just because you both use it is complete BULLS. A deck full of cards that an Academy Pilot basically ignores could be bloody murder to some deck that is utilizing a few aces with a number of upgrades. Munition's Failure may not bother an AP at all but if you're running bombers, cannons, or turrets it could EASILY ruin your day. "Oh, your HWK get's hit with a Munition's Failure, there goes it one real piece of offense."

I am altering the deck

Pray I do not alter it any further

I am altering the deck

Pray I do not alter it any further

I am altering the deck

Pray I do not alter it any further

This deck is getting worse by the minute!

Ive got a bad feeling about this deck

Edited by Torresse

I am altering the deck

Pray I do not alter it any further

This deck is getting worse by the minute!

I am not playing in tournaments, but the story you have shared with us makes me feel bad for the guys that had the fake decks.

Wow... they do not love STAR WARS at all do they.

:mellow:

they are just good at RP and play their character on the fringe side of things - any good sabacc player has some cards up their sleeves. ;)

Yeah but that is part of the game, kind of like a magician using their slide of hand skills.

:)

The best way to cut this off is to have tournament only damage decks, either owned and "rented" by the store locations, or handed out as entry gifts. The last tournament I entered (which was my first) had a $20 dollar entry fee, but only 16 people entered so we all ended up getting the custom evade tokens and the alternate art Skywalker card.

But if we had one more person enter, the organization would have meant only the top 16 would have received something.

It'd be nice if for an entry fee (which I'm not sure if it's regulated or controlled by FFG) you were guaranteed something, and a tournament deck could be that something.

The tournament decks could be locked to the table (I'm not meaning physically), and have to be checked at the end of each round or something.

Or, and here's an expensive idea, some kind of cheap electronic device that assigns a damage card as needed. Even if random for a computer is really only ever pseudo-random

It doesn't need to be as complex as I'm saying, but I'd be worried this doesn't happen more often, and the best way to stop it is to deal with it now.

At local tourneys here the TOs have people lay out their damage decks while they're filling out their forms. It's never caught a cheater but it has caught a couple folks who didn't realize they were missing a card or two.

I have multiple core sets, as such, I have multiple Damage Decks. I keep them in separate card boxes, because there have been times in the past when I have had the wrong cards in the wrong decks. Even though I keep them in separate boxes, i STILL count them before and after matches to make sure I still have 33.

Good on the player for catching them in the act. You have to know, if you try something like this, you WILL be caught, especially when you pull 3 of any card that is supposed to only have 2. That's a dead giveaway, and like the dials, all players know the cards that are supposed to be there. Good on the TO for checking his friend's deck. I would do the same as the TO, but for a different reason. I would still have thought it was an honest mistake, and I would have checked his friend's deck to try and sort the cards out so that the players had the right cards in their decks. Mixing damage decks happen. (PSA-check yours now. You may not think yours is wrong, but there is a possibility it is. Seriously, go do it.) When it was discovered that both of their decks was wrong, the TO did exactly the right thing.

Unfortunately every gaming community has people who feel the need to win at all costs. In my experience, these kinds of players show up in a much, much smaller percentage than in other gaming communities. And I love this community for that. Those guys should be shamed, and good on you guys for doing the right thing.

Now seriously, go check your damage decks. I know at the Minnesota Regionals, there were 2 damage cards left over at the end of the tournament.

This is still OK though, right?

20140705_103318.jpg

Edited by M240guy

I like all the bad ideas about making stores and TO's own damage decks to lend out during tournaments. You know, you can't just switch it with your stacked one after receiving it.

Just check the opponents deck, if it becomes standard, it isn't rude. Understandable until then that no one wants to do it, but in magic, we shuffle each others decks.

The stock deck comes stacked btw, I drew seven crits in a row in my first game before realizing it.

The stock deck comes stacked btw, I drew seven crits in a row in my first game before realizing it.

...what?

The stock deck comes stacked btw, I drew seven crits in a row in my first game before realizing it.

...what?

I think he means it's not shuffled, and he drew all Direct Hits.

The stock deck comes stacked btw, I drew seven crits in a row in my first game before realizing it.

...what?

They dont come shuffled out of box, and are in printed order

In south Jersey / Philly ... We keep it real simple and universal. Before the tournament starts, we show our damage decks and get checked before hand ... Everyone does it no muss no fuss.

Edited by DragonBones

Anyone who gets bent out of shape when a stranger refuses to trust them, probably needs to be less trusted.

I agree with almost everything that has been said in this thread :D - just came in to add that this "evolving new way" is really very obvious. We kept joking about having stacked our damage decks from the very first tournament I've been to.

(If anybody I know reads this, feel free to check my damage deck whenever you feel like it. It will never be stacked. But you knew this already :rolleyes:)

Edited by haslo

So just for my curiosity, does anyone know if the two the OP mentioned were ever actually reported to FFG or if any action beyond a store ban happened?

This thread is half a year old.

This thread is half a year old.

And your point is????

Cetiken had a question about this thread and this would be the appropriate location to ask it!