I think there's some misinformation going around here, and as much as I'm reluctant to reach such a conclusion, I'm afraid I get the impression that much of it is intentional. So, I think I probably need to go ahead and make a post, as much as I've hoped that I wouldn't have to and we'd continue these games.
First off, since Lando felt the need to cherry-pick part of a message I sent him, let me go ahead and post the whole thing:
"Having discussed the situation with the mods, [part of sentence redacted due to forum rules]. Given that, I've decided that I'm not willing to continue in the tournament.
I feel I have an obligation to finish every game that I start, so I intend to play out the remainder of my seven games, for fun, and without attempting to optimize for points in endgame play, and then withdraw if I qualify for the next round anyway."
Surprisingly, the full message might give you a different impression than just the piece of it that Lando saw fit to release.
Ultimately, the best I can do is to speak hypothetically here. Let us suppose that a player were to cheat in some way during a tournament game. Because it is a tournament game, now two types of decisions need to be made. The mods make a decision on how to convince the player not to cheat again (some combination of warnings, point deductions, and eventually a ban for enough repeat behavior) and the TD makes a decision for how to deal with the tournament. However, in either case, the players in the game(s) are not notified, so it is essential that we trust the mods and the TDs. After all, cheating does exist on this site, not just as a theoretical possibility but as something that happens on a regular basis in gunboat games and gets dealt with. In Lando's view (I think we'll find out from Kestas shortly whether he agrees), the TD has ultimate authority over tournament games, and therefore any cheating would be dealt with by the TD without anybody else being told what occurred or what actions were taken. Thus, trusting the TD to handle these things fairly is essential, or else one can't play in a tournament.
Some claims were made about what happened in Round 1, both in the forums and elsewhere. In many cases, conflicting claims. So, I asked Lando for more information about what happened and what decision he made as TD, expecting to encourage him to give more information to the players in the tournament in the event that he actually had taken some action. The response I got, to my shock, was an official warning, apparently based on forum posts I made quite a long time ago regarding power selection. He then told me that I was the only player being warned for forum posts regarding power selection.
Since that's not a cheating allegation, I can talk about it in the forums. After all, it's an example of the TD's judgment in such matter. So, let me encourage those of you with the most lawyerly instincts to read through the forum posts and find a sensible way to draw a line such that I crossed it but nobody else did. Mine must not be good enough, because I didn't see it. Thus, I replied with the following [I feel it's fair to post PMs I sent, but only to paraphrase PMs others sent in reply, unless I have their permission]:
"Hi Lando,
I have now reviewed all of my posts about country draws in the gunboat thread, as well as the posts made by other players in the tournament on their country draws.
I am confused by your conclusion that I made a post meriting a warning and that the full set of players with such a warning is [redacted; player(s) who were given warnings for other things], and myself. I've been trying to find a point of view from which I've crossed a line that others have not, but I haven't been successful. As presumably the point of a warning is that you want me to avoid doing something again, I think I'd better clarify what line was crossed. Would you mind doing so?
Thank you,
-CSteinhardt"
I...didn't get any sort of reasonable response, and frankly, I still don't know where the TD of this tournament has drawn a line. I also don't know why it was only discovered within the past 48 hours that I crossed it. I wouldn't want to presume any sort of malice on the part of our TD, so I'm going to assume that he has been assiduously studying forum posts and other relevant facts for the past months, and it simply took that long for him to be certain he was being fair by giving me a warning and no other player. Still, a bit more of an explanation might be helpful in confirming that I've made the right assumption here. After all, it is important for such a process not merely to be fair, but also to have the outward appearance of being fair.
You know, I'm starting to get the sneaking suspicion that Lando might not like me very much. That's his right, but it's not his right to make decisions on that basis as a TD. And since the TD is, in his own view, the main protection against cheating, that should be a concern for every player in the tournament, not just for me. I would ask those of you attacking me in the forums (and that's of course your right) to answer for yourself whether you feel the TD has been making unbiased decisions and showing good judgment.
For me, the conclusion is that there are plenty of strong gunboat games available on this site where the arbiters are well-respected mods with a strong track record, and I prefer to put my energy into those. At the same time, I consider signing up for a game to be a commitment to finish it. I would withdraw voluntarily only if I hear overwhelmingly from the players in my games that they wouldn't have fun playing me given that I'm not playing to maximize my chances of advancement, and I haven't heard that. Frankly, although I'm not going to request it, I think the case for forcibly replacing the TD here is stronger than the case for forcibly replacing me as a player.
I'm confused
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