You know, I enjoy spirited trash-talk as much as the next highly-competitive person. But there's a line. On this side of the line is "you guys suck, we're gonna win!" On the far side of the line is "you guys suck, and you're cheating." First clearly crossed that line, and to be honest I have yet to see any monki come in here and refute his claims.
So let's do some unpacking, shall we? This should be fun.
firstholliday wrote:no snap shot, Creating games that were beta before the war started. Excuses dw is not playing etc etc.....
Item the first: no snap shotThe 12-hour fog-game rule was cooked up by me and seul in order to ensure that both teams in a fog game got a look at the map (and a snapshot if possible) before anyone had taken their turn. The general idea was that it was unfair for a player to join the game and take their turn before the other team had gotten a look, usually because they weren't online at the time.
However, both lucky and clapper had ample opportunity to see the map during that 12-hour period. The Arms Race game was initialized at 10:07:19 PST on 2/16. dbz took his turn at 20:31:04. Boy, that sure looks shady, right?
Oh, wait, what's this here?
Game 6459436 2010-02-16 18:09:54 - luckywar received 1 troops for holding 3-cluster F1
Game 6464424 2010-02-16 15:36:32 - clapper011 received 3 troops for 11 regions
So you mean to tell me that neither lucky nor clapper could take 5 seconds to jump into the game and take a snapshot? If that's the case, that is their fault, not ours. The 12-hour rule was conceived as a courtesy, not an iron-clad rule that no fog game could start until 12 hours after initialization. Blitz and dbz gave them ample (and apparently un-utilized) opportunity to see the map, then dbz took his turn given the exigencies of real life. That sure doesn't sound like cheating to me.
Item the second: Creating games that were beta before the war startedSo? "No beta maps" is the rule, not "no maps that aren't out of beta before the challenge starts." The reason most challenges do not include beta maps is not that they're new, or complicated, it's because they are subject to in-game gameplay changes while the map is tweaked. Once a map is out of beta, it's pretty much considered "frozen", and thus fair game. More to the point, Third Crusade has been available for play since early November.
What's even funnier is that you guys have delayed joining the game so you could play a few quick pickup games and get up to speed:
Game 6476161 Game 6478121 Game 6476711 Game 6476158. Nothing wrong with that, per se, though we'd be obliged if you'd get around to joining our other games on maps that have been available for a year or more (I'm really curious why an elite clan seems to be having so much difficulty finding people to play a D-Day dubs).
Now, you guys may have assumed that "no beta maps" in fact meant "no maps that aren't out of beta before the challenge starts." That was a dangerous and erroneous assumption to make. That's something that could have been cleared up with a PM, but you kept safe in your assumptions and are now paying the price. But, of course, you're accusing us of cheating, when it's pretty much your own fault for not thinking ahead, 'cause I tell you what, we were ready for you guys if you'd throw a Third Crusade or WWII Poland game at us.
Item the third: Excuses dw is not playingWell, at least you're not accusing us of cheating with this bit, but you're equally in error. If a horseman has said anything along these lines in anything but in the most ironic of manners, it would be news to me.
Summation:firstholliday, member of The Spanking Monkeys, has openly accused my clan of cheating in a challenge. No other monki has refuted those claims, which were made in error and can in fact be ascribed as mistakes to be laid squarely at the feet of the monkis themselves.
I think an apology from first is in order. I doubt that will happen. But I wouldn't mind a monki coming in here (or even in a PM) saying that first does not speak for the clan, that his accusations of cheating are his and his alone, and that the Spanking Monkeys 100% refute those accusations.
I am not a cheater. My clanmates are not cheaters. The monkis are not cheaters. And yet first has publicly said that THOTA are cheaters. This isn't trash-talk, it's something else, something way worse, and this shit needs to stop.
And before this turns into a he-said she-daid wankathon, I don't give a sweet f*ck what anyone else has said. This hasn't been the first time that a monki has accused us of cheating, but if you guys actually value your reputation, it should be the last.