| |
BGonline.org Forums
banning spectators
Posted By: Colin Owen In Response To: banning spectators (Bob Koca)
Date: Tuesday, 29 August 2017, at 2:20 p.m.
I'm not sure that headphones and spectators are analogous here.
I think you have to consider two things. One, how much (legitimate) benefit is obtained from allowing something. And two, how easy would it be to detect abuse of this, ie cheating, if it was allowed?
Only one player, the headphones wearer, really benefits from being able to use them. The opponent either doesn't care, or indeed might prefer that they didn't use them. These could be for reasons of sociability (which also perhaps applies a bit more if match is not clocked), or necessary communication, or because of their (at least) slight doubt about being cheated. Conversely, any number of spectators might benefit from being able to watch the match, and enjoy the atmosphere.
Cheating from allowing spectators would seem to be easier to detect. For example, coughing when a player makes a tentative play that the spectator knows is very wrong, perhaps because of a simple oversight by the player. Or touching the player to communicate. These could well alert others. (Simply not allowing spectators to be within touching distance is one safeguard, if either player is concerned.)
Compare that to detecting headphone cheating. It's only ever likely to be detected if staff actually listen in to what the player is hearing. That probably requires the opponent to request this, which may well be met with a hateful response from the other player, and will be time consuming for staff.
It's certainly possible to cheat undetected using opaque dice for example, but there is a benefit from players being able to read them better than transparent dice, so the USBGF have decided that the two will have an equal footing, and the players roll for it.
| |
BGonline.org Forums is maintained by Stick with WebBBS 5.12.