Level Two - Lesson 19

Competitive Policy Guide - Unsporting Conduct

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Hello there!

Welcome back to the level two lessons for the Star Wars™: Unlimited Judge Program!

As always, I’m your host Jonah, and this is the final L2 core lesson covering the Competitive Policy Guide. In this lesson we’re going to discuss the Unsporting Conduct category of infractions. Unsporting Conduct is a broad term that covers a wide variety of poor behavior that is unwanted at events, but isn’t necessarily directly regulated by the rules or policy documents.

As always with policy, this is an area that is continually being refined, and will grow and evolve as play also continues to evolve. This does make it a bit of a challenge to both learn and teach, so this is likely a lesson that will similarly evolve over time.

Sporting, Unsporting and Inbetween

As has been discussed throughout our lessons on policy and logistics, one of our primary goals is to ensure that all participants have an enjoyable experience - to that end, all participants, whether they’re someone showing up to their first event or an entrenched member of the community, whether they’re a player, spectator or staff member, are held to the same standards of politeness and respect.

The CPG lays out some specific behaviors that cross the line, and penalties associated with them. There aren’t “remedies” for these infractions, because unlike gameplay disruptions and tournament disruptions, there isn’t a mechanical impact to a game or match, it’s purely social or behavioral.

Opposite of unsporting conduct is sporting conduct - this includes many things that players do automatically - introducing themselves at the start of the match, saying good luck and good game at the beginning and end of the match, and generally being a positive experience to play against.

However, there’s also a category of behavior that falls into the space between sporting behavior, which we want to encourage, and unsporting behavior, which is over the line of what is appropriate.

This disappointing or frustrating behavior is allowed. This can include things like not saying good luck at the beginning of the match or taking advantage of misplays by their opponent. Particularly at competitive tier events, players are held to an expectation of skill and dedication - if a player makes a tactical mistake, even if the error is obvious, it is absolutely not a requirement of their opponent to let them take it back or to not take advantage of it. Similarly, per the rules, players are not required to point out optional effects belonging to their opponent even if they think that the player accidentally missed them, and didn’t intentionally decline them.

Players can be short and curt with their language, and unfriendly or unexciting to play against. They can take advantage of better knowledge of the rules to win games.

While it is incorrect to infract and penalize this behavior, it can sometimes be correct in your role as a community facilitator to have a conversation with the player about their actions, and how it impacts not only the play experience of the other players in the community, but how it impacts the player themselves. If a player is more assertive and contentious, their opponents are going to reflect that behavior.

Minor Unsporting Conduct - Inappropriate Behavior

However, there are behaviors that are not acceptable - some examples are listed in the Competitive Policy Guide, but that list is not exhaustive. It is important to note that inappropriate behavior does not have to be intentional or malicious - a player can do something that they believe is appropriate, but it still crosses the line. Because of this, the penalty for a player’s first Unsporting Conduct (USC) - Minor is only a warning.

If a player repeats the behavior or the infraction appears on a streamed or recorded match, the penalty is upgraded to a Match Loss. This escalation is more substantial than Gameplay Disruptions and Tournament Disruptions because Unsporting Conduct broadly speaking, is about enforcing standards of proper social behavior, as opposed to specific game or tournament rules, and players should be expected to know how to behave in social and public settings, and disruptions in that regard can have lasting repercussions outside of the context of the game or tournament. A third instance of Minor Unsporting Conduct at an event results in a disqualification.

Here are some examples of inappropriate behavior:

You also want to keep the venue and experience that is being curated in mind. Some events occur after hours, and have a purely adult demographic, and so some language that may not be acceptable at an event that has families and children can be acceptable at a different event.

Unsporting Conduct - Insulting Behavior

The next step up from Inappropriate Behavior is Insulting Behavior. Insulting Behavior is active vulgarity or directed insults.

Examples of Insulting Behavior include:

The line for insulting behavior can sometimes be difficult to find - a lot of social groups make light of each other’s lines of play and will call each other stupid or idiotic, or a bevy of other insults. The use of this language isn’t necessarily grounds for Insulting Behavior, but if you hear the language, listening in to make sure that all participants are comfortable with it is a good first step.

The penalty for Insulting Behavior is a Game Loss.

Note that if the players need to be separated due to the severity of the insult, Unsporting Conduct Major - Harassment should be considered. If the behavior is repeated at an event, the penalty is upgraded to disqualification.

Major Unsporting Conduct - Harassment

There’s also Harassment, which are more extreme versions of inappropriate behavior.

The penalty for Harassment is a Match Loss. However, if the player does not demonstrate remorse or took the harassing action intentionally, the penalty is disqualification. For players who show remorse and were not aware that their behavior was inappropriate, it is sometimes reasonable to allow them to remain in the venue and continue to participate in other events that may be taking place. However, it is also reasonable, especially with smaller venues where they are likely to cross paths with the impacted participant again, that they should be ejected from the venue. If the player commits Major Unsporting Conduct a second time at an event, the penalty is upgraded to disqualification.

As a reminder, while it is the discretion of the head judge on whether or not a player is disqualified, it is the responsibility of the tournament organizer who is in charge of the space to determine whether a player is ejected from the venue - although they can absolutely consult the head judge on the decision.

Some players who commit Unsporting Conduct unintentionally may want to apologize to the affected party. While this desire is commendable, that is not a decision that should be made by the infringing player or the judge involved, but rather by the affected party. A judge should extend the offer, but not push it.

Aggressive Behavior

Aggressive behavior is any sort of explicit physical threat or action aimed at another participant. Threatening to strike a person, pulling a chair out from underneath someone, throwing game components at someone, flipping a table, shouting in anger, or threatening to bring a weapon all fall under Aggressive Behavior. Similarly, actually doing any of these actions is also Aggressive Behavior.

The penalty for Aggressive Behavior is disqualification and removal from the venue.

Illegally Determining a Result

The outcome of a match needs to be determined by playing the match. TCGs have a significant element of randomness to them, and with prizes on the line, instead of looking like a test of skill, it can appear to external evaluators that tournaments are games of chance, and consequently, should be regulated like gambling.

If players are determining the outcome of matches by flipping coins, arm wrestling, looking at the top card of their deck, or playing a different game altogether to determine the winner of their match, we’re no longer finding out which player is the better Unlimited player on the day, and consequently, the integrity of the tournament is damaged.

Players can reveal cards that they have access to, including cards in hand and resources, but can not use cards that they aren’t legally allowed to see (such as cards in their deck) to make a decision to concede their match.

Players also aren’t allowed to roll dice, flip a coin, or even play a game of Star Wars: Unlimited but with different decks than they registered or of a different format.

Players who do these things have illegally determined a result, and consequently receive the appropriately named Infraction.

The penalty for this infraction is a Match Loss, as the integrity of the match is compromised by the error committed. If the player is aware that their action is not permitted, the penalty is upgraded to Disqualification.

Bribery, Collusion, and Gambling

In a similar vein, there is the trio of Bribery, Collusion, and Gambling.

Bribery is a relatively straightforward infraction - a player offering another participant a reward or incentive in order to change the outcome of a match (or ruling!) is strictly not allowed. Furthermore, accepting a bribe falls under the same consideration.

Gambling is also relatively straightforward - a player who offers or accepts a bet on a game, match, tournament, or any part of those is gambling. Gambling is not only strictly regulated in most areas of the world, but it can also allow for imbalance incentives which can corrupt the outcome of a match.

Collusion is a more complicated topic, and so we’ll take a bit longer on it. Collusion is when players explicitly discuss the outcome of their game or match, and then artificially produce a result.

There are two broad groups of collusion - unintentionally improperly determining a winner and intentionally doing so. Unintentionally improperly determining a winner falls under Illegally Determining a Result, as discussed above.

Players can discuss the current board state, tournament placements, and tournament structure, but only from a factual position. A player can reveal cards from their hand or resources, but cannot reveal cards that are hidden information (such as the top card of their deck, even if they know it from another source). A player can say, “We’re both X-2, and no X-2-1s will make the cut.”

We have to allow players to discuss the current board state; otherwise, players wouldn’t be able to discuss the game. While the context shifts towards the end of the match, it is still necessary for the game to function. If players are starting to have a conversation around the outcome of their match, it is a best practice to intervene as soon as you can to make sure both players are aware of what they can and can’t say - we’d very much rather ensure that players don’t offer collusion when we can simply prevent it from happening.

A player can not ask for a concession or imply it. Saying something like “a draw here is bad for both of us” or “I’m going to win this match” both include opinion and future tournament results or match outcomes, and can not be discussed.

Intentionally drawing at any point in a match, even if there is conversation between the two participants in the match or one player choosing to concede without discussion is never collusion.

The penalty for Bribery, Collusion, and Gambling is Disqualification.

Cheating

There are two types of cheating - tournament cheating and gameplay cheating. Lying to tournament officials, intentionally altering or misreporting match results, or similar behavior is not allowed and results in disqualification.

Gameplay cheating occurs when a player:

  1. Does something illegal
  2. Knows that their action is illegal
  3. And does so to gain an advantage (or put their opponent at a disadvantage)

All three criteria must be met in order for a player to have cheated. Any time you believe a player may have cheated, the head judge should investigate and make a determination. We’re going to focus on the more technical aspects in this lesson, and not talk about investigation procedures until we reach the lesson dedicated to them.

There are many actions that can be confused with cheating, that are not.

Illegal Actions

A player says “Judge! I cheated. Last turn I didn’t attack with my unit even though my opponent had a sentinel in play. I knew that I had to attack it, but I chose not to attack, because I knew that I’d be able to use removal on it and then attack their base”

This player thinks that they’ve done something illegal, and did so to gain an advantage, but they didn’t actually do anything illegal. Similarly, if a player resolves their Vigilance by resolving the effects out of printed order, or resolves one to see what happens before they make their next decision... they may think they’re being shady, because that isn’t how the card would function in other TCGs, but it is a legal action in this one.

Understanding The Problem

A player registers a 30 HP common red base, but after playing a couple of rounds, they switch to Tarkintown. One of their later round opponents sees the Tarkintown, and says “I thought you were playing a 30 HP base - you played my friend in round one.”

The player’s response is “Yeah, I registered it, but after a couple of rounds, I felt that Tarkintown was better, so I swapped it out.”

When you talk with the player, they explain that at their local store, at weekly play, players make changes to their deck every round they play. It’s a normal behavior, and this is their first event outside of their local game store. You’re able to corroborate this with other players from that store.

In this case, the player did something illegal, and they did it to gain an advantage, but they didn’t know it was illegal - this is also not cheating.

Gaining an Advantage

A player realizes that their opponent made a mistake and exhausted two resources instead of three to play a card. They choose not to call a judge because they don’t want their opponent to get a penalty, and they don’t think it matters to the rest of the actions in this phase. After a few actions, a spectator notices and calls a judge. When you’re investigating, the player freely admits that they saw it happen, but didn’t call for a judge - they knew they were supposed to, but they didn’t want to get their opponent in trouble.

Well, the player has done something wrong - they let a gameplay disruption occur. They know it’s illegal - they know that they’re supposed to call a judge. Again, this is not cheating because they’re not gaining an advantage.

However, if it’s a situation where a player thinks they’re not gaining an advantage - for example, they underpay for a card by one, and realize later, but also see that there isn’t anything that they can do with that one extra resource, so they don’t call a judge - They’ve still potentially gained an advantage - their opponent doesn’t know that they can’t use that resource, and so might be playing differently. and

Note that intentionality only applies to CheatingStalling - the other infractions can be committed by a player who is not aware that those are against the rules of the event. However, it is also a reasonable expectation for players to know that they’re not allowed to threaten other players, steal, or harass, whereas it’s a bit harder to expect players to understand exactly how piloting works exactly - and so we don’t need to believe that the player understands that crimes (even minor, civil crimes) are not permitted at events.

The penalty for Cheating is Disqualification. Oftentimes, the cheating is a cheat of opportunity - the player realized they made a mistake and ignored it, or they realize that healing one more damage off their base means that they’ll make the day two cut, which is better than they’ve ever done... and when they are disqualified, they show contrition and understanding. Players like this are less likely to repeat the behavior and generally can be allowed to remain in the venue and potentially even play in other events.

Premeditated cheats, like shuffle cheats or pre-boarding for their matches, demonstrate a level of further intentionality that is more impactful, and the Tournament Organizer should strongly consider not allowing the player to play in other events.

Stalling

Stalling is when a player intentionally plays slowly to take advantage of the clock. An example is a player wins a grueling forty-minute game one, and then spends an excessive amount of time sideboarding and thinking over every decision.

A player changing pace as the round nears the end is a common signifier, or a player frequently checking the clock.

However, a player who is playing methodically, and at a normal pace, even if their opponent is playing quickly, is not stalling.

Slow play is already very hard to identify and call out, as discussed in the previous lesson. However, with stalling, the head judge now needs to be convinced that the player is doing so for a tactical advantage. The head judge should investigate if they believe stalling may be occurring.

The penalty for Stalling is Disqualification.

Fraud

Fraud is similar to its real-life counterparts, but has more localized effects. If a player misrepresents their identity in a tournament or participates in an event for which they’re not a valid competitor, they’ve committed Fraud.

This can be a player using another UID to get around a suspension, to earn Qualifier Points for another player, or to play in an event that the qualifying player couldn’t get to, but didn’t want to “waste” the invite for.

Fraud is disruptive to the integrity of not only a single tournament, but to the integrity of whole tournament series. Because of that broad scope of impact, it is tracked as its own infraction, so that cases of fraud can be easily identified.

The penalty for Fraud is Disqualification.

Vandalism and Theft

Damaging or taking the possessions of another participant, the organizer, or the venue is strictly not allowed. Taking excess cards from a draft, or intentionally keeping a card you realized you picked up from an opponent accidentally, both fall under this category. Similarly, stealing a table number or a store display is considered theft. Telling a member of staff that you have not received a promo or some other participation prize, even though you already have, in order to get additional copies, is also considered theft.

As with most other unsporting conduct infractions, the penalty for Vandalism and Theft is Disqualification.

Closing Out

And that’s it for the Competitive Policy Guide. I strongly recommend reading over the document, and looking at the examples laid out for each infraction, with over one hundred examples across the many infractions.

The Competitive Policy Guide is a very dense document, and while it does contain both philosophy and examples for every infraction, it can’t be all-encompassing of how players will actually play and how judges will be able to resolve situations. However, studying the document and becoming a master of the common infractions is the best first step towards being able to make good rulings when the CPG isn’t quite comprehensive enough.

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As always, good luck, and have fun.

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