Update - its been awhile

The whole Tiago-esque problems reported in MTGO seem to have calmed down. There have been clarifications, communications and an apology from the magicthegathering.com's Limited Info writer.

There was a lot of heated debated. Nary a dozen posts but hundreds even thousands of replies in total. Basically it boiled into 3 groups: "I dont care about jaywalking - its not like DCI paper tournaments", "Its wrong - its a crime/problem/violation and people should stop.", "MTGO doesnt have the ability to patrol these violations so who cares?".

In the end Optimus Worth (Wotc_Worth), Brand Manager for MTGO at Wizards of the Coast, stepped in and dealt with the writer, the issue and the community. Thank you for doing that.

In this whole big debate - it got heated and ugly. A few folks, previously friendly, were tartishly rude when I drew a Law and Order line in the sand stating it was 100% wrong and bad for folks to encourage "cheating/breaking/bending rules".

Bottom line - the rudeness of some, the cavalier ignoring of basic rules of others and such have burned me out a bit.

I stopped playing again. I stopped posting mostly. I will stop by once a week. There are some real life issues as well (mainly dental and such) so its a good thing. Like Tobold, I am drawn back to WOW. If I don't like a Horde breaking the law - I can smite them down. In MTGO - too many smug sharks/shark guilds think its OK "Anything Goes".

I may return - depends on how I feel.

Integrity and being true to oneself is something you shouldn't tread upon lightly. No belief system, no respect for rules or honesty and well - people stop spending time with you. And the ones that do hang around - well vultures hang around the dying and decrepit all the time.

Integrity meltdown at MTGO...

It appears that over the 5 years of MTGO - a few have violated the Terms of Service in MTGO. When you login to MTGO - before signing in -- you have to Accept the TOS. In the TOS there are a variety of legal issues addressed. A simple one is - do not share your account.

Now its hard, if not impossible, to properly regulate and police people using their own accounts. WOTC even had a paid writer (a British pro with the initials QM) on magicthegathering.com actually admit to taking over a friend's draft in MTGO. Its a TOS violation. Against the rules.

Seems as if there are 3-5 threads AFIRE with this issue on the MTGO general boards.

KUDOS TO WORTH AND GAMERZERO FOR INVESTIGATING - but the fires are burning.

There is no integrity or trust left in MTGO at this time. Too many users I thought I could trust now think cheating or "breaking the current rules" or "breaking an unenforceable rule" is pretty darned ok.

Well its not.

MTGO is a trading card game. Its the online version of MTG. Richard Garfield, a mathematician, invented or co-invented it. He was very proud of its rules structure and following the rules are important. If a rule needs to be changed or modified - thats fine - but until then its there for a reason.

Drafts, Leagues and Premier events in MTGO cost real money. Prizes are awarded and can be sold/traded eventually for REAL MONEY. When REAL MONEY is on the line - TRUST and INTEGRITY are important.

Some really dont care, dont see the point or just enjoy Winning at All costs.

This is costing MTGO a lot of trust now.

MTGO is basically unable to host PRO level events because of this and the lack of DCI enforcement.

Its a Casual place like a Virtual Bar to hang out with friends, play some casual gaming but do not put any serious money into it - people cheat and get away with it.