Discussion: Cheating
Can You Cheat In A Single Player Replay?
Discussion: Cheating
I thought it would be nice to try something new.
Once a week we’re going to have a discussion thread. I’m going to open up comments to everybody on these threads. Feel free to share your opinion — and, as always, feel free to share this post with others.
I’ll keep the comments open indefinitely.
This week’s topic is cheating.
Can You Cheat In A Single Player Game?
Cheating used to be a problem back in the old days of mail leagues.
Some of you probably remember those days. This is back when your first place team loaded with superstars would visit the worst team in the league for a five game series — and would be swept by a huge margin.
Of course, cheating wasn’t always that obvious. Sometimes a home team manager would coax a fortuitious dice roll out of his slumping player — give him an extra bump for “realism” purposes. Sometimes it would come from something as simple as “forgetting” to take the visiting pitcher out at the right time, or for “accidentally” being too aggressive on the basepaths with the visiting team.
We all know that cheating can take place in mail league settings.
But what about single player replays?
Here are some questions for discussion:
Can you cheat in a single player replay?
Is it wrong to favor one team over another in your project?
Is it cheating to ignore injury results?
Is it cheating to forget to pull the pitcher, or to make a mistake that impacts the outcome of the game?
"Cheating" is a powerful, strong word. It should be used carefully.
I guess anyone "can" cheat, but if you're going to do that, why even play the games? I'm talking about intentional decisions that you "know" are not "fair" (define those words how you wish). Forgetting to pull a pitcher, pinch hit, etc.? I'm not sure I would call that cheating. I have had times when I've been playing a game on the computer, and I get into a "zone" where I'm pushing buttons...and I let the pitcher hit or forget to run for an aging slow guy in the late innings. I don't think that is cheating - rather I would call it inattentiveness.
In my former play-by-mail leagues where teams sent paper instructions for managing their team, it was common to see guys follow the instructions to the letter of the law rather than make a decision that might help the other team win. An example in APBA would be when a D pitcher is supposed to go 5 innings, but it's the 4th and he's down 5-0 with the bases loaded with 2 outs. Anyone who wants to maintain a chance for that team to come back would pull the D, insert at least a C (with a bump, one batter he's a B) and roll the dice. I did this once, and the opposing manager protested the game because I didn't follow his instructions to the letter. I was then asked to leave the league, which folded shortly thereafter. I always appreciated the disclaimer in instructions that I was free to "use my best judgement."
Another situation: If you're replaying a season and the team in real life used an ineffective reliever as closer, is it "cheating" to not do so and instead use someone who had better stats?
I enjoy your posts, thank you for sharing.
Back in the days of APBAlone and the APBA Journal, we occasionally (I'm tempted to say "more than occasionally", but they probably just struck a nerve with me) would encounter replayers who -- in the interests of "making things come out more accurately overall" -- would reassign pitching grades or batter extra-base hits during the season for players who were doing better or worse than their card results would have expected. That struck me as odd as well as unethical -- why bother with a replay if you're not going to accept your results? But I suppose it depends on intent: if you're doing a replay because you really want to see the '64 Cardinals and Phillies battle down to the wire and one of them is twelve games behind in mid-August, I suppose you might feel that your choices are to abandon the replay or try to make it happen. But I'd still consider that cheating.