Post by Pubknight on Jan 28, 2015 9:49:51 GMT -5
It seems each week there are a number of threads, or at least posts, taking issue with the possibility of some players 'gaming' the games wind system.
Suggestions have varied, from re-writing the wind model (out of TGCTours control, and not likely to happen anytime soon, if ever), to putting more stringent restrictions on when rounds are played (to narrow the 'window of manipulation').
But a post this week got me thinking of a different way to approach it.
I'm not going to quote it or link to it as I don't want to call the player out, but the player basically posted that they start a round, and if the wind is high, they quit on the round and come back later. And they do this because it's not against the rules.
And I'm sure that player isn't alone in thinking that way.
It seems, from Tim's posts, that this isn't the sort of game etiquette Tim wants to see, as he's talked about data from HB to monitor this sort of activity (which also may not happen any time soon).
So, here is my suggestion:
- Why not have a policy that exiting a round during tournament play with the intention of returning to different playing conditions is forbidden?
- In terms of policing, you can't, and acknowledge you can't... at least for now. State clearly that you are relying on the honour system. But this policy would be in effect from the time it was announced and forward. So if at some point down the road, Tim did get his API, they could go back retroactively and look at any round since the policy came into effect.
- And the penalty would be severe: banned from TGC Tours competition from the time of the violation. TGCTours is a bit different... it's not just your online name... it's your real name. That makes it quite a bit less "internet-anonymous". And I think there is an impact to that.
- Golf is an honour game. And while you can't police someone playing a foot wedge, what you hope is by everyone knowing a foot wedge is against the rules, their personal honour system stops them from doing it.
Right now, people complain about the wind wait practice... but there is literally nothing, anywhere, that specifically indicates this is a discouraged behaviour.
So, come up with a policy that makes it a discouraged behaviour.
It's not going to get through to everyone, but I believe in the integrity of golfers, and I think it will have an impact.
And there is always the chance that sometime, down the road, you could have the method of verifying it... and it's logical you could.
So, why would a player risk it?
I sincerely don't see the downside of an approach like this.
Real golf has the rules of golf, so you don't need to come up with all this stuff.
But this is a video game, and it operates in a different environment, so you need to come up with some unique rules/policies to address the unique environment.
Thanks for reading.
Suggestions have varied, from re-writing the wind model (out of TGCTours control, and not likely to happen anytime soon, if ever), to putting more stringent restrictions on when rounds are played (to narrow the 'window of manipulation').
But a post this week got me thinking of a different way to approach it.
I'm not going to quote it or link to it as I don't want to call the player out, but the player basically posted that they start a round, and if the wind is high, they quit on the round and come back later. And they do this because it's not against the rules.
And I'm sure that player isn't alone in thinking that way.
It seems, from Tim's posts, that this isn't the sort of game etiquette Tim wants to see, as he's talked about data from HB to monitor this sort of activity (which also may not happen any time soon).
So, here is my suggestion:
- Why not have a policy that exiting a round during tournament play with the intention of returning to different playing conditions is forbidden?
- In terms of policing, you can't, and acknowledge you can't... at least for now. State clearly that you are relying on the honour system. But this policy would be in effect from the time it was announced and forward. So if at some point down the road, Tim did get his API, they could go back retroactively and look at any round since the policy came into effect.
- And the penalty would be severe: banned from TGC Tours competition from the time of the violation. TGCTours is a bit different... it's not just your online name... it's your real name. That makes it quite a bit less "internet-anonymous". And I think there is an impact to that.
- Golf is an honour game. And while you can't police someone playing a foot wedge, what you hope is by everyone knowing a foot wedge is against the rules, their personal honour system stops them from doing it.
Right now, people complain about the wind wait practice... but there is literally nothing, anywhere, that specifically indicates this is a discouraged behaviour.
So, come up with a policy that makes it a discouraged behaviour.
It's not going to get through to everyone, but I believe in the integrity of golfers, and I think it will have an impact.
And there is always the chance that sometime, down the road, you could have the method of verifying it... and it's logical you could.
So, why would a player risk it?
I sincerely don't see the downside of an approach like this.
Real golf has the rules of golf, so you don't need to come up with all this stuff.
But this is a video game, and it operates in a different environment, so you need to come up with some unique rules/policies to address the unique environment.
Thanks for reading.
Kidding, I also have two kids under 5, one of whom is interested in TGC, for about 90 seconds at a time. 
