Hey Henry.
I did not partake in the discussion on the other thread, but I did read it, and you also hit a weak spot on me. I think it is good that you now see the other side of the argument, since you were in fact accusing some people, including myself, of cheating. I think it was a bit unfair, since no established rules has been broken.
However, you are entitled to have an opinion on the matter, and I think it is fair that you want to bring up the discussion, it was just not the right place to do it. I would like to give my own input, now that we are in the right place. Maybe we can agree on some rules that need to be established in the future, or maybe I can help change your mind.
To me, studying Mage Wars have always felt like how one would study magic, in an abstract way. (Think Hogwarts if you like). You analyze the rules of magic, learn them by heart if possible, the better you know the rules, the higher the chance of winning. You study your potential enemies, since knowing your opponent is half the battle. (And in Mage Wars we are all enemies inside the arena). The extend to which players do this "study" is different for each individual. Some just read the rulebook and play, others make many spellbooks trying to create the best one, we post long threads on the forums about 'nazi-rules' and some write down their openings.
Example: In a previous tournament, where players had the same book throughout the tournament. For one particular game I made a list of all spells that I knew the other player had in his book, I used this to practice against and I had that list with me in the official game. I was proud of this study, I did a lot of work with it, and I never considered that this might be cheating, until today. If it was, then I should apologize (and I will if necessary), but to be honest I still do not think that it was.
Personally, when I saw Werekingdoms note system on screen, my first thought was that he is a genius, his notes are short, concise and easily fits on screen, and I intend to do something similar for my own games moving forward.
The point I am trying to make, is that Mage Wars is a really complex game, we also have to look up rules all the time during a match, to ensure that games are played correctly and rules are followed. We all want to be the best mage we can, and play the best we can. But no amount of notes can win you a game, you still have to react to each individual play as it progresses, and no two mage wars game are the same.
I understand your analogy of bringing notes to a game in real life, and I admit I would be put off if a player brought an entire notebook to a game, to flip through every round. But a simple note with an opening written on it, is not something I would give much thought. One player from my local group, has printed the rules for paladins auras, and taped it to the inside of his paladin book, also a smart thing to do, that I have been too lazy to do myself. I think for live games like this, each individual judge will have his own opinion.
On the internet things are a lot different. Everyone can do whatever they want on their own end, as many have pointed out, there is nothing we can do about this. However, players are still bound what is limited by the octgn interface. Octgn counts your spellbook points, and everything is clearly logged to remove any doubt about what has been done and said, it is in fact much more difficult to cheat in this setting.
My final thought on this matter, is that in this tournament, a time limit for thinking has been introduced and (should be) enforced. This means that, no matter the amount of notes and game aids you may have in the background, you will likely not be able to access much of it during a game, since you only have 1 minute or so to decide your move. Hopefully this helps mitigate some of your concerns.
I do not want to talk too much about dice rerolling. I usually just allow whatever the opponent wants, in the interest of moving the game along as fast as possible.
My conclusion: There is no way to cheat in games in octgn, at least that I am aware of. Outside of directly hacking the platform.
Rant over.
