Posted by Benis on 4/15/2020 3:49:00 PM (view original):
I told y'all this was gonna be a fun thread 
"this is not a gambling game, this is a for-fun game, and enjoyment needs to retain first position over all other considerations. its not just for fun, first and foremost - that's the entire point - nobody plays this for the money."
I partially disagree. 1st of all, Ab has openly stated he plays this game for money. You can win real money via amazon gift cards and the really successful coaches have gotten a few bucks that way.
But those folks are the minority. While this is a just for fun game, it is an expensive means of having fun for a lot of people. Some of us who have been playing for free for years tend to forget that. I'm sure many people on here can share that they've spent hundreds of dollars over the years on this game.
I think bbunch has handled this well. I also think most people commenting on this thread have handled it well too. Are some people giving him a hard time? Sure. Is everyone calling for his head and unequivocally calling him a cheater until the end of time? Definitely not. I think overall most people have been pretty fair and understanding - especially considering how these forums usually operate. Thewiz got it WAAAAY worse when the WE bug was exposed (although he handled it WAY worse as well).
I'll admit, the fact that bbunch did it again a week later was quite hilarious.
i agree most folks are being pretty reasonable, its just a lot for one guy to have a dozen or two posts about something like this, and i tend to think the guy openly discussing the situation and talking about how he plans to avoid taking an advantage in session 2 - that's not the guy we should be worried about.
i know you can technically make a little money - and that plenty of people rightly lose a meaningful amount. but its essentially normal pay to enjoy entertainment; this functions much more like a netflix subscription than betting on sports or playing poker. ill concede there's a gradient between those kinds of activities, and HD does fall somewhere in the middle - but i think its pretty fair to say its *far* closer to netflix than hold 'em. and as such, i think we all need to recognize the pointlessness in taking this TOO seriously. if someone is getting a small advantage over someone else, i mean, its just not that huge of deal - it happens based on in-game factors 100 different ways - and ideally there'd be nothing beyond that. but if there is a small amount beyond that? i think its totally not worth ruining someone else's experience over.
i also think its far easier to ruin someone else's experience in this sort of situation, over fair play type issues, than many folks are realizing here in this thread.