In Defense of the Alias

[darthremark]

I’ve been made aware that certain persons on Gravon are upset about some here (and myself in particular) playing games using aliases. I’ve seen the posts on this board complaining about the practice and chose to leave it alone. A couple of incidents occurred this week though that prompted me to make a post.

First, let me confirm that I have only one registered nic here at Gravon. Second, let me say in all honesty that I have never cheated on a rated game or used an alias to “scope out” competition in my entire online career. I have strong ideals of sportsmanship and am also fairly competitive. Cheating in any way is distasteful to me.

Why do I use aliases? I’ve been playing online Stratego for over 5 years now. In my serious days I would play on alternate sites like Nirs and use different nics to test out new sets and strategies. In more recent times though I’ve used them just to log on and have a fun game. I’m competitive by nature, but I’ve long since burned out on trying to stay “on top of my game”. I proved to myself long ago that I could stand among the best, but the fact is that it’s very consuming to keep yourself there (at least for me). I started playing online Strat to escape the stresses of the day. I reached a point where I found it was the stress of the day. Aliases let me enjoy a nice game without any pressure to win. Of course I want to win, but I’m not sweating about playing the perfect game or wondering what will happen to my standing if I don’t. There is no pressure just a fun experience. That is what I play for these days.

I understand the ratings chasers (I was one for a long time) want a defense against cheaters and I wholly support Gravon’s attempt to crack down by tracking IP addresses. The sad truth is however that if someone is bent on cheating it is not very difficult to come in from another IP. There really is no defense against a committed cheater. The best thing you can do if you are into the ratings is to play only rated games. If you’re no good it doesn’t matter if a cheater gets you. If you are good you will float to the top and the peers you will be facing will be the best and are less likely to cheat anyway. I’ve played tons of unrated alias games and found that rarely will a top rated player even give you an unrated game. In fact during my entire experience on Gravon I can only recall one in the top 30 (Jugador) playing one of my aliases. I have not played him as Darth since and rest assured that if I do play him a rated game in the future I will tell him beforehand and even remind him which set he used (if I remember that much).

A few years ago I was instrumental in the formation of the World Stratego Club (whose members played primarily on the MSN Gaming Zone). During that time we dealt with the issue of nameswitching and had some serious policies against it. I drafted many of those rules myself. We were concerned about cheating. If you think someone has cheated then you should prove it. If you can’t then you should keep insinuations and derogatory remarks checked. A good proverb to go by is to “always assume the best of people”. It really takes you a long way in life and reduces strife tremendously.

Btw: I thought I was through with Stratego and actually went for a few months without playing recently. About a month ago though I decided to play a couple on a lazy day and 4 weeks later I’m still around… I really do hate this game. I burned out on it a long time ago but as we all know it has a certain addictive aspect that just leaves you wanting more. You may not be seeing me any more at all soon.

Your friend,

Darth

a.k.a.

Myst
BishopofBattle
Kang
Gazoo
HypnoToad
MrMorden
RacerX
RaceBannon
Tyrannus
TheGreatPumpkin (every October for the last 5 years)
Red
...and the next time I play a new alias that will not be disclosed to anyone

[jerry]

Right on Darth, My Gripe is that players have 2 registered names and playing Ranked Games. I had a unpleasant scenario with a past well respected WSC founding member, due to this double nic allias.

Even though yu posted in the forum under Myst, that name was never registered, so thats ok with me, If it was Registered then we would have a problem.

Anyway nice post.

Cheers Jerry.

[-deleted129]

Hello Darth, hello Gravon members,

Excellent post, I must reply.

I noticed that, when your nick is high in the rankings, you'll get numerous wake-up calls and whispermessages. "Game??" "Play me, come on!" "Beat me, if you can" "Chicken"
Not everybody is as polite as Esquire, OGETARTS or Ace Rimmer (and several others, gladly) who say "Hi" or "Hello, how are you?" when the nick Wussy logs on.
Sadly not everyone can understand that I CAN log in, just to have a chat or to take a look a games...
For that I sometimes use an ungeristered alias to play fun games, and don't have to reply all begging-for-a-game and insulting messages I get.

[sadistic]

I do not have any complaints about unranked aliases except when they are utilized as a mask to attack another player. This is something that you did, Darth. You logged on as Myst and verbally criticized me as Darth, even suggesting that I be banned, at one point. I was wondering what Darth would have against me. You and others (potter, for one) have made a practice of this. In my opinion this is cowardly behavior. On a positive note, I would like to commend Darth on another well written post. His posts contain clarity, good grammar and other writing skills which are commonly absent in a large number of posts on this forum.

When I am allowed to play ranked games (which is not the case, presently), I rarely play an unranked one. On the unusual occasion that I do, it is because I am developing/trying a new setup or I am anxious to play and the opportunities are limited at the time.

The stress of worrying about rank is futile. It destroys the fun of the game. I have been writing since the beginning, urging players not to value the ratings so much. This game is for fun. Ratings do not impress anybody. I play everyone and anyone and I truly believe that I am considered by most to be one of the better players here. That is because they have all played me and recognize that I have skills, win or lose. My 2005 rank is only in the 30 area which is not terrific, but I do not protect my ranking. I play frequently and without regard to ranking. I have lost to the best players and I have also blown them out. I do not consider any player here out of my reach in ability. There are many such capable players here and we are all near the same level. Who cares which one is rated 5th and which one is 40th? Most of the top 15 or 20 players barely ever play! Let them play 500 games and we'll see where their rank falls.

Worrying profoundly about your rank here is a form of obsession and mental disorder. If you are going to obsess over something, I suggest you do toward something more pleasurable, such as the acquisition of beautiful females. If any of you would like some tips on how to achieve such feats, I am at your disposal. I could go on and on.....................

Sadistic

[jerry]

Apollo has been linked to Potter, with a little add onto Major Force, If corect, I would be a dissapointed.

Those that do try to help, me pay a bigger divended, help me, and do not hinder please.

Cheers Jerry.

[darthremark]

Ty Jerry. I am very glad to hear that.

Exactly Wussy! A high ranked player just can't log in and play unrated with their real nic. You receive a challenge or two as soon as you sign on and if you decline or say you want unrated you get the business. And even if you do play unrated there is still the pressure to maintain your reputation. I find it's easier to just use an alias.

Sadistic, there is no dishonesty in my posting about you as Darth. Jerry was trying to clean up the board and I made a good suggestion. I forgave you after you apologized to Myst. Changing the tone of the boards is a different subject.

[apollo]

Let me clear up a few things for everyone here. First of all, major_force is my brother. He lives in the Atlanta area and I have been staying with him for awhile waiting for my house to be built, which I am now in. I did use the name potter to post here but did not register it and only played a few games unranked. This is the reason that we played under the same IP address. We both also played from his work place occasionally which has a different IP address. We played against each other several times from different locations (check the results log). major_force has a son who has played also here from his computer as Monarch. Neither of us knew about him playing and major_force assumed it was me using another name when silver confronted him with it a few weeks ago. Now I decided a few weeks ago to quit playing here because of a couple players which will remain nameless, but I wanted to clear up the confusion and apologize for any deception on my part. major_force will continue to play every once in a while, he takes the game much less seriously than I ever did. One last note to the powers to be here, there was never a rule against more than one registered name playing under the same IP address as long as it was different people, so with this said, you should find out circumstances before automatically suspending accounts. Take care all

[-deleted568]

Apollo yeah right like we haven't heard that one before. Weren't you the guy that used to play at Meta with like 5 different registered nicks? Integrity is pretty bad on this site sad to say.

[jerry]

Right on Buttwheat, I,m sure Meta can be played with more than one Registered name, as yu pay a premium of what $25.00..I pondered why yu are not a Mod their, maybe yu have more than one registered nic, so to say this site is pretty bad is a little fork on the tongue mate.

I only show here fellow Gravonians the truth about double allais, don't use Gravon as a excuse, for what Meta can not control, we take a stand here with out a price tag.

Butt, yu are one of the most respected players at Meta, yr more than welcome to join Gravon to play, how ever I dought yr Integity, as yu like a fight.

Cheers Jerry.

[esquire]

Bah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sadistic]

Apollo, it is nice to know who has been throwing tomatoes at me from behind the curtain all of this time. You ("potter") have been bad mouthing me in cowardly fashion for a long time now. Now I know who you are, thanks to jerry. You are guilty of this shameful behavior, yet you attempt to talk your way out of alias abuse? Sorry, but your word no longer carries any weight or validity. Your run-on sentences are on par with a 3rd grade level, c student's writing ability. When one struggles with such mental disorders it is often best for him to refrain from exposure (don't write!).

I suppose that I expect others to have my strength in the face of competition and perhaps this is unrealistic. Darth and Wussy complain about being challenged by scrubs, who chirp at them like desperate, hungry birds. I have 3 suggestions...........1) If they are registered, play some of them and wipe them off the board. If you happen to lose, which is unlikely, be a man about it and get angry. 2) If they are not registered tell them to return in their proper uniform and then you will play them. 3) Tell the nuisances that you are not going to play at the moment and that they should thank you for sparing them some bone chilling humiliation, which was would inevitably ensue such a game.

Buttweep claimed that integrity is bad at this site while he masquerades as a latvian sheep hurder with his alias, "Mocheese". To the delight of gravonians, I played Mocheese about a month ago at metagorge. It was a galant affair as I blew him off the board in embarrassing fashion. Prior to the game, he was engaging in his usual abrasive and insulting behavior in a futile attempt to intimidate. This was a crucial mistake, since it is impossible to intimidate me and it only gave me increased motivation to defeat him. It was a complete blowout. I took his marshall, traded generals, took both of his colonels and all three of his majors. I call this DOMINATION. Once again, I urge meta hyenas to stop insulting this wonderful site. Your best players (Punish, Sadistic, dgtile) have defected and are now available to thrash you at any given moment, should you rear your beaver heads into view.

[fpn]

I doubt that Sadistic should even be in this thread as he is a major hypocrite when it comes to playing under an alias. I will remind everyone some of his nicks at Metaforge (at $25 a name)
Alexarz, nickarz, tatiana, pokemonkid,Rhino,sickborder et al ( there's $150 just to deceive). There are at least 5 others that have been proven by Commish.
Buttwheat is certanily a player to be reckoned with but as for aliases, I think we'll be better off not using his aliases here in order that he can continue to have some fun.
The only issue I have with aliases is they are not allowed according to Gravon and Metaforges rules. Whether you play as an alias to "relieve stress" or in sadistics case, spy the other players setups for future reference, what is the reason you need an alias? You mentioned Darth that you don't care about your rating; then playing someone unranked shouldn't be an issue. I just don't buy the theory that you use a alias in order to reduce stress.
As for sadistics rambling that the best players from Metaforge have "defected" I take offense. First of all, sadistic is far from the best player at Metaforge. His "sit back and wait" strategy is laughed at by every top ten player there. Punish is hardly a viable player as he too adopts the same strategy, waiting for his prey like a Venus Fly Trap. DGTile is a good player in Barrage but hardly a "top player" as his style is mostly bluffs and he makes too many mistakes anyways. But sadistic mentioned DEFECTING like leaving Metaforge was a CHOICE. He is BANNED from Metaforge and his coming here can harldy be called defecting. Added to that his recent banning from the Forum and his latest punishment of not being able to play ranked players and clearly sadistic is reduced to an angry fellow with nothing but spite for everyone here. I should also mention that sadistic is using many aliases here including " flamer" in order to deceive all of you. So his words mean nothing to me. He is willing to attack anyone for "badmouthing" him yet he continues to use words like "hyenas" to describe Metaforge players, a player he admitted to being when he played buttwheat a few weeks ago. So if Metaforge is just a bunch of lowlifes and hyenas, why go there? And why make a big deal out of beating buttwheat if he's not much of a challenge? That's like a professional basketball team boasting about beating a high school team. Not to mention that fact that in order to play at Metaforge sadistic has to use an alias because he is not a member.
He wants his own section to post his "adult themed posts". There is a great place for that, it's called the Penthouse Forum and you could spank your monkey over there instead of subjecting the Gravon community to your filth that no one really cares about to begin with.

[acerimmer]

Hi all

First of all to Darth and Wussy. I dont see anythink wrong in you using a alias to play unranked games. Its not against the rules, and i can understand the reason for doing this.

Apollo: Sorry to see you go Apollo.
We had some good close games and i always found you to be a good, fair and honest player.

jerry: i have to agree with you on your post.
What buttwheat said was very "folk in tongue"
Three words automatically spring to mind about buttwheats post.
These are "pot", "kettle" and "black"

Sadistic: yes, as most peope who have visited metaforge know. You are correct with your statement, that Buttwheat has a alias called mocheese.

frank: frank i really think you are way of the mark with your assumption that flamer is sadistic.
Do you have any evidence to support this theory?
I was in fits of laughter when i saw your post!
Flamer is sadistic, what makes you think this?
Please reply as i am very interested to know why you made such a comment!
I personally can not see any resemblence between flamer and sadistic!

Regards,

ACE

[fpn]

Flamer is sadistic and here is your proof:
I played him once and the game play was the same "sit back and wait" antics alex likes to play. He kept refering to me as - in private messages to me. One message said " you'll never get rid of me that easy" and went on to stall the game and eventually lose. Second the name "flamer" is a reference to a - and as everyone knows alex has a distaste for - as he often referes to anyone that disagrees with him as a "-". In order to distance himself from another alias, he decided to use a nick that would be the "polor opposite" of alexes persona as a cuban macho man. His take on the claim of him being "flamer" is " WHY WOULD I ALEX THAT HAS BEDDED SO MANY BEAUTIFUL WOMEN EVEN THINK OF CALLING MYSELF FLAMER"
Give us a break

[leto]

I go with Wussy and Darth as for the many requests, but also have another reason to play some games unranked with another alias: most people here know who I am and what my style is. They also try to learn from me, because I am with the better players. Me playing them doesnt give me back much.

Also i tend to forget who who in the list of many players and wouldnt like to play a very special setup against them in a tournament only to find out they already know it because they played me before.

I prefer to experiment sometimes to test things for the world championship and it helps if not everyone here knows its me testing them.

If there is a rule against this please let me know

Leto