Online Tournament Honor Pledge

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rdc20
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Online Tournament Honor Pledge

Post by rdc20 »

The idea of an honor pledge that all players must sign before playing in an online tournament was recently raised on discord. The consensus seemed to be that this idea would be at least somewhat effective at deterring dishonesty and that implementing an honor pledge would have few downsides in terms of cost or effort.

I am posting an honor code that I drafted with the help of some other people in discord. I think we should discuss both the contents of a honor pledge and how it should be implemented. I think the best way to implement my particular honor pledge would be a google form with two sections a player must sign with their name to acknowledge.
Out of respect for my competitors, the writers and editors of the question set, the organizers and staff of this event, and the spirit of the game, I promise that I will not attempt to gain any unfair advantage during this event.
I recognize that attempts to gain an unfair advantage include but are not limited to attempting to procure question material ahead of time, attempting to find answers with a search engine, and unauthorized communication with teammates during live tossups.
Robert Condron
Strake Jesuit 2020
University of Chicago 2024
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CPiGuy
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Re: Online Tournament Honor Pledge

Post by CPiGuy »

I think this is a very good idea. Although it may not deter all cheaters, it has virtually zero downside, so there is little reason not to do it.

With regard to the contents: I think Robert's suggested verbiage is generally good. I would advise if this becomes commonplace, that tournament directors generally vary the wording somewhat, lest there become a "standard" pledge that just becomes rote. I also would change "with a search engine" to "using outside materials, such as the Internet" or something like that if I were to write one.

With regard to the implementation: The way I would implement this would be either to use a Google Form or to create a "#honor-pledge" channel in the tournament's Discord server and have players write it there (if I did this, I might include a blank to fill in with their names). Either way, I would make sure to present the pledge in the form of an image, so that players were required to actually write it out rather than just selecting it and copy-pasting. And, if you do it in Discord, make sure to turn off the general "read messages" permission, so players can't just copy-paste from previous players.

Requiring players to do it in the Discord server could also serve a second practical purpose -- namely of getting participants to identify themselves so that the organizers can issue the necessary roles for their team affiliation. If players were asked to include their names, this could actually make it easier for Discord tournament TDs than the status quo of "guess the identities of people with non-intuitive usernames or wait several hours for them to respond".
Conor Thompson (he/it)
Bangor High School '16
University of Michigan '20
Iowa State University '25
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matthewspatrick
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Re: Online Tournament Honor Pledge

Post by matthewspatrick »

Would it be useful to append the following to the first sentence?
...nor tolerate those who do.
Basic idea: even if a person did not him/herself cheat, if someone involved with an event learns that some other person did cheat, that someone would have a duty to report it through appropriate channels.
Patrick Matthews
University of Pennsylvania 1989-94
NAQT Member Emeritus and co-founder
I do not speak for NAQT in any way, shape, or form.
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Ciorwrong
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Re: Online Tournament Honor Pledge

Post by Ciorwrong »

Out of respect for my competitors, the writers and editors of the question set, the organizers and staff of this event, and the spirit of the game, I [STATE YOUR NAME] promise that I will not attempt to gain any unfair advantage during this event.
I recognize that attempts to gain an unfair advantage include but are not limited to attempting to procure question material ahead of time, attempting to find answers with a search engine, and unauthorized communication with teammates during live tossups. In the event that I become aware that another competitor has cheated or engaged in suspicious behavior during the tournament, I will report such behavior to the tournament director.
Is what I am using for SUN Open on Discord. I appreciate Robert making the original draft of this.
Harris Bunker
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rdc20
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Re: Online Tournament Honor Pledge

Post by rdc20 »

matthewspatrick wrote: Thu Apr 16, 2020 12:51 pm Would it be useful to append the following to the first sentence?
...nor tolerate those who do.
Basic idea: even if a person did not him/herself cheat, if someone involved with an event learns that some other person did cheat, that someone would have a duty to report it through appropriate channels.
This is a good idea, and Harris is right to include it in the SUN pledge.
Robert Condron
Strake Jesuit 2020
University of Chicago 2024
matthewspatrick
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Re: Online Tournament Honor Pledge

Post by matthewspatrick »

rdc20 wrote: Sat Apr 18, 2020 11:00 pm This is a good idea, and Harris is right to include it in the SUN pledge.
And Harris's formulation is a definite improvement on it :grin:
Patrick Matthews
University of Pennsylvania 1989-94
NAQT Member Emeritus and co-founder
I do not speak for NAQT in any way, shape, or form.
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