Text:TCK RANTS 3

This file was autogenerated from a book on Warlords.

Book Metadata

Title: TCK RANTS #3

Author: thecoolkid26

Book Content

TCK RANTS #3

Topic: Hosts playing their own games

Disclaimer: THESE ARE MY OPINIONS. THIS BOOK IS BIASED. but i will give you accurate history in it!!
So, this book in particular is not really meant to be influential or whatever, as the practice of hosts playing their own games has died out. However, in honor of it dying out last week (as of the time of writing this book)
I'm going to talk about it. Mind you, I am against it.

SOO here ist he brief history:

The second official RP to be played, Kingdoms (Season 1) was the first game to see the host of a game playing it as well.
SenorConejo did so, and at the time, there wasn't any reason to complain. The earliest of such complaints came from none other than me, on the very same game. I was calling out bullshit on things Senor did that seemed to specifically disadvantage me, and although it wasn't a major point I made,
I held the belief that him playing his own game could somewhat factor into it. But, it wasn't too big of a deal, as Senor played a small country that barely did anything for most of Season 1. However, by the end of it, he had acquired three cities in one turn, something completely unheard
of. This was the first reason instance where I called bullshit based off of him playing his own game.

Season 2 saw more of my complaining, and sometimes of others, and as RPs advanced, the practice was small but significant.
Hypocritically, I'd play Belloria, the most important game I've ever hosted, as a minor country that played a role in the Great War, and also was the center of a massive alliance of democratic nations.
DF saw the height of this practice, but by the time the Warlords Exodus occured, most of the players who came were against the practice. I made a conscious effort to not play my own games from then onwards, and others did aswell.
And thus, the practice was mostly gone, except for two players who stood out.

SenorConejo had still continued to play his own games, including in Bellumia and in Kingdoms. As an upcoming Season 3 was coming up, he announced
that he'd be playing aswell. After a poll, however, he would no longer be playing Kingdoms. This was an important step in ending the practice, and today, one of the two games that still sees hosts in its own game is Bellumia.
The other? HayaletSimsek, who also still thinks the practice is okay, is currently hosting and playing Weltkrieg, and it is the only other game doing that. And, that is where it stands, but Senor no longer playing Kingdoms is probably the last step that may
permanently put an end to the act in Warlords.

But, why is it bad?

Well, for starters, hosts are the ones who completely control the game. If they're a player, chances are, they may consciously (or unconsciously)
bias the game in their favor. This was a point I made clear in Season 2 of Kingdoms, and the arguments against Senor's playing in Season 3 further amplified this. The only real argument in favor of the practice is that players can be attentive to what the
host does. It is reasonable, but I do not want to spend my time making sure a country isn't doing anything thats out of the boundaries of the rules when I could be spending my time doing something else.

Other than that, the only other arguments you'll typically
hear are proposed alternatives or ideas by the hosts themselves in order to let them play.

Perhaps the most common one, one proposed by Senor himself, is to have a "2nd host" which is either a player of the game or another game that does his turns
in the game instead of the host doing the turn themselves. Again, this is unnecessarily complicated and is going to take time away from the second host, and also from other players who would most likely spectate the turn to make sure nothing suspicious
occurs, all for the personal benefit of the host. Or, perhaps hosts are entitled to this personal benefit? I don't know, but it sounds stupid.

Whatever the case, the majority seems to agree that playing your own game is a bad idea, and the practice is on its
last breath. It was never a widely done act, but definitely one that, in my opinion, lowered the quality of games.