Quote:
Originally Posted by atakdog
I don't understand why anyone would think this is a hard question.
Given that play is voluntary on your part and your opponents', the "ethics" of the situation are defined by the terms and conditions of the site, with the possible exception (I don't buy it, but some do) that if just about everyone's expectation is that a particular rule is being violated, violating it may be OK, and the very tenuous argument (which I don't buy at all, but people make) that if no one else is harmed by it it's OK even if it's against the rules and people's expectations.
Botting is:
- Against the T&C to which you agreed;
- Not what your opponents (justifiably, for what it's worth) expect; and
- Harmful to others (assuming you are making any money at it anyway).
So... what's the problem again?
I think this is the post of the thread and probably a conclusive argument, but to play devils advocate, here are some thoughts on the arguments:
1. It's against the TOC. For one thing, it seems more plausible that the way this works is the TOC tracks fairness, not that fairness tracks the TOC. That is to say, something can't be right simply by being in the TOC of the site because the reason it's in the TOC is presumably because it's fair.
Additionally, I think this argument has to bite at least one bullet in proclaiming that the use of sharkscope while playing is wrong. I do this all the time and I have a hard time beleiving that I'm doing anything wrong.
2. Not what your opponents expect. I assume the idea here is that if you opponents knew you were a bot they wouldn't play, but this might be true in the ordinary case of being a winning player. If a fish really understood that over the long run they are fundamentally incapable of winning money against me, they may not want to play. Similarly, most people don't know about HUDs, sharscope, poker table ratings, or awesome SNG programs like SnG wizard. It's at least unclear that people would continue to play if they did.
3. Harmful to others. If the harm is that other players lose money, then being a winning player is harmful to others in precisely the same way.