General concenus regarding notes in deck-based games

[yodamus]

Since the op asked for it. I will give my 2 cents worth. Nearly 15k games played. Not once have a used notes. And not once have I even considered it..and not once have I worried about if my opponent is taking notes. mainly because for me it is out of sight, out of mind. I probably should use it, and I would not care if my opponent did. No money involved here. All fun and games to me. Until I saw this thread. The word "notes" had escaped my memory.

[Fernando901]

Thank you for sharing your experience on this matter, yodamus... In particular what you said about this being just a game with no money on the line I think I might borrow that philosophy from you; it feels like a healthier way to look at BGA games.

[Fernando901]

You're probably correct that all players should know note-taking exists to take advantage of or not as they choose, but there is some onus on the player to understand the system they're playing under.

If you're in an IRL tournament that happened to allow note-taking and just didn't notice the notebook, I'm not sure you could argue that other players had an unfair advantage.

You're not wrong... But the issue I have with this type of situations, and the key difference I see between the BGA platform and in-person play, is the inherent obscurity that comes with some aspects of BGA that would be immediately clear in-person...

If you're at a in-person event which allows note-taking and you see other players using pen and paper mid-match or pulling out their phones, there would be tells you could pick on that might lead you to realize that this is an option that could possibly be allowed, even if you hadn't read the rules for the tournament.

But in the end, it isn't really the "could I/should I/should it be allowed" Part of this question what I'm trying to focus on; really, the thing that worries me is whether note-taking, be it using the in-game features or external resources, would be seen as "offensive", so to speak, by other players, be it because they see it as a breach of trust, or because they find it to be unfair, or any other reason... I love playing board games, and I am content with playing games the way I like to play them- but I wouldn't want to do anything that might be seen as toxic by the BGA players community at large, which is why I'm trying to understand what the community's stance on this matter is.

[tbhp]

Thank you for sharing your experience on this matter, yodamus... In particular what you said about this being just a game with no money on the line I think I might borrow that philosophy from you; it feels like a healthier way to look at BGA games.

I don’t think it’s a good argument. Whether something involves money should have zero bearing on the matters of morality and integrity related to it.

The World Cup and the Olympic Games would have exactly the same value if money wasn’t involved (I don’t even know if the latter offers money, although it brings money for the organizing country).

In my opinion those sorts of arguments just drag down board games as something "lesser", not on the same level as other creative and competitive fields.

[tbhp]

If you're at a in-person event which allows note-taking and you see other players using pen and paper mid-match or pulling out their phones, there would be tells you could pick on that might lead you to realize that this is an option that could possibly be allowed, even if you hadn't read the rules for the tournament.

But if you somehow didn't notice them taking notes, and you ended up being disadvantaged because of that, that would be your fault for not reading the tournament rules.

I think the situation on BGA is rather similar, there is a set of rules on how to play and behave, and beyond that people are allowed to do as they please. The difference is that while note taking may be forbidden in a real event, it doesn't seem to be the case on BGA, probably in large part because it would be impossible to enforce anyway.

This means that we probably have to accept that some games are just broken in an online setting. It would be absurd to want to get competitive at a game that is just about memorizing flipped cards or something like that. There would be way too many people just writing everything down for the results of the games to have any competitive value. So those are types of games you may want to play for fun on here, but to be played seriously they basically require a real life setting.

[Cile]

But in the end, it isn't really the "could I/should I/should it be allowed" Part of this question what I'm trying to focus on; really, the thing that worries me is whether note-taking, be it using the in-game features or external resources, would be seen as "offensive", so to speak, by other players, be it because they see it as a breach of trust, or because they find it to be unfair, or any other reason... I love playing board games, and I am content with playing games the way I like to play them- but I wouldn't want to do anything that might be seen as toxic by the BGA players community at large, which is why I'm trying to understand what the community's stance on this matter is.

Considering BGA provides a note taking function it would be a bizarre stance for someone to be offended by it being used. Take whatever notes you feel are appropriate, it's fine.