Help needed: Is this considered cheating?

[GeraldineMerida]

I'd be pretty annoyed if someone did that in a regular game, among strangers, but outraged in a tournament.

(Friends ganging up on other friends or messing with their chances of success is a different matter, of course, and depends on your dynamic.)

[Setsuna Jr]

I think the big difference is my convention is a general tool, it does not apply to a particular situation. Your suggestion is a solution to the particular situation in this particular game.

I have a related question about a different game:

Is it considered cheating / poor sportsmanship to point out publicly in the chat a particular strategy or play that might be mutually beneficial to you and another player (but to the possible detriment of others)?

Or is it ok and should be allowed as long as it is a general, public strategy discussion available to all in the chat?

In this particular case, a player had a card in Res Arcana that would trigger an end game check. If he used it on his next turn, I would likely finish in 1st place, and that player would finish in 3rd place (out of 4, in a Swiss tournament that awards +6, +4, +2, +0 for 1st-4th places).

If he did not use it at that point, then it was likely that I would finish 2nd and the other player with the card would end up finishing in 4th (there was no possibility of him moving up to 1st or 2nd).

I suggested in the public chat that he consider the possible effects of the end game check, but without any further details.

It is quite possible that he might have figured that out on his own, and maybe I was wrong to say anything and I should have just let him do it or not.

If so, I apologize, and I will refrain from any such strategy chat in the future.

But for games that I play in person with friends, often part of the game is to publicly negotiate with the other players, perhaps pointing out who you think might be ahead, if that might encourage someone to "attack" the leader instead of attacking you. (Of course the other person is welcome to ignore your suggestion, or to attack you just because you tried to encourage him to go after someone else.)

What do others think?

Is some amount of strategy / suggestion allowable, as long as it is public and open to all?

Or is that only allowed in non-tournament, non-Arena games with friends?

Please no flames -- I am just trying to understand what other's expectations are, so that we can all have fun playing, learning, and socializing with each other.