What in the world has happened here?

I take a couple weeks off because I am not entirely comfortable with things and I come back to find leekstep's witch hunt in full swing.

I can't believe that Ryan is running statistical queries on demand to try to ferret out cheaters for leek.

It's great that he's paid a hundred dollars in membership fees or whatever, but really going after players as he demands it smacks of a favoritism far worse than anything a small group of players working together can affect.

And, quite frankly, I wouldn't want to succeed at this game under the current circumstances. I can say that while I have never PGAed once in my life, I am certain that I do better with a given set of players than with a given set of other players at the table.

The statistics, from what I've seen, are utter rubbish anyway.

The first error is to believe that you can get a serious view of things from such a tiny sample as 40 games that two people have played together.

I've gone on a run at a blackjack table in casinos where I won 3/4 of my hands over the course of a shoe... a similarly sized sample. If you sat down and looked at that, you'd conclude that the house is absolutely insane for offering a blackjack game as the players clearly win 75% of their hands.

Secondly, none of what I saw takes into account the tons of other factors that might influence such things.

For example, if you look at my games with Vermont, you might conclude that we are allies (I have no idea what the stats actually show).

However, if you then factored in the fact that during half of those games Mad Hat Sam was at the table, then you'd discover that Verm was probably placing higher in those games as Sam and I basically kill each other on sight.

So, not only do I consider this statistic mongering irrelevant given the sample size, I consider the fact that it's occurring at all a sign of how incredibly unfriendly this game has become.

I'm sure that there are PGAs to a limited degree in this game. I am also convinced that the cure has been worse than the problem, as the forums are filled with this garbage and the environment has grown so unfriendly as a whole that it's just not FUN to come here and sit down anymore.

In conclusion, a lot of people need to remember that this is a GAME... I'm talking to you leek, you know we get along swimmingly, but you really need to step back and chill the fuck out.

And pgamonitor, kdicefreak, and anyone similar: Go outside, soak up a little sun, and realize that you have appointed yourself as the inquisitional squad in an online dice game with no prize money at stake.