As we all know it is presently considered bad form to post accusations about your suspicions that someone is cheating in the forum, one should email a mod who will investigate the matter. But is this really the correct way of doing things?

One of the arguments forwarded is that we can not have a ‘witch hunt’ and ‘mob rule’ just doesn’t work. Well, who is this mob? That’s right, you and me. I thought we were semi-articulate respected members of a gaming community, but apparently not. We’re a mob, unable to differentiate between an accused person and a guilty one. Only the mods have the intellect and balanced reasoning to determine whom amongst us is cheating.

Whilst I may not always agree with my fellow respected/mob* members (delete as applicable), I think that they should have the opportunity to express their suspicions and if needs be add to the evidence for and against the accused. If we continue to protect the accused identity this opportunity is lost.

It would appear that many accusations are made against people who play gunboat games. I think presenting the evidence in public and debating how two or more players could have choreographed moves also helps newer players understand the subtleties of the game.

Another factor to take into consideration is that justice should be conducted as far as possible in the public arena. People are accused and banned if necessary for the benefit of all of us – that justice is seen to be done is important.

I also believe that public accusations and ‘trails’ will deter many people who may be tempted to cheat, knowing that they will have to account publicly for their actions.

Some may say that people will have their good reputations tainted by false accusations. As someone who has been accused, I can say that I have never felt sidelined by other members just because someone accused me. I trust you guys to give an accused person the benefit of any doubt and only campaign for their removal if the evidence against them is conclusive.

I have some sympathy for the argument that ‘mud sticks’ and that falsely accused players have every right to feel aggrieved. However, we should remember that we are not accusing people of buggering a dead cat in Westminster Abbey. If people really feel so aggrieved that there good name has been tarnished, it isn’t beyond the wit of man to correct this injustice by allowing them to change their screen name.

I think that we may have to decide on some etiquette for accusing people, it may be best to wait until after a game has finished, or we may prefer the original accuser to cite more than one alleged instance for example.