Wordfeud League of Honour

The situation was this; when I received your message expressing doubts about finishing on Friday morning I was very surprised. I could see no reason why we couldn´t finish. Alarm bells went off. I hoped we would finish but debated what the fairest thing to happen would be if we did not. I realised that if the game didn´t finish we would probably both be saved from relegation. I decided that, if that happened, I would swap myself with whoever was second from bottom in the table. I would go to 6 and they would go back to 5. That was ever my intention.

You posted insinuating that I was deliberately not finishing in order to avoid relegation. That insinuation was clear and resulted in another player (quite appropriately) quoting the Rules re unfinished games affecting relegation/promotion. You agreed,in a later post, that it sounded ´insunatey´.

I felt obliged to negate that insinuation. I deliberated and decided the only way was to ensure that the outcome of our game would have no benefit for me whatever it was. I relegated myself to Div 6 for the new season and posted to that affect. I had also decided that it would remain so even if we finished and I won the game before the new season started.

We did not finish before the new season started. It is not acceptable that a player is relegated because players have not finished a game and thereby avoided relegation. I was no longer available to swap with the player second from bottom. If I had not felt the need to address the aspersion cast I would have been and that would have been an end of the matter. You and the other player would have stayed in Div 5 and I would have gone to 6.

I stepped back from any personal involvement and looked at the situation. It was clear that an observer could infer that either one of us or both in collusion had deliberately avoided finishing the game. It is debatable why the game didn´t finish but it was not fair that another player was to be relegated because of it. I was no longer available to fall on my sword. I relegated you and stand by that decision. It was made objectively and with no personal rancour.

There have been at least 2 similar precedents where players have been swapped in similar circumstances. I considered posting a win to you btw but that would have been outside the rules and in the circumstances I felt it inappropriate.

You have not paid the price for playing a ´moderator´. I can assure you that if I had been playing and were not the judge that the following would have happened....I would perhaps been a little firmer in my message re finishing, I would have posted in the group as soon as I received your message on Friday morning. I would have explained that while I was sure we both intended to finish, in the event that we didn´t, I would ask the judge to relegate me if not both of us. There would have been no difference in my view on what should happen.

I feel there is nothing else I can say on the subject other than I genuinely feel no animosity towards you. It is one of those things and at the end of the day it is a game. I wish you luck this season and hope you achieve promotion and return to Div 5.