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I was having a discussion with some one in another thread, about some issues that arose at an event, and what our expectations would be in that situation. I would like to see what other peoples expectations are.

Disclaimer: this will be hypothetical discussion and any real world events do not belong here. Please be respectful and leave any specific events and people out of the discussion.

The situation and differing expectations we had, that I would like to see discussed, are as follows,

Two players, on round four, of a large semi competitive event. (semi competitive is my word, some say these events are competitive, and some say they are social. For the sake of discussion there was robust prize support, that is somewhat based on results, so we will call it semi competitive!) Ok, round four and the game is between two seasoned players. During the game one player declares he has a stratagem that allows a unit to activate again in the fight phase. His opponent questions the rule and the player using the stratagem does not have the pertinent source material on hand. (This was a grey area in the original discussion and any reference to that does not matter. I think it is a possible situation that deserves being discussed, so for this hypothetical situation we will say he did not have his source material available.) At this point they call a judge over and they find that the player was playing the rule incorrectly. The situation is discussed and since it was caught early enough that it had not impacted the game, the player states he will play the rule correctly and they agree to continue with their game.

The points being made in the previous discussion were:

POINT: In a semi competitive tournament we have an expectation that our opponent will know the basic rules, and the rules for the army he is playing, and be able to play them correctly. Mistakes happen but it should be the exception not the norm.

COUNTER POINT: Yes people should be expected to know their rules but the game is inherently complicated and mistakes are going too happen. It is your responsibility to watch your opponent to make sure they play correctly and correct any misplays or mistakes they make.

POINT 2: Given your assault troops an extra attack is a pretty major mistake. Besides the current table, his previous opponents should be made aware of the situation, and should be in the discussion, on how this should be resolved, if they so chose.

COUNTER POINT 2: There is no metric on what is or is not a major mistake. For the sake of keeping the tournament moving, in the finite time frame available, issues need to be resolved as easily and quickly as possible. The previous players do not need to be informed. There is nothing that can be done for their games at this point and informing them about what happened will most likely be a negative experience, better they don't know.

There was no real discussion on the subject of not having source material available. Everyone agreed that if that did happen it is an issue but how do you handle it? Is it fine because they were able to figure it out with the judge? Is it still not ok because it is in the tournament packet that you have all of your rule books available? What are peoples thoughts?

One other thought I had. Would your expectations in this scenario change if both players were 1-2 at this point, and out of prize support, or if they were both 3-0 and still in the running? For me I think it would I would be more apt to want to see repercussions if the player in question was 3-0 but is that fair to the guy that is 0-3 and has the same thing happen?

Another disclaimer: baring throwing down loaded dice or having a measuring stick marked 6" and it is really 7" there is no way to prove intent of cheating for a rules mistake. so for this discussion that is what it is, a mistake with no intent. Please leave any talks of cheating out of the discussion.

alright lets discuss what your expectations would be? do you agree with one of us? think were both daft? I would like to here what you think.

 ChainswordHeretic wrote:
Is it still not ok because it is in the tournament packet that you have all of your rule books available?

If he was supposed to have the books on hand and did not, that's a black and white issue wherein that player is in the wrong. I haven't played in many tournaments, but have seen minor rule-breaking occur with minimal interest by the judges of the same amount (e.g., failing to follow the rules of the tournament). I think allowing them to continue to play but pulling any prize support from that person is an appropriate consequence that's not over the top.

It does definitely point out a need for a process that, when there is a game-altering mistake that's pervasive across games, how should it be handled (and how do you define "game-altering")? There's no real way to go back and fix it, and there's not an easy way to tell if it had an impact. Maybe a judge needs to discuss the game with the players and make that determination? Not an easy thing to do. Is a full forfeit the needed course of action? It seems a strong punishment and would encourage "that guy" rule lawyering, but finding a more appropriate consequence is difficult.

Regardless of the person's ranking at the end of the day, the consequence should be kept the same, I think.

So, first of all, this is about NOVA. Let's not ignore relevant facts about the situation and pretend that it's just some hypothetical "rules mistake", as hypothetical situations are never going to be defined clearly enough to get any kind of agreement on the appropriate response.

That said, the "mistake" in question seems to have been a rather blatant one. Whether or not it was deliberate cheating it was clearly something that the player in question was doing incorrectly, gaining a significant advantage in the process. I don't know if this is a player with a known reputation for "mistakes", but it's certainly not a minor offense. At absolute minimum all of their previous games, where they benefited from that significant mistake, should have been turned into losses and the player should have had a lot of judge attention for the rest of the tournament to make sure that they didn't try any similar exploits. If there was reasonable grounds for believing that the "mistake" was deliberate cheating then the proper response is nothing short of immediate disqualification and removal from the event.

His opponent questions the rule and the player assulting does not have the pertinent source material on hand.

Immediate disqualification. Sorry, but bringing your rules is a basic and universal requirement for tournaments. There is no excuse for not having a copy of all required rules, and it raises serious questions about how many other rules mistakes the player has been making.

COUNTER POINT: Yes people should be expected to know their rules but the game is inherently complicated and mistakes are going too happen. It is your responsibility to watch your opponent to make sure they play correctly and correct any misplays or mistakes they make.

Disagree strongly. As you say, the game is complicated. It is not reasonable to expect players to know every possible rule and combination of rules for every army in the game, and never have to trust their opponents on how something works. Nor is it practical from a time point of view to demand to see the rules for every single thing in your opponent's army. At some point you just have to ask your opponent to tell you what a rule/stat line/etc is and trust them that it's an honest and accurate answer.

And on top of this there's a social pressure factor involved. A lot of people are going to feel like it's rude to question their opponents too often, like expecting to see the rule is an implicit accusation of cheating. And of course if it's an army you aren't familiar with you're going to feel even more doubt. If you put responsibility on the opponent to catch a player's mistakes and/or cheating you create situations where those offenses continue because nobody is willing to make a big deal about it and question the rule.

The previous players do not need to be informed. There is nothing that can be done for their games at this point and informing them about what happened will most likely be a negative experience, better they don't know.

Previous players absolutely do need to be informed. They deserve to know that they did not legitimately lose the game, and they deserve to know that the rule does not work that way in case they encounter a similar situation in the future. And from the point of view of the TO it's the correct thing to do because it lets the player know that yes, an unfortunate mistake did happen, but the TO caught it and took appropriate action. Imagine how that player is going to feel if they encounter the correct ruling in the future, and all they see is that the previous TO let their opponent get away with it.

The only person benefiting from silence is the TO, in the short term. It's purely an act to protect the reputation of the TO and the event, by not raising questions about their ability to run an incident-free event. I understand that many people might not want the bad publicity that comes from that kind of thing, but too bad.

One other thought I had. Would your expectations in this scenario change if both players were 1-2 at this point, and out of prize support, or if they were both 3-0 and still in the running? For me I think it would I would be more apt to want to see repercussions if the player in question was 3-0 but is that fair to the guy that is 0-3 and has the same thing happen?

No, it doesn't change anything. Cheating is cheating. Rules mistakes are rules mistakes. TO rulings need to be consistent for the same offense, and can not give different penalties to different players.

Please leave any talks of cheating out of the discussion.

That's impossible to do, because cheating is inherently part of the discussion. Sorry if that's a hard fact to face, but if you limit the definition of "cheating" to loaded dice or illegal measuring tools you are going to allow a lot of blatant cheating to happen.

Thanks for posting Peregrine, I have pretty much the same views as you (maybe not quite as strongly ) but we are definitely on the same side of the fence and I made almost all the same arguments in the previous discussion. I was honestly a little shocked that some people (including a tournament judge) do not have some of the expectations we do? That was one reason for starting this thread, I was starting to wonder if I was being a jerk for having the expectations I do? Hopefully some more people will add their two cents.

So I was largely the other side of the discussion (though not the only one).

The issue with the attitude that "you just have to trust that your opponent is telling you the correct rule" is then no mistakes ever get caught. SO then the rest of the discussion about penalties etc is moot. So unless the idea is that people can play wrong until they run into the guy that knows the rule in question seems a strange attitude to me.

I'm not saying you question every rule, but in the situation in question (not an extra attack, but use of a stratagem that allows a unit to activate again in the fight phase.), the rule is sufficiently powerful as (IMO) to raise eyebrows about wanting to see the rule. Especially when that rules is going to be game changing (quite a bit larger in this case than say, someone thinking their commander has 5 wounds when he only has 4)

I do think players should have their rules available simply because of this, but can see situations where this might not be the case (left it at last table, digital copies dead battery) at which point a judge should get involved and determine the correct course of action.

I also feel that any rules regarding misplay must be consistently enforced same on the bottom table as the top table. Given this, I don't think it is feasible in a large event to punish misplays as they will happen on almost every table. leading to the event being a jumbled mess, and DQ enough people and you won't have an event.

As to informing previous players, I would rather leave that to the player who was in the wrong (I might encourage it as a TO but would not force the issue), I say this because in all likelihood those players have moved on and forgotten all about the issue and getting them upset for the rest of the day might ruin their day. Now if the player takes it upon themselves to apologize that will likely be a better situation with less people ending up angry.

To sum up my general argument is: "If it is not incumbent upon the players to ensure their game is played properly who is going to do so?"

I second everything the bird of doom said, to a T. Don't go to a tournament with any kind of prize support and not bring your rules, and not know them.

With your friends in your basement/garage? Learn, make mistakes, grind your skills all you want. Still have the pile of books by the side to learn the damn rules.

If the game is too complicated that a)you can't expect people to know their own rules b)you can't remember your own rules. I'd suggest either give the game more time, or switching to another game? Let's face it, I dropped Infinity because I couldn't commit. I love the game, the aesthetics of it, the fluff, but the rules were just too granular for my limited gaming time I have available. Not everyone can grow up to be an astronaut.

With the caveat that I have never played in a tournament, nor do I expect to...

I would expect tournament players to know all the core rules, as well as any special rules for their army. I would also expect more experienced tournament players to know the rules of other armies that they regularly play, or play against. I can think of no reason not to have all pertinent rules to hand, and would also expect printed army lists.

HuskyWarhammer wrote:

 ChainswordHeretic wrote:
Is it still not ok because it is in the tournament packet that you have all of your rule books available?

If he was supposed to have the books on hand and did not, that's a black and white issue wherein that player is in the wrong. I haven't played in many tournaments, but have seen minor rule-breaking occur with minimal interest by the judges of the same amount (e.g., failing to follow the rules of the tournament). I think allowing them to continue to play but pulling any prize support from that person is an appropriate consequence that's not over the top.

It does definitely point out a need for a process that, when there is a game-altering mistake that's pervasive across games, how should it be handled (and how do you define "game-altering")? There's no real way to go back and fix it, and there's not an easy way to tell if it had an impact.

In football, as I understand it, bad refereeing decisions stand - one team wins due to an illegal goal that wasn't spotted? so be it. Ask England's 1986 World Cup team. I don't think there's any method of retroactively redetermining games that isn't going to lead to more aggravation than just letting them stand. Having said that, it should absolutely be corrected as soon as possible. The second issue, of not having followed the rules of the event by not bringing all the required game rules, should lead to disqualification - at the very least, being excluded from the rankings at the end of the event.

Thanks for popping in Breng77, I think we agree on more things then we disagree on and I do see your point on some items. So for other people, how do you handle these situations with the finite amount of time a tournament affords, without effecting the whole tournament?

Because having a copy of all your rules is a requirement of the tournament itself (NOVA) the player should have been disqualified from winning any of the prizes after this was found out.

Let him keep his scores (in case he is doing some overreaching multi-tourney scoring thing) and let him continue to play if he wants.

He should not be eligible for any prizes at the current tourney however (except for mabey painting prizes).

Updated the OP to reflect

(not an extra attack, but use of a stratagem that allows a unit to activate again in the fight phase.),

 AndrewGPaul wrote:

HuskyWarhammer wrote:

 ChainswordHeretic wrote:
Is it still not ok because it is in the tournament packet that you have all of your rule books available?

If he was supposed to have the books on hand and did not, that's a black and white issue wherein that player is in the wrong. I haven't played in many tournaments, but have seen minor rule-breaking occur with minimal interest by the judges of the same amount (e.g., failing to follow the rules of the tournament). I think allowing them to continue to play but pulling any prize support from that person is an appropriate consequence that's not over the top.

It does definitely point out a need for a process that, when there is a game-altering mistake that's pervasive across games, how should it be handled (and how do you define "game-altering")? There's no real way to go back and fix it, and there's not an easy way to tell if it had an impact.

In football, as I understand it, bad refereeing decisions stand - one team wins due to an illegal goal that wasn't spotted? so be it. Ask England's 1986 World Cup team. I don't think there's any method of retroactively redetermining games that isn't going to lead to more aggravation than just letting them stand. Having said that, it should absolutely be corrected as soon as possible. The second issue, of not having followed the rules of the event by not bringing all the required game rules, should lead to disqualification - at the very least, being excluded from the rankings at the end of the event.

You and I, we are in agreement I think.

On the subject of gaming materials how would you handle someone who has the resources, traveled to an event, left them back at an inaccessible location but if something is needed can obtain from others. The example above is what actually happened to me at nova as I left my gk book at a friend's house 30 minutes away after flying into dc from Minnesota.

I feel like the book thing goes gotcha real quick. Is it at the table? What if you left it at a previous table? Are you then hit with the dq stick. This is just a another loophole more people will use to hurt than help. If you can get the info at the event (as was done) call it a wash.

Now regarding the rules mistake there is simply no way to retroactively determine games. In some sense as much as it sucks it's up to us to know or question our opponents rules. At most eve ts you're lucky to have 1 judge per 15 tables. This isn't a sport. Dont treat it like one. It's a community event. People question the rules for my stuff all the time and I answer them politely because I expect it. If something seems weird I check it while my opponent does it and then we reset if needed so as to not slow the game down.

Honestly the only taken out of the win path deal breakers for me are; loaded dice, army list changing, slow play, and list mistakes. The rest should be dealt with by grown men in an appropriate way as was handled here. The comm unity sorts itself and known cheaters or dodgy players get reps quick. I will say some active prevention from said players entering events period would be more welcome but attendance is king.

On the subject of gaming materials how would you handle someone who has the resources, traveled to an event, left them back at an inaccessible location but if something is needed can obtain from others. The example above is what actually happened to me at nova as I left my gk book at a friend's house 30 minutes away after flying into dc from Minnesota.

I was actually thinking about that myself and once again I think context makes a difference. If you informed the judges what happened, and informed your opponent before your games started, I would be ok with that, things happen. But not having it come out until there was a question, Sorry, but I am going to think you were trying to pull a fast one. But what about someone who is there by themselves and does not have access to another book? Is it fair that you can play because you had friends there, and he would not be able to because he forgot his book at the hotel, and does not have access to another copy? once again the rule needs to cover everyone equally so how would you handle the situation were someone does not have access to another book?

I always get confused by this. The expectation that everyone in a tournament needs to be a rules expert. There's no entrance exam for tournaments and half the people there primarily showed up because they saw it on their facebook feed/FLGS wall and didn't have anything else to do that day. Even with the highly competetive ones. That's not counting the bigger events where even expert players are often going without sleep, drinking to excess, stressing about home life, or a combination of all three.

I've seen our best Warmachine and Warhammer Judges have to check the book on basic movement because it's impossible to know all that stuff on the top of your head.

People should have a general idea on how their list works and preferably take their source material (codex+rulebook) with them. Ideally the judge should have the rulebook and any relevant errata on a table he can use. Ideally. Not that any tournament ever was in ideal circumstances, but it's a goal to aim for.

I'd ask my friends for my opponent And in the same vein what if they didn't know till they opened their bag during that first question? I just don't get the hardliner approach essentially because I think it'll be used to hurt guys there to get games in that have zero expectation of placing.

I think it's a bit how you view things. I assume peoplease are honest till proven otherwise. So getting a rule wrong has me assume it's an innocent mistake with or without the book. But I also don't hesitate to ask either.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also what Charger said.

There is no excuse for not having your rules... especially when the player is shady.

Peregrine is right on the money.
Coming from someone who wants to win "correctly":

- I bring my rule-book, Codex(s) as applicable, FAQ's all at a minimum, sometimes other Army books I have trouble remembering.
NOTE: Good point about "bad things happen" and stuff can be forgotten. I would say the missing book needs to be identified by the owner ASAP prior to an opponent asking for a rules check.
It could be very likely another player could provide the material (again I usually carry other opponent codex's with me).
The automatic disqualification rule could be very bad if your opponent or another opponent causes your rulebook to disappear.
Yes, there are occasionally people like that. It would be an easy and convenient way of eliminating a competitor.

- I do not mind people asking about a rule to do with my army and since I usually bookmark the important parts, finding it is pretty quick.
Those who get offended about being questioned on a rule and use the authoritative loud voice I almost immediately do not believe them and want "objective evidence".

-When a rule is understood incorrectly and it is rather pivotal in how the main thrust of the army works, I tend to expect my opponent to know that info cold.
They would have gone over that a few times during army selection and any practice.
To get a "fundamental" rule wrong causes some measure of disbelief.

As to informing prior opponents of a "misunderstanding" caused by the rule.
I think it is important not to perpetuate incorrect play.
The trick is to inform without it appearing as a public shaming.
Personally, if I was playing and got a rule wrong that bad, I would go to each opponent, apologize and if there was any way to add a point to any score I give to my opponent it should be mandatory (possibly contact TO and request score change due to these reasons).

Unfortunately, policing by opponent is the only means that work.
If you have questions, ask, if not sounding right, get evidence, no evidence, get TO involved.

 ChainswordHeretic wrote:

I'd ask my friends for my opponent And in the same vein what if they didn't know till they opened their bag during that first question? I just don't get the hardliner approach essentially because I think it'll be used to hurt guys there to get games in that have zero expectation of placing. I think it's a bit how you view things. I assume people are honest till proven otherwise. So getting a rule wrong has me assume it's an innocent mistake with or without the book. But I also don't hesitate to ask either.

Believe me hulk, I am a casual player and I would be fine with this. But Playing devils advocate why then have the rule? If we are going to give everyone a pass just say we would like everyone to bring the required materials to play there army, but if you don't bring them, don't worry we should be able to find some one you can borrow them from?

Honestly the rule is in place mostly since the coming of forgeworld and all the esoteric detachments that popped up during the end of 6th and all of 7th. If you eliminated FW I'm not sure you'd even need the rule anymore if we're being 100% honest. Also you can't expect others to get it for you. I'd try and be able to find someone even at the largest events normally in a minute or two. Most people can't do that I understand. I help where I can. The onus is still on you to prove your rules. If you can't do that then you're hosed. So it's also a rule to encourage gamers to be responsible. Let's be real, our hobby crowd has been likened to cats on more than one occasion

Personally, if I was playing and got a rule wrong that bad, I would go to each opponent, apologize and if there was any way to add a point to any score I give to my opponent it should be mandatory (possibly contact TO and request score change due to these reasons).

I have actually done that and made some friends that day!


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Let's be real, our hobby crowd has been likened to cats on more than one occasion

I think you mean herding cats, but I get you! As far as the rest of what you said that is why I started this thread. I was surprised on the divide between me and Breng77 at first. lets try to find some middle ground so we can get the cat herd a little more under control, and the hard liners to loosen up a bit, so we don't have 3 -4 pages of this guy got away with that every time we have a major tournament! Lets face it there are not many people, willing to put in the time and effort to do something like this, where the wife doesn't want to come along and is happy to let you have a man weekend!

Regardless of opinions on intent, the punishment for rules violations needs to be increased significantly from what it is. Rules mistakes happen, but it is deeply disturbing that they are consistently happening at TOP TABLES. Increased consequences will heavily incentivize players at all levels to make sure rules knowledge isn't a problem, and hopefully ensure that games by celebrity players will be examples rather than the target of jeering and a cause for disillusionment with GTs.

This whole issue is based on fear.

Humans make mistakes. It's unavoidable. The problem comes into it when you assume intent based on that fear. Unless you can read their minds, all you've got is assumptions. Any action you take on that assumption is tainted. Of course I guess that doesn't matter as long as you feel vindicated. Unless they punish those mistakes as well.......

It's easy to find the Righteous, there is always a trail of bodies left in their wake.

 Hulksmash wrote:
On the subject of gaming materials how would you handle someone who has the resources, traveled to an event, left them back at an inaccessible location but if something is needed can obtain from others. The example above is what actually happened to me at nova as I left my gk book at a friend's house 30 minutes away after flying into dc from Minnesota.

Buy the e-book version of the rules, problem solved.

I feel like the book thing goes gotcha real quick. Is it at the table? What if you left it at a previous table? Are you then hit with the dq stick. This is just a another loophole more people will use to hurt than help. If you can get the info at the event (as was done) call it a wash.

Why are you assuming that people are stupid and incapable of using common sense? If a player brought their rules to the tournament and just happened to leave it sitting on a different table then that's clearly not the same as not bothering to bring their rules at all. Obviously you aren't going to disqualify someone for leaving their rules on a different table, you just have them fetch the rules and look up whatever you needed.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Breng77 wrote:
The issue with the attitude that "you just have to trust that your opponent is telling you the correct rule" is then no mistakes ever get caught. SO then the rest of the discussion about penalties etc is moot. So unless the idea is that people can play wrong until they run into the guy that knows the rule in question seems a strange attitude to me.

I think you're misunderstanding my point there. Obviously it's good when an opponent catches a mistake, and the more rules people know the better. The point I was trying to make is that "my opponent failed in their responsibility to know my rules" is not an excuse. Each player has an obligation to get their rules right, because in practice there are going to be situations where you have to trust someone that they're doing it right. If you get caught making a mistake then you get full blame for making it.

Seems to me that the officials failed at the first hurdle.

Having the correct Rulebooks should be checked at registration.

It's such a simple thing that it really does make the Organisers culpable for it happening during play.

 notprop wrote:
Seems to me that the officials failed at the first hurdle.

Having the correct Rulebooks should be checked at registration.

It's such a simple thing that it really does make the Organisers culpable for it happening during play.

To be fair this is day 3. And he did have the book day 1 and 2. Heck in my example I had it at registration because I registered the night before we started and I had all my luggage but left it at my buddies house that night so didn't have it day one.

@Peregrine

I have digital version too but thay does require the reading device so it's no different. Plus charging space at large events is at a premium when you're talking 11+ hour days.

As for common sense that's essentially what is being used. If you make rules like "auto lose if you don't have your materials" it'll get gamed. The current format allows for the judges to have leeway.

Crimson Devil has the right of it. It feels like the majority of this line of thinking is based on fear of getting cheated. Whethwe intentionally or not. I just don't function thay way when playing with toy soldiers.

 Hulksmash wrote:
I have digital version too but thay does require the reading device so it's no different.

You have a phone. If you're one of the tiny minority that doesn't have a smartphone yet then you'd better be very careful about having your paper copies, but I don't think enough people like this exist for it to be a relevant concern.

Plus charging space at large events is at a premium when you're talking 11+ hour days.

Ok, then put your device on low-power mode and don't spend a bunch of time between games browsing facebook or whatever, save it for rules questions as needed. Or just be sure you have your paper copies.

If you make rules like "auto lose if you don't have your materials" it'll get gamed.

How can you "game" something that you have absolutely no ability to exploit? If your opponent brings all of their materials then you can't do anything. If you bring all of your materials then you have nothing to fear. What are you thinking of, some weird situation where a player hides their opponent's rulebook and then calls a judge to DQ them?

 Crimson Devil wrote:
This whole issue is based on fear.

Humans make mistakes. It's unavoidable. The problem comes into it when you assume intent based on that fear. Unless you can read their minds, all you've got is assumptions. Any action you take on that assumption is tainted. Of course I guess that doesn't matter as long as you feel vindicated. Unless they punish those mistakes as well.......

It's easy to find the Righteous, there is always a trail of bodies left in their wake.

Phew, I thought for a second maybe people would take this too seriously.

The simple fact is, if you're cheating on purpose or by accident, you should have to good grace to accept the penalty suffered in an event such as a tournament. It's on you. If you think the tournament organizers are too blood-thirsty in their discipline, then don't attend the event in the future and let them know you're dissatisfied. It is, after all, their event. They can run it with an iron fist if they so choose. It has jack squat to do with fear, and everything to do with someone breaking the rules and other players having suffered for it. Simple as that.

 Crimson Devil wrote:
This whole issue is based on fear.

Humans make mistakes. It's unavoidable. The problem comes into it when you assume intent based on that fear. Unless you can read their minds, all you've got is assumptions. Any action you take on that assumption is tainted. Of course I guess that doesn't matter as long as you feel vindicated. Unless they punish those mistakes as well.......

It's easy to find the Righteous, there is always a trail of bodies left in their wake.

What are you on about?

1. Most tournaments list having your rules as a requirement anyway. Folks just want it enforced.

2. You can believe your opponent is making a mistake without cheating. It doesn't matter what their motivation is though if it throws your game. You'll have a loss you don't deserve, your future matches and placing are effected as a result.

3. Having score docking or some DQ helps to fix 2 and restore the players' standings to what they should more accurately be and remove 2's negative effects.

4. Acknowledging and explaining it to prior opponents helps them not feel bitter about the match if they learn of the mistake from a 3rd party or later rules check. It also helps people from repeating the same mistakes.

Having your rules is essential because there are SO MANY rules in this game and we need a way to check them quickly to do 1-4 and keep the pace of the tournament going.

In my view:

1) As said many times already; have the rules with you. I would also say that any major tournament should have a judges copy of all current rules and FAQ/Errata on hand as well. Smaller events that are not tied to shops might have less access, but in general there should never be a case that the event doesn't have access to the rules during gameplay.

2) TO should have printed out copies of any FAQ/Errata documents for reference - this to avoid any potential cheating via deliberate use of doctored errata printouts; or accidental through the use of an older version.

3) It is up to each player to ensure that they play to the rules; and to also watch their opponent as well. If you see your opponent making a mistake then you are the one who has to call it out.
Not in a rude manner, but in a polite fashion as this is a highly complex game with a lot of rules that overwrite each other or that can be easily mixed up. This is without forgetting that the rules between editions change a lot and its very possible that a player can end up playing an older variation of a rule in the heat of a game.

4) TO should log any and all mistakes made by players which are reported and players should report all mistakes. This isn't about hounding or being abusive, its about keeping a written track record of who is making mistakes and the nature of the mistakes made.
This is about tracking mistakes and to identify if anyone is clearly cheating by making repeat mistakes. Most people will aim to avoid making the same mistakes over and over; whilst cheaters will typically make far more mistakes than the normal person