Working with various problems
from UDE's Player Management Forums
One problem that can come up, sometimes depending on where you run your tournaments in spoken accents. Myself, I'm terrible at understanding people with accents. So lets lay out some situations. Please note, this is one of those, "lets toss up something for discussion" topics, rather then an "I need help with something" topic.
1. Player A vs Player B - You get called to a table. Player B, who has a thick accent, has a question. Because of his accent, you have a hard time understanding what he's saying. You glance over the field for possible issues, don't really notice anything, lets assume that B is looking for clarification of a card on the field. You ask A what the issue is, he doesn't know or understand either. What do you do?
If you're lucky, and can find another judge that might understand the him better, that could work out, but what if you're the only judge? Obviously, we don't want to say or do anything that could offend the person, and it's not fair to not help because you can't understand. So, what now?
2. Player A vs Player B - You get called over. Player A is upset because Player B's friend has been talking to him in German the entire game. Player B's friend, let's call him C, says that B is a family member who recently moved in from Germany, and thusly, speaks little English, and that C is just translating A's English for B. A however feels this is unfair because he can't speak German, and thus can't tell if he's translating or offering strategic advice. Let's assume that you, nor any of the judge staff speak German, and that C has only spoken after A has, thus giving the appearance of translating.
3. Player A vs Player B - You get called over. Player B is upset because he wanted to activate his card during A's standby phase. Player B has hearing problems, and thus uses hearing aides. He claims A isn't talking loud enough for him to hear. A claims the he indicated his standby phases clearly and loud enough for him to hear. B is a younger player is begining to get upset. What can you do?
To add on, lets say you negoiate an agreement, in addition to saying his actions louder, you ask A to raise his hand up when he switches phases, A while frustrated agrees. Everything seems fine. 10 minutes later, B's mom shows up furious. Apparently after you left, A who felt you were being rediculous decided to speak even quieter and wave his hands around between phases. You asked why she didn't call a judge, she feels it was you're responsibility to keep checking on the game and shouldn't have had to call you over. She says it's doubtful that they will be coming back. Taking care of A is the easy part, but what can you do for B and his Mom?
4. Player A vs Player B. There's a situation at this table. Player B's dad has attended the touranment to watch his son play, normally you have no objections, however you've gotten complaints that the Dad is causing problems. As the game is being played, he keeps calling A on minor things, the way his deck is postioned, the way he declares phases, attacks, etc. Let's assume that A is doing everything properly and within the rules. During the game, his son has said nothing, and even seems to find his dad an annoyance as well. Player A gets fed up and calls you over, asking for you to do something. You ask the dad to reframe from distrupting the match, and if there's a problem, to call you over. He seems to comply, for this round...
Round 2, same issue, yet again. Once again, you ask for his compliance. This time he starts arguing with you about it. You ask to take this discussion somewhere off the tournament floor so not to distrupt the game, he refuses, but also decides to stay quiet.
Roudn 3, again, the same problem. Between rounds 2 and 3, you talked to the store owner, they refuse to say or do anything because they don't want to lose a customer. In all 3 rounds, you've asked B if he'd like to object to anything of the practices that his dad is calling A on, he says no. So what do you do, this time, not only does the dad continue to argue with you, but continues to harass the other player. The store owner refuses to get involved. So what now?
http://entertainment.upperdeck.com/community/forums/thread/1442298.aspx
from UDE's Player Management Forums
One problem that can come up, sometimes depending on where you run your tournaments in spoken accents. Myself, I'm terrible at understanding people with accents. So lets lay out some situations. Please note, this is one of those, "lets toss up something for discussion" topics, rather then an "I need help with something" topic.
1. Player A vs Player B - You get called to a table. Player B, who has a thick accent, has a question. Because of his accent, you have a hard time understanding what he's saying. You glance over the field for possible issues, don't really notice anything, lets assume that B is looking for clarification of a card on the field. You ask A what the issue is, he doesn't know or understand either. What do you do?
If you're lucky, and can find another judge that might understand the him better, that could work out, but what if you're the only judge? Obviously, we don't want to say or do anything that could offend the person, and it's not fair to not help because you can't understand. So, what now?
2. Player A vs Player B - You get called over. Player A is upset because Player B's friend has been talking to him in German the entire game. Player B's friend, let's call him C, says that B is a family member who recently moved in from Germany, and thusly, speaks little English, and that C is just translating A's English for B. A however feels this is unfair because he can't speak German, and thus can't tell if he's translating or offering strategic advice. Let's assume that you, nor any of the judge staff speak German, and that C has only spoken after A has, thus giving the appearance of translating.
3. Player A vs Player B - You get called over. Player B is upset because he wanted to activate his card during A's standby phase. Player B has hearing problems, and thus uses hearing aides. He claims A isn't talking loud enough for him to hear. A claims the he indicated his standby phases clearly and loud enough for him to hear. B is a younger player is begining to get upset. What can you do?
To add on, lets say you negoiate an agreement, in addition to saying his actions louder, you ask A to raise his hand up when he switches phases, A while frustrated agrees. Everything seems fine. 10 minutes later, B's mom shows up furious. Apparently after you left, A who felt you were being rediculous decided to speak even quieter and wave his hands around between phases. You asked why she didn't call a judge, she feels it was you're responsibility to keep checking on the game and shouldn't have had to call you over. She says it's doubtful that they will be coming back. Taking care of A is the easy part, but what can you do for B and his Mom?
4. Player A vs Player B. There's a situation at this table. Player B's dad has attended the touranment to watch his son play, normally you have no objections, however you've gotten complaints that the Dad is causing problems. As the game is being played, he keeps calling A on minor things, the way his deck is postioned, the way he declares phases, attacks, etc. Let's assume that A is doing everything properly and within the rules. During the game, his son has said nothing, and even seems to find his dad an annoyance as well. Player A gets fed up and calls you over, asking for you to do something. You ask the dad to reframe from distrupting the match, and if there's a problem, to call you over. He seems to comply, for this round...
Round 2, same issue, yet again. Once again, you ask for his compliance. This time he starts arguing with you about it. You ask to take this discussion somewhere off the tournament floor so not to distrupt the game, he refuses, but also decides to stay quiet.
Roudn 3, again, the same problem. Between rounds 2 and 3, you talked to the store owner, they refuse to say or do anything because they don't want to lose a customer. In all 3 rounds, you've asked B if he'd like to object to anything of the practices that his dad is calling A on, he says no. So what do you do, this time, not only does the dad continue to argue with you, but continues to harass the other player. The store owner refuses to get involved. So what now?
http://entertainment.upperdeck.com/community/forums/thread/1442298.aspx