A rare double post today...
Been a lot of buzz about the recent cheating at the Chicago Games Day Golden Daemon contest.
Info on the particulars can be found here as well as a few opinions here and here.
One of the entries in question can be found here.
Looks like GW might have pulled the coverage off their site.
While I am by no means condoning cheating, I think the nature of the cheating is a bit interesting. I just think its worth some time to note that the entries in question were actually good enough to win. I wonder how the new winners feel in this regard? Do they feel cheated because the win feels like a technicality or are the pumped because the playing filed turned out o be unfair? Like I said, interesting.
For those of you who don't know, one of the rules of the Golden Daemon contest is that all entries have to be submitted by the actual artists. In this case, the submitter and painter were not the same person. This is an important rule because it (hopefully) prevents the contest from becoming a means for shit-heads to simply buy the awards and, thusly, encourages actual artists to participate.
First off, we have the submitter, Marc Schmelze. Someone who plainly decided he wanted some trophies and a sword. What the fuck is the point? Did you really need some statues and a sword that bad? You didn't do anything to earn them, except spend money. For that matter, for the money you spent on the models, you could have bought that shit yourself and saved a lot of people a lot of grief. There wasn't too much of a reason to fuck over someone's fun just so you could get a few lumps of whatever the hell the trophies are made of and your picture on the goddamn internet. You're a cheat, a liar and a whore.
You could of at least found a painter who wouldn't go out of his way to stroke his own e-peen with 'your' win. So you're a an unlucky dumb-ass AND a colossal ass-hole.
Then we have Karol Rudyk. There seems to be some disagreement over what his role in all this was or weather or not he deserves the boot as well. This dakka thread has a number of opinions on the matter. Many of the 'pro-Karol' people are fucking idiots. I skimmed this thread so you don't have to.
Based on what I've seen, I think Rudyk is just as culpable. The whole reason the cheating was uncovered is because the guy had the balls to update his entries on CMoN with their new award winning pedigree (he's since removed mention of the Daemons). He was aware of it and was clearly using the win to build his rep as a painter.
With a little investigation, It looks like this may be a reoccurring problem with him as well. The comments in this item, indicate that this other item was entered into a Golden Daemon contest in the past under the same circumstances. Fucking lame.
You should also read the comments from him as well. He's obviously from another country (duh), so I don't know if part of his message is his difficulties with the English language or not, but he really comes off as an unapologetic and whiny dick.
"I did not agree put it on golden daemon for marc.He used your name but Without my knowledge.People who descend my rating are not fair for me.Probable a lot of these people are bad painter."
AND
"Marc tell me about wining after GD then I put this title because I wanted that People will know that is him work .I paint for cash and renome is very important for me.He stolen my renome."
Well Fuck you too Karol. I'm sorry you're free 'renome' from cheating isn't helping you out as much as you'd like.
So, Mark and Karol, congrats on being the worst kind of people.
Yeah...there were some folks who had sympathy for the painter, and I might have had some as well if he'd not had a track record, and the gall to say he didn't know it was going on when there's some evidence it happened in the past, AND he claimed the GD win. Now, if you can claim the GD win, how can you claim ignorance of whose name it was entered in?
ReplyDeleteI mean, I understand that the rules are potentially restrictive; what if I was actually a good painter/sculptor, and wanted to enter my stuff but couldn't afford to go? Well, I could get a buddy to go and do it for me, but there's the chance he'd enter it as his own work. I mean, I'd probably have to hurt my buddy, but if I never won anything off it, I wouldn't know I'd been a party to cheating, would I?
As it is? Ok, good job, you're a good painter. You can win a GD with your work. Problem is, you broke the rules. Pure. Simple. And, you muddied the competition for everyone else. That's the real serious bullshit. Good job, you two helped cast a pall over the current Golden Daemon, as well as any others either of your work has been featured in.
Proud? I hope so.
I posted a link to this to YTTH, good stuff.
ReplyDeleteSadly, this is just more examples of how rife the scene is with cheaters.
Things like soft score abuse, dice cheaters, rules cheaters, it's all part of the same endemic problem.
Sure wish GW would have some balls and call these people out, but can't have that. No sir, can't besmirch the honor of cheaters.
=|
Here, Here. The morons defending these people are just as bad.
ReplyDelete