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World conker champion found with steel chestnut, cleared of cheating

(www.theguardian.com)
424 points notamy | 1 comments | 15 Oct 24 03:12 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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umanwizard ◴[15 Oct 24 03:33 UTC] No.41844648[source]▶
Is this game well-known enough in Britain and Ireland that readers will know what on earth is being alleged just from reading this article? Or are you expected to have to google it?

Apparently it’s a game where you take turns swinging a chestnut on a string and trying to hit the opponent’s chestnut and break it. Yes, I can see how a steel fake chestnut would be an advantage here, though I’m amazed it wouldn’t be instantly obvious to even a casual observer that the look and sound were wrong. So maybe I’m still missing something.

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bee_rider ◴[15 Oct 24 03:47 UTC] No.41844745[source]▶
> The 23-year-old said: “My conker disintegrated in one hit, and that just doesn’t happen … I’m suspicious of foul play and have expressed my surprise to organisers.”

It seems the suspicious was pretty quick.

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umanwizard ◴[15 Oct 24 03:51 UTC] No.41844775[source]▶
It’s just crazy that someone would cheat at something so low-stakes with such a high probability of being caught, but I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.
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aniforprez ◴[15 Oct 24 04:04 UTC] No.41844839[source]▶
People cheat on online cooperative computer games like Helldivers with almost no rewards for being performatively better other than a few imaginary in-game points. People can be weird about the smallest things
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bee_rider ◴[15 Oct 24 04:09 UTC] No.41844861[source]▶
Cheating at a PvE game like Helldivers is basically a victimless crime (I don’t do it, but I can see why people would).
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blitzar ◴[15 Oct 24 07:38 UTC] No.41845888[source]▶
It is a crime against oneself.
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1. bee_rider ◴[15 Oct 24 13:22 UTC] No.41848308[source]▶
It is a pretty straightforward wave shooter game. I had fun with it, but it isn’t high art or anything. I enjoy games like Hades or Dark Souls where the fact that you keep losing is an interesting part of the narrative and builds the overall ambiance. Helldivers (2, at least) is not really that sort of game, the plot is more like fun, even sillier Starship Troopers.

I played it properly, but I think is somebody decided to fast-forward through some bits they wouldn’t be denying themselves too much.