[CQ-Contest] Congrats to Russian DX Contest cracking downcheating

[Steve Sacco NN4X]

This kind of thing really does reinforce my thought that we should just 
go to a MMOG ("Massively Multiplayer Online Game"), at least for the CW 
contests.  Someday, the technology will be there for phone as well.  
Perhaps it'll all just end up as a virtual competition.  No antennas!  
No worry about deed restrictions!

Imagine if this was all online!  There could be many different 
scenarios, such as "everyone is operating from the same QTH", or "pick 
your QTH", or "the sunspot count is at 307!", "design your own virtual 
station (watch out, OH8X! :-)  ) or whatever!  The sponsor could make 
you buy virtual antennas, virtual hilltops and all the rest, not unlike 
Facebook's dreaded "Farmville" virtual world!

Since it would all be controlled by a central program, all "QSO" details 
would be known, and theoretically, everyone would know they were 
experiencing the same "conditions", and so on.

Of course, it wouldn't necessarily stop the CQ-Contest-Lawyers, who 
would likely imagine and "prove" a conspiracy of program code designed 
to benefit or harm specific people or groups...

Personally, I doubt I'd find it interesting, since while I appreciate 
and make my living in the digital world, I live in and enjoy the analog 
world far more, and prefer to play in the real ionosphere.

Having said that, has anyone considered that we, as radiosport 
enthusiasts, should be trolling for new blood in the electronic gaming 
world?  I'm very serious!  Consider that playing on a console in one 
thing, but can't we lay claim to being the "Original electronic 
gamers"?   Surely there are some whose curiosity would be piqued!

73,
Steve
NN4X
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