[gastrainga]

So there are 3 rule violations being discussed here. The first 2 definitely occurred, and for the 3rd there is strong circumstantial evidence.

1) Incorrect scores were submitted
2) No INPs or screenshots were kept or provided for most of the score submissions
3) All three accounts are really just the same person: kernzy

In my opinion, even just the acknowledged honor code violations of (1) and (2) are sufficient to remove all of the scores and DQ the three accounts from the tournament.

Here are some more details

1) Incorrect scores were submitted

a. On 7/17 a Burnin’ Rubber score of 78,565 was submitted for patrick, and on 7/20 a Bank Panic score of 175,640 was submitted by Dave1. Both of those scores are impossible as you can’t get a Burnin’ Rubber score that ends in 5 or Bank Panic score that ends in 40.
b. On 7/17 within 2 minutes, the following string of scores was submitted: 86,900 (kernzy), 38,900 (Dave1), 38,700 (Patrick), 78,560 (Dave1), 78,565 (Patrick). In Burnin’ Rubber because you get 8 pts every second you play, the last 2 digits of your score is essentially a random 2 digit number. Look at all the other scores on the game from this tournament, at RU and at MARP and you’ll see this. But here we have 3 games in a row that all end in 00, then one that ends in 0. There is a 1 in 50 chance of having one game end in 00. 3 in a row would be in a 1 in 125,000 chance, and then to have the next also end in 0 would be 1 in 625,000. These are not correct scores. They look to me like made up scores fabricated by someone that didn’t realize the ending digits in Burnin’ Rubber are basically random. Even if it was incorrect entry or not writing down the ending digits, they are still incorrect scores
c. Many other submissions on other games follow a similar pattern of far too many of the scores ending with 00 or 0 than would be expected based on the real scoring of the game. This points towards either score fabrication, or at least incorrect entry.

2) No INPs or screenshots were kept or provided for most of the score submissions

a. Kernzy was contacted 4 days ago and asked for INPs and/or screenshots of all scores for all 3 players. The only INPs or Screenshots provided are those available on this thread: http://www.retrouprising.com/other/inps/igby/t15953/
b. ZERO inps or screenshots were provided for the scores of “Patrick”. This is for 18 submitted scores.
c. 3 inps were provided for the scores of “Dave1”. This is for 20 submitted scores. The 3 inps were for the first 3 submitted scores, then no others for the next 17 submitted scores
d. 18 inps were provided for the scores of “kernzy”. This is for 43 submitted scores. One of these, the one for his 705,520 Kung Fu Master submission, is not the correct inp as it is from a different date, does not play back to the advertised score, and is not long enough to be for a 705K score.
e. Kernzy posted the IGBY rules requiring INPs on the HighScore.com forums and specifically told other players to make sure they kept them. So he was fully aware that according to the honor code, INPs needed to be kept.

3) All three accounts are really just the same person, kernzy

a. All three players joined AtariAge/Team HighScore.com from the same IP address.
b. All three players only play and submit at the same IP address.
c. No evidence has been has been given by kernzy to show they are actually separate players other than kernzy’s assertion they are his brother and cousin
d. Kernzy stated on the HighScore.com forums that “they are both great at the same games as me.”
e. Both accounts appeared on the HighScore.com forums just to register for the tournament. They both posted a single post just to say “I’m in” and didn’t post again. Both posts occurred a couple minutes after a kernzy post
f. No evidence either player has ever appeared on another gaming site or was even mentioned before as being a good player by kernzy.
g. Very similar playing style and habits between kernzy and Dave1 on 19xx submissions.
h. Previous offers to talk to Dave1 and Patrick to confirm their independent existence, participation in the IGBY tournament, and familiarity with the tournament games have not been met with success.

So my vote is for an immediate DQ and removal of all tournament scores from all 3 accounts.

If most disagree, another option could be to remove all scores by these accounts for which there is no INP evidence. In addition, since the honor code has been violated and incorrect scores were entered, going forward submissions for these players would require live streaming of all play with them verbally announcing their identity at the start of each game.

I'd also suggest a link to this discussion be posted to the AtariAge and HighScores.com forums so they are aware this discussion is occurring. These accounts are members of that combined team.

-George