A discussion point that I hadn't thought of before:

At regular REL, do you encourage players to use the judge's name or just “judge”?

The argument against using the judge's name is that this might give the impression that the player and judge are friends and that there may therefore be some element of bias.

The argument for using the judge's name is that it will make players more likely to call the judge if they feel that they know them.

Thanks for your thoughts,
Dave
5 minute magic

I don't really encourage them either way, they can use what they want =p

At regular a judge is allowed to play and judge at the same time. So it could be possible he would have to handle a situation at his own table. It is important that players can trust this judge to give an unbiased ruling, even involving himself.
Since that trust is already required, I see no issue in relying on that trust as well to allow people to call me by my name.

Originally posted by Dave Gale:

The argument against using the judge's name is that this might give the impression that the player and judge are friends and that there may therefore be some element of bias.

What's the downside of the players and judges being friends, especially at Regular REL?

I think it's great if the judge at an LGS is part of the community and someone folks know and are comfortable with. Removing bias is about demonstrating that your ruling comes from the rules, not from your relationship.

Originally posted by Dave Gale:

At regular REL, do you encourage players to use the judge's name or just “judge”?

I do encourage folks to call for a judge, but not for the reason you mentioned. Instead:

1. I'm more likely to pay attention to someone yelling for a judge. That's what I'm listening for, not for my name.

2. I'm usually not the only judge there, and calling for a judge might get someone else to respond first, especially if I'm focused on a complicated game. It's also less an implication that they're looking for a specific judge to rule on it.

I moreso encourage calling Judge for a couple reasons. First off, im not at every fnm, and sometimes when I am, im nkt the only Judge, so calling judge results in them getting whoever is closer and less occupied.

Second, its flat out a better habit to have, as the players may end up going to a bigger event or bigger store.

I wont ignore a call if tgey shout my name, but even if im solo i say to shout Judge if they have an issue

I'm friends with most of the local community, so they usually call my name. If I'm in the middle of a match I ignore it - because I have friends who aren't playing trying to get my attention for other things (D&D questions, do I want to play EDH, etc.)

So I encourage rules questions to be “Judge!” just like I do at larger events - hand raised and everything.

Thanks everybody. I'm going to think about how to build this into the next 5 minute magic.
Dave

At my LGS, people either call judge to get my attention, because I recommend that, as I am listening for it, or a spectator grabs me for them and tells me it's a judge call.

I agree with the others, thinking calling by the name is not a problem as long as you are consistent in your rulings, as you should be, but that getting into the habit of calling judge is much better. We are still trying to encourage more judge calls at my LGS, as people will often just accept their opponents explanation or not bother to ask, which can lead to situations like people using Spell Queller as a Banisher Priest.