faced with the problem, the best_in_place bypasses optimistic record locking, just keeps on top of the new value. How can I fix this?
Had the same problem.
I have some best_in_place fields within a form and I added a hidden field named lock_version and it seems to work.
<%= form_for(commission, :remote => true) do |f| %>
<%= best_in_place commission, :commission_MA if admin? %>
<%= f.hidden_field :lock_version %>
<% end %>
Hope that solves the problem for you as well.