Why do we cheat?

[Vladd67]

Why Do We Cheat? The right, wrong, and why of videogame cheating. | Vladd’s Gaming World
If the game has something added that gives you an edge is using it cheating? Is it cheating if you are playing single player or is it only cheating playing multiplayer?

[Joel007]

cheating in single player lets you explore how well made a game is, and lets you see the AI and triggers from different angles.

In multiplayer cheating defeats the whole point of playing with others in the first place: i.e. to have worthy opponents.

[TheEndIsNigh]

Nicely put Joel

[Lith]

Yeah, multi-player and single-player are different worlds in this respect. Cheating or exploiting loopholes in a game just for kicks is one thing, but when you're in competition or cooperation, then things like "snaking" become contentious. (Haven't played MarioKart, but I've heard of the practice.)

I used the rubberband method of leveling in FFX-2- strap a rubber band around the PS2 controller in the right area, leave it overnight, and the next morning all your characters are at level 99 with lots of spare AP and EXP. It's not technically cheating, but I didn't grind all those hours personally. The way I see it, it isn't much of a game anyway, hitting X repeatedly for hours while running around in circles, which is what any RPG turns into if you play it long enough.

There's a reason it's called grinding- because it isn't fun or challenging anyway. It's just work. Work you don't get paid for...

[Sephiroth]

Yeah. Personally, I love playing around with cheats, but I will never cheat in a game until I have completed it comprehensively first.

Once you've beat a game, though, it's fun to muck around and see what else you can do.



Cheating in single player just to get past the bits you can't do otherwise defeats the whole point of playing the game too, of course...except that you're only cheating yourself when you do that.




Agree, Lith. About FFX-2 (which I couldn't play), and about grinding.

But I take a perverse pleasure in grinding, I must say. I set myself targets, and I feel good when I achieve them.

...and in the meantime, I just daydream about stuff while I'm doing it.

[Overread]

For me I first started cheating to get through the levels of Starcraft - back then I was no good at all at playing and really wanted to here more of the story and more cinematics - so I cheated.

and it was not fun long term. I now play as much as I can without cheats - its more fun to beat the game I find. I also try to avoid game guides until there is a point where I simply cannot workout how to beat a level or section.

That is singleplayer- there the only person you are cheating is yourself really - in the mulitplayer world I consider it wrong to cheat to win - just as taking drugs in sports or bribing the opposition.

[Sephiroth]

Yes, in the multiplayer world, cheating is a cardinal sin.




And people who skulk around outside respawn points should be rounded up and hanged en masse, IMO.

[Joel007]

and people who screenwatch in split-screen multiplayer! That's why I only ever play co-op in split screen games

Make more co-op games!

[devilsgrin]

i would never cheat in a multi-player game.
but single player - its open season. if its a game i'm playing for a challenge, then i probably wouldn't. if its a game i'm playing for the storyline... then depending on cheats available i would.
One cheat i have never used is the God Mode cheat. thats the ultimate purpose defeater. Even storyline hungry me still plays the games to play the game... if i wanted god-mode i would rent a dvd and just watch.

[Ice fyre]

Interesting discussion here Vladd.

I only cheat if I cant figure out how to get through a level, on a singleplayer I have never played online so I really cant say I have cheated, but I agree with the sentiments expressesd here I wouldnt cheat online or in a multiplayer game. I do use walkthroughs upon occasion as I find my myself getting lost in some games. I have a terrible sense of direction so I find first person shooters a nightmare! If a game cant be beaten without cheats IMO its just no worth playing.

[Overread]

On that note console games to tend to suffer from having unbeatable challenges or unfindable stuff that need a guide to be able to find. That or they require you to search every pixel of huge maps to find that one little box hidden in it.
I don't like that as its something that most gamers simply cannot ever find - only those very lucky or those with no life what so ever ever really find them - the rest have to use guides to find the hidden things. I agree they should be hidden - but not to the extent that you need to cheat to find them

[Ice fyre]

Yes indeed Overread, I agree there should be clues visual or by dialouge to indicate where these things are located. I think there are far too many games which hide things and give you no clue as to where thay are!

[jezelf]

Multiplayer - absolute sin.

There are different levels of it. Codes and such is the big one of course. Including stuff like going into the game files and overwriting textures so everyone looks bright green or similar - but it would just be on your local machine (Some games like Counter strike allow you to customize your skins).

Not everyone has the same spec PCs so lag is sometimes blamed for people cheating, because you may have a crappier connection to you it may be perceived they are cheating - or how else could they have dodged your usually masterful head shot?

Binding Keys could be considered cheating, giving you the Xseconds edge on your opposition. Though this was once knowledge to those who looked for it, I think its now part of the UI in most cases.

It can go into other areas like bunny hopping all over the place, personally I think that's cheating - you wouldn't see that happen in the real battlefield would you? Or turning your brightness up on the monitor so you can see what's in the shadows.

Cheating can be helpful, in the single player, not so frowned on. They have been around for years. I remember ZX Spectrum, Amiga cheat stuff and the rest always in the back of the gaming press.

Admittedly, some of us don't have the luxury to play a game for 40hrs - or even want to and now every game that comes out is issued with a Prima Official Game Guide (fancy name for a 'Cheat book' )

Would you watch a movie or read a book with someone sitting next you saying ' oh there's some guys going to burst through that door'...' he'll find a gun under the seat'...'she dies in the next scene'...'he's really his father'....'she's really his sister'....?

I guess, psychologically, you're no longer an observer, but the lead character and you want to survive the story, avoiding death (therefore using a cheat) which is also why games, as a medium of story telling has a lot more offer than a linear experience.

But In general, with the 'next gen' especially, I think cheating can actually take away from the experience that the game developer has orchestrated with a lot of hard work to immerse you emotionally in the game, and turn it into a no brainer walkthrough.

One of the hardest things in making games is to get a player to respond emotionally (other than anger and frustration :-) )as you would with books and movies. Game design and emotion in games is a big subject nowadays - it'll be a shame not to be able to experience that in the future just because the player had no skill or patience because s/he always relied on cheats.

[Commonmind]

Quite often I'll cheat after playing a game to the point at which I become too frustrated with its difficulty or length to complete the experience naturally. I'm simply too busy, running a business and being a full time dad; sitting down in front of the TV to reason out puzzles or plow through hordes of countless enemies for several hours a day isn't just something I don't want to do, it's something I can't.

I want to see the world and the story that's been created for me, that I've spent my hard-earned cash on, and if I need to invoke the ultimate shield of super-ultimate invincibility to do so, than that's what I'm gonna do.

[jezelf]

Originally Posted by Commonmind

...if I need to invoke the ultimate shield of super-ultimate invincibility to do so, than that's what I'm gonna do.

yeah. I know what your mean.

Sometimes it's just down to bad game design. A player should be able to get through the game without impossible tasks. They should be able to complete the game without turning to a cheat.

Some games are design by hardcore gamers who forget about the average player with a life to live.