Poll: Your view on In-Game Exploits.

[Frozengale]

So right now there is a huge thread going on at the Minecraft Forum about supposed exploits in the game and whether they should be fixed, or left in the game to some degree or another. So I was wondering how people here on The Escapist treat in-game exploits for any and all types of games.

Personally I think that if you are smart enough and observant enough to find a way to use a system to your advantage then it isn't cheating. For example, in Minecraft I stumbled upon an exploit that basically makes me the God of Infinite Resources. I found a glitch, I found out how to make it tick, and I used it to my advantage. So while I would never hack to get things in Minecraft I consider this acceptable because I found out how to replicate the exploit on my own. And similarly I'm sure many of you are aware of the Fable 2 Infinite EXP Exploit that you can do by using two players in the game. Anyone who is smart enough to figure out how it works is not cheating if you ask me.

However that being said, I don't think exploits should be used in multiplayer games since you aren't putting yourself up against the game you are putting yourself up against other players. Finding a way to outsmart the game for single player things is fine but using exploits to give you an unfair advantage in a multiplayer game borders on cheating.

 

[Robert0288]

In single player its really up to the individual. If you find an use an exploit, go for it. If its game breaking, you will feel stupid killing bosses with your WTFPWNBBQ mace of doom in 3 seconds. That ruins the fun of single player for me, but if the individual wants to do it. Its their own personal choice as they are only cheating themselves.

In multiplayer I would think its how game breaking it is. In C&C Renegade, it was widely known that you can glitch over certain walls with the help of a teammate to take out objectives. But since everyone knew about it, it could also be properly defended against.

If the exploit was a hole in the roof of the level that made you invisible and let you snipe at everything that moved, it would be pretty game breaking, and I would label it cheating.

 

[Hader]

For something like minecraft, it is not as much of a big deal since it doesn't affect other players (assuming you are doing SP).

Multiplayer definitely poses the real problem. Anything that gives you an unintended, unfair advantage is going to be controversial. I am not sure where to draw the limits however; there are things that vary from straight up glitches to just advanced manipulation of existent gameplay mechanics. I will use Halo PC as an example; you can do a small 'exploit' called a double melee, where you are able to rapidly do two melee attacks in the time it takes for one. You simply melee once, throw a grenade, melee again. Done quickly enough you can barely tell it was two melees, with the only telltale sign being the grenade you throw as a result. I wouldn't call that as much of a glitch as I would just simple manipulation of the gameplay mechanics. It doesn't present a completely unfair advantage, but it is something that you having knowledge of is a sign of a better understanding of the game.

 

[Sovereignty]

It defeats the intentions of the developers... So I am opposed to it. Do we need games to be easier anyway?

 

[Trolldor]

Anything which is enabled by an unauthorised third party is cheating. Anything in the game itself is not cheating.

Use it until they patch it, or don't. Whatever floats your boat.

 

[Valagetti]

Cheating tends to make the game too easy for me and I like the challenge because, its more rewarding at the end. Especially those bloody hackers on MW2, that Infinity Ward doesn't regulate as often as it used to.

 

[Bobbity]

If it's in single player, go right ahead. It might be a bit cheap to easily get achievements that others have to work hard for, but it's not hurting anyone else. A huge no-no in multiplayer though.

Personally I think cheating/exploits reduce the playability and entertainment value of a game so, unless the game is unreasonably hard, I don't do it.

 

[Ilikemilkshake]

for multiplayer, its definatly unfair, and i'd consider it cheating
however for single player games, unless its connected to an achievement or trophy or something (i dont really give a crap about them but it devalues the whole system if people can use exploits to unlock them) then its really just whether you think using the exploit is worth it, for me using and infinite xp glitch to level up kinda defeats the point.

 

[WarKirby]

In multiplayer, I think exploits should only ever be used with the consent of other players, and for the purposes of fun/demonstration. Like in TF2, it was fun to fall through walls and run around the innards of the map sometimes.

But exploits shouldn't be used for any competitive advantage, whether to gain high scores, beat the other team, etc.

In single player, I try my best to ignore exploits. Whether or not I'll use them depends largely on how exploit-ish they are, and how much I need to. For example;

I did use an exploit recently in Dragon Age (single player rpg). There was a fight inside andraste's temple up in the mountains, where a guy with a massive axe (and his four henchmen) attacks you for refusing to pour blood in an urn. What really ticked me off about this part is that when he attacks you, your party starts off standing clustered in front of them (regardless of where you were when the conversation started), with weapons sheathed, whereas he starts with weapons drawn and two mages behind him who spam aoe and ice spells as soon as things start.

I found this deeply unfair for several reasons, not least of which is that you can't give combat orders while your weapon is sheathed, forcing me to spend the first 2 seconds of the battle standing around like an idiot while getting shot at waiting for people to get their weapons out. After dying five times in a row, I eventually figured out an exploit. As soon as the battle started, I just legged it back the way I came. One party member got frozen and blasted to bits, but the others made it back down the tunnel I came from.

The strange thing is that when I did this, only the enemy leader followed me. His men stayed behind looking stupid in the boss room. So I went around the corner and he follows me alone, straight into a trap. In a 3v1 situation I was quite able to stunlock, flank, and beat him to death. After dealing with him, I got zevram with a crossbow and slowly crept up the corridor to deal with the rest of them. This is the really exploitish part.

In the corridor, there's a line. If you cross it into the boss room, everyone inside goes for you. If you're on the other side of it, everyone inside just forgets about you and runs away. So all I did was stand on the other side of this line, watching the enemy warriors run towards me while I shoot them in the face, then at the last second I take a single step back, and it's like I don't exist anymore. They turn around, forget about me, and walk back to their post while I shoot them in the back some more. When they get too far away. I step forward, lure them in, and step back again.

I cleared the whole room without taking a single hit. I feel using this exploit was justified given the unfair conditions of the battle, but I'm also quite annoyed that it existed in the first place, as it was ridiculously easy to stumble across, gamebreaking for that area, and made no sense in the context of the game. -1 respect points for bioware's QA department

 

[aPod]

Single player - do what you like
Multi player - don't be a douchebag

I've been playing a lot of demon's souls lately. Little late to the party, i know, but it's bullshit going through your first playthrough and these guys who keep low soul level characters with maxed out gear using duplication glitches.

Ruins the experience for me when the guy takes 3/4's of my health with a single hit and i hit him shield down 6 times and he's still got 4/5th's of his health bar. Some people might be legit, but a good portion aren't.

 

[Jordi]

I think using exploits is exactly like cheating. If anything, I think it's a little worse, because the game designers might have intentionally put the cheats in the game, but not the exploits. However, I think that cheating in single player games is absolutely 100% okay. Especially if you earn no achievements.
In SP games, I don't really think it is always necessary to fix exploits. Like cheats (which I believe should be in every game), they give the player a choice. It can enhance the fun for some players and I don't think it can hurt the fun for anyone who has even a shimmer of a backbone (if you don't like the exploit/cheat being in the game, then just don't use it). That is, if the exploit is obviously an exploit. It would be a little unfortunate if you think the game expects you to do the same quest for the same rewards over and over, only to find out later that after you did that, the whole game is too easy because the designers didn't expect you to have such a high level / amount of money / good gear.

Exploits/cheats in multiplayer games are obviously bad.

 

[MGlBlaze]

Single-player;
It's not affecting any other players unless there are online leaderboards involved. Excepting that, use them to your heart's content.

Multi-player;
Don't use them unless it's a relatively minor thing that doesn't break the game.

 

[vxicepickxv]

Single player - do what you like
Multi player - don't be a douchebag

I've been playing a lot of demon's souls lately. Little late to the party, i know, but it's bullshit going through your first playthrough and these guys who keep low soul level characters with maxed out gear using duplication glitches.

Ruins the experience for me when the guy takes 3/4's of my health with a single hit and i hit him shield down 6 times and he's still got 4/5th's of his health bar. Some people might be legit, but a good portion aren't.

I do believe that you have summed up my opinion on the matter quite clearly.

 

[scrambledeggs]

It depends on the glitch. The most fantastic glitch ever found is obviously surfing in Counter Strike.

 

[Custard_Angel]

If it's something that should be fixed in a patch, I consider it cheating.

If it's something really petty like a method that allows you to move a little bit faster or something, I don't really see a problem.

 

[Verp]

I'm the kind of player who rebels against game designers' intentions at any given moment, so to me in-game exploits are a blessing, the more bizarre and unconventional the better. It doesn't matter if it makes the game a lot easier -- most of the time nowadays, challenge in games comes from my tendency to screw around and get accidentally killed anyway, so whatever. Also, if the challenges the game tosses at me are interesting enough, I will try to do them the hard way regardless.

In local multiplayer, if the exploit is entertaining enough I teach it to whomever I'm playing it with and we agree to either use it or not use it and I respect that agreement.

I don't do online multiplayer, so I haven't formed standards concerning it.

 

[RowdyRodimus]

It defeats the intentions of the developers... So I am opposed to it. Do we need games to be easier anyway?

Why care about the intentions of the developer? I'm not trying to be edgy or act like rebelling against rules is cool or whatever, I just mean if you aren't giving yourself an advantage over another player, and it makes the game more fun for you why worry about what they intended?

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

Singleplayer: Go nuts.

Multiplayer: Don't be an ass.

 

[thedeathscythe]

Wait, you're getting infinite of something that you are intended to have a finite amount of, and you don't think it's game breaking? To me, that's pretty much the definition of game breaking.

Here's some examples I'll use. In Socom Confrontation, if you tap square, you reload, but if you fire while you reload, you interrupt the reload action, so it wastes that time you reloaded, but if someone attacks you as you reload, you can fire right away and not reload, as opposed to taking fire and waiting to reload. That isn't game breaking. I don't think it's an intended feature, but it doesn't really give you that much of an edge, and it even had it's own downside.

Now, your example of being able to get an infinite amount of something, while clever for finding and figuring out how to replicate, I consider it game breaking, because all of a sudden, hard to find gold is simply worthless. We've all done this though, I'm not trying to single you out, I mean who didn't get infinite master balls with the cinnabar island trick? We've all done it, but I do consider that style of exploit game breaking (even though I've done it).

 

[dogmachines]

I'm all for it, as long as it's not multiplayer. If I can find a way to get infinite caps in New Vegas, why patch it? I'm not hurting anyone, I just want to get some money to get a kick-ass new anti-matter rifle.