What is cheating in games?

[farmerboy219]

ok so I am using a guide to get all the blast shards in Infamous and I sometimes do use guides to get past hard levels or finding items (such as balst shards, spray tags in gat:sa etc).

But is this cheating?

I class cheating as using cheat codes and passwords to make it easier for yourself, but using guides (WHEN YOUR STUCK) I say is fine.

Do you use guides or cheat codes atall?

 

[Amnestic]

In single player games, I do whatever I want to have fun. Whether that be modding the game, tapping in a cheat code or two or self-handicapping myself.

For multiplayer: Never and I despise people who do, unless it's a LAN setting and we've all addressed the issue beforehand and have made rules related to it. Sort of a "If everyone cheats, then no one does". Guy mentioned a while back that he and his friends would all 'cheat' on DEFCON to create a truly ridiculous nuclear war and that seemed perfectly acceptable because they were all doing it and they all agreed on the terms beforehand.

As for what I consider cheating: No idea. The lines are far too blurred (Do mods count? What about cheat codes which ramp up the difficulty and make it harder?) for me to give an accurate answer.

I don't really consider using guides cheating. More of a way to speed up the process. You'd find all the 'Hidden Package' style items eventually, guides just speed up the process.

And once more, it's whether you have fun or not.

 

[bodyklok]

My definition of cheating in a video games is almost the same as my definition of cheating n any competition, anything that causes a phenomenal increases in the ease with which any action or goal is achieved, but with a disproportional amount of effort applied.

So yes, I would classify using a guide or cheat codes (and much worse, both at the same time) as cheating.

EDIT: I myself, use cheats every now and again for fun. But I definitely wouldn't do it online.

 

[Sun Flash]

To me cheating is purposly changing the games rules (i.e input codes ect.) but using guides just gives you direction.

I use an Action Replay on Pokemon Platinum mainly because I'm not spending £30 on Diamond/Pearl just to "Catch 'Em All" as it were. I use weapons cheats ect. on GTA for some mindless fun, except I didn't realise that they blocked out some achievements. grr. but on the whole, I complete games before I cheat on them.

and NEVER on multiplayer. EVER. ¬_¬

 

[x434343]

My opinion is this:

For multiplayer, anything that gives you an advantage over the other players, whether it be a wallhack or a godmode, is cheating.

For singleplayer, well, you bought the game. You should be able to do as you please if it affects only you. So, modding, guides, cheat codes, trainers, even hacked pieces of data are fine as long as they're in single player.

 

[InvisibleSeal]

I think cheat codes and passwords are cheating.

I suppose things like walkthroughs are a grey area. Personally I avoid using them when possible: games aren't as fun when you are told what to do already. They should only really be used if you are completely stuck on a part.

Cheating with walkthroughs (at least I think) would be using the walkthrough before you have got stuck in the game or something - as in using them even if you don't need to. I suppose it should be okay if there are secrets though, that are so obscure you wouldn't find them unless you used a walkthrough - but probably only after the first run through of the game. I know I used a walkthrough to find the best weapons in Final Fantasy X...

Do you use guides or cheat codes atall?

I often use cheat codes in Sims 2 to get loads of money, just because I can't be asked to get a job... that is DEFINATELY cheating.

Longer post than I intended - sorry.

 

[Tav73]

In a one player game, the way I see it, the only person who can say wether it's 'cheating' is yourself. As long as you don't gloat that you did it all by yourself, who cares?

Online on the other hand:

For multiplayer: Never and I despise people who do, unless it's a LAN setting and we've all addressed the issue beforehand and have made rules related to it. Sort of a "If everyone cheats, then no one does".

Definitely this.

 

[draxious]

now cheating is alright but i deem it as neccesary in the RTS title Men of War i mean it takes me and 3 other guys to get by a level on easy i cant imagine what it is on the harder modes if only there were cheats

 

[Susan Arendt]

I think the question is less "is this cheating" and more "when is cheating ok?"

To my mind, cheating is acceptable when you otherwise would be unable to make progress in the game -- i.e., looking up the solution to a puzzle so you can continue in an adventure game. And, really, if it's a single-player experience, there's no harm in cheating, because it's not adversely affecting anyone. I'd personally hope you'd play the game as it was meant to be played, but it's your game and game experience, so whatever blows your skirt up.

In multiplayer, if you cheat, you're a douche. Period. Well, unless, as others have said, it's a local type arrangement and everyone involved has access to the same cheats. It's all about a level playing field.

 

[draxious]

I think the question is less "is this cheating" and more "when is cheating ok?"

To my mind, cheating is acceptable when you otherwise would be unable to make progress in the game -- i.e., looking up the solution to a puzzle so you can continue in an adventure game. And, really, if it's a single-player experience, there's no harm in cheating, because it's not adversely affecting anyone. I'd personally hope you'd play the game as it was meant to be played, but it's your game and game experience, so whatever blows your skirt up.

In multiplayer, if you cheat, you're a douche. Period.

you nailed that great job hehe especially the skirt metaphor...........please dont hit me

 

[Tehpwnsauce]

Anything the game designers did not intend to happen.

 

[esperandote]

yeah i considerin it cheating because im and adict to the sense of achivement. i you don care fot that the go for it. I have only used a walkthroug to find out secret stuff that otherwise i woudlnt have find, things that doesn't affect the game itself, in very hard dificulties and after i completed the game already.

 

[Rolf]

Reading guides to find some hidden stuff is not cheating if you ask me. If you want to find stuff to get an achivment its okay with me.
Entering cheats is when you do something like becoming immortal or getting endless ammo, and as long as this is in singelplayer there is nothing wrong about it.

 

[I_LIKE_CAKE]

I think the question is less "is this cheating" and more "when is cheating ok?"

To my mind, cheating is acceptable when you otherwise would be unable to make progress in the game -- i.e., looking up the solution to a puzzle so you can continue in an adventure game. And, really, if it's a single-player experience, there's no harm in cheating, because it's not adversely affecting anyone. I'd personally hope you'd play the game as it was meant to be played, but it's your game and game experience, so whatever blows your skirt up.

In multiplayer, if you cheat, you're a douche. Period.

you nailed that great job hehe especially the skirt metaphor

I would also like to agree, this pretty much sums it up. The point of a game is to have fun, and for some people using cheats makes it more fun. For others, it breaks the game. And again, there is a special circle in hell reserved for people who use cheats in multiplayer.

 

[GuerrillaClock]

If you're really, really stuck, or you want something like all the Agility Orbs in Crackdown, then I think you're perfectly justified in using a guide. I don't see why games should be frustrating just out of some misplaced sense of principle.

 

[DoW Lowen]

I only classify cheating in multi player games. Particularly mods and hacks. But I also consider cheating is glitch exposing or abuse. Like in L4D when they use to move the machine in front of the elevator. Anything that wrecks the game for everybody. But if the feature is included in the game and it was MEANT to be used that way, it's okay.

Me and my friend in Dawn of War 1 would always be called cheats because my friend as the necrons could destroy an entire base in under four minutes by rushing in a particular kind of unit that was quite frankly a ***** to beat and it always worked unless it was an exceptionally skilled player (At one point, we won 48 games in a row). But I didn't consider it cheating since it was a feature of the game and more importantly it was beatable and on top of that if it was countered it left my friend wide open so it was also fair. Basically things like that are okay. But using obvious glitches to your advantage like giving troops invincibility frames is NOT OKAY.

 

[SimuLord]

Seeing as how I tend to play singleplayer exclusively, I've got much harsher standards for cheating than the folks who put cheating in its proper context (that is to say, douchenozzles in multiplayer.) I won't go near GameFAQs until I've beaten the game at least once, because 100% completion is unattainable, seemingly by developer design, without using a guide (more because of Brady/Prima's marketing department than GameFAQs, but the song remains the same.) Cheat codes are right out until I've beaten a game so completely and utterly that dicking around is the only remaining plausible option.

 

[L24z13L]

I would say cheats are little spotted yellow creatures that...wait. Wrong cheat.

Cheats in games are pretty much anything that allows you access to certain abilities sooner then you're supposed to have them or that weren't in the game at all. I don't consider guides to be cheating but I personally only use them after I have beat a game, if I can't get through a puzzle, or if I'm collecting items. In single player I don't use cheats until I have beaten the game at least once and I don't cheat in multiplayer. No one ever should.

 

[Stoic raptor]

cheats are fun, you get to screw around with stuff

 

[Kiereek]

i don't think i'd call that cheating...but you shouldn't be able to say you beat the game. you just acted out someone else beating the game. for me, it would take away from the enjoyment. if you have to enter a code, or manipulate the game in any way, then it's cheating. if it's a glitch, or some in game fault, then it might be cheap, but not cheating