Fish
04-23-2007, 05:23 PM
since we don't have a video games section, and this isn't really about software...
Wired.com (http://www.wired.com/gaming/virtualworlds/commentary/games/2007/04/gamesfrontiers_0423) has an interesting article about game cheating.
"A small hardcore group are die-hard purists, like my friend. They don't use any cheats or guides, because they consider it "cheating yourself" of the subtle pleasure of getting stuck in a game -- then suddenly spying the way out." - from the afore-linked article
I can dig that; I've played many games where I got that great feeling of "OOOOOHHH!" when I finally figured something out or was able to beat it - I did that in many games before. That's always a brilliant, almost unmatchable feeling; I distinctly remember the day that I figured out how to beat Monkey Island 2, 18 months after pausing at the final puzzle. But it doesn't always turn out that way. I also own games that I never managed to beat, and that I no longer even consider playing simply because I'm just done trying. And it's not that I'm not a persistent gamer, it's just that sometimes, enough is enough. Sometimes, playing for 10 hours to achieve one single goal so that you can continue the game is just unreasonable to me.
So, with that in mind...
I'd say that looking at hints, FAQs and guides isn't "cheating" if you're only finding out how to beat one part. In fact, I've even entered typed cheats in some games when I just wanted to be able to complete part of the game that was impossible. I usually first try to find out if its just my approach that's faulty (sometimes you just didn't see the correct doorway to go through or something). If I'm doing that correctly, I make sure that my characters (or whatever) are appropriately powerful or leveled up (sometimes you can get to an area WAY before you should be able to beat it). If I'm of the correct level, and I'm doing it correctly, and I STILL can't beat it, then I look for hints or ways to simply circumvent the difficulty(sometimes there's a very subtle way to make a task much easier to complete). Sometimes, this means just reducing the difficulty mid-game (some games let you do this). In other cases, I'll turn on no-clipping or invincibility to bypass something annoying. I mean, no game is perfectly designed - that's WHY there are cheats in some games: so that you don't quit playing it forever just because one part is too hard or stupid.
So yes, I cheat, but only if I feel more cheated by not being able to finish the game or get past a part. I don't completely demystify all of the game's secrets or cheat to beat the whole game without losing any life (or whatever constitutes over-cheating in a given game). I do that AFTER I've beaten it.
And if someone wants to call me a cheater for that, my response is this:
"Fuck you: I payed $50+ for this goddamn game and I'm PISSED at it and I'm frustrated and I want to be able to play ALL of it. I'm not hacking or breaking the game. I'm enabling myself to get through a poorly designed area that is no longer fun."
So when do you cheat?
Wired.com (http://www.wired.com/gaming/virtualworlds/commentary/games/2007/04/gamesfrontiers_0423) has an interesting article about game cheating.
"A small hardcore group are die-hard purists, like my friend. They don't use any cheats or guides, because they consider it "cheating yourself" of the subtle pleasure of getting stuck in a game -- then suddenly spying the way out." - from the afore-linked article
I can dig that; I've played many games where I got that great feeling of "OOOOOHHH!" when I finally figured something out or was able to beat it - I did that in many games before. That's always a brilliant, almost unmatchable feeling; I distinctly remember the day that I figured out how to beat Monkey Island 2, 18 months after pausing at the final puzzle. But it doesn't always turn out that way. I also own games that I never managed to beat, and that I no longer even consider playing simply because I'm just done trying. And it's not that I'm not a persistent gamer, it's just that sometimes, enough is enough. Sometimes, playing for 10 hours to achieve one single goal so that you can continue the game is just unreasonable to me.
So, with that in mind...
I'd say that looking at hints, FAQs and guides isn't "cheating" if you're only finding out how to beat one part. In fact, I've even entered typed cheats in some games when I just wanted to be able to complete part of the game that was impossible. I usually first try to find out if its just my approach that's faulty (sometimes you just didn't see the correct doorway to go through or something). If I'm doing that correctly, I make sure that my characters (or whatever) are appropriately powerful or leveled up (sometimes you can get to an area WAY before you should be able to beat it). If I'm of the correct level, and I'm doing it correctly, and I STILL can't beat it, then I look for hints or ways to simply circumvent the difficulty(sometimes there's a very subtle way to make a task much easier to complete). Sometimes, this means just reducing the difficulty mid-game (some games let you do this). In other cases, I'll turn on no-clipping or invincibility to bypass something annoying. I mean, no game is perfectly designed - that's WHY there are cheats in some games: so that you don't quit playing it forever just because one part is too hard or stupid.
So yes, I cheat, but only if I feel more cheated by not being able to finish the game or get past a part. I don't completely demystify all of the game's secrets or cheat to beat the whole game without losing any life (or whatever constitutes over-cheating in a given game). I do that AFTER I've beaten it.
And if someone wants to call me a cheater for that, my response is this:
"Fuck you: I payed $50+ for this goddamn game and I'm PISSED at it and I'm frustrated and I want to be able to play ALL of it. I'm not hacking or breaking the game. I'm enabling myself to get through a poorly designed area that is no longer fun."
So when do you cheat?