If a game company puts in a cheat code, allowing you to do certain things "easier" (or make the game funnier, like Big Head mode or whatever), is that really cheating? Or have you just found a cool trick?
Now I'd say going outside the parameters of the game to alter it (using an action replay, for instance) is "cheating".
I mean it's a bit semantical but...I don't know. Give me your thoughts, b8.
Well yeah, there is the name. But you're still playing by the rules of the game, are you not? It's not like you're exploiting something that shouldn't be there for your own gain. The developers deliberately put it in the game.
From: XIII_rocks | #007 Well yeah, there is the name. But you're still playing by the rules of the game, are you not? It's not like you're exploiting something that shouldn't be there for your own gain. The developers deliberately put it in the game.
Well I'll certainly agree with that.
It may seem like I'm simply arguing semantics but what I'm saying is that it's still cheating even though it doesn't involve exploiting something that shouldn't be there. It should be there -- it is there -- but it's still cheating as evidenced by the fact that it's providing the player with the potential to completely roundhouse kick everything that the game is structured around in their own overwhelming favor.
So it's there and it's cool and I'll mess around with it sometimes but I'd still classify it as cheating.
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GranzonEx posted... It's cheating. But why care? It's only involving yourself.
I don't care either way. I'll gladly call it cheating, and I have done for several years. But my thinking has really been about whether or not you really should call it that.
Jeff Zero posted... Well I'll certainly agree with that.
It may seem like I'm simply arguing semantics but what I'm saying is that it's still cheating even though it doesn't involve exploiting something that shouldn't be there. It should be there -- it is there -- but it's still cheating as evidenced by the fact that it's providing the player with the potential to completely roundhouse kick everything that the game is structured around in their own overwhelming favor.
So it's there and it's cool and I'll mess around with it sometimes but I'd still classify it as cheating.
True. I guess it's a matter of simplicity as well. I mean, even if it isn't "technically" cheating, what else are you going to call it? Shortcutting?
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In single-player games, "cheating" is a completely subjective term that only describes doing something the player feels is unfair or makes the game too easy.
For instance, I consider level grinding in RPGs cheating, and would feel bad if I did it.
It's really just all about doing what satisfies you. If you have more fun using cheat codes, there's no reason not to. But most people want to feel a sense of achievement when playing, and that's usually lost when using cheat codes.
Yeah, it's in the game's code, but it's there as an extra "unfair" advantage. You get a new gun by buying it or finding it or reaching a certain point in the story. Cheat codes are pretty much a free lunch. I don't see anything wrong with using them, but it's still playing outside of the standard game rules.
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I also like certain incentives for not using cheats, like not allowing certain things to be unlocked if you use a cheat or having your score negated if a cheat is entered.
Single player games it's only cheating if it feels that way to you. If you have fun putting in cheat codes or even using Gameshark, it's all good.
In multiplayer, anything that gives one side an unfair advantage is cheating. Cheat codes for one side, infinite combos that can only be performed on one side of the screen, stuff like that. If the same tactics or abilities are available to both sides, it isn't cheating. At that point, it's just a preference. Does everyone playing want to have one hit kills turned on, or no? Stuff like that.
Cheat (without object): 1)to practice fraud or deceit 2)to violate rules or regulations 3)to take an examination or test in a dishonest way, as by improper access to answers. 4)to be sexually unfaithful
Game cheats would surely apply to #2 more than anything. You could say cheats always violate a "rule" of some sort, even paintball mode in Goldeneye. You could even count codes that increase the difficulty as cheating! After all, that is not part of the game's rules.
So, it all depends on how you define cheating.
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Most games are designed to operate around a certain balance. This is generally normal mode. Easy weighs things in favor of a player while hard weighs things in favor of the cpu. Cheating via codes essentially weighs the scales several tons in favor of the player. A very very very very easy mode perhaps, but what separates this from just an easy mode is that it usually involves no way to lose and prevents game mechanics from working as they should.
A case might be made if the cheat involved is not invincibility but instead something less game breaking like extra funds. It could be the game might be very frugal with reward such that the person would be put off unless they had a little bit extra. This would probably not break the game as the capacity to lose is still there and would thus be akin to a very easy mode.
Again, it comes down to what the cheat will do, the desires of the player and developers, and various other factors. Anything that heavily skews things towards the player such that the cpu can almost never compensate would probably be cheating though; something beyond the favors granted by an easy mode that is specifically for people who don't want as much of a challenge or are new to the game.
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JeffreyRaze posted... Quick question, what do you think about save scumming and RNG abuse?
Hmm. Savescumming is like a grey area, I think. I would say playing football manager and reloading when you lose a game could be seen as cheating, but then you might also treat Barcelona in the Champions League final as a Final Boss that you have infinite lives to defeat.
RNG abuse is...hmm. Is that when you do things to make the RNG favour you? If you have to explore the game's code etc to find out what determines the RNG, and then doing things to make it so it favours you...yeah, that's probably cheating. If it's doing the same thing over and over until the number favours you without doing anything to really alter it, then it's in the grey area.
From: muddersmilk | #003 Even though you can unlock invincibiltiy in Goldeneye I would still say it is cheating to use it.
Goldeneye absolutely does not count for cheating. Not because you earn it, but because the cheats in that game prevent you from progressing levels, making best-time records, or earning other cheats.
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I always thought of cheat codes as being there to mess around and have fun, but not to beat the game with. For example, I'd turn on invincibility in Warcraft and Starcraft just to explore the levels and find little Easter Eggs, but I wouldn't say I "beat the game" if I had it on the whole time. If it's aesthetically changes like big head mode or different costumes though, go nuts. TBQH, I find it more cheating to, say, spawn a tank in GTA than to use a cheating device to get the nature you want in Pokemon, but that's because I hate mindless grinding.
From: XIII_rocks | #029 Hmm. Savescumming is like a grey area, I think. I would say playing football manager and reloading when you lose a game could be seen as cheating, but then you might also treat Barcelona in the Champions League final as a Final Boss that you have infinite lives to defeat.
But what about cheat codes that make it impossible to lose the game in the first place? But what about reloading until conditions such as item drops or some other randomly generated thing goes your way? What about stuff like a game where an extra life respawns every time you reload and getting infinite lives? Certainly takes longer than a cheat code, but it has the same result.
RNG abuse is...hmm. Is that when you do things to make the RNG favour you? If you have to explore the game's code etc to find out what determines the RNG, and then doing things to make it so it favours you...yeah, that's probably cheating. If it's doing the same thing over and over until the number favours you without doing anything to really alter it, then it's in the grey area.
kevwaffles was right on the money, I was thinking Golden Sun 1 item drop stuff. Basically, when you start the game the RNG starts at a certain point, and if you follow a certain set of actions you will always get the same result (in this case, getting the item you want).
I know this sort of thing isn't really what you were talking about in the OP, but I'm still curios.
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I would consider exploitation of saves and a rng system to be cheating. Also any code that would give you an advantage you would not normally have is cheating. Cosmetic codes in multiplayer don't count as cheating because they give everyone big heads or paintballs.
But what about cheat codes that make it impossible to lose the game in the first place? But what about reloading until conditions such as item drops or some other randomly generated thing goes your way? What about stuff like a game where an extra life respawns every time you reload and getting infinite lives? Certainly takes longer than a cheat code, but it has the same result.
Like I said, I think most of those fall into a grey area depending on context and intent.
The lives thing is a difficult one. If the developers tried to get that taken out of the game but couldn't, or it was left there by accident, I'd say it's cheating. If they deliberately allowed you to get infinite lives, it isn't. The latter is incredibly unlikely, but there's no way of knowing for sure, you know?
kevwaffles was right on the money, I was thinking Golden Sun 1 item drop stuff. Basically, when you start the game the RNG starts at a certain point, and if you follow a certain set of actions you will always get the same result (in this case, getting the item you want).
Well, did finding out you could do that involve getting right into the code of the game? Not everyone would do that, obv, but did someone have to go "outside" the boundaries of the game to find out you could do that (before telling everyone else about it)? Because yeah, that's cheating.
If you do it by accident, no. It's about intent.
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