General: Cheating is Bad, M’kay?

SBFord

In today's Player Perspectives column, Isabelle Parsley takes on the sometimes sensitive issue of cheating. Iz has an axe to grind (or embed in someone's skull) with those who take advantage of exploits and she makes no bones about it. Check out Iz's thoughts and then let us know what you think in the comments.

I’m not arguing that we should play our games like law-abiding automatons. We’re not built that way: human beings like to explore, they like to push boundaries, and they like to see what they can break, even in games – or maybe especially in games, where the consequences don’t involve things like having to eat your friends rather than freezing to death on a high mountain pass. But actively looking for ways to play the game outside the ruleset, rather than working within or around it, is behavior that negatively affects the entire community, however one may justify it.

Read more of Isabelle Parsley's Player Perspectives: Cheating is Bad, M'kay?

Redemp

Its fairly simple ... Developers need to start handling the exploiters with a heavy iron fist. Any time I play a mmo and I know there is exploiting going on but the Developers are refusing to tar and feather the exploiters, I make a point of ensuring the whole community knows exactly who did what.

I don't believe tattling is bad and exploiting pisses me off to no end.

 

Antarious

I talk about not wanting to play MMO's due to the community.   However, cheating is exactly why I get sick of trying to "game".   The biggest issue from my point of view is the fact companies do absolutely nothing about it.

There were times I actually wanted to strangle CSR's in Dark Age of Camelot.   The thing is no game is worth the stress so what happens?  /cancel

Yep exploiting is bad.   The thing is xp exploits are less visible in general than say duping which floods the game with plat.   Then you know what happens.   However, when you go into pvp games and people are using speed hacks etc  It really just destroys the game.   When WAR launched there was one program that had video's all over you tube.   You could fly, ress yourself and go under the geometry among other things.   All day long Mythic would talk about the banhammer being used on gold spammers.   Yet none of the obvious "cheaters" in RvR ever vanished...

 

Step one needs to be perma bans for this kind of thing.   Public bannings should be the norm because your character name isn't protected by any privacy law.   If you decided to give out information associated with your name that was your choice.   Then they need to take advantage of that court ruling Blizzard got for users of 3rd party programs.   If you aren't familiar with it at some point Blizzard sued a company that made a 3rd party "cheat" program.   The court ruled that not only was the creation of the program a violation of copyright laws.. but that also the use of such programs was.  

Ya obviously it irritates me that people cheat... /rage quit

Gobstopper3D

good article and I couldn't agree more.

MumboJumbo

Zero tolerance to protect your product should be the way forward with issues sent to support if you feel you have been banned unfairly and if you are going to ban players/bots, at least do it in style: How botters get banned in Guild Wars

tanek

"No amount of logical argument – with examples – will ever convince them that the rules that get implemented as a result of their exploit are detrimental to other players, and thus that their behavior was detrimental to everyone else to begin with."

 

Let me first say that I agree with you.  Cheating in MMOs is bad and that behavior hurts the community as a whole.  Your reason, though, will not stop anyone from arguing the other side.

 

You hang the whole of the damage on the effect of the fix.  If that were the case and the only way these cheaters impact your game is through the game developer's response, then it could potentially be argued that the developer is the bad guy here.  The cheaters aren't causing the harm, it is the dev who decides to punish everyone.  Why not just leave people to play as they want and then no one is hurt.

 

Unfortunately, that is not the case.  A cheat in an MMO can have any number of consequences.  Does it flood the market with game currency or items?  Does it cause server instability?  Does it affect PvP?  Yes, the fix may result in more restrictions for all players, but that is not where the harm to your game begins.

bakagami

Originally posted by MumboJumbo

Zero tolerance to protect your product should be the way forward with issues sent to support if you feel you have been banned unfairly and if you are going to ban players/bots, at least do it in style: How botters get banned in Guild Wars

 

that's awesome.  it almost makes me want to get banned, lol

Elikal

If I'd say my mind, I'd get banned. =P

So I give you a friendly smile and wave at you and say: whatever you say, mateys. There aren't actual rules but more... guidlines. The bottom line is: EVERY set of rules favors some people and puts others at a disadvantage. There ARE no fair rules, because the very idea of rules is: all people are similar. Which, we know, they are not. Some people are nimble and fast, some are not; some have good planning capabilities, others don't. Abilities of people are VASTLY different. Hence the Kantian idea that rules must apply the same to every person is... absurd. Rules per se are always unfair. So rules are only a matter of perspective. You support them only if you benefit from them.

If other people forge rules that set me at a disadvantage, people must help themselves.

Let's say it in that way: if games were fair and if the "lawful" pathway in a game was well done, people WOULD not cheat. That people cheat is in 90% of the cases a sign that something fundamental in the game was made against the natural feeling of people. People would NOT BUY gold, if the ingame mechanics were fitting their natural playstyle. But it doesn't. It is so, because not all people are alike. Not all people feel the same. Not all have the same abilities. And hence all the same rules for all means injustice for some. If attaining gold was interesting enough, people WOULD not buy gold. So it is a sign of the flawed games more than anything else.

 

Everyone cheats. Every. Single. One. If a) you have the chance and b) you think you can get away with it.

How many of you have no single piece of music that did not technically legally come to your harddisc? How many can claim to have zero software that didn't get there despite some... rules? How many of you have never peeked into the neighbours book at a school test?

 

We are all cheaters once and then. I have just grown beyond the pretending phase. You know... all my life I was on the side of the lawful and the good. I played by the rules, I was as nice to everyone as I can... and someday I realized. People don't give a SHIT. NO ONE thanks you for being nice and goody good. NOBODY. People just use you if you are good and play by the book. And I just got sick and tired to be everybody's fool. There, that's the truth. I was good and I got NOTHING. I got a kick in the arse for being a goody lawful. So having more than half of my life done, I decided I want a piece of the cake. And to hell with nicety. I am just DONE with being nice and ending up having NOTHING. THere. THAT is the bitter truth about life. That is how life REALLY is. If you don't care that you get a part of the cake... nobody else will. Trust me. I tried. THe nice way just will end you as a fool who has nothing. I must know.

But in the immortal words of Colonel Jessep, I think most people can't handle the truth.

bakagami

@Isabelle,

I don't share your tolorance of RMT's.  They hurt the game in 2 ways:

1.   the SPAM.  in the early days of Aion the RMT's completely took over the public chat channels effectively isolating anyone who wasnt already in a clan, plus multiple tells every our & theyd fill up you mailbox too.  I don't understand this tactic, the ppl who want to trade w/ RMT's are going to seek them out & the rest of us never will no matter how much spam they send.  it felt like they were punishing us for not doing business with therm.  its not that bad in other games I've played but it still can be really annoying

2.  it hurts the game economy.  when u look on the auction house & see the average pair of lvl 15 gauntlets selling for 15M plat,  you can thank the RMT's for that.  I'm going to refer to Aion again.  drops in that game are rare & even gold is hard to come by.  with everthing in the AH inflated so bad that the only way you can afford gear is to either craft (I don't craft) or buy gold (I refuse to do that)

I liked Aion but I stopped playing after a few weeks mainly due to these reasons,  to a lesser degree I've see the same things happen in other games I've played

tanek

Originally posted by Elikal

Let's say it in that way: if games were fair and if the "lawful" pathway in a game was well done, people WOULD not cheat. That people cheat is in 90% of the cases a sign that something fundamental in the game was made against the natural feeling of people.

Everyone cheats. Every. Single. One. If a) you have the chance and b) you think you can get away with it.

 

These two snippets from your post seem to contradict.  Unless you are saying that the way to make a "lawful" pathway in a game is to allow cheating, thereby making it not, technically, cheating.

 

Paging Dr. Escher.  I need an asprin for the brain ouchies. 

Elikal

Originally posted by tanek

Originally posted by Elikal

Let's say it in that way: if games were fair and if the "lawful" pathway in a game was well done, people WOULD not cheat. That people cheat is in 90% of the cases a sign that something fundamental in the game was made against the natural feeling of people.

Everyone cheats. Every. Single. One. If a) you have the chance and b) you think you can get away with it.

 

These two snippets from your post seem to contradict.  Unless you are saying that the way to make a "lawful" pathway in a game is to allow cheating, thereby making it not, technically, cheating.

 

Paging Dr. Escher.  I need an asprin for the brain ouchies. 

An allegory: If life is a rat lab test: one is the perspective of the rat, the second the perspective of the scientist.

Or in other words: We all want a world that is fair and nice and gives everyone a chance. I think besides a few sick people, it is what deep down everyone wants. An ideal world of fairness and goodness. The other thing is how people really are. But it is no contradiction. Only a mimimum of people is criminal by nature. By and large the existence of crime is proof that something in society is rotten. I hope you can differ a scientific explanation from a moral excuse. I just say how it is, not what you should do.

DarkPony

Worst thing I did was tresspass in WOW's unfinished zones years ago. Was a lot of fun. Felt very mischieveous.

Exploits like that are harmless fun.

But using gameplay exploits to get the uper hand against others (hiding the flag in unreachable places in a bg for instance), using third party hax, buying ingame currency or leveling or botting?

NEVAR.

That would be 'losing the game' in my eyes.

I wanna do well for myself in game by adhering to the rules not by unfair advantages or by making things easier with a little rl cash injection.

Robbgobb

Originally posted by Elikal

If I'd say my mind, I'd get banned. =P

So I give you a friendly smile and wave at you and say: whatever you say, mateys. There aren't actual rules but more... guidlines. The bottom line is: EVERY set of rules favors some people and puts others at a disadvantage. There ARE no fair rules, because the very idea of rules is: all people are similar. Which, we know, they are not. Some people are nimble and fast, some are not; some have good planning capabilities, others don't. Abilities of people are VASTLY different. Hence the Kantian idea that rules must apply the same to every person is... absurd. Rules per se are always unfair. So rules are only a matter of perspective. You support them only if you benefit from them.

If other people forge rules that set me at a disadvantage, people must help themselves.

Let's say it in that way: if games were fair and if the "lawful" pathway in a game was well done, people WOULD not cheat. That people cheat is in 90% of the cases a sign that something fundamental in the game was made against the natural feeling of people. People would NOT BUY gold, if the ingame mechanics were fitting their natural playstyle. But it doesn't. It is so, because not all people are alike. Not all people feel the same. Not all have the same abilities. And hence all the same rules for all means injustice for some. If attaining gold was interesting enough, people WOULD not buy gold. So it is a sign of the flawed games more than anything else.

 

Everyone cheats. Every. Single. One. If a) you have the chance and b) you think you can get away with it.

How many of you have no single piece of music that did not technically legally come to your harddisc? How many can claim to have zero software that didn't get there despite some... rules? How many of you have never peeked into the neighbours book at a school test?

 

We are all cheaters once and then. I have just grown beyond the pretending phase. You know... all my life I was on the side of the lawful and the good. I played by the rules, I was as nice to everyone as I can... and someday I realized. People don't give a SHIT. NO ONE thanks you for being nice and goody good. NOBODY. People just use you if you are good and play by the book. And I just got sick and tired to be everybody's fool. There, that's the truth. I was good and I got NOTHING. I got a kick in the arse for being a goody lawful. So having more than half of my life done, I decided I want a piece of the cake. And to hell with nicety. I am just DONE with being nice and ending up having NOTHING. THere. THAT is the bitter truth about life. That is how life REALLY is. If you don't care that you get a part of the cake... nobody else will. Trust me. I tried. THe nice way just will end you as a fool who has nothing. I must know.

But in the immortal words of Colonel Jessep, I think most people can't handle the truth.

 

Guess you are wrong. I don't have any music that Rhapsody doesn't play for me. I don't have any software I shouldn't have. I don't look for cheats and I avoid them. Why? Because I make a conscious decision to try and avoid doing such things. Glad you want to lump everyone in. I am not a saint or even close to be a great person but cheating is not what I do. 

Do push any boundaries? Yes. Do I cheat? Not in anything that connects with someone else. Single player games that I want to see certain things is a different story. Those are called cheats but they are programmed into the game. That is taking advantage of what the developers left there for being used. I don't call it a cheat as much as a perk of the devs that I can use. In MMO's there is so much data that has to be handled that sometimes things slip through and can't just easily be repaired to work right. I have seen quick patches that caused server crashes and rollbacks. I have seen it take months to fix something because the programming to fix it just wasn't simple because the code was much bigger than the little problem. Cheating is wrong and just as the article said about not being able to convince them otherwise is something very true. I just avoid such people and most PvP because of it.

culex-

Someone is MEGA trolled, anyways pointing back to the article.....cheaters should be punished when/whereever they exploit the rules.  If you cannot begin a task without taking shortcuts then get out because it ruins things for everyone else.  I understand the logic behind saying "Everyone cheats" but unfortunately that is a child's mentality.

Elikal

Originally posted by culex-

Someone is MEGA trolled, anyways pointing back to the article.....cheaters should be punished when/whereever they exploit the rules.  If you cannot begin a task without taking shortcuts then get out because it ruins things for everyone else.  I understand the logic behind saying "Everyone cheats" but unfortunately that is a child's mentality.

We both want to go from a to b.

You can afford a car. Travel time: 5 minutes.

I can't. Travel time: 2 hours.

Is that fair? Is that NOT cheating? You use the ressources you have and I doubt you are ashamed of that.

DeathWolf2u

Seriously??????? exploits????? as the main cheating done by players?

 

Let me give the real senario since you obviously missed it completely in regards to the hackers or cheaters whichever you prefer, same thing.

There is really only two types of exploits that effect a game and the player base 1. money duplication and 2. exploiting the game environment to use against other players in PKing.

 

However the true hackers probably wiped the sweat from their foreheads when you never acknowledged their putrid kind which I am going to do now.

 

The main problem is more with the increasing demand by players who want more PvP and then even more. These are the same players who lack a set of balls to play in the FPS online games where it is 100% more competitive and takes real skill behind the keyboard than any mmorpg and yes there is hackers in them as well but they can still be killed.

 

Maybe it's because their script programs that they so love to use in PvP that can be easily obtained by a 5 year old do not work in FPS online games...hmmmmmmm...yes take a moment to suck that in......

 

I'll use myself as an example, I love FPS online games and playing against real opponents. On the same note I hate PvP in mmorpg's because frankly....I'm not going to have a chance against the many hacks and especially the scripting programs that they use to basically cheat.

 

I'm not going to divulge how I know this but I have my facts behind it.

 

The only way a player knows in mmorpg's when PvPing that the players are not scripting is if they are playing with their real life friends who they know 100% are not using script programs. Other than that keep on guessing who is actually playing legit, most do not, FACT!

Elikal

Originally posted by DeathWolf2u

Seriously??????? exploits????? as the main cheating done by players?

 

Let me give the real senario since you obviously missed it completely in regards to the hackers or cheaters whichever you prefer, same thing.

There is really only two types of exploits that effect a game and the player base 1. money duplication and 2. exploiting the game environment to use against other players in PKing.

 

However the true hackers probably wiped the sweat from their foreheads when you never acknowledged their putrid kind which I am going to do now.

 

The main problem is more with the increasing demand by players who want more PvP and then even more. These are the same players who lack a set of balls to play in the FPS online games where it is 100% more competitive and takes real skill behind the keyboard than any mmorpg and yes there is hackers in them as well but they can still be killed.

 

Maybe it's because their script programs that they so love to use in PvP that can be easily obtained by a 5 year old do not work in FPS online games...hmmmmmmm...yes take a moment to suck that in......

 

I'll use myself as an example, I love FPS online games and playing against real opponents. On the same note I hate PvP in mmorpg's because frankly....I'm not going to have a chance against the many hacks and especially the scripting programs that they use to basically cheat.

 

I'm not going to divulge how I know this but I have my facts behind it.

 

The only way a player knows in mmorpg's when PvPing that the players are not scripting is if they are playing with their real life friends who they know 100% are not using script programs. Other than that keep on guessing who is actually playing legit, most do not, FACT!

Blast you are right!

I just realized I am too dumb to hack. Heck, I have no idea how to hack!

Ok, I changed my mind. I am against cheating. Cheating is EVIL! STOP DOING THAT! They must be punished and permabanned!

jcag2009

Originally posted by Elikal

Originally posted by culex-

Someone is MEGA trolled, anyways pointing back to the article.....cheaters should be punished when/whereever they exploit the rules.  If you cannot begin a task without taking shortcuts then get out because it ruins things for everyone else.  I understand the logic behind saying "Everyone cheats" but unfortunately that is a child's mentality.

We both want to go from a to b.

You can afford a car. Travel time: 5 minutes.

I can't. Travel time: 2 hours.

Is that fair? Is that NOT cheating? You use the ressources you have and I doubt you are ashamed of that.

Buying a car for travel is part of the intended mechanics.  Not cheating.

Stealing a city bus to make the trip, however, is not quite as intended.  But you are saying that because you could not afford a car and you happen to have the ability to steal a vehicle, that makes it ok?

Kyleran

Title of the thread said it all really, cheating is bad, wrong, evil, however you want to say it and there is no justfication for it at any time.

Do people cheat? Absolutely.  Should they cheat? Absolutely not.

People may slip and fall in their endevour to be perfect (only one man was able to walk on water after all) but what makes us civilized is our attempt to be better than our nature would tend to lead us.

It isn't "fair" that I don't have the money of Donald Trump, especially considering what a putz he is, but that's just the facts, it doesn't give me a fiat right to go out and steal, cheat or rob just because life isn't fair.

Up to me to make my own successes and take responsibility for my faults and shortcomings.

Same holds true in gaming worlds as far as I'm concerned and while many decry and say it isn't so, I still feel that how people act (and react) in gaming worlds is a reflection on their real character, regardless how they behave in the real world. (because the real world has consequences with painful results)

crowded

  I think it is not the cheat that is the big problem in mmorpgs but the feeling that somehow it affects each player in the game in drastic ways.  An inherent flaw in a genre that pits players who are supposeably on the same side against each other.

 

bakagami

Originally posted by Kyleran

Title of the thread said it all really, cheating is bad, wrong, evil, however you want to say it and there is no justfication for it at any time.

Do people cheat? Absolutely.  Should they cheat? Absolutely not.

People may slip and fall in their endevour to be perfect (only one man was able to walk on water after all) but what makes us civilized is our attempt to be better than our nature would tend to lead us.

It isn't "fair" that I don't have the money of Donald Trump, especially considering what a putz he is, but that's just the facts, it doesn't give me a fiat right to go out and steal, cheat or rob just because life isn't fair.

Up to me to make my own successes and take responsibility for my faults and shortcomings.

Same holds true in gaming worlds as far as I'm concerned and while many decry and say it isn't so, I still feel that how people act (and react) in gaming worlds is a reflection on their real character, regardless how they behave in the real world. (because the real world has consequences with painful results)

 

well said Kyleran

Guintu

Originally posted by DeathWolf2u

Seriously??????? exploits????? as the main cheating done by players?

 

Let me give the real senario since you obviously missed it completely in regards to the hackers or cheaters whichever you prefer, same thing.

There is really only two types of exploits that effect a game and the player base 1. money duplication and 2. exploiting the game environment to use against other players in PKing.

 

However the true hackers probably wiped the sweat from their foreheads when you never acknowledged their putrid kind which I am going to do now.

 

The main problem is more with the increasing demand by players who want more PvP and then even more. These are the same players who lack a set of balls to play in the FPS online games where it is 100% more competitive and takes real skill behind the keyboard than any mmorpg and yes there is hackers in them as well but they can still be killed.

 

Maybe it's because their script programs that they so love to use in PvP that can be easily obtained by a 5 year old do not work in FPS online games...hmmmmmmm...yes take a moment to suck that in......

 

I'll use myself as an example, I love FPS online games and playing against real opponents. On the same note I hate PvP in mmorpg's because frankly....I'm not going to have a chance against the many hacks and especially the scripting programs that they use to basically cheat.

 

I'm not going to divulge how I know this but I have my facts behind it.

 

The only way a player knows in mmorpg's when PvPing that the players are not scripting is if they are playing with their real life friends who they know 100% are not using script programs. Other than that keep on guessing who is actually playing legit, most do not, FACT!

 

I agree a person using scripts in an MMO can't go against a ligit FPS player but there is cheating in FPS' too.  There are wall hacks and auto aims, a friend of mine even showed me a cheat in Combat Arms that will allow a player down stairs in a building with no windows shoot someone outside.

Cheating does hurt others, weather it be the economy or griefing, or a number of other things.  I agree that more games should handle cheating like Guild Wars.  The fact is that cheating isn't going anywhere unless a technology comes out that makes it impossible.  Onlive is a technology like that.  The thing right now I don't think its possible to have an MMO on Onlive with hundreds if not thousands of players playing at once.  Game streaming is the way to stop cheating.  The problem is only one company is around that does it (there are other companies that are working on such technologies as well, but they're not out yet).  Also with the US' shotty boradband there is no assurance that everyone that wasnts to play the game will be able to.  With the way these greedy ISP's are so far I say the technology will be good for all in about 15-20 years.

Cik_Asalin

Originally posted by Antarious

Step one needs to be perma bans for this kind of thing.   Public bannings should be the norm because your character name isn't protected by any privacy law.   If you decided to give out information associated with your name that was your choice.   Then they need to take advantage of that court ruling Blizzard got for users of 3rd party programs.   If you aren't familiar with it at some point Blizzard sued a company that made a 3rd party "cheat" program.   The court ruled that not only was the creation of the program a violation of copyright laws.. but that also the use of such programs was.  

Ya obviously it irritates me that people cheat... /rage quit

 

I agree.  The sad thing is, for example, that GamersFirst of APB Reloaded is refusing to Names the Character Names that get banned for hacking, when many would support it, I'm sure. 

 

GamersFirst is using some unknown California Law that they interpret as mentioning that it is illegal to post an in-game characters name that is banned due to hacking becuase of this Law, which I am not familiar with.

 

Being a fan of the fun that APB could be, yet thinking that they are not taking as serious an approach to hacking as they might be able, leaves little interest for me due to the potential of cheaters. . .that is unless they can demonstrate that they are taking it seriously.

paroxysm

I have never understood the mindset of current cheaters/exploiters. 

 

They pay for a game.  Then, they go out of their way to not have to fully play the game.  Where is the challenge?  What is the point?  They lie to others and themselves that they have any skill by cheating.  When you have a win given to you by using a cheat, isn't it boring after a while?

Cheating is rampant in games.  The gaming company and the players are both part of the problem.  Companies don't really take cheating as seriously as they should.  Games come with built in cheats and think no one will find them.  They don't program the game with security as a priority.  Often, they even hire a third party to block cheats or use a anti virus like definition based blocking system that fails as bad as most anti virus programs do.  Cheats are being sold for money.  Some even have monthly subscriptions(bots).  Which is the bigger industry now?  The games or the cheats?

Just like in many other areas, the gaming industry needs to change standards and practices on cheating.  They can't just keep skating by on what they know won't last long.  Sometimes cheats are released on launch day. 

 

[edit]  I forgot to throw in that another thing companies do that is to blame for ease of cheating is their patching and horrible QA.  Game companies have test realms and still push KNOWN bugs to live with a "we'll patch it later".  Even if it's not directly exploitable, it shows how much they really care about the integrity of their code. [/edit]

paroxysm

Originally posted by Elikal

If I'd say my mind, I'd get banned. =P

So I give you a friendly smile and wave at you and say: whatever you say, mateys. There aren't actual rules but more... guidlines. The bottom line is: EVERY set of rules favors some people and puts others at a disadvantage. There ARE no fair rules, because the very idea of rules is: all people are similar. Which, we know, they are not. Some people are nimble and fast, some are not; some have good planning capabilities, others don't. Abilities of people are VASTLY different. Hence the Kantian idea that rules must apply the same to every person is... absurd. Rules per se are always unfair. So rules are only a matter of perspective. You support them only if you benefit from them.

If other people forge rules that set me at a disadvantage, people must help themselves.

Let's say it in that way: if games were fair and if the "lawful" pathway in a game was well done, people WOULD not cheat. That people cheat is in 90% of the cases a sign that something fundamental in the game was made against the natural feeling of people. People would NOT BUY gold, if the ingame mechanics were fitting their natural playstyle. But it doesn't. It is so, because not all people are alike. Not all people feel the same. Not all have the same abilities. And hence all the same rules for all means injustice for some. If attaining gold was interesting enough, people WOULD not buy gold. So it is a sign of the flawed games more than anything else.

 

Everyone cheats. Every. Single. One. If a) you have the chance and b) you think you can get away with it.

How many of you have no single piece of music that did not technically legally come to your harddisc? How many can claim to have zero software that didn't get there despite some... rules? How many of you have never peeked into the neighbours book at a school test?

 

We are all cheaters once and then. I have just grown beyond the pretending phase. You know... all my life I was on the side of the lawful and the good. I played by the rules, I was as nice to everyone as I can... and someday I realized. People don't give a SHIT. NO ONE thanks you for being nice and goody good. NOBODY. People just use you if you are good and play by the book. And I just got sick and tired to be everybody's fool. There, that's the truth. I was good and I got NOTHING. I got a kick in the arse for being a goody lawful. So having more than half of my life done, I decided I want a piece of the cake. And to hell with nicety. I am just DONE with being nice and ending up having NOTHING. THere. THAT is the bitter truth about life. That is how life REALLY is. If you don't care that you get a part of the cake... nobody else will. Trust me. I tried. THe nice way just will end you as a fool who has nothing. I must know.

But in the immortal words of Colonel Jessep, I think most people can't handle the truth.

So, if someone is actually better at a game than you, it's ok for you to cheat and artificially inflate your standing gainst them?  If EVERYONE is playing by the same rules, how is that not fair?  How is it not specialized treatment for you to get a different set of rules?

While you are probably very close on saying that everyone has cheated at one time or another.  Everyone who did it KNEW it was wrong.  They personally chose to challenge the rules of the system and hoped to not get caught.  Not getting caught does not make it automagically fine on any level.

toxicmango

The only thing worse than player cheaters are developer cheaters (such as CCP).  Things get especially bad if there is a single server population and therefore limited prizes or opportunities.  If some developer is giving favors to his friends, those are advantages and resources being denied to the rest of the server population.  Unfair gains dilute the economy and demean the whole idea of "sandbox" games.