I never understood cheating in competition. I personally never cheat in any thing.
For example, in Quake 3, I played and never used hacks or aim bots or crap
In Diablo 2 hardcore, I dueled and pk'd without any hacks. No duped items, no bugged items, no auto-exit, nothing. I was 100% legit.
I played Starcraft: I did 1 on 1 duels, I never had map hacks or anything.
For me the goal of competition is to win but if you don't win legitimately, it is completely and utterly meaningless to me. It just doesn't make sense. The goal of competition is to compete and win, but if you cheat how do you derive pleasure from it?
I remember in diablo 2, at times, i'd buy runes off amazon to get certain gear cuz i never had the time to farm it all myself. But it was available to people. I guess people may say I was cheating because I was using money, but I was trading money to get an item available and not a bugged or duped item. I'd buy stuff from cash shops at times, but i'd never cheat in straight competition. Also, in PvE conditions, I don't really care about what goes on, it is like playing a single player game at that point.
I can understand people cheating in the olympics and in sports because it comes with money, but if you cheat in a mindless game of quake 3 or whatever, wtf is the point?
Anyway, what's the point of autoaim and hacking and crap in FPS's or even cheating at Scrabble or monopoly. Thanks.
Sincerely,
Cryomatrix
p.s. I know people cheat to win, but how do they derive pleasure from it when they cheated. I don't get it because I could never derive pleasure from winning if I cheat. It just doesn't make sense to me. I mean oh yay I beat so-and-so . . . but you cheated . . . so does it even matter? It is like Michael Jordan deriving pleasure from beating me 1 on 1 in basketball. I feel it is the same way with cheating.
Catch me streaming at twitch.tv/cryomatrix
You can see my sci-fi/WW2 book recommendations.
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Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
1) Some people's egos cannot handle any form of losing..
2) An inherent need to win at any cost to prove to themselves and others of their superiority.. (which hilariously enough doesn't exist since they cheated to win)..
Edit: 3) Recognizing their own deficiencies (slow reflexes, low hand-eye coordination), they compensate by cheating to stay in the running and compete..
..because we're gamers, damn it!! - William Massachusetts (Log Horizon)
Just thought i'd add, people who use those hacks are cheating themselves just as much, because by using them, they will never improve their own skills, if anything they probably get worse.
Cheaters should get more than a ban from a game when they are using 3rd party hacks.
I just personally have no mercy towards people who want to actually cheat using 3rd party hacks in online games there just is no place for it.
Too bad like U.S Laws don't prevent online game cheating.
There is a small portion of them wherein the act of cheating is the whole point. Just to see if they can. Some sell their discoveries for profit as well, but that would be adding money back in. So to stay within your parameters, the same reason mountain climbers climb mountains, to see if they can.
If you want a new idea, go read an old book.
In order to be insulted, I must first value your opinion.
I think the reason players cheat is because they can't handle losing. The other reason is they have no shame. They don't owe the world anything and don't care about legit progression, just the end goal.
Whatever means to meet an end.
There are two main classes of cheaters we find that use aimbots and all sorts of hacks.
- The troll - These guys dont really care, we cant miss these guys when we look at game logs and telemetry, they usually run the latest cheats all turned up to 11, they will trash talk people and really make everyone miserable, they dont really care about winning, we will ban their accounts, they will just buy a new one, sometimes they will juse use random cheats we can redily detect off the internet and just get banned automatically.
- The subtle cheater - these guys are harder to catch, they run latest cheats but they will run the minimum most subtle settings, these guys usually want to win and want the fame of being the best, I dont get the motivation behind it, they will email us that they never used cheats when they get caught and make up all sorts of stories, they want to be seen as the best.
There is a third category, which is the revenge cheater, when we find these they dont start off cheating, but then after either being beaten by someone else or having a cheater on the other team ( the case of just being bested is usually the most common scenario ), they will turn cheats on, this case is more uncommon and I havent really encountered it many times.
MAGA
Why people act the way they do is fascinating. Hence, there are books about why are people terrorists, etc.
So the answers, especially the post above you, is very satisfying actually. I am glad people answered the way they do, now I can understand it better.
I can see other people's thoughts, perhaps someone who used to cheat would explain their rationale for it.
Cryomatrix
You can see my sci-fi/WW2 book recommendations.
As an older player with my hand-eye coordination (as well as my hands and eyes) in decline, I use programs like the Macro's off Razer, (which I have the Naga and Orbweaver), I do this, because I realized that it's the only way I will ever be even remotely competitive, and by competitive.. I mean I can barely beat people that suck as bad as I do.
So I have come to realize that the only reason why anyone uses Aim-Bots, and other cheats, is because they realize that they lack the skills and abilities to effectively play the game as intended, and there is no other way they will ever be able to win, or even be competitive without these programs.
It must be harsh to realize you suck that bad.. but.. I guess that is why they seem to trash talk so much.
Truth is,no matter how you slice it, when someone uses a hack-program, the only reason why they would do this, is for the same reasons I use macros', they admit freely that they don't have what it takes to play the game as intended, and never will.
I guess the difference between them and me, however, is I need a minor helping hand, they need to be carried.
Maybe you are losing at losing!
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
The difference is the legality of it. When you break the rules for the MMO or the licensing agreement or so on, you're not just a player anymore. Many MMO's only allow specific 3rd-party software. Using anything else is hacking.
For people who use cheating in single player games, I think they tend to like certain kinds of progression less or are compensating--as you say--for shortcomings. Since it's not affecting anybody else and isn't illegal, I don't see a problem with it. Single player games are modded all the time and it's the same thing.
But not all "single player" is the same. Consider arcades. While those're technically usually single player, players play them to get the highest score. In that sense, arcades were like MMO's. If you cheat, your score isn't legit. When I used to play in the Arcade, beating the scores was a big part of it for me. While it's true in some games you could exploit design issues, there's still a clear line between playing the game and merely exploiting a bug. If a bug requires as much skill to utilize, I can admire that. But it might be an entirely different skillset. It's still cheating by every definition.
Joined 2004 - I can't believe I've been a MMORPG.com member for 20 years! Get off my lawn!
High end gear like the naga isn't a crutch for bad players.
It's a prerequisite for becoming a top end player. Playing a game without a higher end gaming mouse/keyboard is kind of like showing up for a race in an unupgraded Ford Taurus. If you want to get into any kind of competitive play, even the high end of casual, you need to have gear that matches that level of play or you are unnecessarily nerfing yourself.
Aim-bots are another story. If you are caught using those you get banned which is the strict dividing line between playing smart and being a cheater.
I don't get folks who not only exploit and cheat, but gloat and grandstand totally ignoring the fact that they cheat. THESE are the people who I feel have emotional/psychological issues.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
My Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starbound and WoW + other game mods at MODDB:
https://www.moddb.com/mods/skyrim-anime-overhaul
Do you feel bad or experience any sort of dissatisfaction for using high end gear knowing it perhaps gave you an unfair advantage?
I would personally but you don't as it's viewed by you and others as vital to winning which anyone who wants to be competitive should be doing.
Cheaters feel the same about the hacks, aimbots and exploits they use, just tools to win which anyone is free to use.
They just don't share your same moral code, but then again neither do I.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
All advantages that are allowed by the rules are game. Using them is not unfair, it's just being smart. The maximum advantages you are allowed are the standard advantages for any serious competitor. If someone chooses to not use the advantages available to them then that is on them, not me. I'm not going to make myself less competitive against the people willing to use those advantages just because they chose not to.
I'm going to put myself at the maximum advantage allowed and let skill determine the rest every time. I'm also going to use any "cheap" or "dirty" trick allowed within the rules because half of being a good competitor is finding all the advantages available to you and using them. That is it's own form of skill that I consider just as (or more) valuable than things like the speed of your reflexes.
The problem with cheaters is they are doing things that will get you kicked out if you are discovered. In extreme cases like steroids you are damaging your body to win a game. In lesser cases like aimbots you are just chancing permaban. It not only violates the spirit of the competition but it violates your own interests. It's like people who smoke to look cool. Looking back I don't think many of them will tell you it was worth it.
To me at least, there is a far greater satisfaction beating people within the rules. Anyone who complains about your tactics when you beat them within the rules is just a whiner. When people aren't willing to spite themselves just to beat you and are upset you would go to lengths of self-destruction just to pull a win, that seems a bit more legitimate of a beef to me at least.
Cryomatrix
You can see my sci-fi/WW2 book recommendations.
On a keyboard your optimal keys are buttons surrounding the WASD keys. 1-4 are valuable keys based on that criteria. 5 and 6 are alright. 7-0 + - and = are bad.
So having quick and easy access to all of those keys on your mouse gives you 5 more effective keys and eliminates your need to use your keyboard for all of 1 through =. That makes keys like z,x, and c even more effective since your fingers are never above the W.
They also generally come with additional buttons beyond the ones I just mentioned. For instance my current mouse which is similar to the naga has 8 additional programmable buttons.
The end result is that with smart keymapping you can map out A LOT of abilities for quick usage. At this point I even have things like my mount set to a hotkey so I can pull it out faster when I need to give chase or escape.
You can optimize that even further with specialized keyboards or keyboard alternatives though I've always found a good gaming mouse to be sufficient for my needs. I'd imagine the specialized keyboards would work best for a hardcore RTS players who have A LOT of hotkeys they should be using.