Cheating in Games

Sweat slowly dripped from my brow. My sweaty hands gripped my MP5 submachine gun as I wait for my target. I took cover behind a large wooden box as I heard some footsteps coming from the right. I ready myself for the confrontation. Yet in a flash, several shots was fired at me and I lay dead on the ground. A floating AK-47 rifle passed my dead body.

This is one of my few experiences with cheating in multiplayer games. During the height of the Counter Strike years, cheating became rampant. There would be aimbots and invisible skinned avatars running around. Now, I've got people drophacking in Company of Heroes which affect your rank. A few of my friends who play Cabal (an MMO) would pay to use a bot to level up their characters.

Cheating has always been present in all forms of competition and games. I certainly don't mind single player cheats for games that are extremely difficult. Take the old NES Contra where the whole Konami code started. All you had to do to gain 30 lives was press the magical up,up, down, down, left, right, left, right. This significant boost in lives would usually get you through most of the game. Yet in your heart, you know you are not hardcore. You're a mere wimp compared to your one friend who beat down the game without losing a single life.

I believe cheats should be used for fun but never for serious competitive play. Having infinite money over in the Sims or Simcity would allow you to create the city of your dreams without effort. I think the Civilization's cheat system works well where they won't add to your score should you activate cheats. Playing with invisible skins in a shooter certainly adds challenge and variety to the regular experience. I think the Shadowrun shooter (rest in peace) showed how to create "cheats" within the game. The powers in that game was the cheats in Counter Strike. MMOs could now actually profit from this by letting bots be allowed but have them be a paid service (like those x2,x3 experience bonus things they sell).

Video games can be considered as a sport. In any sport, cheating is frowned upon. The great players and sportsmen do not need cheats to succeed. Good players might even consider a handicap against less experienced ones.

How about bugs and exploits? Some people would consider exploits as part of the game thus they will freely use them. For instance, before the 2.6 patch in Company of Heroes, the Wehrmacht Pak 38 could “charge up” while in cloaked mode to be able to destroy even Pershings if they had enough time to cloak. Good players know this exploit and use them to gain an advantage which I believe is fine. However, great players can live without this advantage or can be able to work around this.

Does cheating in a video game constitute that a person cheats in real life as well? Will someone who drophacks or uses an aimbot try and do some tax evasion or cheat in an exam? What do you think?