Growing up when I was gaming in the 90s and on, I knew of the stigma of cheating in video games. You were seen as stupid, someone incapable of completing challenges on your own. You were seen as lowly, someone who can never go through life without cheating. Like, it was a pretty big deal as I grew up, hearing all of this for years on end.
I’ve been able to beat games without cheating, of course. But during my late teens and early adulthood, I just tried going past the stigma. Cheating in video games don’t necessarily reflect how you handle life and don’t translate. I’ve found it quite fun to cheat in video games. Probably not in multiplayer and especially on the receiving end.
I even use cheats just to beat games anymore, who the hell cares. People only care if you want to make a big deal about it, by showing it to everyone and boast how you’ve beaten a game in record times. I’ve tried beating some games head on without cheats but there just comes a point where you ask yourself if it is fun dying a hundred times at some part of a game. I don’t think so, personally.
So yeah, I don’t have the stigma anymore. I kinda like how gamers today only care about cheating if it was done in multiplayer or if you’re trying to beat a speedrunning record or some score record. Fun is meant to be how you find it.
The only games I ever used cheats on were games where I wanted to experience the story of the game but found it to be prohibitively difficult to get through (Silver Surfer for NES and Einhänder for PlayStation are two that come to mind—I used a Game Genie and Game Shark respectively). One game where it was the opposite was Grand Theft Auto 3 (and Vice City). I have never actually played the storylines of those games. I just really enjoyed pulling rampages and wandering around. So I’d employ cheats to do that.
Yeah, cheating is awesome.
I cheat on a lot of single player games and I’m happy to tell anyone. It makes gaming sooo much better. It’s one of the main reasons I favor pc gaming and have moved away from console. Cheating in competitive multi is nasty and I would never do that but for single-player it helps me reclaim time and avoid frustration. Grinding is a thing of the past - good riddance. I used to love it as a kid and I cannot stomach it now. Heavy punishments for failure is some sort of trend now and I don’t understand it and don’t want any part of it. I don’t want to replay 10 minutes to get back to where I was because it decided to send me back to the beginning of a level or a boss has 4 phases and I’m just stuck on the last one. I skip a lot of platforming in my action / adventure games - jumping around to climb a building is not why I’m playing. Rng for rewards - skip that too. Grinding and save scumming and guides were all strategies to work around annoyances but cheating is much faster and easier. I don’t make the game trivial I just make it so that I’m enjoying the fun parts and avoiding the tedious parts that I no longer have the time and patience for.
It strongly depends on the game and the definition of cheating. I do mod a lot of games, and some mods make them easier/give me advantages so that can be seen as cheating. If a game has MTX I always cheat myself everything I can buy, either the premium currency or the items directly. You might be rich enough to buy your way to success, I’m smart enough to do the same thing without spending a dime. Other than that, I may use a cheat or two if I get to a point in a game that frustrates me, be it because of difficulty or grind. I do enjoy an occational challenge and I have quite a tolerance for grind, but both have a limit and once it is reached, I prefer to just skip ahead and continue from there.
One thing I loved to do was counter-cheating in multiplayer games. I had my cheating setup ready but disabled and play the game normally until I met another cheater, then I started everything and showed him how its done until he gave up and left. Good times. But once my interests shifted more and more away from multiplayer pvp I eventually also stopped doing that.
Ive never needed to cheat to win, but i still use cheats to make games more fun (used to, when cheats were a thing without needing mods).
I did play as oddjob a couple of times though, and thats about as scummy as it gets.
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I still remember that game shark code years later. I still remember which digits to change to screw with the game in fun ways. I learned hexidecimal because of cheating.
In online games cheating is a dick move but in single player it’s just another way to enjoy the game.
As an elder gamer, I have a much better sense of what cheats will enhance my enjoyment of a game and which ones will ruin it.
So I do what I think will make me happy and I’m usually pretty accurate.
Single player games, it’s to be expected. Some games even build it in. Multiplayer, you have a special circle of hell just for you.
I grew up typing IDDQD and never once felt bad about it. Single player is your sandbox. Online is the only place cheating actually costs someone else their fun.
Mostly with Sega genesis, n64, etc when I was kid. It was fun. And one and only time I used in multiplayer was Diablo 2 in hardcore when I was a teen, I used those tppk program for a bit, just messing around and pk’d a couple of players. And I haven’t since then.
I don’t see point in cheating in PvP games, I want to develop a skill. But nowadays I avoid most multiplayer PvP games anyway because of cheaters. I enjoy solo, pve and group play more than PvP.
Single player = absolutely
Multiplayer = absolutely not (unless we all unanimously agree to cheat, confirmation is required)
I can’t wait until my group finishes the actual content of Valheim so we can turn on cheats and build giant castles
Valheim rules. I just want to farm all day, I don’t need enemies.
I’ve recently played a bunch of Valheim and Enshrouded, and modded both a bit.
The mods I’m seeing in these games are overwhelmingly cheat mods. Not like aimbot in counter strike, but like… Many different flavors of trying to get to creative mode without being in creative mode. It’s all just cheating. And most of it is AI slop. SOOOO much AI slop.
Singleplayer? Who cares. Cheat mods can be fun. You’re not messing anyone else’s day up, and as long as you’re not making any claims about your skill based on cheating it’s not even worth discussing.
Competitive multiplayer cheaters can get fucked, though.
Yes. Mostly Money and Inventory Space. I’m already grinding and at full capacity in real life. Why should it follow me into my hobby space? Health, mana, legendary weapons/armor, levels/experience points, one hit kill… Almost never. Only if the game starts to become unfair. But I still like to have a challenge.
cheat in local games only because I only have an hour or so of game time and I just want to have an enjoyable experience and not a challenge.
