People who think cheating in single player games is "wrong" are nuts

[HeXploiT]

People who think cheating in single player games is "wrong" are a few sandwich's short of a picnic.

Seriously I was browsing around for cheats for Company of Heroes(and would you believe it there are almost NONE that help you progress in the game) and pondering posting a thread about it and my mind went back to numerous times I've heard people over the years talk as if cheating in single player games was morally wrong. How screwy would you have to be to think like this?

I wonder if there is anyone here who has the courage to fess up to this belief?

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

It's not morally wrong, but it definitely destroys a lot of the value of the game. They generally cease to be entertaining much faster when you've already skipped to the last level and are invincible.

 

[SlitheryDee]

Not morally wrong, but it usually isn't as fun. Make a game too easy and you have the luxury of getting one dimensional in your playing strategy. Then the game gets repetitive, boring, and unrewarding.

 

[JD50]

I remember back in the Nintendo NES days when I first got a gameshark, it was pretty damn awesome for the first 20 minutes or so, then it got old. Cheating is fun at first, but it gets old quick.

 

[Dumac]

I don't badger people for cheating in singleplayer games. It is their own independent experience, and it doesn't effect me. However, I do think it cripples the overall gaming experience. But again, it's their own experience. Whatever swings their string.

I absolutely HATE those who cheat in multiplayer games, though.

 

[Tristicus]

Fuck people that say using cheats is wrong. Some of the best days of my life were spent screwing around in THPS and GTA with cheats.

 

[Zenoth]

It's not morally wrong, but it definitely destroys a lot of the value of the game. They generally cease to be entertaining much faster when you've already skipped to the last level and are invincible.

Voila, pretty simple.

I sometimes cheat "for the heck of it" and try out of a few things (or even discover bugs or incomplete areas otherwise locked away from the "normal" game with cheats like no clipping for instance), but not until I complete the concerned game at least once, sometimes more. I own many single-player games (or games with a single-player mode) in which I still never cheated for various reasons, such as lack of interest (after I complete it) or lack of interesting cheat codes (infinite ammunition, all weapons, invincibility, those are classics and most of the time just boring after a short period). Give me interesting cheats with which I can "discover" things or simply "observe" environments or the A.I without being shot at or attacked all the time such as invisibility or no clipping, or humorous cheats like big heads or slowing the flow/time of the game (such as in the Turok games for example) and I will try out a few things to have fun here and there.

An essential rule to me however is to never cheat until I've completed the game at least once, after that it still depends on a few things as mentioned above, other than that I have nothing "against" cheating off-line in single-player games. The thing is... why would anyone even bother mentioning that they do cheat in single-player games in the first place? I mean other than for the purpose of searching on the web for cheats that the player(s) would be unaware of, of course, because really no one has to "know" about that, it doesn't affect nor should it affect their life, doesn't ensure that their pay check will have more zeros on it and won't make the local pizzeria have the best pizzas in the world nor will it make pink elephants play volleyball... it doesn't make sense to me why anyone would go about on forums just to let others know « hey, guys, I cheat in my games off-line, what do you think about that? » (as I said, outside of the context in which the players are actually looking for cheat codes on the Internet).

And, for me as well ultimately I think that eventually cheating in almost any games (unless the cheats are very interesting, original and funny to try out, which is quite rare especially nowadays) decreases its re-play value.

 

[Powermoloch]

No one gets hurt while cheating in just "single player" mode. If someone spend their good earned money to buy a game that they enjoy and chose to use cheats. Then why not?

I used a cheat code for F.E.A.R 1 just to get right at the ending (since I finished it before a long time ago w/o any cheats). I have no time to finish it all the way (fun game though nonetheless!!!). no harm done right?

 

[Elcs]

My rules are:

Play the game, enjoy it and only use a guide if I am royally stuck or think there is a bug.

Using cheats and guides are there for me only to enhance the gameplay once I have completed a successful playthrough of the game.. exception being FF7 on the PS1 where I used a Materia guide and a Chocobo guide from the start.

Unfortunately there are games that almost require you to be trawling forums or guides such as the Star Wolves series. Perhaps one of the best games I have played from a gameplay aspect (Freelancer meets Homeworld meets RPG) but it was created by a Russian developer who unfortunately left a lot to be desired in some of their Russian -> English translation and that creates difficulties when a slight deviation in course in certain scripted areas initiates a scripted "you are dead" cutscene. Also although the scripted sequences are rather good in most instances, certain scripts tend to break and this can completely ruin the experience, having to go back to a previous save to progress. Without guides or forum intervention, it may not be possible to find these 'flaws'.

As said in the OP, there are some games where the "cheats" are simply commands to enable the console or display FPS. It would be handy if GameFAQS.com encorporated these commands into a different section as they are not cheats.

BTW... Star Wolves 1, 2 & 3 are on sale via Steam. Worth picking up in my opinion

 

[Sylvanas]

Whatever floats your boat. Personally I see no point in using cheats in a singleplayer game as that defeats the purpose of what I paid for- I want something that will hold my attention and challenge me, perhaps causing me to think or react differently to situations. For me, that is where the fun is, god mode and invincible will hold my attention for about 3 seconds.

 

[dfuze]

To each their own in single player. It affects no one else's game play other than your own so I think it should be up to the user. If getting past certain areas by using cheats is what makes a game fun for you, then go for it.

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

It's fine in single-player, it just completely ruins it. The game should be played first time round as is, without mods or cheats. Second time onwards, the cheats and mods are there for people to experiment with and muck around, but it ruins it if you haven't gone through it at least once.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Dude, Jedi Knight II was all about the cheating.

Full force powers + saber realistic combat ftw

 

[Maximilian]

Cheats in single player are great, i dont use them much, if GTA IV had a tank i would use the spawn tank cheat there but it dosent (f u rockstar) so i never bothered cheating. Also despite being a massive starcraft fan i totally cheated my way through the campaign all those years ago heh, it was too much like age of empires 2, build base destroy enemy AI over and over then eventually it would become build base destroy 2x or 4x enemy AI's. Warcraft 3's campaign was a lot more colorful and fun i actually finished that legitly. Cheats are fine as long as you dont make a habit of cheating through every single game otherwise the experience is ruined.

 

[pmv]

I'm still looking for the cheat codes to Real Life. For example, turning clipping off would be useful. As would some sort of money cheat.

Just being able to load a earlier saved position would be a vast improvement - its ridiculous we don't get any saves at all. What is this, a console game?

 

[Sentrosi2121]

Guides only when I need them. Like the first time I fought Kazdan Paratus in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.
Otherwise I'll only cheat if I've beaten the game already.

 

[KeithTalent]

Once I have played through a game, if I found the game enjoyable at all, it can be rather fun to go through and play with cheats. Sometimes you can see all kinds of things you may have missed playing through normally, particularly in difficult games.

For a game like Hitman 2, which takes a lot of stealth and precision, it was a tonne of fun to run through in God Mode and act like a nutjob. :awe:

KT

 

[Gibsons]

I had a lot of fun using the map editor to cheat in Civ 4. I wish they'd made it harder to access from the real game actually. There were a few games I was playing legit, then some weird almost-random disaster happens and the editor button was right there...

anyway, one thing I did was make a 'cheat map.' Spawn a random large map, then build a small custom island just slam full of resources, but only enough room for about 5-8 cities. Not a very challenging game.

 

[acheron]

I'm still looking for the cheat codes to Real Life. For example, turning clipping off would be useful. As would some sort of money cheat.

Just being able to load a earlier saved position would be a vast improvement - its ridiculous we don't get any saves at all. What is this, a console game?

Even console games usually have save points.

I know some people who said they saved after going to church, but I went to one and didn't see any save points there either.

 

[Kirby]

i've got to the point where after a hard day's work i really don't want a challenge sometimes. it's nice to zone out, enjoy the story, and blow shit up. it's also easier to drink beer because you don't have to worry about pausing in a bad spot.

 

[rivethead]

I've had several run-ins with my 11 year old over cheats. I've caught him using cheats on several Xbox 360 games. He uses the cheat, flys through the game and then is like "I'm bored". "Well maybe you shouldn't have cheated your way through your game. Now you don't have anything exciting/challenging to play and you don't have any $$ for a new one!"

The bigger issue for me is this: if he's succumbed to the temptation of cheating at video games will he also succumb to the temptation to cheat at school?

So yes, there's a moral implication for me.

But I'm not passing judgement on those who do! This is more a parenting issue.

 

[dank69]

Not wrong, just lame.

 

[MJinZ]

Fuck people that say using cheats is wrong. Some of the best days of my life were spent screwing around in THPS and GTA with cheats.

That sounds incredibly inane and a gigantic waste of time.

 

[Regs]

Sometimes I like to play god.

 

[TheKub]

Just being able to load a earlier saved position would be a vast improvement - its ridiculous we don't get any saves at all. What is this, a console game?

In case you havnt noticed you are playing on a hard core server, and besides you can save your game every time you go to sleep your character is saved and time advances ~8 hours.