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.

  • Loshana Aloka@infosec.pubEnglish
    2·
    8 hours ago

    My answer: Yes, I do cheat and mod games. Got a habit of save scumming here and there. I have had wrote my own simple cheats for some older multiplayer games too. These were either a learning experience or, for singleplayer, just to goof mostly after completing a campaign or when replaying it.

    The interesting part for me is that researching and developing on cheats had solidified my interest to work in cyber (which I work in right now). There’s handful of people I know who had branched off to interesting tech positions similarly. It does offer an interesting perspective for technical folks. It is very much facilitated by technical knowledge out there compared to 90s (even after you exclude AI-assisted methods in the recent years).

    But I do sympathise with many others here. Its not fun to be in the receiving end (unless you are playing with friends lol). My advice is try to have a good sportsmanship when you are playing with others. Go crazy with your singleplayer stuff. Games are meant to be fun and experimental.