←back to thread

379 points mobeigi | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.001s | source
Show context
ultimafan ◴[] No.41863289[source]
Cheating in online games is a scourge and I really don't understand why people do it. It's one person selfishly getting a "win" at the expense of ~60 other people in that match having their time, pleasure, potentially money absolutely wasted.

I think even more infuriating than blatant hacking is this epidemic of "micro cheating" for lack of a better way to put it that I've seen prevalent in some games that just boost some stats or reactions by amounts large enough to help the cheater but low enough where new or inexperienced players have absolutely no way of telling if someone is cheating or genuinely good especially in games with high skill ceilings. At least when it's blatant you can leave without time wasted but when they're doing it subtly you end up getting tilted and spending the whole match with a bad taste in your mouth second guessing if someone is actually playing fair or not. Chivalry 2 is a really bad offender for this, once you notice it you can't unnotice it anymore, almost every match will have at least one guy with his swing/move speed adjusted by ~10% and in a game where swing manipulation is a legitimate mechanic it can be borderline impossible to catch someone out on it unless you're really paying attention.

replies(6): >>41863734 #>>41864567 #>>41865238 #>>41867087 #>>41867345 #>>41867642 #
daghamm ◴[] No.41863734[source]
Cheating is also big business. Players can pay big bucks to rent (!) a cheat.

IIRC there is an episode on darkness diaries podcast about this.

replies(2): >>41864752 #>>41866787 #
1. ultimafan ◴[] No.41864752[source]
Yeah I get that, I understand why cheat developers do what they do. It seems like there's a huge market and I find it hard to blame them trying to make a living- morality wise they're probably more worried about rent, bills, family than whether or not someone's game time is ruined. But it's only this way because so many people are willing enough to cheat that dropping money on it is fine for them. It's their psychology I don't really get. Even if they're doing it because they want the satisfaction of a "win", doesn't that victory feel hollow because it's something they paid money for? It's like the difference between a community valuing you enough to give you an award vs going down to the trophy shop and paying someone a make you your own trophy that doesn't really mean anything.