To cheat or not to cheat

[Rincewind]

What do you prefer to do when it comes to game? Take the hard route and beat it with no cheats, or take the simple route and beat it with cheat codes.

I personally perfer not to cheat, as I get entitled to bragging rights. Also, I feel more of a sense of accomplishment as I level characters, or simply progress through the game. Plus, when I was once playing Star Ocean II, and a friend of a friend was watching me play, she asked if I had cheated to get the stats I had on my level 200 characters. I took great pride in telling her I didn't :D

[John Layfield]

I'll cheat out of boredom in a replay of a game sometimes, or just if I'm playing to get information more than anything else, testing game mechanics etc.

Otherwise, no. Anyone who cheats in their first play-through shouldn't have a computer. Most games these days are too easy anyway.
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One day, I shall come back. Yes, we shall all come back. Until then, there must be no regrets, no tears, no anxieties. Just go forward in all your beliefs and prove to me that I am not mistaken in mine.

[Tonberry]

I would have to say no. Cheating takes the fun and challenge out of a game. I do not cheat unless it is part of the game. By that, I mean I do sometimes take advantage of glitches to help me out. I don't cheat, however, until I have beat a game. I do not use devices designed for cheating, but I do chaet codes in games where they offer a cheat-code entry space.

For example, let's take Final Fantasy VII. I would never use a gameshark to get infinate HP and such, but I would use the W-Item glitch to get item duplicates.

[Benit149]

I use guidebooks and online FAQs to learn where things are located and how to get them, such as legendary weapons, secret characters, and miscellaneous items. The Suikoden series is a prime suspect for this b/c they're enormous in extra features.

As for cheating devices like GameShark and Game Genie, there's only one time I used the SNES Genie: for Maximum Carnage. It gets very difficult towards the later levels, regardless if you're playing Spider-Man or Venom, and having a couple of codes is a lifesaver.

But other than that, I don't resort to cheating my first time around. I'm more focused on learning the story before getting into the game mechanics. I don't have a GameShark, and I don't intend on getting one.
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"Luca Blight, patron saint of population decrease." -- Benit, MST149

Benit149: First Lady of Addervon, Princess of Slight Fever, defender of the Nameless.

[Ranadiel]

I personally cheat on a lot of RPGs that I play, but I think that it is perfectly ok. the primary reason that I cheat is to speed the game up by decreasing the time of random battles. This is in order to allow me to play more games because, as with everyone's time, my time is limited. My other reason is that I play RPGs for the story and not for the challenge. As such I don't care if I decrease the challenge since the story is still there. I try to limit myself only to money and level up codes though. Unless it is necessary for some point in the game I won't mess with stats though.

However if I don't have any other games I want to play at the moment, I try to play the game witout cheats. On a side note hacking can be really useful when you are trying to learn about how the game systems work.
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"Ye shall be as gods."

Titles: Harmonian Tenki Star, Harmonian Jousting Champion

[Vincent Chase]

It really depends on what you consider 'Cheating'.

If you mean using things like the GameShark, then I can say no, I would never do something like this. What's the point of taking an already fun game and giving you complete mastery over it?

However, when I was about 5 (and it was about that young because I remember living in my old house) I got a Game Genie for Christmas. That was kind of fun, like using it to get Mario to Moonwalk in Super Mario Bros. 3, but I was really young and couldn't comprehend the depth and concepts of gaming that I can now. It was all just about having fun back then, man those times rocked.

However, if by cheat you also mean go to GameFAQS and use an FAQ, then I'd have to say I do that sometimes. If gaming was still in the stone age like it was before then you wouldn't see people having to go to these sites as often. however, since they've gotten pretty crazy over the last 15 years, these sites need to exist. I have used GameFAQS and will probably use it again in the future.

[Sierra Mikain]

Well I consider using a walkthrough being cheating since I never use codes and junk that you can get online.

I never use walkthroughs unless I'm playing a game that is pointless to try and figure out, such as Tomb Raider 2. I have RARELY used an online walkthrough on RPGs that don't tell you what to do next, which really can irk the heck out of me.

For example: You just got done with a huge dungeon and it's followed by a lot of ranting by important characters where they say something along the lines of "Yes... now lets take care of business" and then you're stuck with no Idea where to go in a world that would take 4,000,000 random encounters to figure it out. Of course this is rare, but I don't want to play RPGs to play hide and seek... I want to advance the story and get to the next boss.

[Anamanaguchi]

Cheating is for cheaters and noobs.

[Sage]

I rarely use online walkthroughs etc. I prefer to use ingame hints and such to get things done (like recruiting 108 people :) ). I really dislike spoilers and no faq/walkthrough is 100% spoiler free. On the other hand, I will ask my friends for pointers or help. I used a game boy gameshark a lot back in the day just for kicks and giggles, but by then I had already played the game several times. I will take advantage of ingame oversights and glitches; as far as I'm concerned they're part of the game so why not?
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[Sophita]

What does it matter? Whether one uses a cheating device ot not is a personal decision. Some people feel it takes the fun out of the game. Others feel it helps them to have fun with the game. It's a personal thing.

(That said, multiplayer cheaters S-U-C-K. No, really, they suck. It's one thing to give yourself quick level ups and unlimited cash in your own game; it's another to do it in a setting where that gives you a serious advantage over other players. Keep cheats to single player mode only, plz.)

Personally, I've used a codebreaker before to debug a game and find things that the developers didn't necessarily intend the audience to do or find, ie switch one fighter's moveset with another's skin or putting an unplayable character into your party. I think that's fun. I don't use it to get unlimtied cash etc because that would be boring for me - for others though, it may vary.
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[Vincent Chase]

Alot of nice material for me to elaborate on for #600. Here goes:

Anamanaguchi says:

[Falcon Critical]

Depends on the game. My hand-eye coordination is shocking and therefore many platform games become unplayable for me. If I really want to see the story then there are ways I will look into, and also games like Tomb Raider, once I beat it the first time I go back through for secrets and fun, in this situation its nice to have a good selection of weapons and not be watching my ammo the whole time.

Of course in games like Resident Evil they have mini games to complete that unlock things like infinite ammo. These are ... well sort of cheats but I get them legitimately so...

The main reason I would cheat is if I pay good money for a game and then find it unplayable ( generally due to my bad coordination ) then I will try to find ways to get around it and actually finish the game... getting my moneys worth.
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[Kohaku]

You ain't gonna die by cheating, that's for sure.

I always used a walkthrough the second time I played a game, or everytime I got stuck in my game. I never used any cheating code or device or whatever, only guide, or sometimes when it's a PC RPG, I used the editor just for fun not for serious playing.

I don't really care actually whether people cheating to finished the game or not. The matter is the fun point, that you play a game for cherishing yourself. I don't use cheat because it ain't fun for me (easy to beat game is no funIMO), but some people might find it enjoyable to be...like a god in a game, it's up to them of course, after all the game is theirs.
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[Noot]

I usually play through a game one time without cheats (maybe look at a walk-through to get those better items and whatnot, though not often). Then if I decide to cheat in a subsequent playthrough, I see no problem if I already beat it legit.

Take "the series that shall not be named" VIII for example. There's quite a nifty GameShark code where you have infinite of EVERY card in that minigame. I tried my best to find the important ones in my first playthrough but unfortunately that didn't work out. But since I've played it at least 10 times, I feel no shame in using a cheat to skip over one of the most tedious aspects of that game.

That's the only time I cheat--after I've completed/mastered the game on my own.

And I totally agree with Sophita on the multi-player games. As a former Diablo II: Expansion addict, I can tell you first hand that people who cheated made that game worse, and it's one of the reasons why I don't play it anymore. In a multi-player setting, co-opeartion is the most important thing, not totally destroying the game through uber-hacks that ruin the experience for other players. I used to love building up a character to level 85-90 and go out dueling in Hell mode, but that was made impossible because of the rampant duping in the servers. Cheating can kill a gaming experience and make the accomplishments within the game less meaningful.
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~~Harmonian Tenhei Star~~

It's hard to bargle naudle zauss with all these marbles in my mouth.

[Rincewind]