Every game has rules and a means of breaking those rules. Videogames, which are among the most complex games on the planet, feature suitably complex means of cheating. There are in-game codes, hacks, mods, code-altering devices, algorithms, walkthroughs, and many other means of breaking down a game in order to do what you're not supposed to do.
Though "cheating" is a grimy word, its contested status in gaming proves that it's not easily defined. There's a twisted honor granted to those who dedicate themselves to finding ways through a game's defenses, whereas other hackers are hated. Certain aspects of cheating are considered a fascinating and celebrated part of videogame culture, but drawing the line is not as easy as it seems.
Dragons, unicorns, and bots
Multiplayer games are especially subject to cheaters. Moderators can patrol the games to make sure that everyone plays fairly, but it's simply not possible to keep an eye on everyone. There're recorded instances of cheating in organized games and sports, but the numbers don't touch the disregard for authority and fair play that you find in online games.
Gaming webcomic Penny Arcade summed up the issue with a strip that illustrated the "Greater Internet F***wad Theory:" a normal person + anonymity + an audience = total f***wad. More than one irritated Spartan who has met an unfair death on the battlefield has referenced this theory.
Though multiplayer games are generally known to be at least as lawless as the actual battlefield, no game genre has earned a reputation for cheaters more than massively multiplayer online RPGs (MMORPGs). With millions of subscribers inhabiting the fantasy worlds found in such games as World of WarCraft, Final Fantasy XI, and Ragnarok Online, there's bound to be a certain percentage of players who want to make their pretend lives easier or gain recognition. Despite the use of customizable avatars in MMORPGs, there's undeniably a desire to be the best and own the best stuff, and it so happens that the road to glory is paved with an insufferable amount of level grinding.
"I once used a bot on Ragnarok Online," admits one anonymous gamer from New York who got bored with grinding for experience and rare-item drops. "In Ragnarok Online, the amount of time needed to get to the next level rises really fast as you go up."
From needs come solutions. The Internet is filled with downloadable hacks, bots, and exploits that lurch around the battlefield, slay monsters, and collect loot while kings-to-be pound a few cold ones. If a player is cunning and can avoid detection from moderators, they can rear a godly character in little time. Browsing Hack Directory is like shopping at a cheater's market: It has directories filled with bots that are ready to take on monotonous leveling and farming jobs.
Nobody loves an unmanned bot. But how do you feel about real players who farm gold for the purposes of exchanging it for actual cash? Can that still be considered cheating?
MMORPG blogger Tobold takes an extensive look at cheating as it applies to MMORPGs. He references IGE (Internet Gaming Entertainment), a company that services the virtual economies of several MMORPGs by letting players buy in-game currency with credit cards. "IGE isn't cheating, because they aren't even playing," he argues. "The farmers aren't cheating as long as they aren't using bots to farm. They are playing the game in a particular way but inside the rules of the game."
Tobold does stress that "they aren't playing nice, which makes them a nuisance," but that in the case of a game like World of WarCraft, it's really up to Blizzard, not the player, to define "cheating." "In cases where selling virtual items is against the [end-user license agreement], they are in infringement of the EULA, and thus 'illegal,' and could rightfully get banned. But that is a breach of contract between them and Blizzard, not an issue of 'cheating' in the game and ethics."
Sponsor
WAR kills AoC, not WoW 
