A Question of Morals: Cheat Yourself, But Don’t Cheat Me

In this increasingly competitive world we inhabit, cheating the system has become almost as American as mom and steroid-laced apple pie. Every aspect of our existence has been taken advantage of by people willing to do anything to get ahead. From sports to the stock market, our headlines are full of frauds and swindlers. So it makes perfect sense that our video games are similarly exploited by cheat codes and glitches.

One might go so far as to say that video games actually promote cheating. Ask any gamer, and chances are they have at least heard of the Konami Code, one of the most famous cheats from the NES era. Almost every game has some sort of cheat code system in place nowadays, and for those that do not, cheats can be forced into the game by way of accessories such as Game Shark or Xploder (and also by some dedicated hacking, I’m sure). With so many ways to cheat, beating the system should be just another part of playing the game, right?

Not according to Peter Molyneux, creator of the Fable series. Shortly after the release of Xbox LIVE Arcade title Fable II Pub Games, which allows players to earn money to transfer into the upcoming Fable II, dedicated gamers found a glitch that allowed them to make mountains of gold with little effort. When knowledge of the glitch became widespread, Molyneux’s Lionhead Studios announced that not only would the glitch be patched, but that there might be some kind of penalty for the cheaters. If the actions of Mr. Molyneux are any indication, many out there feel that exploiting your video games’ weaknesses is morally objectionable, deserving of retribution in hopes you may change your evil ways.

But why should we be punished for using such cheats and glitches? After all, these devices were placed in the game by the designers, knowingly or not. Shouldn’t that give us the right to use the game we purchased in the manner we so please? Maybe, maybe not. In the instance of Fable II, I think Mr. Molyneux is simply going as far as he can towards preserving his vision of how his creation should be played. Just think of how little challenge there would be if everyone was immediately able to buy the best equipment, magic attacks and land. The game’s difficulty could drop exponentially, paving the way to the least desired emotion that a video game could possibly produce: boredom.

Personally, I agree with Mr. Molyneux’s ideals, as I don’t want to change my optimal gaming experience any more than I want to re-edit a Martin Scorsese film. Yet even so, it is your game: you should be free to ruin the difficulty (and your enjoyment of the creator’s vision) if you really want to. Furthermore, some gamers’ only hope for completing the more challenging games may be through the use of cheat codes and the exploitation of glitches. Should we judge these “abusers of the system” as breaking the moral code of gaming? If so, I should have been thrown in video game prison many moons ago just for experimenting with my old NES games.

But there is one place where cheaters should be dealt with, preferably with malice: online, “competing” with other players. I can remember the joy of playing capture the flag in Halo 2 only to have some scumbag rip the flag through the concrete floor, giving them a head start for their base. Taking advantage of glitches such as this not only destroys the challenge for the cheater, but also ruins the experience for all of the gamers in that match. Fortunately, much like in the Olympics, online cheaters tend to get booted from their games, giving the more respectable gamers a few moments of peace before the next cheater rears his or her swindling head.

Am I being unfair to these gaming charlatans? With so many different ways to cheat in video games, can we truly use a gamer’s less-honorable habits as a way to judge their character? I think that can best be answered by adapting one of my favorite lines from George Orwell’s Animal Farm: “All cheaters are created equal, but some cheaters are more despicable than others.” If you want to use cheats or glitches to alter your personal video game experience, be my guest—the only person you could possibly hurt is yourself. But the minute anyone tries to use a cheat to get the upper hand on me during a Halo 3 match, let them pray I don’t have a Spartan Laser.