Does Using A Mod Make You A Cheater?

[vergilfairlock]

I hope you will stay for my discussions, and stay later for brain pie.

 

Well my fellow citizens of gamers, I have a question for you all. Does using a mod make you a cheater? This question came to while playing a modded version of Doom, a Simpson mod to be exact, and I notice how easily the enemies could be identified in relativity of the scenery. I kept think that the original intent of the designers of the game, meant for this game to be dark and fearful. Due to the brightness of the characters, I was able to react more quickly, and in turn die less often. Now my reason for using the modification was strictly out of love for the show, but there was an unintentional advantage due its usage. Now apply these concepts to modern day game modifications. If you could please answer the following questions before answering my original question, it would be deeply appreciated, as this for research purposes. Please answer them in bullet or numbered formation, and if you don't feel comfortable posting them here, please contact me via my email [email protected].

 

1. What game are you using the mod for?

2. What is the modification you are using?

3. What is your reason for using a modification?

4. What is your race in real life?

5. What is your age in real life?

6. Does using a mod make you a cheater?

 

Thanks,

 

V. F.

 

P.S. Shadow hide you

[ArmeniusLOD]

1. Oblivion: The Elder Scrolls IV

 

2. FCOM Convergence (including all optional add-ons found here and here), Race Balancing Project, Less Annoying Magic Experience

 

3. To expand the content of the original game, which I feel is severely lacking in atmosphere an immersion. Plus, I've played through the game originally on the Xbox 360 and I figure modifications is a perk on PC that should be taken advantage of. There are a lot of talented people out there who do impressive work.

 

4. White/Non-Hispanic

 

5. 26

 

6. No, it just changes the way the game is played. I feel that cheating only applies to exploiting the original game so it is played in a manner that was not originally intended. A couple of examples are using "hidden worlds" and exploiting the Havok physics engine (paintbrush glitch or repeatedly grabbing an item). I feel that things such as 100% Chameleon are just working the way the game is programmed and not necessarily an oversight.

[ZeonTwilight]

1. What game are you using the mod for?

 

Fallout 3

 

2. What is the modification you are using?

 

Oh...lots...

 

3. What is your reason for using a modification?

 

To breathe new life into a game I've played to death.

 

4. What is your race in real life?

 

...? not sure what that has to do with anything, but I'm white.

 

5. What is your age in real life?

 

21

 

6. Does using a mod make you a cheater?

 

 

I think the real quest is, "Does it matter?" Some of my mods make the game harder (New super mutants, more Raiders.) Some make it both harder and easier (Realistic damage, modern weapons, ect.) and others make it easier (Megaton home expanded, perk packs, ect)

 

Does it make me a cheater? I still die plenty, I don't use infinite health or anything, I still make sure the game gives me a challenge (Unlike oblivion did when I figured out 100% Chameleon) and I'm having fun with it.

 

I guess if pressed for a black and white answer, I'd say no, it doesn't make you a cheater, it makes you a modder. besides, I played vanilla FO3 to death, I deserve to be able to mess with reality now that I have the mighty power of the console commands and mods, especially when you consider the fact I have both means I bought the game twice.

 

 

TLDR, It doesn't matter as long as you're having fun, especially since it's a single player game..

[Ferryt]

The poll

 

1. What game are you using the mod for?
   
   • I've used mods in a number of games -- Star Trek: Armada, Conquest: Frontier Wars, Starcraft, Borderlands, and The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion

[*]What is the modification you are using?

• I couldn't even begin to list all the mods I've used for all those games, so I won't even try.

[*] What is your reason for using a modification?

• Let's stick to Oblivion, since that's what this forum is about and it's the only game I'm actively playing at this time. I'm a role-player who likes immersion in games. Most of the mods I install are related to that in some way -- adding new quests, perhaps modifying existing quests (such as the Whispered Warning mod for the Dark Brotherhood), and adding content or modifying the gameplay to make it more realistic and immersive. Interestingly, the mods I use, in almost all games, tend to make the games more difficult to play, but I play for the fun and the challenge, and not just for the satisfaction of beating up monsters and NPCs.

[*]What is your race in real life?

• What does this have to do with gaming? I was tempted to just ignore this question, but I'll answer it, anyway. My ethnic background is Irish, except for one known Scottish ancestor somewhere back in the middle of the fifteenth Century.

[*]What is your age in real life?

• Perhaps semi-relevant to gaming. 34. I'm surprised you didn't also ask our genders. That would actually have been an interesting statistic.

 

The question: 6. Does using a mod make you a cheater?

 

• 
  The long version: It depends upon the mod, doesn't it? Sure you can find cheat mods. The mod section for this site is full of them. Most of the mods I use for Oblivion make the game more difficult in some way or another. Some of them (like clearing up the murky water just a little bit) make things easier, but lets face it -- Bethesda dropped the ball badly in a few cases. Look at how many mods exist to fix bugs in the game, for instance. Does using a body replacement mod to make your character look more like a real person constitute cheating? How about a mod that rebalances animals and other creatures, actually making them tougher to kill? I think there's a misconception by some people that the only reason people mod games is to make them easier to play, but that's simply not the case.
   
  The short version: no.

[ArmeniusLOD]

I was kind of hesitant about the race question, too. I've been around a lot of different peoples and when it comes to gaming the love for it is pretty much universal. I was actually kind of taken aback by the sheer diversity when I attended Full Sail University: dark-skinned hispanics, light-skinned hispanics, African-Americans, Arabs, Muslims, Indians, Japanese, Chinese, and yes even Canadians; all gamers. It was also interesting how similar our tastes and opinions were.

 

Now gender, that's a different question. I knew of only five females in the entire program.

[vergilfairlock]

Allow me to clarify a few things about this post so that there is not further confusion. I am studying to become part of the game design industry, and this inevitably requires me to due multiple research papers. Ergo, these papers require me to gather facts. My intention for this post was to find out if their was any correlation between the usage of modifications, age, and racial type. This was in no way an attempt to offend people or misuse this information. I am sorry for the confusion, but it was purely for academic purposes.

 

Thanks, and here is your brain pie.

 

 

[Genzel]

With games like the ones from Bethesda, modding was purposefully allowed. The construction set allows anyone to change whatever they like for any reason, cheating or not. Now, if you take a game like Call of Duty, with an online counterpart, modding is clearly cheating. I really only see cheating as if it is against another person, such as a semi-automatic gun which empties out the clip with one button push. In Oblivion, new aesthetically pleasing armor and immersive overhauls are not cheating, while god items just make the game easier. Its not really cheating unless its unfair for someone else. Just my thoughts.

[BFG99]

It definitely doesn't make me a cheater. Pretty much every one of my mods INCREASES difficulty.

[ub3rman123]

I suck so much at playing video games, cheating is the only way I can do anything. I use TGM whenever I try playtesting one of my mods. But no, most mods are very well balanced so they aren't cheating. Unless you play with a Sword of Epic Ub3rness, it's not likely cheating.

 

Besides, cheating is relative.

[limon36]

I mod so I can have more Terran Empire ships because most site have only Feds as the tops mods. So I have been their Feds ships/base to Terran Empire ones lol!!