Growing up when I was gaming in the 90s and on, I knew of the stigma of cheating in video games. You were seen as stupid, someone incapable of completing challenges on your own. You were seen as lowly, someone who can never go through life without cheating. Like, it was a pretty big deal as I grew up, hearing all of this for years on end.
I’ve been able to beat games without cheating, of course. But during my late teens and early adulthood, I just tried going past the stigma. Cheating in video games don’t necessarily reflect how you handle life and don’t translate. I’ve found it quite fun to cheat in video games. Probably not in multiplayer and especially on the receiving end.
I even use cheats just to beat games anymore, who the hell cares. People only care if you want to make a big deal about it, by showing it to everyone and boast how you’ve beaten a game in record times. I’ve tried beating some games head on without cheats but there just comes a point where you ask yourself if it is fun dying a hundred times at some part of a game. I don’t think so, personally.
So yeah, I don’t have the stigma anymore. I kinda like how gamers today only care about cheating if it was done in multiplayer or if you’re trying to beat a speedrunning record or some score record. Fun is meant to be how you find it.
I don’t understand people who hate on people that cheat in singleplayer games. You are the only person affected by that and if it makes it more fun for you then why not?
I don’t see any ethical issue with it, just an artistic one. To me, it’s akin to altering dialog or story in a film or book. IMO, for a first play-through, you should want to experience what the game’s creator wanted you to experience, even if it’s uncomfortable. After that, mod and cheat to your heart’s content.
To me, the ability for a game to simulate situations which force you to confront emotions you would otherwise avoid or never have is what makes games an art form. The first time you lose a pawn in Rimworld, getting frustrated at a boss in Elden Ring, your favorite Pokemon evolving, meeting a new neighbor in Animal Crossing, falling in lava in minecraft; all of these moments could be cheapened or circumvented entirely by cheating, and IMO the only person you’ve cheated is yourself out of a unique experience. I call it Emotional Min/Maxing, and I consider it a form of optimizing the fun out of a game.
I remember when I first found reddit and ventured into game subs such as for Don’t Starve.
oh the shit I was given for using a save mod so that I didn’t lose my 300 hours of progress because I forgot to pause the game when leaving my desk for a few minutes. like fuck off, I play the game to have fun and relax, I don’t want to start a new world every time I die, I have a life and I don’t have time to put in a thousand hours to get good enough that I never make mistakes and can enjoy a long play world without stressing about permadeath. but boy did some people ever take personal offence to me not playing the game exactly how it was purchased and how they chose to.
Lol that happened to me playing Don’t Starve. I never opened it again
if you like that type of game (base building, exploration, farming, survival, combat), I highly recommend giving it another try. I haven’t played it in a while, but if the modding scene was great a few years ago that I’m sure it’s just as good now.
I typically played with quality of life mods like material stacking (less time spent running back and forth moving items around), save games (death resets you to the start of the day, not deletes your world), and some food things to make the game less grindy and focused on resource management (food spoilage rates changed). the core mechanics of the game are all still there, but it’s much more friendly for the casual player who is looking to relax, allowing you to focus on the parts that are fun like building up to fight a giant and exploring.
IIRC mods are also very easy to install with the built-in mod configurator in the game — no need to use an external launcher or manually manage mods like with Minecraft
I might give it a spin with mods. I liked pretty much everything else about the game.
I admittedly didn’t get very far, maybe 60 days? But it was furthest I got by WEEKS and I just couldn’t bring myself to start over
totally understandable
it is one of my favourite games. I never think of it as being a game on which I have a high play time, but the stats show differently lol