Is It Considered Cheating?

[KnightSoul]

No, this has nothing to do with relationships. What I'm asking is how many people consider using player guide books as a form of cheating?

I've had this discussion several times with my friends and my opinion is that it isn't cheating since all the books do is tell you where to go and where to find what; they don't play the game for you or make you invincible like a Game Shark or Action Replay device.

A friend of mine once said, "Yeah, but part of the fun is wandering around and finding things on your own."

I looked at him and said, "You mean to tell me Kingdom Hearts would have been MORE fun if you DIDN'T know which Heartless dropped what you needed to make Ultima Weapon?"

I won that round.

 

[Firestorm]

It's not cheating. Hell, I don't think I could finish most games these days without GameFAQs. Most of the time, it's because I'm being completely retarded. Let's use Metroid Prime 2: Echoes as an example.

I wandered around looking for a ramp or some way to get to the second level of some area. I couldn't find it. I searched for months on and off. Finally, I checked GameFAQs. So where was it? I was fucking standing on it. Not only that, I had stood in that same exact spot at least a dozen times. I'd searched all over that room, but it seems the ramp was in front of my face RIGHT at the entrance. For some reason I'd never seen it.

Yeah, after that, my philosophy has been a few days of being stuck and screw it. I'm checking GameFAQs.

 

[toy]

its not like its aiding you in the defeat of some boss or enemy it just tells you where to find shit and help you find your way.

 

[CasMat]

I'm with Firestorm I guess. I usually only check guide books if I'm stuck and after a lot of trying I still can't figure it out... and usually its stupid stuff like a ladder that blends into the background or something like that.

I think it's sort of like knowing the exact questions on a test before you take it. It's kind of like cheating, but it's not like you know the answers. You still have to... do it. Depending on the games difficulty, guide books aren't always going to make the game easy... Personally, I think using a guide book before you've tried yourself makes a game boring. There's just no reason to not try it yourself first.

Of course I don't apply this to using one for easter eggs or other sorts of extras. Like for instance, I'd use a guide to get the skill points in Ratchet and Clank after I've done all of the obvious ones...

 

[Duckster]

I play video games for the story first and foremost. And honestly, if you can't progress after a reasonable ammount of time, the story comes to a complete hault and the game loses it's appeal.

Even if it is "cheating" I don't see why anyone would care in the first place.

 

[Thorns]

I only use guide books for easter eggs. I don't see it as cheating. It's a guide, not a Gameshark.

 

[Yuri]

It think it falls in between cheating and fair game, more to the fair game side. Like said before, it doesn't grant you infinite lives and etcetera so it is ok I guess. I used to look for guides after like 10 minutes stuck but when one of them ruined a game for me I only go for them as the very last resort.

 

[_Rex_]

I never check guides on G-FAQS unless I absolutely have to or until I have completed the game. Hell, I'm checking a guide for DBZ BT2 right now, but only because I finished all the scenarios and want to see if there are any extras.
I was playing Final Fantasy VII a while ago (I drop in and out of RPGs) and made a pact to never use a guide to complete the game. I was a little curious one night, peeked at a guide and discovered I missed the Ifrit Materia back at the Shin-Ra building. ):

 

[Sleep]

I feel no need to spend money on guides, unless it's concerning something (e.g. DP Pokedex) that would be difficult or impossible for me to get in hard copy.

No, it's not cheating, in my opinion; spending money on a guide doesn't give you an unfair advantage -- anyone can receive mostly the same benefit for free online.

 

[PixelTwist]

I don't see it as cheating, mostly because you still have to do whatever the guide is telling you to do. Even if it's something like telling you to shoot the boss in the heart, you still have the somehow manage to do it.

I also like having the guides to the games that I own, even if they're not really necessary.

 

[Atlas]

No, it's not cheating, in my opinion; spending money on a guide doesn't give you an unfair advantage -- anyone can receive mostly the same benefit for free online.

spending money or not isn't the issue, its whether reading guides (purchased or free) is considered cheating. i believe it is. you have the whole knowledge of where everything thing is in a game, as well as what you need to do, where to go or how to conquer said challenges.

 

[monkfish]

It depends what kind of game you're playing, obviously. If I want to be at the top of my game in a multiplayer FPS, I'm going to do everything I can to give me an advantage. But in a point-and-click puzzle, the whole joy is the satisfaction of solving them by yourself - checking what to do every step of the way is just redundant. RPGs would seem to fall in the middle, depending on whether you enjoy the game for competitive reasons, and the difficulty in some cases.

 

[Ecnemalas]

i mostly use guides to complete games 100%, in scenarios where i just have no fucking clue what to do. otherwise, i try my best to complete the game by myself, but for older games its so much harder.

 

[cookie]

With things like Pokemon I go straight to the guide because it's too painfully slow to mess around. If I use a guide it's because I have or will waste(d) a lot of time trying to progress in the game. As long as I get enjoyment from the game, which I do, there's no problem.

 

[Life]

Guide = No modification to the game
No modification = not cheating

 

[Steeler]

No, i mean guides are fine and all, especially for stuff like DK64 or the Pokedex where you'd probably have no chance whatsoever of completing 100%.

I have a collection of guides that I've bought over the years...but really what it does is take a lot of the fun and surprise out of games. Of course, you exchange that for knowledge of where/how/when to do everything...

 

[Sir Spanky]

I hate people that follow a guide all the way through the game. Just seems like a complete waste of the game imo. However if I am really stuck on a certain part, I will be happy to FAQ it.

 

[Judgement]

I don't consider guides to be cheating because it's just telling you where to go but it's not actually taking you there in the game; you're not modifying the game to get somewhere faster / to make your character/team/whatever better than it's supposed to be. Most people use them when they're stuck so it doesn't matter anyway.

I only use them when it's a game where I am either absolutely stuck or if I have no clue where to go / what to do.

 

[Vineon]

I dont like using faqs, but when I'm stuck I do.

I wouldnt ever want to play following a walkthrough step by step though just so I can get everything.

 

[choop]

no its not cheating, and neither is flirting btw

 

[Volarion]

It really depends on how you think of it. I don't consider guidebooks cheating at all because 99% of all guides are complete and utter crap and they have a TON of facts wrong. Actually, I'm willing to go a bit further and say half the time books actually hurt your game. Gamefaqs on the other hand has many excellent guides and strategies to help and walk people through games.

If you're playing something difficult and you need help, then it's definitely not cheating to consult a guide. If you, however, get through the whole game without taking your eyes of the guide, you're not using your brains and making a challenge out of the game. It's not cheating per se, but it's not getting through the game using your own merits either.

 

[DM]

If you're going to sit there and call me a cheater because I used to a guide to figure out that I had to finish the chocobo race in FFX with a sub-zero time just to get the motherfucking Sun Sigil, then I'll wear that label proudly.

 

[Kikuichimonji]

There are so many games that have side quests that are never even alluded to in the main game, and half the time these side quests have some sort of arbitrary trigger that you don't encounter until close to the end of the game. Combing the entire game before you face the final boss to find some hidden item that may not even exist is not cool.

However, if we do define guide use as cheating, then I'd say that nearly everyone here is guilty of cheating at in-game Pokemon assuming that they read about IVs and EVs in some guide, rather than dumping a ROM and hacking it to see how the game actually worked.

 

[majesty]

I only use one when I utterly fail at doing something time and time again-not for your everyday "hmmm, this is kind of challenging", but more for the "this is hour six in the same spot. The game is no longer fun". I think people who use to every step of the way might as well not even play the game.

 

[nomargu46]

i never use 'em, but thats just a personal choice. guides arent cheating, but some people (myself included) enjoy the games better when we have to struggle through getting stuck or unlucky in parts. call me crazy, i dont know why im drawn to that part of games