08-12-2005, 05:49 PM
It should be noted that I have not player D2 since around the release of 1.10.
At that time, when maphack was prevelant and not as yet a bannable offense, I extensively used it. Why: It was more fun.
I have limited time to play in game, to increase the risk / reward I played exclusively Hardcore. The use of maphack allowed me to maximize the rate at which I acquired items while simultaneously alerting me in advance to the MSLE (and their kin) bosses that could ruin days, weeks, months of play time in an instant.
Do I think that it is cheating, borderline. Is it cheating in World of Warcraft to use a mod that self casts? The game has the capacity to self cast through scripting and it is an enormous advantage for a player that uses it over those that don't (especially healer classes). If/When Blizzard feels that this is an excessive advantage, they have the power to alter the game to remove this capacity.
Before maphack was specifically stated to be a bannable offense, the use of it violated neither the EULA nor the stated Blizzard rules for B.Net. As such it was an advantage, but not a cheat.
Today it is specifically banned and as such is a cheat.
The next question is 'what impact does cheating have?' This is a game, the intent of any game is to be fun for the user. D2 (unlike WoW) is *not* a game with a real economy. The prevelance of duped items, hacked gambling and the lack of true consumption prevented items from having any true value. As such, as long as one's cheat does not impact other players 'fun' I cannot adequately make the argument that cheating is bad.
If it's fun for a player to have all the items, and they use that advantage to kill Baal a lot, good for them, it wouldn't be fun for me, but it isn't my place to impose my ethics on others. If they use a cheat to sell items on ebay, I still say 'good for them' as using real money to purchase items on ebay violates the EULA and Blizzard policies and therefore is an arrangement between two cheaters (the seller and the purchaser). If they instead use a cheat to acquire items for trade in game, I still say 'good for them' as the lowered price of the items benefits me. I can adequately determine the true market value of an item and make a choice, and I can always choose not to trade with those I don't know.
Where I have a problem is where a cheater uses the advantage to PK, disrupt online service or otherwise interfere in an *active* way on the fun of others. This isn't the real world, this is a virtual world, the rules and ethics contained within must be viewed in that light. Hacked items are not on an equal footing with counterfeit currency.
Thoughts and comments are welcome and encouraged.
-kersh
At that time, when maphack was prevelant and not as yet a bannable offense, I extensively used it. Why: It was more fun.
I have limited time to play in game, to increase the risk / reward I played exclusively Hardcore. The use of maphack allowed me to maximize the rate at which I acquired items while simultaneously alerting me in advance to the MSLE (and their kin) bosses that could ruin days, weeks, months of play time in an instant.
Do I think that it is cheating, borderline. Is it cheating in World of Warcraft to use a mod that self casts? The game has the capacity to self cast through scripting and it is an enormous advantage for a player that uses it over those that don't (especially healer classes). If/When Blizzard feels that this is an excessive advantage, they have the power to alter the game to remove this capacity.
Before maphack was specifically stated to be a bannable offense, the use of it violated neither the EULA nor the stated Blizzard rules for B.Net. As such it was an advantage, but not a cheat.
Today it is specifically banned and as such is a cheat.
The next question is 'what impact does cheating have?' This is a game, the intent of any game is to be fun for the user. D2 (unlike WoW) is *not* a game with a real economy. The prevelance of duped items, hacked gambling and the lack of true consumption prevented items from having any true value. As such, as long as one's cheat does not impact other players 'fun' I cannot adequately make the argument that cheating is bad.
If it's fun for a player to have all the items, and they use that advantage to kill Baal a lot, good for them, it wouldn't be fun for me, but it isn't my place to impose my ethics on others. If they use a cheat to sell items on ebay, I still say 'good for them' as using real money to purchase items on ebay violates the EULA and Blizzard policies and therefore is an arrangement between two cheaters (the seller and the purchaser). If they instead use a cheat to acquire items for trade in game, I still say 'good for them' as the lowered price of the items benefits me. I can adequately determine the true market value of an item and make a choice, and I can always choose not to trade with those I don't know.
Where I have a problem is where a cheater uses the advantage to PK, disrupt online service or otherwise interfere in an *active* way on the fun of others. This isn't the real world, this is a virtual world, the rules and ethics contained within must be viewed in that light. Hacked items are not on an equal footing with counterfeit currency.
Thoughts and comments are welcome and encouraged.
-kersh