# Cheaters in online video games **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 18, 2009, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheaters-in-online-video-games/496883 "2009-05-18T18:52:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheaters-in-online-video-games/496883/21 "2009-05-19T04:31:01Z")
> [@Palooka](#): > > There is no rampant cheating in online gaming. You’ve missed out on some good times because of your paranoia. Yes, how very silly of you to think that. Here, take a complimentary tranquilizer. Everything is under control, just as it always is. ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheaters-in-online-video-games/496883/22 "2009-05-19T04:39:02Z")
Now that someone brings up WOW… I can’t say I’ve seen any actual cheating in that game. What I _have_ seen is really high level characters attacking much weaker ones. The imbalance is such that the lower player can’t even _hit_ the higher one, then get taken out with one hit. This is fun fro you people? Really? Killing entire towns of player 50-60 levels under you? Then **hanging around to make sure none of them can respawn and enjoy the game**. Douche bags, might as well use god mode at that point. ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheaters-in-online-video-games/496883/23 "2009-05-19T04:44:10Z")
> [@Jihi](#): > > I had an experience with the original Diablo back in the day, (It must have been '96 or so), that completely turned me off to online gaming at the time. > > I’m pretty sure I’m not the only gamer that has had this experience. Oh holy crap, Diablo. I’d nearly forgotten all the stupid shit I’d seen in that game. Ghosting was the worst. Walking around invisible killing people and taking their stuff. Made the game unplayable except for private games with friends. I got a friend to join me playing Diablo II online. She didn’t want to, mostly because of the crap that went down in Diablo. So we play for a while on [Battle.net](http://Battle.net), no problems. One day, she decides to get on and play on her own. She joins some game with people she didn’t know. In the first 3 seconds she was there her character unequips and drops all his stuff, and then quits. She logged back in and tried to rejoin the game, and couldn’t. She never got on [Battle.net](http://Battle.net) again. ---
**Author:** ![Jihi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jihi/32/17768_2.png) [@Jihi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jihi)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheaters-in-online-video-games/496883/24 "2009-05-19T04:59:35Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > In WoW? I was about to post how one of the things I loved about WoW was that Blizzard is pretty vigilant about preventing hacks and banning the very few who do manage to hack it. Wait, hold on, I was probably unclear. I have had no bad experiences with WoW or CoH. Both games have done an outstanding job in keeping out hackers as far as I’ve seen. My point was simply that despite the positive experiences I’ve had with both it hasn’t convinced me to experiment with less moderated environments. I’m not playing any MMO’s at the moment but that has more to do with finances than cheaters. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Jihi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jihi/32/17768_2.png) [@Jihi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jihi)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheaters-in-online-video-games/496883/25 "2009-05-19T05:07:50Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Yes, how very silly of you to think that. Here, take a complimentary tranquilizer. Everything is under control, just as it always is. I’ll say nothing more than I agree with VT here. ISTM that nothing less than vigilance on the part of real live moderators truly keeps out cheaters on a consistent basis. ---
**Author:** ![Jihi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jihi/32/17768_2.png) [@Jihi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jihi)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheaters-in-online-video-games/496883/26 "2009-05-19T05:16:13Z")
> [@hotflungwok](#): > > I got a friend to join me playing Diablo II online. She didn’t want to, mostly because of the crap that went down in Diablo. So we play for a while on [Battle.net](http://Battle.net), no problems. One day, she decides to get on and play on her own. She joins some game with people she didn’t know. In the first 3 seconds she was there her character unequips and drops all his stuff, and then quits. She logged back in and tried to rejoin the game, and couldn’t. She never got on [Battle.net](http://Battle.net) again. Yeah that was pretty much what happened to me on the original Diablo as well. Except I was killed before hand by someone I had spent 10 minutes conversing with. Aside from the whole “hacking/cheating” thing, random people just acting like assholes can really sour the experience. ---
**Author:** ![Jorge\_Burrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Jorge\_Burrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jorge_Burrito)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheaters-in-online-video-games/496883/27 "2009-05-19T06:20:17Z")
I R 1337 H@X0R. U R ju$7 j3@l0u5 oF @lL mY $kILLz. I PWN JOO! ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheaters-in-online-video-games/496883/28 "2009-05-19T06:30:21Z")
> [@Jihi](#): > > [R]andom people just acting like assholes can really sour [any] experience. Yup. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheaters-in-online-video-games/496883/29 "2009-05-19T06:40:18Z")
> [@Jorge\_Burrito](#): > > I R 1337 H@X0R. U R ju$7 j3@l0u5 oF @lL mY $kILLz. I PWN JOO! Come on man, at least do it right. 😛 Observe: 5t()p 3//\34rr455!||g |\_|r53|_p|-| ! !5 t|-|4 tr()() |-|@xx()r! j()() g()t p//|||) ||_||z!!!11!! PS |\_|r g@y |()|()|()|()| ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheaters-in-online-video-games/496883/30 "2009-05-19T07:00:22Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > The best part is the people they’re playing against know they’re cheating, so nobody even marvels at their madd skillz. I used to play Scrabble online, and certain players had some serious anagram-bots going on that were just plain laughable. So… you cheat so people can think you’re better than you really are… except nobody really thinks that because it’s obvious that you’re cheating… but you get a high rating… a high rating that nobody cares about other than people who are playing, and anyone who you play against knows that you’re cheating, so… Makes perfect sense? I used to play Scrabble® online until some dipshit played WHARFAGES on a treble treble for eleventymillion points. Wharfages ? do me a favour ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheaters-in-online-video-games/496883/31 "2009-05-19T07:12:04Z")
I agree with **Regallag** on the griefers. The final straw that made me give up on Urban Dead was some idiot who decided to take advantage of the fact that there is literally no defense against a human killing a human. > [@covered\_in\_bees!](#): > > come on man, at least do it right. 😛 > > observe: > > 5t()p 3//\34rr455!||g |\_|r53|_p|-| ! !5 t|-|4 tr()() |-|@xx()r! J()() g()t p//|||) ||_||z!!!11!! > > Ps |\_|r g@y |()|()|()|()| 416d61746575722e ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheaters-in-online-video-games/496883/32 "2009-05-19T07:18:39Z")
> [@](#): > > 416d61746575722e If this is actually |\_||33r /-|)//-||(3|) !33t and not just some random numbers, I bow before your superiority. In other words, ! g()t p//|||). PS |\_|r g@y 😛 ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheaters-in-online-video-games/496883/33 "2009-05-19T12:03:51Z")
I don’t play online games but found the book [_Exploiting Online Games_](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Exploiting-Online-Games-Massively-Distributed/dp/0132271915/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242734317&sr=1-1) quite interesting. For some the challenge in developing the hack is more satisfying than the game itself. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheaters-in-online-video-games/496883/34 "2009-05-19T12:12:26Z")
In all honesty, I at least have some respect for the people who make aimbots and such. They are putting some work into it, even if it’s not exactly the right kind. It’s the people who simply download trick du jour who are annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheaters-in-online-video-games/496883/35 "2009-05-19T12:57:19Z")
> [@interface2x](#): > > There are definitely glitches on the 360 COD games. It’s usually something weird like an ability to get under the map and shoot people who can’t see you or shoot you back. Or something where they are way up in the sky shooting people who don’t know they’re up there so they don’t even know where to look. > > Generally, these get fixed through different patches that get released. They’re irritating, though. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sniped someone out of the sky on COD: World at War. Actually, it seems like COD 5 (or World at War) has relatively few glitches, although I did inadvertently end up flying through the sky on the Castle map once. Since I don’t think it’s possible to have cheats on the console games, I’ve been assuming that it has something to do with the way that Activision, or whoever is responsible for the online aspect of the game, set things up. Seems like some kind of connection issue, or something. Whatever it is, there are times where some opponents seem relatively harder to kill, and conversely kill me either with fewer shots or just faster than usual, and it seems to influence whole teams, so you end up seeing very lopsided scores. Whatever the reason, it sucks, and I hope that Infinity Ward’s upcoming iteration is a return to the quality of COD 4. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheaters-in-online-video-games/496883/36 "2009-05-19T13:04:43Z")
Do you play BF2 under [hotflungwok](http://bf2s.com/player/35412350/)? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheaters-in-online-video-games/496883/37 "2009-05-19T13:06:33Z")
I remember running into one while playing _America’s Army_. The guy clearly had an aimbot as he would run immediately to the peak in the center of the map and instantly pick off defenders, regards of how spread out or concealed we were. Further, the guy had chosen a username made up of twenty hash marks ("||||…|") which for some reason stymied the VOTEKICK option. So he was cheating, he knew people would realize he was cheating, and took steps to ensure his cheating would not be interrupted, all so he could run to the top of a virtual hill and kill ten virtual guys over and over without variation. I got tired of it, told my teammates I was switching sides to offense. I happened to get the sniper rifle and when the round started, there was 20-hash running for the peak yet again. I took aim, put one in the back of his head, watched him fall. I got kicked from the game for teamkilling. It was worth it. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheaters-in-online-video-games/496883/38 "2009-05-19T13:30:41Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > Actually, it seems like COD 5 (or World at War) has relatively few glitches, although I did inadvertently end up flying through the sky on the Castle map once. Yeah, they are more sparse as time goes on. The ones I can think of seeing off-hand are the sky one in Castle, under the map in Castle, and in the sky in Outskirts. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheaters-in-online-video-games/496883/39 "2009-05-19T13:37:27Z")
I used to play a fair bit of _Battlefield: 1942_ and _CounterStrike: Source_, and noticed some of the same things as the OP- people picking you off from the other side of the map through gaps in cover almost literally 1 pixel wide, enemy aircraft that would suddenly seem to “de-cloak” behind you and blow your plane up with one very short burst (yet when you had them in your sights you could put all 600 rounds of your plane’s ammo into them and not even scratch the paintwork, so to speak), players who seemed to teleport all over the map (no lag involved, they’d just vanish from one point and re-appear instantly on the other side of the map), and that sort of thing. It certainly put me off on-line gaming a bit, but it was, fortunately, a fairly rare occurrence in the grand scheme of things. It’s sad but I’m really not sure there’s much that can be done about it, unfortunately. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheaters-in-online-video-games/496883/40 "2009-05-19T14:22:31Z")
> [@Palooka](#): > > Do you play BF2 under [hotflungwok](http://bf2s.com/player/35412350/)? Yup, that’s me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheaters-in-online-video-games/496883.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheaters-in-online-video-games/496883.md?page=3)