Just a question that popped into my head at random, but do you think using a walkthrough to get you out of a tough puzzle is cheating? If not, where do you draw the line of what's cheating and what isn't?

Edit: *insert long self insulting line here*, I should have posted this in General Gaming. Too bad I can't move it myself now...

Does it matter? You are playing a game to enjoy it, and if you are stacked in a specific puzzle (or whatever) in a game, I see no problem in using a walkthrough to move on.

Nope. Sometimes one may need a little help, and with a little toy why should it matter? Whether you consult a live person or someone's walkthrough, it is not cheating... unless you're too lazy to even give it a try yourself beforehand, some would probably say.

I have walkthroughs for FFXII and Oblivion and I use them for many different reasons. Using it for FFXII has made the game a lot more fun as I know where all the side-quests are and all the secrets. I don't think it's cheating.

Using a walkthrough is cheating, no matter how petty.

Depends how you view it.

If you consider a puzzle as a test, it's cheating since you sought outside sources to get the specific answer.

If you consider a puzzle an obstacle to your entertainment, then you're less inclined to feel the cheater when you peruse the guide.

However, since developers often include hints to solve a given puzzle, I assume they expect you to use your own brain. So yes, cheating.

sure

why not like if you get caught with your secretary in bed that is cheating but if go to a hotel and nobody catches you it is all good just be sure to tip the bellboy

@ Phoenix: You fail at life and everything.
Anyway, I hadn't given my own opinion yet:

I think it's not really cheating, but it is more rewarding to figure out the solution to the problem yourself, rather than just going to GameFaqs and reading it somewhere.

man that's only because kristoph gave trucy and then so i didn't and now but i can retake the exam

Technically, it is cheating, since you're getting the answers from another source. Now, does something have to be important enough to be considered cheating (e.g. tests, exams, etc.)? If so, then walkthroughs are most definitely not cheating.

Hi Seiryuu

If the developers include reasonable hints so that you can figure it out own your own -- cheating. Example -- Kingdom Hearts II and its detailed journal. If the developers do not give you any reasonable way to figure it out on your own -- I.E. Final Fantasy XII and its insane rare game sidequest, not cheating.

Additionally, not cheating if you've already completed it once on your own steam before and simply don't feel like trying to figure out the full details again.

As far as I'm concerned if you use a walkthrough on the first playthrough you're cheating. And you're the only one who suffers really if you do use a guide as it means the game may not provide as much entertainment in terms of hours.

After that, it's fine. Especially on RPGs when you want to do a completionist playthrough and there's just too much you might miss going through it on your own.

Yeah, a generally fair assessment as well. I mean, I certainly can't see using a walkthrough the first time through just for a basic play on any of the Final Fantasy games in general -- why would you need one? Way too easy.

Oh, BTW, moving to General Gaming. There, it's taken care of.

I bought the game. Nothing I do with it can be considered cheating.

Besides that, I have a hunch that most people will use walkthroughs only when they are irritated enough with a puzzle to warrant it. In that case, using walkthroughs = getting more enjoyment out of the game.

I think it's not cheating if its about parts in a game where you can't go on and it frustrates you to no end.
Example - I used a walkthrough in Phoenix Wright 2, in the second case. I would've solved it without walkthrough, just one part - a testimony of Lotta Hart (I think it's the second one?). You have to press every of her statements, and this was something I wasn't able to think of, so I looked up. I solved the case and the other two as well (without walkthrough). So yeah... In some parts of a game you just run out of your guesses or thoughts and then a walkthrough is not a bad idea. If you use it for something obvious, though, it's not really fine art.

Does it matter? You are playing a game to enjoy it, and if you are stacked in a specific puzzle (or whatever) in a game, I see no problem in using a walkthrough to move on.





I agree with this.

If you use a walkthrough and you don't mention it when someone asks you that's cheating - lol

Basically I consider even the slightest use of a guide to be a cheat regardless of how insane the puzzles, quests, etc. are. Especially for the main stories which are fairly easy. But I may use guides after a second or third playthrough and I'm missing things. Still it's hard to be a cheat-hater and a game perfectionist when there are games like Final Fantasy XII. This game almost begs you to use a guide. There's no way to figure out how to get Zodiark Keeper and Tournesol (others as well) alone.

A funny thing I noticed though is that when a person tells me a secret about a game, I don't feel as many guilts as when checking Gamefaqs :-)

I use guides when I can't figure out what I need to do after hours of attempts. It's pretty much a last resort for me.

Only time I ever used a guide from the get-go was when I had Ultimate Jump Stars for DS and I needed to know wtf it was saying.

I see it more as a shortcut than cheating - sure, you could spend hours trying to solve a tough puzzle - but after about 30 minutes for me, it starts getting too annoying and i'd prefer to just jump on gamefaqs and get on with the game.

Recent examples when i've resorted to gamefaqs - the dumb Shinra Mansion code in Crisis Core. And I had to for one level in Zack & Wiki...only because I'd figured out the right answer, but I was standing a pixel too far to the left. Sigh.

If I get stuck in a game i'm likely not to play it again, so gamefaqs ensures I can move on and get my value for money.

More games should follow Silent Hill's example and have separate difficulty levels for riddles/puzzles encountered throughout the game. They ranged from insultingly easy to disc-snappingly hard.

I actually enjoy a game more if I'm using a walkthrough because I get to experience every aspect of the game.

Even in WoW I have Thottbot.com open to guide me through the difficult quests and help me level that little bit quicker.

I don't consider it "cheating", but it all comes down to personal choice. If you consider the usage of walkthroughs to be "cheating", then don't use one.

As far as I'm concerned, it depends on yourself. If you don't like spoilers, then yes it's cheating. But if you're sensitive and need spoilers so the game doesn't scare you, then no it's not.

Personally, I would play through a game once with a walkthrough, then attempt to play it again without. I consider the use of walkthrough "memory training", not cheating.

A funny thing I noticed though is that when a person tells me a secret about a game, I don't feel as many guilts as when checking Gamefaqs :-)

Same here :P End up getting other people to give me hints when I'm desperate
But if it's not the first play and I want all the side quests, rare items and whatnot, I'd probably end up using a walkthrough. I do try to fully explore games, but sometimes there's no time so I rush and miss things.

I don't use guides. I think it strips away a lot of the entertainment of the games I play. What I do though is share infos and secrets with friends that have the same games. I like to do that, because it feels like an exchange and most of the time, the conversations about them end up being interesting. We end up like: "Yeah and did you go there when there was that weird looking tree? No? hell there's a really awesome uber-sword there. Yeah!!! Oh right, I remember that part, I was like OMFG that scenery is amazing, what with all the ladies walking in bikinis with there bunny ears! Heaven!!! lol" Some like that... ^^


Only thing though, when said friends come to me like: "Yeah, I saw on Gamefaqs that if you go there..." ---SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!!

***Snipped cause hotlinking is bad.***

I would say that an idiot bumping this thread to hotlink an unfunny webcomic is ample reason to finally close it. Thanks for giving me an excuse!