Integrity in gaming, and in life.

Hiya, peeps.

I know, I know, "Where have you been?!?". Those of you who actually know me, know that I am "a bit" of a Beta Butterfly. By "a bit", I mean "The Titanic had 'a bit' of  a leak". Although W101 is my Home, and shall remain so, I do dabble quite frequently in the latest Betas. "Have to see, have to know".

There is one coming up that I'm really looking forward to. Since Homework is a 100% W101 site, I won't advertise is (directly), but if you were to add a Fireplace with a waterFall, you'd get the idea.

"So, why are you even posting it, here, Autumn"?

Because, gentle reader, as always, there is a tie-in.

You all know by now, that (until recently) , I don't PvP...ever. I'm "All PvE, all the time". Well, this upcoming game is a "shooter", so I thought I'd go find a game that would (relatively) get me some practice time.

I chose a Sorta 4 League of Hackers, it seems. I cannot recommend this game in good conscience. It has almost ALL the things I despise in a game. "Gashapon" lottery, timed items, and most importantly "Lack of Game Integrity", i.e. hackability. In this post, I use the term "hacker" as synonymous with "exploiter", as well.

"I wanna be a real gamer, when I grow up"

2 days in a row, instead of getting into a 20-minute match, I got into (2) separate 3 HOUR matches. Yeah, you read that right, each of these games was 1 hour, 30 minutes, per half. And that's two days in a row.

( I've done EndGame Raids that took less time than this.)

In theory, I *could* have left the matches early, but I'd take a penalty for "abandoning game". I have a policy of "Never quit a match. Win with Honor, lose with Honor", so I was bound by my own code to ride out each of these modified matches, and it wasn't pretty. It was like prison time, instead of gaming.

The room I got caught in last night, had not one, not two, not three, but FOUR unrelated hackers in it. "God Modes", all of them. Unlimited ammo (without reloading), infinite flight, ability to exist "outside the map", OneShotKill ability.  You know, all the powers you'd expect a GM, or a Developer to have.

Thankfully, we don't have (much) of an exploit problem in W101. Sure, there have been the occasional "Undocumented Game Features" which were squashed, but nothing like the hack-riddled Swiss Cheese that is common in a lot of F2P games out there (especially the shooters).

What, if anything, do these people prove? They prove the following:

1) I don't have skills, so I have to cheat to win. Maybe someday I'll get some skills.
2) I'm insecure about myself, so I have to prove to YOU how "good I am". Aren't you impressed with my "MaD L33T Sk1llz"?
3) I am willing to kill the game I supposedly "love" by breaking it in my favor. The rest of you don't matter. I am all about ME.

Hacking isn't "cool". Hacking as become an abomination of what it originally  inferred.

If you have to hack/modify/exploit something "Just to win", know that, to everyone else, you've already failed. The only people who will "Look up to you" are people who want to be as weak as you.

Ask any of our Community leaders, here in W101, what their personal opinion of Game Hackers are. I seriously doubt you'll get a single positive response. Real gamers know that your "Uber +12 weapon of Dietyhood" means nothing unless you've proven worthy of wielding it.

I have less than zero respect for anyone who has to cheat to win. I will not party with them, I will not friend them. I will use my "direct line" reporting ability to terminate them. Everyone has to "pay their dues".

Say you're in a line for tickets. You've waited for hours, patiently. Then some kid just walks in and cuts to the front of the line. Do you simply accept that? Heckhound, no. Send his feet to the back of the line.You've earned your place, why should they be any different?

Only funny if you're not the one getting frozen.

So, basically what I'm trying to say here, readers. is "Do the right thing". EARN your place in the Game. It will help build a sense of true pride in your accomplishments. "Taking the easy route" is a mind-set that will affect not only your game life, but your real life, as well.