Would you consider using any guide as cheating?

[DoctorObviously]

For example, I'm playing StarCraft II's Brutal difficulty mode (the hardest in the game) because I really like the game but absolutely suck at RTS games. I have an excellent YouTube guide at my side to help me through the game. That got me thinking deeper about achievements and guides. If I'm using a tool to help me out (visually or written) but still do the challenge by myself and not played by another person, would you consider it to be cheating?

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

I wouldn't consider it cheating unless it's a puzzle game and the guide just straight up gives you the answer. For something like Starcraft all the guide can do is give you strategies, it's still up to you to be able to carry them out. Having a guide available doesn't guarantee winning.

Then again, why would you care about cheating when you're playing the single player campaign?

 

[DementedSheep]

Well it kinda depends on what the game is and what sort of guide it is. If you can literately just follow the steps in the guide the exact way its given to you and it isn't a reflects or aim testing type game then yes it is but it doesn't matter. Cheat all you want in a single player game. If it gives you pointers and general strategy for a particular encounter then less so. I would still class it as very mild cheating since you didn't have to figure the strategies out yourself.

 

[Ten Foot Bunny]

If I'm using a tool to help me out (visually or written) but still do the challenge by myself and not played by another person, would you consider it to be cheating?

That statement of yours says it all - what you're doing isn't what I'd call cheating. That's like watching videos of how to beat bosses in Dark Souls. You can watch all you want, but nothing can prepare you for your own battle, which won't be at all like what you saw due to randomization. It's your actions and your skill that sees you through in the end. You're not guaranteed to win no matter how much you know in advance.

Double this opinion if you're watching videos after bashing your head against the wall in frustration.

 

[Foolery]

Cheating? No. But I do get fed up with any game that requires me to religiously use a strategy guide to complete it or find most of the content.
I don't want my hand held, but I don't want to be searching for a needle in a haystack every five minutes either.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

If I'm using a tool to help me out (visually or written) but still do the challenge by myself and not played by another person, would you consider it to be cheating?

That statement of yours says it all - what you're doing isn't what I'd call cheating. That's like watching videos of how to beat bosses in Dark Souls. You can watch all you want, but nothing can prepare you for your own battle, which won't be at all like what you saw due to randomization.

Unless those same videos tell you how to get the boss stuck in the scenery so you can cheese it from afar with ranged attacks I'm actually thinking of Flamelurker in Demon's Souls but I hear some of the Dark Souls bosses are easy to glitch as well.

 

[Ten Foot Bunny]

Unless those same videos tell you how to get the boss stuck in the scenery so you can cheese it from afar with ranged attacks I'm actually thinking of Flamelurker in Demon's Souls but I hear some of the Dark Souls bosses are easy to glitch as well.

Hehe... good point! I totally agree with you there. I saw something like that for Ceaseless Discharge, but there's comparatively little info about how to beat that boss legitimately.

 

[porous_shield]

I consider it cheating. Cheat codes, or glitching and whatnot, are obviously cheating but I feel someone who reads a walkthrough for a boss that tells you all the best items to have and all its attacks and the best strategy to use is also cheating. The same goes for following a meticulous walkthrough. Just because you're doing it on your own doesn't mean it's not cheating. It'd be like getting a copy of the test before you go to write it.

If it's the way you want to play the game and what you find fun then play the game that way why do you care if someone else considers it cheating?

 

[duwenbasden]

No, watching someone play doesn't grant you the power to actually do it.

I consider it cheating. Cheat codes, or glitching and whatnot, are obviously cheating but I feel someone who reads a walkthrough for a boss that tells you all the best items to have and all its attacks and the best strategy to use is also cheating. The same goes for following a meticulous walkthrough. Just because you're doing it on your own doesn't mean it's not cheating. It'd be like getting a copy of the test before you go to write it.

If it's the way you want to play the game and what you find fun then play the game that way why do you care if someone else considers it cheating?

Then watching a dissection of professional plays is also considered cheating? You know the optimal strategies from them, therefore gaining an advantage to your prospective opponents.

 

[PainInTheAssInternet]

It depends. Since I've gotten back into Uncharted, I'l use that.

Let's pretend the game didn't already tell you how to solve the puzzle. If you were to look up how it's done, then yes, you cheated. On the other hand, it's more than acceptable to use guides to find the damn treasures because they're far too numerous and are usually in locations you wouldn't think twice about. Gathering them leads to achievements and sometimes I just lack the patience.

 

[Lilikins]

in my opinion it depends....if as spoken your following a guide word for word in a puzzle game that says 'go here/do that' etc..yes its cheating, by something by Starcraft...dark souls....doom or so....where you wish to 100% it but cant find those last few secrets or as in your case OP, doing Starcraft on brutal (I feel for you....its hard..haha : P) I personally wouldnt consider getting hints or pointers cheating.

Now on the flipside if your using guides to find exploits/find some way to hinder the enemys movement and cripple them through a glitch etc, then yes, that I would consider cheating, (to a scale).
By that I mean for instance in your case, SC2, lets say theres a little base in a far side corner that pops out more mobs then usual...no it wouldnt be cheating to know its there, seeing as its still up to you to find a way to nuke it/cripple the enemy in that respect. On the flipside lets say the enemy force can only use ground mobs and your Terran and the guide tells you to hover with your main base/spawn a crap load of flyers...that..would be cheating then imo. Not cheating as a rule of thumb but...cheating as in, you didnt find that out yourself.

Edit: Edited for clarification.

 

[zombiejoe]

Tips aren't cheating, but being told exactly what to do is. Not that there's really much wrong with that, but that's how I've always seen it.

 

[Erttheking]

No, not really. Probably because I'm playing Radiant Historia right now, and getting the good ending in that game without a strategy guide in one hand is just fracking impossible.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

I think if you've given it a go but you're still stuck, then using a guide is pretty sensible. I mean, if you get stuck in one part of the game, are you going to sacrifice the entire remaining part of the game? Spending endless hours stressing out over one puzzle or boss is simply not fun, and you're not going to get your money's worth out of the game.

However, I think if you use a guide right from the get-go then I don't really see the point in playing the game in the first place. You're not making any decisions or really playing the game, you're just following instructions.

 

[AmberSword]

Not cheating per se, but completely ruining the experience for yourself. Of course you play games to have fun, and getting stuck isn't fun, so that's acceptable, but if you're just gonna walkthrough your way through the whole game, especially if its a puzzle game like portal or a gameplay heavy experience like the souls series, then you're just doing yourself a disservice. Of course, using a guide for true guide dang it moments (tvtropes) or min maxing purposes after you've actually experienced what the game has to offer is fine as well.

 

[Easton Dark]

However, I think if you use a guide right from the get-go then I don't really see the point in playing the game in the first place. You're not making any decisions or really playing the game, you're just following instructions.

Pretty lights?

As for Starcraft 2, mass marines, medics, and whatever unit the mission gives you is the surefire and often best way to win.

By the logic of thinking of a guide as cheating, players who have beaten a section so many times as to memorize the perfect strategy are now cheating. You still have to pull off what the game demands, and often that requires some type of skill. Not like making yourself unkillable and just strolling to the objective.

 

[purf]

Yeah. Uh, it depends?

you surely can approach and use a guide as something in lieu of sv_cheats 1 noclip god i.e. figure out how to win while still sucking. Or, you can use a guide to learn how to be good. Quite the opposite, I'd argue.

Spoiler: Like, in Dark Souls...

I had an excruciatingly hard time with Havel. So eventually I looked at the wiki. And it DID suggest to lure him to some spot on the staircase so he'd get stuck so one could inflict death through thousand paper cuts. It also suggested to, well, kill him. Dodge. Backstab. And, maybe drop all armor because Havel. So, I went in again and did just that; do what I was trying anyways but in a concentrated 100% effort. First try Fuckyeah!

 

[Gankytim]

Well if it's something like a puzzle game definitely, no doubt. That's cheating.

If it's a hack and slash and you're looking into strategies on beating enemy types, you're cheating a little but you can get away with it.

If it's something massive like Fallout and you want to know where that weapon you saw in that screenshot was, yes it's fine but you're cheating yourself out of the experience of discovery.

If it's something like Dwarf Fortress, not at all. You need a guide to function to function in a game without any form of tutorial.

 

[Bad Jim]

As for Starcraft 2, mass marines, medics, and whatever unit the mission gives you is the surefire and often best way to win.

Starcraft 2 is mostly about execution rather than strategy. There was a pro called Destiny who demonstrated this by getting a smurf account into platinum league by playing mass queens every time. And he told his opponents he would be doing that. Mass queens is a terrible strategy, but he kept winning anyway because he managed his economy better.

https://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=329BDD535CB76B3A

It's the little things, like spending your money as soon as you get it, always building workers, building supply in time so unit production is never stalled etc. It's like juggling, it's easy to see when you drop the ball but hard to keep all those balls in the air.

I dunno if you could beat brutal with mass queens, but I'm pretty sure it is possible to beat brutal with all sorts of builds if your execution is good. And if your execution isn't good, M&M won't help you.

 

[Liquidprid3]

I only use guides to find out where to go. In games like Dark Souls 2, where sometimes the areas are difficult to find, I have more enjoyment if I look where to go. I don't look up boss or enemy strategies, as well as weapon placements. It's fun to find awesome weapons on my own.