What To Do About Online Game Cheaters

from the is-it-part-of-the-game? dept

Cheat codes and loopholes in videogames are nothing new. They've been around for ages. However, the NY Times is looking at what happens when cheats make it into online games, giving certain players significant advantages over other players. Suddenly, the cheat isn't so harmless. Some gamers, though, say there's nothing wrong with exploiting such holes to make the game more interesting/challenging - or just to keep up with other players. Meanwhile the gaming companies are trying to create increasingly more sophisticated ways to catch cheaters as quickly as possible. Maybe the various games need online "law enforcement" that can accuse certain players of cheating, send them to a virtual court and get them kicked out of the game. It is a community, after all. Why not let them set the punishment standards? Update: For those of you who don't like NY Times registrations, the article has been reprinted at News.com.