What goes through online cheaters' minds?

[Spike]

If you play any competitive online game you can bet there's people cheating on every single one of them.
They eventually get banned but immediately pop back up. This is a problem I haven't seen any game was able to solve.
No matter what anti cheat system a game use people always find a way to bypass it, ruining an otherwise fun game for everyone.
I can understand the frustration of getting wrecked and wanting revenge. But once that's immediately achieved, what motivates you to keep doing it?
I suspect some of these people actually believe they are good at these games (delusion) and that "everybody does it" so it's OK.

/discuss

 

[Yousef]

My hypothesis:

1. An absence of a moral conscience. Lack of social awareness on how it affects others can make it ok in the mind of cheaters.
2. Some form of general apathy towards life and its many aspects. They might at cheat at more than just games.

 

[Cayenne]

Perhaps at least some of them feel like they're not good at anything in life so they're drawn to the idea of cheating their way into being "better" than others in at least something.

 

[Yousef]

Perhaps at least some of them feel like they're not good at anything in life so they're drawn to the idea of cheating their way into being "better" than others in at least something.

That too.

 

[Waffles]

Depends, actually... I remember how there was a massive witch hunt over a program called "AIM BOT" back in the old ZDaemon days because you only got perks like a customisable profile and a rank upon leveling up, which was only achieved through chaining kills, but could also be taken away by dying enough times. At some point people really wanted to keep farming experience by killing noobs and "hang out" with some of Doom's greatest players. It was really pathetic, but that didn't discourage anyone.

 

[DunkeyKong]

They're basically this

 

[Laura Zonih]

A lot could be said about the cause of these people's problems...
However, they tend to be very sad people,in many ways.

 

[goregoregoregoregoregore]

I think many of them have their reasons, but i dealt with many cheaters over time and had a few friends who were cheaters in games.
A very common reason is that this person gets a ego high in the artificial superiority of beating everyone in the game. They are very insecure about themselves, their amount of power or control over things or their own skill so they need to cope by injecting with a dose of "power" so they can feel a little better. Normally these types of cheater are very messed up in the head and have a very extensive historic of misconduct online
Another common reason i noticed is plain need to be praised and admired as a good player by others. Normally this type of cheater tries their best to hide the fact that they are cheating and when they are caught they are the ones that feel the most emotionally impacted.
There is also another one that people don't consider which was the case of a few friends online, that it's the complete disregard of other players and just wanting to mess everything, troll and have fun at the expense of others. They mostly don't care that much about the game and get bored quickly compared to other types of cheater

 

[Stingy Perry]

Some cheaters are probably scumbags whose only purpose is to screw up other player and feel such achievement by doing so.

 

[Prism_Red]

Another common reason i noticed is plain need to be praised and admired as a good player by others. Normally this type of cheater tries their best to hide the fact that they are cheating and when they are caught they are the ones that feel the most emotionally impacted.

I have similar outlook, most cheaters I met are like this.

Of course there are some people who found the fact that they can cheat the system itself is fun. I just wish they could find an outlet where it doesn't bother other honest player.

If I remember correctly, Max Payne 3 multiplayer deal with this by tagging cheating players and putting them in a lobby with another cheaters without them knowing, this way straight edge player don't get to deal with unfair play session that often.

 

[cjl8336]

I think it's because certain people don't want to be seen as the noob and cheating at the game is a quick and dirty replacement for skill
These are the same people that roast the less skilled players, yet their skill is completely artificial - they also will be the loudest voices when it comes to stopping cheaters while being cheaters themselves

 

[ZombieFish]

In at least one case I know of he does it because he wants really badly to seem cool online, but he’s too busy running social media companies into the ground and purchasing governments to actually play the games he wants to seem good at.

 

[goregoregoregoregoregore]

In at least one case I know of he does it because he wants really badly to seem cool online, but he’s too busy running social media companies into the ground and purchasing governments to actually play the games he wants to seem good at.

Are you perhaps referencing that famous veteran Quake player who claims that he was in one of the past best pro Quake teams in the 90's that also happens to be a famous billionaire, but unfortunately no one remembers his competitive achievements as he vehemently claims?

 

[Spike]

Yes. But NVM him he feeds on attention. Don't need him here too.

 

[cjl8336]

In at least one case I know of he does it because he wants really badly to seem cool online, but he’s too busy running social media companies into the ground and purchasing governments to actually play the games he wants to seem good at.

 

[Yoru Momo]

Word "cheating" is arbitrary, especially against random internet staranger.
Some people just want to have fun, in online games.

People will stop "cheating" if they will gain a benefits for doing so.

 

[ZombieFish]

Yes. But NVM him he feeds on attention. Don't need him here too.

Very true. Also, Thresh has said he wasn’t good.

 

[soman]

If you play any competitive online game you can bet there's people cheating on every single one of them.
They eventually get banned but immediately pop back up. This is a problem I haven't seen any game was able to solve.
No matter what anti cheat system a game use people always find a way to bypass it, ruining an otherwise fun game for everyone.
I can understand the frustration of getting wrecked and wanting revenge. But once that's immediately achieved, what motivates you to keep doing it?
I suspect some of these people actually believe they are good at these games (delusion) and that "everybody does it" so it's OK.

/discuss

Basically what you said on that last sentence. Also ego, they probably want to feel good at something and most likely think they are

 

[kanesha]

Can be myriad of reasons, anything from being bitter and delusional, to trolling to the thrill of disrupting the system. It might seem direspectful, but it's only disrespectful towards the game host, which is usually some faceless corporate entity. You'd see a lot less of that if people were given the freedom to host and organize games, matchmaking and trounaments themselves (as in given all the necessary tools, not doing it in notepad), like it works with all the normal non digital games/sports. I'm sure many people if given the opportunity can get very much invested in that (even finencially), and form more tightly knit communities where every game or game session could have spectators and arbiters and cheaters would be caught much quicker and would have less insentive to disrupt or prove themselves to these smaller comunities, as opposed to beoming best in the world or top 10 in the world or some such, not to mentioned it would make the game much more accessible and enjoyable for a much wider audience - you might have no hope to ever break out of silver rank on that favorite game of yours, but that doesn't mean you can't become RGT 2025 winter season champion! (and then immediately retire having never lost a title, absolute legend).

 

[MasterEn]

it's probably the only time they feel anything. they are probably so devoid of any actual substance or skills at anything in life and of themselves and only find joy or pleasure in ruining someone else's good time. even if its just for a moment, they feel something. and the cost of it doesn't matter. you can't really punish someone in an online video game with rare exceptions.
for a brief moment; they felt an emotion, they were the center of attention and focus for someone for a moment, then they fade away back into the obscurity of nothingness that they dwell in, forgotten in the game and probably like in real life. or ignored if they are a jackass.

 

[Num]

i feel theres often a strong headcanon about cheaters having ego issues which i dont believe is primarily the case. most of them have accepted the reality that theyre ass at the game and thats why they regularly use cheats anyways. they dont always get their rocks off on seeing other players being beaten to the ground theyre not out here plotting some grand scheme to make kids cry or feeding their own insatiable ego, it's not that deep. i think its more like theyre playing their own game detached from the moral weight society tries to slap on them. a way to break the monotony or spice things up even if its only for themselves. the consequences are abstract something to maybe deal with later or not at all. its not an emotional affair or anything its just simply another way they choose to play the game to them. there are some who enjoy the fact of taking apart the toy more than playing with it even. those types often spend more time configuring cheats more than they do actually using them they enjoy testing the system especially more strongly guarded anti cheat developed games.
i feel like most of the "malice intended" and "self esteem issues" views thrown at them could be turned around and thrown at sweats who dedicate themselves to play the game legitimately. which i think many can agree isnt primarily the case either, it just comes off as straight villainization. i mean its understandable to feel that way as it makes sense to get heated over seeing others "skip the line" when you've been waiting for hours or something. but it still just seems like heavily opinionated characterization based on those very feelings

 

[Muklas]

Becoming Hackerman, menace of the online world is very addicting.

 

[Stookymalarkey]

I think it's just like trolling on social media. It's the satisfaction from getting people riled up, like you're some puppet master getting others to dance to your tune.

 

[Hikari.EXE]

I want to add a strange angle to this disscussion.
Ironically, there is "honor" among cheaters as I have seen a video of Tarkov cheaters that reconize one another with wall hacks. I'm not joking, check this out!

 

[ZombieFish]

Are anti-cheating measures not pretty robust in most big games these days? I guess it depends on the game/servers in question, but I feel like there’s too much effort involved in cheating for it to be a completely casual thing.