The cheating trend has led to a significant outcry of ethical violations in the gaming world. Ethical values and principles are essential instruments for maintaining discipline in society and ensuring that individuals maintain proper conduct while interacting with others. That said, hacking and cheating are some of the ways through which individuals’ actions could contravene ethical principles, including honesty, integrity, and fairness.
There is a reason why video game creators spend endless hours and nights developing a game, and that is to ensure that players enjoy the gameplay experience. Hacking and cheating in games fundamentally compromise the developers’ hard work and dedication. As with any other product or service, video games have a business model that the creators use to make a profit. The use of hacks and cheats devalues the game’s worth and discourages other players from purchasing the game, eventually leading to the game being discontinued.
Moreover, video gaming is an activity that promotes teamwork and collaboration, among other values. When players cheat the game, they are disrupting the gameplay, making it impossible for other non-cheating players to enjoy the experience. Developers design games with items, weapons, points and other entities accessible to all players. When gamers use cheats, they devalue these in-game entities and eventually disrupt the gaming experience. When an individual uses video game hacks and cheats, they ruin both the intrinsic and extrinsic values of the game’s experience, including the story, graphics, and level of difficulty.
As much as video game cheating is unethical, it is also equivalent to cheating in real life. The discrimination that occurs in physical life mirrors that in the gaming world. Lying and cheating to gain points and other entities in the game can only be tantamount to cheating in real life. It characterizes the same lack of moral values that manifest in real life, and gamers can attest that the game actions impact on real-life actions.
Part of having fun in gaming is enjoying the authenticity of the gameplay, and the spirit of honest competition. The use of video game cheats and hacks takes away from the authenticity of games and could potentially lead people to become dishonest in the real world. In addition, cheating dishonors the gamer, since if the individual cannot use their intuition, strategy, and skillset to win, they will always depend on hacking and cheating.
In conclusion, video game hacking and cheating is unethical and results in a negative effect on both gamers and game creators. The standard of conduct upheld by gamers in the virtual world ought to be consistent with ethical values upheld in society. A fair and level playing ground is essential, and hacking and cheating can only bring about a detrimental effect. The only way to ensure that the gaming world remains ethical is to promote fair play, honest competition, and to foster good gaming values, leading to an ideal gaming experience for all.
