Wednesday

Digital Games and Players - Why do people cheat in video games?

In Roger Caillois' book, 'Man, Play and Games', Paidea is defined as "wild, free and improvisional play" (p.36). When we get bored or playing a game and following the rules of the game we tend to divert from that and find new things to do in that game without any second thoughts of the rules of the magic circle we would be breaking. John Huizinga's Homo Luden says, "The spoil-sport shatters the play-world itself. By withdrawing from the game he reveals the relatively and fragility of the play-world in which he had temporary shut himself with others. He robs play of its illusion-apregent word, which means literally "in-play". (P.11).

This question that this can lead to is if Paidea (which is exploring games) is actually the same as cheating as you are not following the rules of the game but looking to expand on the boundaries. Titles given to "spoilsports" and cheaters are generally hackers that are looking for something new within a game to make it more interesting for them.

If we explore the rules of a game without breaking those rules but just understanding the boundaries, that can be known as Paidea as we are not changing anything but knowing the game more. If we intentionally search for glitches within a game, knowing that we are not staying within the boundaries and breaking the rules, that can be known as hacking due to the fact that we are searching for something that the designers of the game has not intentionally put in, meaning we are not suppose to find them.
People will also use walk throughs to help them complete a game as they find it too difficult and do not find satisfaction in finding ways to complete a particular 'mission' but just completing it, itself.

This can tell us that game players are finding it more difficult to follow game rules as they can become distracted and what to create their own rules of the game.

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