Of Pirates and Macros – Shortcuts Revisited

[Grim Lightning Gate]

Hmmm... Taboo.


These are my thoughts on the matter

If you are using them to phantom or grind(?), you are not playing the game.
(nor are you "welcome")

If you are using "shortcuts" you are still under fire, but less likely to be put out to pasture.


This comes down to getting ahead of other players.
If you use macros to do that, there aren't too many gaming communities in which you will find yourself welcomed.

I personally think that if someone is using shortcuts, that is not cheating.

[OutlawZ]

Agree with Grim Lightning Gate's last comments!...

but....

after running my mouth off about "cheating' (LOL)...
I just took advantage of a "glitch(?)" in the game.

Is that cheating?

I found a spot in Cutthroat isle.
Where I can stand and shoot at Stumps.
The Stumps couldn't get to me very well and
I received little or no damage during each attack.

And I was able to defeat 56 stumps in about 2 hours!
(Along with a few fly traps, scorpions and gators)

This allowed me to level up my pistol to level 15 and score the three barrel model!

Is that cheating?
Its not the same as using a macro, is it?
I feel a little guilty.
(Although the three barrel pistol is pretty sweet!)

[Pirate Rose]

Well OutlawZ, look at it this way. If you were a pirate out there fighting stumps, would you stand out in the open or go behind something so the stump can't get to you as easily.

I don't think it's cheating, it's a method of fighting I've stood where the stumps would have to navigate around rocks. Sometimes they would figure out how to get around the rocks, but most of the time they would get stuck and run back and forth. I don't think it's cheating.

[Davy]

This is the era of cheating. Steroids in sports, macros in games. Something needs to be done - not to stop it, but to prevent it. And that's catching the guys who make the gaming keyboards with auto push buttons and such. And that's banning the people who use that stuff. And that's reporting anybody that you see doing it. And that's how to fix it. Let those who are currently using it use it, and stop those who want to use it from getting it. Simple.

[Cubkyle]

OutlawZ, I don't think that's cheating, I myself stand on top of a cliff side when fighting those things to avoid damage. It's not taking advantage of a glitch because there is no glitch. That's the way the programmers designed those guys. Had they given them a ranged attack, there would be no way of doing this, but they didn't.

Vandelay, rarely does a device like the Action Replay cheating device you show there (Or similar products) take advantage of any cheats left hidden by developers. Those things look for certain lines of code, and then "freeze" them how they are or change the code and then freeze it. They give you unlimited health or ammo, unlock levels, and provide other functions by searching for the code related to what you want and changing it to match the value you want, sometimes based on work done by hackers, other times by comparing a new value to a previous value. (You have 100 health, then get hurt, bringing you down to 88. The cheat device compares the lines of code, or you do it yourself, to find the code that controls your health or ammo or whatever.) ~I don't have any of these cheat devices, so some of this may be a little off.~

There are games like Rouge Squadron that have cheat menus however. These use real cheats that are programmed into the game. There are other games that have hidden developer consoles (Or not hidden) that allow you to "cheat" using the commands that the developers used in creating and testing the various aspects of the game.
I like games like that, and after playing through the game the first time (Without cheats.), I like to go through again, and have fun with the cheats. Games with a noclip mode, and/or the ability to change your jump height are especially fun to play with! Invincibility gives me a chance to stop and go through at my own pace, I can check out the little details around me, see things that I missed before, while the baddies are wasting their time trying to hurt me.

And finally, on topic, I don't think macros should be used in online games at all. Even those who are using them as something to prevent themselves from getting tired having to press a button over and over again are getting an advantage over anyone who doesn't use it. If I'm just pressing the button normally, I'm going to wear out faster than someone who isn't putting as much effort in to pressing by using a macro. So even these little "hand savers" puts me at a disadvantage. (Hypothetically, at any rate. I'm pretty hard core when it comes to gaming, I can play tirelessly for expanded periods of time. Years of training. :P) Using a macro in a single player game is fine, different strokes for different folks, it doesn't hurt anyone but the person who is making the game easier for themselves.

Call me selfish, tell me I have an over-inflated ego, but because I've worked quite hard to get as good at games as I am now (And I still have plenty of room for improvement), I don't want some punk player who has no skills what-so-ever, but likes showing off using macros and cheats, showing me up because they cheated to get there. Using a macro is a lot like kill stealing. Getting whatever the benefits without any of the work. (But without the blood sweat and tears of the other players.)

I finish games fast enough as it is, so I don't need nor want cheats to help me through a game.

Sorry if parts of, or most of this post makes no sense... Especially that part about how the Action Replay works. I think I could have explained it better, but... It's late, I should be in bed, and I think I might of rambled a bit.

[yogurt_21]

hate to point out that the complaints about macrs might just be the reason for the latest update where low levelks can now harm high ones. and if the user with the macro tried to go to kingshead again, they'd wake up in the morning to find their player in jail with only a few rep higher.

the use of marcros is indeed annoying, but with the latest update, i find this thread quite off base. lol

[NannerFL]

I haven't commented on this before but have read most of the things on this subject. First let me start by saying I do NOT use macros. (HA! If you saw my weapon lvls you'd have major proof of that)! Anyway...my humble opinion is this:

This is not a head to head combat game. Only plus to being higher is bragging rights. That said I could care less if someone wants to use a macro. I understand Disney not wanting people to and all that since it is in the rules but what I don't understand is everyone getting so upset about it. HOW does it effect you? Does it in anyway change how you play the game? Does it hurt your pirate? If not then why do you really care what others do? They will get caught at some point and be punished but until then whatever floats your boat is my opinion. Want to take chances of losing your account? Hey, go for it.

I also don't get reporting people if you "think" they are doing it. The above poster may be right in that it backfired on the rest of us with the update. Hmmmm thanks so much. Of course the macro uses are the guilty ones if this is the case but so are the ones who are standing on their soap boxes yelling to Disney about it.

NOW it has affected MY game in a way I'm not happy about! (possibly if this is why they did it and I wouldn't be surprised since they do this type of thing in TT when people find ways to get around the rules) .....see the above comment about needing to lvl up weapons.

Bottom line is if it has nothing to do with you and it's between the cheater and Disney then what's the big deal? And before the comments start NO I am not one to stand back and let others do wrong. But in this case it's a game and they are only hurting themselves. Let them have their fun. Break the rules and pay the price. Pick your battles and for me this isn't one of them.

OK rant all done. Not the popular opinion I've noticed but when I saw the comment about how it may be the reason for the newest update it got me thinking and gave me a reason to state mine.