06-11-2003, 01:19 AM
Hi,
Well, we can use the Dictionary.com definition. '2. To violate rules deliberately, as in a game'.
Sorry, this definition sucks. For instance, if you are playing in a golf tournament (golf is on my mind from another thread) and somebody puts a fifteenth club in your bag and you don't notice it but an official does, you are disqualified for cheating. Also, if you record one or more *extra* strokes on your score card by accident, sign it off and turn it in, if the error is detected, you again are disqualified for cheating.
So first thing I don't like in that definition is the "deliberately" part. That's just not the way it really is.
But we have an even bigger problem.
So, what are the 'rules' of D2? Well, that would be what the game is like as provided by Blizzard at the current patch version or whatever rules may be agreed upon by all players in a closed environment such as a LAN game. So, the game mechanics such as the way the map is displayed, the way the spell effects are drawn, etc, are the rules of the game.
You pose a question. Then you answer it with an answer that is, in effect, "everything not explicitly permitted is prohibited." But there is no reason not to adopt the attitude "everything not expressly prohibited is permitted." As a matter of fact, that is exactly the way the rules are interpreted in every other game and sport. That's why rules committees exist, to patch the loopholes that exist in any set of rules. But, until the rules committee specifically outlaw any behavior, that behavior is within the rules (although it might be "unsportsmanlike", a concept even more nebulous than cheating).
So, in effect what makes maphack a cheat is simply that the rules committee (Buzzard) has declared it so. And that is why the accelerator is *not* (at this time) a cheat.
Once again, as is so often confused on this board, is what is "legit" (i.e., fits into the style of play we prefer) and what is "legal" (i.e., not cheating).
So, there is no question that maphack is cheating -- Buzzard says so and it is their game. However, "whatever rules may be agreed upon by all players in a closed environment such as a LAN game." takes precedence over Buzzard's ruling. If a group playing on a LAN wanted to use maphack, that would make it legal for that group. That decision may very well be cheesy, but it is a decision that that group can make, just as they can play any mod (also not supported by Buzzard) whether it makes the game more challenging or less.
However, Buzzard could just as well have said that they liked the maphack features and incorporated then into the game. Wouldn't be the first time that Buzzard made a decision that this group did not approve of. Won't be the last. In which case, maphack would have been legal, part of the game as a matter of fact.
Now, thanks to MEAT for supplying the list of "features" of maphack.
Some of those features are neutral and would not effect the game if everyone had them. Some of those features are cheesy and would make this already too easy game easier. Some of the features would actually enhanced the game (what does it really get you to pick up an item, look at it, then throw it away?)
Maphack as I pointed out, does ruin the game quality for non maphack users.
Yes. So what? Minimum system requirements "ruin" the game for non ultra-system users. Dial up connection through a crappy line ruins the game for a non cable, DSL, etc. user.
What makes maphack a cheat is nothing more and nothing less than Buzzard declaring it one.
What makes parts of maphack cheesy should not need explaining to Lurkers.
And a "hack" is not a bad thing except to ignorant newbies. http://info.astrian.net/jargon/terms/h/hack.html
--Pete
Well, we can use the Dictionary.com definition. '2. To violate rules deliberately, as in a game'.
Sorry, this definition sucks. For instance, if you are playing in a golf tournament (golf is on my mind from another thread) and somebody puts a fifteenth club in your bag and you don't notice it but an official does, you are disqualified for cheating. Also, if you record one or more *extra* strokes on your score card by accident, sign it off and turn it in, if the error is detected, you again are disqualified for cheating.
So first thing I don't like in that definition is the "deliberately" part. That's just not the way it really is.
But we have an even bigger problem.
So, what are the 'rules' of D2? Well, that would be what the game is like as provided by Blizzard at the current patch version or whatever rules may be agreed upon by all players in a closed environment such as a LAN game. So, the game mechanics such as the way the map is displayed, the way the spell effects are drawn, etc, are the rules of the game.
You pose a question. Then you answer it with an answer that is, in effect, "everything not explicitly permitted is prohibited." But there is no reason not to adopt the attitude "everything not expressly prohibited is permitted." As a matter of fact, that is exactly the way the rules are interpreted in every other game and sport. That's why rules committees exist, to patch the loopholes that exist in any set of rules. But, until the rules committee specifically outlaw any behavior, that behavior is within the rules (although it might be "unsportsmanlike", a concept even more nebulous than cheating).
So, in effect what makes maphack a cheat is simply that the rules committee (Buzzard) has declared it so. And that is why the accelerator is *not* (at this time) a cheat.
Once again, as is so often confused on this board, is what is "legit" (i.e., fits into the style of play we prefer) and what is "legal" (i.e., not cheating).
So, there is no question that maphack is cheating -- Buzzard says so and it is their game. However, "whatever rules may be agreed upon by all players in a closed environment such as a LAN game." takes precedence over Buzzard's ruling. If a group playing on a LAN wanted to use maphack, that would make it legal for that group. That decision may very well be cheesy, but it is a decision that that group can make, just as they can play any mod (also not supported by Buzzard) whether it makes the game more challenging or less.
However, Buzzard could just as well have said that they liked the maphack features and incorporated then into the game. Wouldn't be the first time that Buzzard made a decision that this group did not approve of. Won't be the last. In which case, maphack would have been legal, part of the game as a matter of fact.
Now, thanks to MEAT for supplying the list of "features" of maphack.
Some of those features are neutral and would not effect the game if everyone had them. Some of those features are cheesy and would make this already too easy game easier. Some of the features would actually enhanced the game (what does it really get you to pick up an item, look at it, then throw it away?)
Maphack as I pointed out, does ruin the game quality for non maphack users.
Yes. So what? Minimum system requirements "ruin" the game for non ultra-system users. Dial up connection through a crappy line ruins the game for a non cable, DSL, etc. user.
What makes maphack a cheat is nothing more and nothing less than Buzzard declaring it one.
What makes parts of maphack cheesy should not need explaining to Lurkers.
And a "hack" is not a bad thing except to ignorant newbies. http://info.astrian.net/jargon/terms/h/hack.html
--Pete
How big was the aquarium in Noah's ark?