POLL: WHAT'S EVERYONE's VIEWS ON CHEATING IN BG2

[Draggor]

Hey I'm back. Figured I'd add my views to this interesting post. My name is Draggor. I'm a cheater. There I said it. I'm not ashamed. My view is you should at least play the game properly first before you start dropping in super magic items at the beginning of the game etc. I don't view changing stats too badly especially new players. Giving stats of 25 doesn't suddenly make the game a walk in the park, it just makes it a bit more lenient and you can afford to make a huge mistake. If this is somebodies first RPG I wouldn't begrudge them changing stats or proficiencies. Their whole game shouldn't be ruined due to their inexperience when creating a character. I see more problem with cheats that ruin the need to play the game such as the giving items, extra experience, money etc. These are all things that can be done in the game normally but some players get lazy. Creating items is a big no no cheat too as you are unbalancing the magic system and ruining the need to play the game. The powerful items are delibererately hard to get. There are supposed to be lots of the common weapons and very few katanas for instance. If you start off with all the items there is no point doing most of the quests, I know I tried it just to see what the magic items did. I've ignored my own advice a little bit as all of my games I've cheated a little bit. For my first game I used a character from BG1 who I had cheated with so his stats were all 25. I also changed around NPC proficincies. Is this cheating? of course. Did I regret it? no not really. Now into my fifth party I again gave maximum stats to my character, the Celestial Fury and Black Razor. I've killed evrything with a normal party so I know I can do it. I thought this weapon combo would be fun. For me this cheating isn't wrong. To others it seems to be. Cheating is only bad when it ruins the enjoyment or point of playing the game in my opinion. If it helps YOU enjoy the game more then it can't be bad.

I'm a cheater.
But with a good reason, having completed BG2 a couple of times, I'm trying to get through the game using only the main character, i'm at chapter 5 at the mo, but without a slight bit of 'help' from shadowkeeper i've have been dead before i got to chapter 2.

[Zoratorak]

hmm... it may be really fun and cool bragging all your strong suits and everything... but after that initial stage what happens?? nothin... you will get bored right away and you will soon lose interest and never finish the game anymore... im not saying it works for everyone since like you, Draggor, since you finish the games a no. of times, but it is really true...

a perfect example- my brother... hmph! (ahem)
he cheated his char and gave himself the best of the best items without getting the items fair and square... he became more powerful than me and had a wwaaayyy easy time getting to chap1 to chap 3 but after that (with all his bragging of getting the ring of gaxx or crom froyer but not defeatin them really) ... look what happened... i finished the game fair and square while he is still stuck in chap 3 and not playing it anymore since he is bored with it... let me tell you this... its way cool and easier to cheat ahead but there is also a price to it... because of that kind of cheatin.. your gonna be used that your going to be invincible and unbeatable... since my bro cant defeat a monster, he just skipped it... you know what i mean?? it takes the fun out of life... it takes fun out of the challenge of doing it... it takes fun out of the game .. PERIOD!! i got the satisfaction of really finishing the game fair and square and the second game im gonna play now is gonna be fun since im gonna do some wild things and things i never did before... like (spoiler ahead) joining bodhi or killing firkaag the first time instead of later... you know... then ill romance with blah blah blah...

I'm a cheater.
But with a good reason, having completed BG2 a couple of times, I'm trying to get through the game using only the main character, i'm at chapter 5 at the mo, but without a slight bit of 'help' from shadowkeeper i've have been dead before i got to chapter 2.

The Only way I cheat is either if there is a glitch. Like with the sea gate horn in Brynnlaw ie it wasn't there!! Secondly to create a new race ( i can't spell )I havn't done this yet but it looks fun and thirdly to make custum items. I take an item I already have and make a new one with the same stats and customise it so it belongs to me, Fox, Ranger Protector of the Umar Hills.

[Mr. Underhill]

There are truely many sides to this arguement, And first off let me expain my experiences with these games. First I will say that I always play the first time through with no cheats, and I mean NO cheating. I purchased the game to play it right? I love what the people at Bioware come up with. Outstanding story lines, fascinating NPC's, Great villians, I think it would be a waste of my time, and the their time to blatantly cheat on that first run through the game. But then we must all see that the purpose of DnD in the first place is Role-Playing, Fantasy, Characters, Storys, Quests, Endless Adventuring and most importantly Fun. So why wait for Bioware to create the next game, we already have the Infinty Engine at our disposal, let us as players and creaters come together and make our own worlds, our own stories and characters, isn't that why we all started playing DnD in the first place. Shadow Keeper is basically a cheaters program though useful for all the reasons stated above, but the teambg software ie., Infinity Engine Editor, Biftools, Dialog Editors, BAM decompressors, and so on, these are tools to enrich these great games. There purpose is not to cheat, but rather to create entirely new games based on the infinty engine. This is what DnD is all about! Long Swords that deal 5d10+35 damage and can cast every spell in Elminster's book are absurd and if thats what you want, get down with your bad self. But if you want to create balanced and interesting worlds of fantasy that are only limited by your imagination, you have two choices as far as I can see, Play PnP DnD, or learn how to creat your own Items, Spells, Creatures, Characters, Kits, Scripts, Dialogues, Dungeons, Castles, Cities, Friends and Villians, and Stories all of this woven into the wondeful tapestry that is our imagination. These games are great in and amongst themselves, but look at the possibilities, people have already created expansions to these games, they have created there own stories, there own campaigns. And they did it with these programs, a little bit of ingenuity and a hell of alot of hard work. And this they do for every one, these expansions a free, they are to be shared. not sold, they are our ideas for others to experience and perhaps even see that we don't have to wait for Bioware to come along with the next great game. We can create the next great game together. There are as we speak many expansions in the works and in time there will many new games to play. DnD has always in my Book(s) been about creation and taking the time to enjoy me and my friends creativity, that is why I play DnD, and that is why I create new elements for this Gaming Engine, not to cheat though some may call it that, I would like to think that I do it becuase I love the Idea of an ever evolving world that is shared equally amongst friends. I know that this has turned into more of a ramble then a comment on cheating, and it is not meant in offend to anyone, I have cheated and enjoyed it, I guess I can see both sides of the debate, like all things people seem to chose sides for the sake of it. I just don't see either side as wrong, I just feel that they can be combined in some sense to change these games. To create games that we can all enjoy. Play to your hearts content, there are always endless possibilties.
Fare thee well,
light laughter, sweet water, and may the sun's warmth fill thy souls with joy.
Mr. Underhill

Never been a fan of cheating. When you go through and do everything as you're meant to, it seems like a bit of an accomplishment. I look at my character as if he's a little trophy. I doubt that'd be the case if I'd hacked my way through the game. Hell, I didn't even import my old BG character, and he was all tomed up and everything. But (and I think I said this once before), I don't care if other people cheat, that's their prerogative. What drives me nuts is when people try to justify it, i.e. 'well, I'd already finished the game once before, I thought I might as well give myself good stats', or 'I already found that weapon in my last game, so I cheated it into my new game', etc.

[Memnoch]

You only need ONE justification for cheating - to enrich your gaming experience. It's YOUR game!! Enjoy it the way you want to.

S'fair enough. There's no universal law that states if you cheat in a game you're a prick. You'd understand what I meant if you'd ever had to put up with some of the morons I have.

I totally agree with you Memnoch. I was just about to post a reply when i read your final post, you even used the words i was gonna use, have you been probing my brain, i get that alot, all the people in white coats with needles and those humming things. Get out of my brain