Andrew wrote:I heard there was a system in place that was supposed to reset abilities and so forth after hacks, but from your experiences, it would seem that people have found ways around it.
When it comes to the people who cheat online, I think they're the sort of folks who care about winning but not competition, if that makes sense. They're like the people who swipe money from the bank and try to make up a bunch of BS house rules in Monopoly, then flip the board with a pout when they get called out on it. They're the kind of people who believe that rules don't apply to them and that the end always justifies the means, even though the point of games and sports is to win while adhering to certain rules and conditions. That's where the fun and the challenge is, after all. Oddly enough, they tend to get very upset when other people try to cheat or take advantage of the system.
The funny thing is that you see a lot of people justify hacking online by saying that they paid for the game, and therefore they can enjoy it however they wish. Aside from violating terms of service - to say nothing of sportsmanship - that ignores the fact that people who want to play fair also paid for the game, and by that logic, are just as entitled to enjoy it however they wish. Dancing the line of turning this into a political discussion, it's kind of like when people complain about their freedom of speech supposedly being threatened, while also shutting down people on the other side of the argument who are similarly exercising their freedom of speech. "I have freedom of speech!" is not a compelling argument for your point of view, and "I paid for the game!" is not a compelling argument as to why you should be able to dictate the terms of a multiplayer experience.
The other good one is "you take the game too seriously!", which is a tad hypocritical when they're obviously so concerned about beating other people at the game that they hack it in order to avoid losing. It's the old "You're a geek for liking and caring about this, even though I clearly like and care about it too" argument. That one's popular across all media. "It's just a game, relax...meanwhile, winning is very important to me, and I'm going to cheat to make sure that happens."
In bygone days, when you'd game with people in front of the same monitor or TV, it was a bit harder to be that person with consequence. They were the people you'd stop hanging out with, or at least playing games with, because people recognised it as a jerk move. That's harder to do online, because they'll keep popping up, and they can thumb their nose at other people from a distance without the fear of becoming that person in the group that no one likes and wants to have anything to do with anymore. Players getting banned for hacking is supposed to be the modern equivalent of that intervention and exclusion, but it doesn't seem like it's happening often enough, or at least, there are still too many loopholes.
Andrew, I think you summed up every archetype of cheater perfectly. I've heard so many of those excuses; I've sort of become the self-appointed sheriff of anti-cheating in PC. My nickname is Why-u-hack-cuz-u-suck? I have tattoos that say "turn off the hacks you weak as' p' b's" and "Going to XBOX 2K18, bleep U cheaters." And I walk around mypark insulting cheaters with the insult animations. I also friend these scum on steam just to call them out and tell them to stop cheating.
And the funniest thing is, I've encountered every one of the excuses you mentioned:
1) Everyone else is cheating
2) Why are you taking it so seriously?
3) Why don't you join us in cheating?
4) I'm not cheating (even when it's so obvious)
I don't know if the devs realize how bad it is. We're not talking about something even like glitching your way to a 99 player. Cheat Engine basically is a memory resident program that they start along with NBA 2k and it edits the memory addresses of the locations that determine the ratings of the player. As long as CE is running in the background, they can edit every aspect of their character including looks, badges, ratings, etc. Most cheats go balls out with 99 everything, every single Hall of Fame badge, maxed height and wingspan. The more subtle ones who try to hide only edit the settings that no one notices. Like on ball defense, ball handling, intangibles, hustle, etc. It really creates an environment where everyone doubts the other person. I've been called a cheater because I win 71% of my games. It's a toxic environment.