Definition of cheating - Where do you draw the line

For multiplayer: changing anything besides configs / options is cheating to me. Or other way around: i ask myself the question if i would like to play against someone with xyz.

For singleplayer: who gives a shit? If you're not doing it to push a score on some public leaderboard (cheating the leaderboard by an unfair advantage) it really shouldn't matter - heck, even that is quite borderline, besides the damn leaderboard. Your example is cheating for sure, but you're not harming anyone besides yourself.

While i personally don't understand why people would cheat in any game, they basically cheat themself out of the challenge, i can see the fun in doing crazy mods etc.

Playing on lowest possible settings is one of the borderline cheats, it´s the reason that breaks RS:Siege PVP for me.
I don´t buy nice games to have them look like shit :E

As soon as it's competitive, I consider it cheating.
Single player and multiplayer co-op with both people on the same page are okay.

Single-player games are all about having fun, whatever gives you fun. In multi-player pvp games the most important thing is when everyone is playing fair, that's the whole point of playing pvp games. If you have to cheat in pvp games you just don't belong there.

i don't even know what's cheating any more for single player games, even mods give some kind of advantage in most cases.
but isn't that the same with preorder items, dlc, and microtransactions?
the only difference is the developer is the one deciding you could have something extra for their game, not you. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

for mp i guess the line can be drawn more clearly, like not being able to alter gameplay in any way, use scripts, etc. i try not to think too much about it since i don't care about mp, it has no effect on me.

Nothing in a single player game can be considered cheating. Not even
Optimus Prime in Skyrim with a gun.

The only thing I'm sure of is that if my brother-in-law punches me in the dick during mario kart then that is cheating.

There is not a single thing you could do to a single player game that I would consider as cheating. To me is just tailoring the into something that you would enjoy playing more than the original game.

For coop games: as long as whoever you are playing with it is fine with what are you doing see above. Otherwise anything that gives you an advantage I would consider as cheating.

For multiplayer: Once again as long as it gives you an advantage over other people I would say it is cheating. You want the model of your gun to be bright pink instead of the original color? Sure go ahead for all I care. You want the opponents to be bright pink? Nope, that's chams and cheating. Well except if you are playing hack vs hack, then while it is cheating I wouldn't consider it cheating.. but that is completely another thing.

In my opinion cheating only applies in multiplayer games with strangers, particularly the ones of a competitive nature.

The way you want to experience your single player games is of no importance to anyone else. Co-op and multiplayer in which all players agree with the cheat are also OK, in my book, and sometimes can lead to hilarious situations.

Everyone can do what he wants to in single player games but that doesn't work that way in multiplayer games especially in VAC protected games.

Bump!

I used to cheat a lot when I was younger. Now if I cheat something in a game (rarely), the experience is boring really fast.
The only situation I would do it today, it's for speed up to finish a game that it's getting tedious to end it.
Oh, and I don't use mods, no that interested, though there are good mods around.

Multiplayer: Any modification or third-party software meant to give you an advantage over other players is cheating, and you should feel ashamed of yourself.

Singleplayer: Any modification that gives you a significant advantage, such as immortality, infinite ammo, tons of health, tons of money, skipping levels, etc. is cheating. But it's a singleplayer game, so who cares? Cheat your heart out as long as you're having fun.

As for the grey area that you mentioned, part of it may be the intent. For example, I modded Just Cause 3 to double the grappling hook distance because the default distance felt way too short, and wasn't enjoyable. Did it make the game easier? Probably. But it made the game way more fun, and that was the main point for me, so I didn't consider it cheating.

Another example is an older RPG that had constantly respawning enemies in the wilderness that were unnecessarily frustrating. There was a popular, and recommended, mod that disabled that respawn. It made that part of the game easier, but the main goal was to make the game much less frustrating, and not to give you an advantage.

Literally had this discussion in class yesterday. Everything is cheating. Even when you try not to cheat. You cheat.

If it is single player, I don't consider it to be bad to use a cheat, unless it is to unlock Achievements on Steam. I use mods on Fallout 3 and Titan Quest, and they add content, items, quests, and monsters. They don't make it any easier, that is for sure!

I would never use any cheats in a multiplayer game at all, since other people would be affected.

I feel that peeking at solution in puzzle game is a cheating. A little knowledge is useful to make a gameplay easy.
In this way I don't mind cheating unless it's a multiplayer match or it gives others bad effects. And I use/make mods.

Single player games -- I don't care what people do. They can cheat all they want, if that's how they want to enjoy their game.

Multiplayer games -- the enjoyment of the game for others is involved. That's where I'd have to draw the line, and it's a very strict line. If someone is infringing on someone else's "fun time" by cheating ... that's not someone I'd want to game with, and I'd hope there are punishments in place for that sort of behavior.

the only times i have cheated is when the game is broken and i have to use console commands or similar to fix something a patch should have (helloooo bethesda!).

For me it depends on how you are "cheating" and also how much the "cheat" changes the game. I'd say certain mods might not be cheating and make the game more enjoyable or can add new life to a game, while other mods would be cheating.

Using an in-game console, code input, or cheat menu would definitely be cheating. However, a glitch or bug within the game itself that can be exploited with no outside tools is definitely not cheating in a singleplayer game.

Multiplayer games are a bit iffy though. I think it depends on the situation. If it's casual multiplayer gameplay then I'd say it's not cheating, you just have an advantage as you know something about the game that others don't. In competitive play it might be cheating unless it's commonly known about. If there's a rule against the specific type of glitch in casual and/or competitive then it's obviously cheating.

I've done speedruns before so I'm all about using glitches and in many cases, glitches are more difficult than doing something the intended way. For me, glitches are the most acceptable form of "cheating."

From experience, cheating in single player games can quickly cause the game to begin suffering from a lack of luster. Started strong nad was cool to find new things, but it quickky just takes all the challenge and enjoyment to be had from you, and became a chore to continue.

Worst I've come to cheating in multiplayer games is turning on items in Super Smash Bros when no one is paying attention ;P

As to what is considered cheating... I'd say pretty much everything that is either not intentionally put into the game by developers, as such was never tested as to how legit it should be as far as balance (external changes, or ingame glitches), OR anything that progresses the player in a way that they could obtain on their own, but choose to take the easy way out (console commands and the like). Obviously there are differences in the kinds of cheats and some are much more frowned upon than others, but they are still cheats to some degree, at least to me :3

I think it depends for MP for example GTA V they made it near impossible to get the cool new things if you only play casual you have to buy shark cards and the most expensive sharkcard 75 euros doesnt even get you the most expensive yacht cheating in some money is fine in my opinion but infinite health and all is no good.

I would also say that lag switches (happens in DBD for example) are considered cheating

With singleplayer you can cheat all you want

Using cheat code introduced by devs is cheating, simple ^^