Video Games (TF2) - would you consider this cheating?

[Crescent Cat]

I know there's at least a few other TF2 players on the board but for anyone that plays games, I'd really like your opinion on this.

There's a particular player that's been around for a while and has been making videos on youtube. Her name is Lei Lei and this is how she plays Demoman.

If you're unfamiliar or confused on what is going on let me explain a bit about the class. She technically playing a "DemoKnight" which means that she is using a sword and a weapon call the Charge 'N Targe ( and Splendid Screen) that allows her to go super fast for a short period of time. One thing you'll notice is how much she spins when charging and there in lies the problem. You see, you're not supposed to be able to turn that much when charging. When a player charges, you go in a straight line with very little ability to change direction. There's an item called "Ali Baba's Wee Booties" that will increase your ability to turn when charging, but you can't have the grenade launcher equipped at the same time (like she does) and it won't let you turn nearly as much as she does.

So how does she do it? She uses a wired Xbox 360 controller that allows her to bypass the turn cap when charging. TF2 is a PC game so when not charging she uses the key board and mouse like anyone else. When she is charging, she moves her left hand from the keyboard to the controller and uses that to steer along with the mouse. This allows her to do things she wouldn't be able to do otherwise.

So reading that, you're probably thinking that it's no question as to whether or not she's cheating. I mean, she's clearly doing something in the game you're not supposed to be able to do. But hold on a moment. Look at the video again. You have to admit that the way she pulls off her charges had to have taken a bit of skill and practice on her part and it's not like she's using aimbot or wall hacking.

Either way, it does give her an unfair advantage, but is it technically cheating? She's still using her own skill to play and it's not like she's playing competitively. I'm sure if she ever wanted to any league she'd enter would forbid her from doing that.

I have mixed feelings. It's an unfair advantage but it looks so insanely fun to play that way I can't really blame her either. Still, I'd be pretty annoyed if I was being dominated by someone using an exploit to do things in the game they're not supposed to be able to do.

What do you think?

[Andara Bledin]

She is absolutely using an exploit, no bones about it.

This is the sort of thing that needs to be beaten down with a nerf-bat.

Especially in a game that is inherently PvP such as TF2.

^-.-^

[Barracuda]

No bones about it. Glitching or deliberate hacking, it's the same thing to me. Cheating is cheating. She should either stop immediately or be banned from ever playing TF2 again. People like her ruin it for legitimate players who work to build their skills inside the restrictions the game programmers laid out.

[Shishire]

Using an exploit to break out of the intended functionality of the game is cheating. That it requires skill to do doesn't make it any less wrong. In the same way that pulling a smooth bank heist is still a criminal act, that is cheating.

[Argabarga]

Not a cheat, but it's being used like one, to give an advantage that was in no way intended by the game programmers and their lack of ablility to predict it may happen and thus not plan for it isn't an automatic endorsement of it as a natural "part of the game". She needs to knock it off or go play on a custom server somewhere where everyone agrees to live with it.

[Greenday]

Glitching is cheating no matter how you look at it. That's exploiting the control system to gain an unfair advantage.