What's Considered Cheating?

[Eternal21]

Sorry if this is the wrong forum, but I want to get clarification on what's considered cheating.  There's a guy giving away $5,000,000 in GTA IV so you can get your Wanted trophy (he joins your game, uses a cfm PS3 with a script that transfers cash to you in a few seconds).  It would save me about 2 weeks of 2 console grinding, so I am tempted to do it.  At the same time I don't want to be labeled a cheater.  Would that be considered cheating for the purpose of PSNProfiles Leaderboards?  Is there an official FAQ that states the rules?  Thanks.

Edited May 6, 2013 by Eternal21

[SitusKiss]

So that example would definitely be considered "cheating". As far as the auto-flagging system here goes, it will probably not flag you for going that route.

I'm currently grinding my way to $5,000,000 with some friends so I understand where you are coming from. My suggestion is don't do it. Tough it out and in the end you can be proud of your trophy and your accomplishment.

[HardXDXtraga]

Definitly cheating, although noone would really know except you and the person who helped you, I grinded it for about 3 weeks, made a few good friends while paying NOOSE over and over, don't regret doing it.

Like BMJ said, do it like you are supposed to, feels much better!

 

Edit: I just saw your game list, if you were pacient enough to do the Uncharted 3 DLC's then Wanted should be a joke

Edited May 6, 2013 by HardXDXtraga

[siuilarun]

If you don't earn it properly, then what's the point? There's no cash prize, and it's not like it's going to even earn you additional respect or credibility, even on a site like this where trophies are the whole point. All you stand to gain is a sense of accomplishment, but only if you go about the right way.

[Vanilla]

[Eternal21]

Definitly cheating, although noone would really know except you and the person who helped you, I grinded it for about 3 weeks, made a few good friends while paying NOOSE over and over, don't regret doing it.

Like BMJ said, do it like you are supposed to, feels much better!

 

Edit: I just saw your game list, if you were pacient enough to do the Uncharted 3 DLC's then Wanted should be a joke

 

I did Uncharted 2 & 3 legit - love those games spent probably 1000-1500 hours in both MP's combined.

 

So it looks like I wouldn't be flagged a cheater - still kind of risky though.  If you own 2 PS3's with GTAIV, there's a way of grinding without having to do anything (you just need to set up every hour or so), so I'll probably just do that instead.  Still a waste of time, but not as much as other boosting methods.

If you don't earn it properly, then what's the point? There's no cash prize, and it's not like it's going to even earn you additional respect or credibility, even on a site like this where trophies are the whole point. All you stand to gain is a sense of accomplishment, but only if you go about the right way.

 

You're not answering the question I asked, but thanks for your input anyway.  I want 100% in all my games, for my own enjoyment (and to satisfy my OCD), don't care what others think, and can't be bothered to waste 50 hours of my life on grinding.  I love skill based trophies, but I despise mindless grinds, and will do whatever's possible to bypass them.

[daniezutton]

Cheating, yes - but it's your profile, so do what you want.

[siuilarun]

You're not answering the question I asked, but thanks for your input anyway. 

 

Sorry, I thought it was pretty much unanimous. The method you described does seem less than sporting, but probably not something that would be detected.  But if you don't care what people think, as you say, then go for it, since there's not likely to be any repercussions, beyond the crap in my last post about missing out on blah blah blah.

[grimydawg___]

You're not answering the question I asked, but thanks for your input anyway.  I want 100% in all my games, for my own enjoyment (and to satisfy my OCD), don't care what others think, and can't be bothered to waste 50 hours of my life on grinding.  I love skill based trophies, but I despise mindless grinds, and will do whatever's possible to bypass them.

 

If you don't care what others think, then why did you even make this thread?  You said yourself you don't want to be labeled as a cheater.  If you want to get all of your trophies on your games, then do what you have to do.  Yes, it's cheating.  You don't have to spend all day grinding.  Just spend an hour or two a day.  It's less stressful.

[lporiginalg]

Personally I would care less if someone did that, but then I also tend to feel that all MP trophies are completely meaningless anyway. We all know GTAIV takes no skill so it's not like you're impressing anyone regardless how you earn it. People say do it legit so you can be proud. Proud of wasting 50 hours of your life? I have the same OCD compulsion to go for 100% but doing long boring grinds doesn't make me feel any kind of pride, just relief that it's over. This is why I don't go near Uncharted 3 even tho I thought Uncharted 2 was a good game those MP trophies are just too much. I just think it's really funny that people think using two consoles and a rubber band to earn the trophy while you sleep is perfectly fine but hacking the trophy is a big no-no. Basically the comunity doesn't care how you get a trophy, even seen lots of people say there's nothing wrong at all with having someone else earn the trophy for you by playing on your account, so long as you don't hack it. I'll never really understand this mentality.

 

And like others said btw you won't get flagged if you do that and no one could ever prove you hacked it so I say go for it haha, or if you prefer you can waste 50 hours not having fun as a matter of principal, or it sounds like you can go the middle route of rubber band boosting it.

Edited May 6, 2013 by lporiginalg

[HardXDXtraga]

I just think it's really funny that people think using two consoles and a rubber band to earn the trophy while you sleep is perfectly fine but hacking the trophy is a big no-no. Basically the comunity doesn't care how you get a trophy, even seen lots of people say there's nothing wrong at all with having someone else earn the trophy for you by playing on your account, so long as you don't hack it. I'll never really understand this mentality.

Noone in this topic said anything about any of those methods except the person who asked, and I don't think that any of those are acceptable, the only non legit method I support is boosting, because some trophies, like this one, are ridiculous, and if I had done it legit I would always be paired up with different people and half of them wouldn't know what they were doing.

[Arkthur]

I don't think it would get detected by the system. I say do it, not everyone can afford to loose houndreds of hours on mindless grinds.

[Eternal21]

My personal opinion is boosting is fine.  Hacking is wrong.  I don't know exactly why I think that way - probably because hacking takes no effort, while boosting you still need to put in significant work, not even counting organizing the boosting session itself.  For example I spent 8-10 hours slapping 6 other players over and over again to get to level 50 in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood the other weekend.  This is as opposed to 50 hours I would have to spend playing the game legitimately against hardcore players who never moved on to AC:Revelations, or AC III.

 

I really don't care what other people think, but I don't want to be labeled a cheater, because I then can't join boosting sessions posted on this site.  But from the answers it looks like I wouldn't be.  I think just to be safe I'll use the rubber-band method.  Not so much due to PSNProfiles now, but more because of not wanting to get banned by Rockstar.

Edited May 6, 2013 by Eternal21

[daftprophet]

I'm right there with bmj. It's cheating and absolutley frowned upon. We're doing it "legit" and while it may not take much skill, it's been a hoot so far.  

 

If you're that concerned with it being 100% then I suppose you "gotta do what you gotta do", but I generally frown upon that.

[lporiginalg]

Noone in this topic said anything about any of those methods except the person who asked, and I don't think that any of those are acceptable, the only non legit method I support is boosting, because some trophies, like this one, are ridiculous, and if I had done it legit I would always be paired up with different people and half of them wouldn't know what they were doing.

 

Well first off, using partners to grind Hangman's noose isn't boosting, so if that's what you mean by doing it "legit" then it's a mute point because playing co-op is NOT boosting. If you are refering to the BTB2 Glitch, I think lots of people would say that's something different alltogether, glitching and boosting are two different beasts. If you're just talking about AWP then you're really just off topic.

 

In the past I wrote up a few rants about how boosting is absolutely cheating, but I soon got over it and learned to not care what others will do to get their trophies. It all comes down to the personal experience and the personal feeling of satisfaction, if any that goes with earning the trophy the way you decide to earn it.

 

I don't see any point being against someone using a rubber band to earn a trophy. If you're going to be upset be upset with the developers for this type of inherent design flaw.

[SitusKiss]

Personally I would care less if someone did that, but then I also tend to feel that all MP trophies are completely meaningless anyway. We all know GTAIV takes no skill so it's not like you're impressing anyone regardless how you earn it. People say do it legit so you can be proud. Proud of wasting 50 hours of your life?...

I agree that, for the most part, there's no major skill required for this MP. You won't bust through "Fly the Co-op" your first time through but, it only takes a few tries before you get a good system down. The rest of the trophies, if boosting, require no skill other than to be able to drive/kill/whatever and keep track of your progress. I'm with you.

However, I don't know of any way to "hand over" cash to someone in GTA's multiplayer; he also mentioned the person he knows has a "jailbroken" PS3 and is employing custom programs/code (i.e. "Hacking"). I don't know the details of how they would accomplish this but, everything is adding up to sound like Eternal will be giving his account information to this guy and letting him add the cash from the CFM PS3. I wouldn't do it.

So 50 hours of "wasted" time... nah, i'm playing with friends. We laugh and BS about whatever while we play so it isn't any different than all of us talking on these forums for countless hours. I've met some good people through boosting online and don't regret any of the time spent doing so.

In the end, it's your choice Eternal... if you just want it done and trust this other guy with your account, then do what you have to do. Other than this thread, nobody will ever question it or know how you went about getting the trophy. Good luck either way

[Eternal21]

When I first heard about the method, I thought it's a scam too.  Then I looked into it, and it's 100% legit, and a number of people from PS3Trophies got it.  I initially suspected the guy is asking people to give him their PSN credentials, but he doesn't need those.  He just tells them to start a game, joins it, and sends the cash over.  When I investigated it further on Google, I found out it's done using CFW PS3's (rooted with custom firmware), running a specific script.  Takes 10 seconds to get it done, and he doesn't need any information from you.  I found more than one person doing it, apparently they do it for fun.

Edited May 6, 2013 by Eternal21

[lporiginalg]

I agree with you bmj, first off it def seems like he would be giving over his account information, and I wouldn't do that personally as there's obviously a risk involved and I wouldn't suggest anyone take that risk, but it's up to them.

Secondly, I talked about the satisfaction of earning the trophy, but I forgot to mention something else very important, which is the fun you have doing it. Personally, boosting is just a tedious chore which I would only use as a last resort. I got my level 50 in AC:Brotherhood legit, same as Ultimate Respect in Mortal Kombat, and while it takes around 5x longer to do it this way than boosting it, I had fun actually playing the game, so as far as I'm concerned the people who boost those trophies are cheating themselves, but they obviously don't enjoy the struggle of playing against the pros as much as I do so I understand why they do that.

 

But in the case of grinding Noose you aren't struggling against pros but just a weak AI, and doing this same thing like 800 times. I can absolutely understand how some people will enjoy it. I did it myself this way and it wasn't ALL boring, just mostly boring. If I had two copies of GTA and two PS3 I for sure would have been open to rubber banding it, because I just didn't have enough fun grinding it to justify all that time spent.

 

*EDIT* Well if you don't have to give over your credentials then I'm back to saying go for it I mean hell, you're not even hacking anything, so I don't know how it could really be considered cheating. If it really works as you say, then theoretically, there's nothing stopping someone from joining your game and just giving you the 5 Mil, wether you want it or not. If that's the case then nobody can hold it against you as you can always claim it was against your will haha.

Edited May 6, 2013 by lporiginalg

[HardXDXtraga]

Not refering to any glitch, guess this game wasn't such a good example, my bad

I don't really care how people get trophies, but I do respect a player more if he gets his trophies legit(or boosting, because as I said, some trophies require large amounts of time even when boosted)

BMJ's last post just explained everything, assuming you have a headset you can have lots of fun while playing.

 

It's really up to you Eternal, as you already read you won't be caught if you do it, and if you are not willing to spend 50 hours on it and don't mind winning the trophy this way go for it.

[Eternal21]

It is tempting.  I'll get my other online Rockstar trophies first (GTA and RDR), and then see if this FREE_GTA_CASH guy is still around.

@Iporiginalg

 

It's not that I don't enjoy playing against the pros.  I simply don't feel like sinking my time into playing a 4 year old game at this point.  A multiplatform game at that, which tend to look like crap compared to 1st party, especially back then.  I had no problem playing Uncharted multiplayer legit, because it played and looked great.  AC:B is nowhere near that level.  And at the end of the day, it's still grinding.  I'm all over skill based trophies (Overseer from U3 is a great example, or this little gem: https://psnprofiles.com/trophies/680-Sky-Fighter).  But anything involving luck, or mundane repetition just puts me to sleep.  Asassin's Creed Revelations had a better level requirement (only $120,000 instead of $650,000), and that's something I would have no problem doing legit (still boosted it, because 2 hours sounds better than 10).

 

At the end of the day, I'm a big opponent of online trophies.  Even the simple dumb ones, like play a single match of deathmatch/plunder etc.  There's already a huge list of games you can no longer Plat or get 100%, because online servers are shut down.

[SSarcasm]

You most likely won't get labeled as a cheater on the PSNP leaderboards. I'm pretty certain that the only way you get labeled as a cheater is by hacking/modding your trophies, but in all honesty why do you care what people think of you? It shouldn't matter 

[Eternal21]

You most likely won't get labeled as a cheater on the PSNP leaderboards. I'm pretty certain that the only way you get labeled as a cheater is by hacking/modding your trophies, but in all honesty why do you care what people think of you? It shouldn't matter 

 

If you're labeled a cheater, you can no longer join boosting sessions on this site, because the "Join Session" button no longer appears for you.  That's the only reason I care.

Edited May 6, 2013 by Eternal21

[SSarcasm]

[MoreTheVictim]

Just do it man. Just make sure it looks legit and you won't get flagged, not even when you beg for it, there's no proof.

Online trophies are ridicoulus and in most cases shouldn't even exist. However, it's your own choice, but I doubt it makes a difference.

[Gotakibono]

Some of the funniest and most enjoyable moments I've ever had whilst playing games came from playing towards that Wanted trophy in GTA IV; playing with some incredibly funny, intelligent and downright awesome guys made it a blast to play. I wouldn't swap those 50+ hours of laughs for anything, especially not for an easy, quick and hollow moment of gratification. 

Edited May 6, 2013 by Gotakibono