Glitching,Cheating and Steroids

"Dude check out this glitch I found!"

 
I've recently transitioned from console Left for Dead 1 and 2 to PC Left for Dead 1 and 2, mostly because of the graphics and Mod community but also because my design oriented wife sees an issue with all three major consoles being plugged into our TV(she likes the PS3 though, its sleek and black thus maintaining the aesthetic appeal of the room).

 
I was excited to log on and play, but also knew that my first few sessions were going to be a bit tough since I hadn't played for a while and had to get used to the control scheme (which is much easier than console by the way). I logged on and immediately joined a game of "Survival" in an area from the new dlc The Passing,  which was a bonus since I had yet to experience it.

 
The rest of the players were taking their time setting up the area with gas cans and arming themselve with their particular taste in weaponry, which is an appropriate beginning to any LFD2 game. I felt right at home and did my best to assist while also not speaking out too much since I was a relative noob to the game. Once the defensive measures were set up, I ran back to the designated start area that we'd all agreed upon and prepared to gun down hordes of zombies, only to notice my team was on the other side of the map jumping up and down on a pillar.

 
I wasn't sure if perhaps they were confused as to the rules of the game or were having some computer related issues themselves until I ran over and realized one of the group had found a glitch that allowed them to jump to a location previously that was previously innaccesible. They spent the next ten minutes attempting to do this, which was fine by me since we all chatted and I made a few Steam friends for future games. Heck, I even assisted with shooting a grenade into the guys ass and succeded in launching him up to the area, only to have him accidently fall off. We were unable to attain the same result the second attempt but ended up having a great game anyway.

Sure I wasn't excited to spend most of my session that evening using glitches, but it seemed harmless at the time and we couldn't take advantage of it anyway. However, I let it be known that I wanted to play through and not spend so much time on using game errors, and the group agreed.

 
I logged on again later in my week and ran into the same problem, only this time the glitcher was pretty demanding of his unwilling participants. Obscenities were shouted and when someone said they just wanted to start the game, a vote was cast to kick them out. I left this game right after that, not wanting to deal with someone so obsessed with breaking a time record that they'd take the fun out of the game for everyone else.

 
The very next game I found, the same thing happened, only I was the sole person not working towards a glitch. I heard noob, asshole and even a crude gay reference that I will not repeat, all because I just wanted to play.

 
In the ten games I played, there was at least one person working towards glitches that gave them unfair advantages or caused problems for the rest of the team. From magically teleporting around the map (which appeared to be closer to a cheat rather than just a glitch) to climbing up a roof and out of harm's way, people were willing to do what it took to win. In most these cases, the game appeared to take measures to stop the action (such as unleash a couple tanks or have spitter acid magically appear in the area the offender was standing) but not always, especially if the person knew exactly the right place to be.

The Valve Anti Cheat program works well, but the issue isn't preventing people from cheating,rather convincing people that cheating and glitches take the fun out of the game. Rules and functionality were established by the developers to make an experience the best most challenging experience it can be, why do so many people want to alter that?

 
I did mixed martial arts for a couple years, competed and ended up maintaining an undeafeated record(2-0 mind you, but still an accomplishment I can be proud of). Winning meant training hard, following the rules and not leaving any questions as to the validaty of the victory. There were those that took illegal enhancements or lied about their experience to fight easier opponents, but to me that seemed to pervert the experience of winning.

"God I Hope no one realizes I have horse parts in me..."

 
While not as extreme an example as a sport thats monitored by an athletic commission, the attitude of gamers towards cheating is disturbing to me. The very reason I stopped playing Modern Warfare 2 was because of the people that took advantage of programming errors and used them to spam wins and pad their records. How is that fun?

 
Perhaps there is respect to be earned by showing up to a match with an insane time record or number of kills. Left for Dead is not an easy game, and seeing people survive with a time of 16:00 used to be impressive to me, but I now question it. Are these real records to strive for, or have people just become experts on glitches as opposed to experts with the gameplay?

 
I never expect a game to be completely glitch or cheat free and realistically they shouldn't have to be as long as the game functions well. However,  there will come a day that video game records  follow the path of penis size in men; you can exaggerate all you want ,but one day you'll have to prove your stories aren't fiction.    

"Dude check out this glitch I found!"

 
I've recently transitioned from console Left for Dead 1 and 2 to PC Left for Dead 1 and 2, mostly because of the graphics and Mod community but also because my design oriented wife sees an issue with all three major consoles being plugged into our TV(she likes the PS3 though, its sleek and black thus maintaining the aesthetic appeal of the room).

 
I was excited to log on and play, but also knew that my first few sessions were going to be a bit tough since I hadn't played for a while and had to get used to the control scheme (which is much easier than console by the way). I logged on and immediately joined a game of "Survival" in an area from the new dlc The Passing,  which was a bonus since I had yet to experience it.

 
The rest of the players were taking their time setting up the area with gas cans and arming themselve with their particular taste in weaponry, which is an appropriate beginning to any LFD2 game. I felt right at home and did my best to assist while also not speaking out too much since I was a relative noob to the game. Once the defensive measures were set up, I ran back to the designated start area that we'd all agreed upon and prepared to gun down hordes of zombies, only to notice my team was on the other side of the map jumping up and down on a pillar.

 
I wasn't sure if perhaps they were confused as to the rules of the game or were having some computer related issues themselves until I ran over and realized one of the group had found a glitch that allowed them to jump to a location previously that was previously innaccesible. They spent the next ten minutes attempting to do this, which was fine by me since we all chatted and I made a few Steam friends for future games. Heck, I even assisted with shooting a grenade into the guys ass and succeded in launching him up to the area, only to have him accidently fall off. We were unable to attain the same result the second attempt but ended up having a great game anyway.

Sure I wasn't excited to spend most of my session that evening using glitches, but it seemed harmless at the time and we couldn't take advantage of it anyway. However, I let it be known that I wanted to play through and not spend so much time on using game errors, and the group agreed.

 
I logged on again later in my week and ran into the same problem, only this time the glitcher was pretty demanding of his unwilling participants. Obscenities were shouted and when someone said they just wanted to start the game, a vote was cast to kick them out. I left this game right after that, not wanting to deal with someone so obsessed with breaking a time record that they'd take the fun out of the game for everyone else.

 
The very next game I found, the same thing happened, only I was the sole person not working towards a glitch. I heard noob, asshole and even a crude gay reference that I will not repeat, all because I just wanted to play.

 
In the ten games I played, there was at least one person working towards glitches that gave them unfair advantages or caused problems for the rest of the team. From magically teleporting around the map (which appeared to be closer to a cheat rather than just a glitch) to climbing up a roof and out of harm's way, people were willing to do what it took to win. In most these cases, the game appeared to take measures to stop the action (such as unleash a couple tanks or have spitter acid magically appear in the area the offender was standing) but not always, especially if the person knew exactly the right place to be.

The Valve Anti Cheat program works well, but the issue isn't preventing people from cheating,rather convincing people that cheating and glitches take the fun out of the game. Rules and functionality were established by the developers to make an experience the best most challenging experience it can be, why do so many people want to alter that?

 
I did mixed martial arts for a couple years, competed and ended up maintaining an undeafeated record(2-0 mind you, but still an accomplishment I can be proud of). Winning meant training hard, following the rules and not leaving any questions as to the validaty of the victory. There were those that took illegal enhancements or lied about their experience to fight easier opponents, but to me that seemed to pervert the experience of winning.

"God I Hope no one realizes I have horse parts in me..."

 
While not as extreme an example as a sport thats monitored by an athletic commission, the attitude of gamers towards cheating is disturbing to me. The very reason I stopped playing Modern Warfare 2 was because of the people that took advantage of programming errors and used them to spam wins and pad their records. How is that fun?

 
Perhaps there is respect to be earned by showing up to a match with an insane time record or number of kills. Left for Dead is not an easy game, and seeing people survive with a time of 16:00 used to be impressive to me, but I now question it. Are these real records to strive for, or have people just become experts on glitches as opposed to experts with the gameplay?

 
I never expect a game to be completely glitch or cheat free and realistically they shouldn't have to be as long as the game functions well. However,  there will come a day that video game records  follow the path of penis size in men; you can exaggerate all you want ,but one day you'll have to prove your stories aren't fiction.    

A fucking Mech in L4D? Thats fucking awesome!

welcome to the master race, cookie night is on friday, and yes assholes will be in attendance.