Is password guessing cheating?

[Slaughtermeyer]

I've already encountered one PBEM opponent who does not think it is cheating. Maybe there's a difference between guessing a simple password and trying to hack the files to guess the password, you'll have a chance to express your opinion on both counts.

[DavidG]

Are you kidding??? This to me is totally a no brainer. It is cheating. period.

<edit> P.S. If you friend thinks this is OK tell him (or her) to post his opinion and see how many games he gets let into.

[ June 29, 2002, 03:51: Message edited by: DavidG ]

[Nodachi]

Damn right its cheating! A good player shouldn't even be trying to guess someone else's password let alone hack it! If this were to happen in a game I was running that player would find themselves kicked quick.

Whatever happened to playing for the fun of it?

Nodachi

[disabled]

It's cheating in every way.

Now, hacking the exe is really cheating and a sign that you suck as a player (you is figurative for the cheater, not you you). Guessing the password is both cheating, stupid, and time consuming.

On a related note, if you have a guessable password or you are so secure in your position you drop hint as to your password, then you might have earned that hacking as a lesson to be learned.

Either way, cheating is intolerable in all forms!

[Grandpa Kim]

This is soooo cheating that I can't believe the poll results I've seen! Those of you who have voted "not cheating" please post your names so I can add them to my black list! In a way Slaughtermeyer, I can't believe you even had to ask, on the other hand I'm glad you did. It exposes some really sleazy players that I certainly don't want to associate with. So, those of you who think its okay, please reveal yourselves so the rest of us can avoid you on PBW.

Kim

PS
Would it be cheating if by some super glitch you opened someone elses turn AND LOOKED IT OVER when you innocently thought you were opening your own? Of course it would be cheating!
Would it be cheating if, in a poker game, you were able to see someone elses hand? Of course it would be cheating!
Sheesh! This is all so obvious, I am totally boggled by the poll results. Has the world really come to this low point?

[Captain Kwok]

Any attempts to gather info outside of the confines of the game is cheating.

I just don't understand why people cheat...I mean it's only a game, it's not life or death. Geez.

[Suicide Junkie]

The passwords are meant to keep others out, because you're not supposed to be looking at other people's empires! Take a hint, and don't cheat.

If you want to see what somebody is up to, use an intel op!

[Tenryu]

It is incrediable that someone would even try that excuse. I'd shut that turkey right down if I was running a game. He is, obviously, dishonest, and therefore, also a liar.

[Zarix]

Looking into someone elses empire is cheating when playing a game of SEIV. It doesn't matter how you do it. Even in a game where there is no passwords it is still cheating.

A little OT but wouldn't it be interesting to play a game without passwords? That way people who are interested in the game but aren't playing could learn new strategies and just watch the game as it develops. Also after a players empire is dead they could see what went wrong.

The best solution would be to use passwords and then publish them on a web page. That way the players wouldn't accidentally open a wrong empire. Of course it might not be easy to find players that are honest and willing to reveal their strategies.

[Slaughtermeyer]

Historically I can think of at least one instance where one side did the equivalent of guessing the other side's password: the use of ULTRA and MAGIC by the Allies in World War II to break the enemy codes. Perhaps an interesting addition to SEIV or SEV would be to include a very costly intelligence mission that if successful would reveal the target's password, either permanently or for a randomly determined number of turns.