Entrance: 18:30
Start: 19.30
CHEATING:
Did you ever want to look through walls or into the future? Be invincible, or let a robot do the work while everyone else is slaving away? In computer games, it’s easy to gain advantage. All you need is a cheat code. Cheating is not just about taking a shortcut to victory, but also about circumventing the rules, breaking them, or redefining them altogether. Cheaters are playing with, not by the rules. Forbidden fruits are always sweeter.
In many single-player games, cheating is not just tolerated but encouraged. Some games can only be completed by using cheats, if completion means finding all the hidden extras, Easter eggs, and in-jokes.
However, if somebody cheats in a multiplayer game to gain advantage over others, this is regarded as dubious or even immoral. The manipulation of game settings and the use of software bots violates notions of fair play, and puts others at a disadvantage. The carefully balanced game design is compromised. And if everyone is cheating, does it even make sense to play the game?
Even worse when the stakes are high. When there’s money on the table, it’s no longer just a question of winning or losing. In pro gaming, cheating has been compared to doping. Game developers and server providers use special software, such as PunkBuster, to keep the cheaters at bay. If they’re caught, they are banned, named and shamed. Their accounts are deleted.
In sports games such as ice hockey or soccer, you might get sent to the bench, or draw a penalty card for a foul. While some infractions of the rules are tolerated, others will result in a ban. This can be used creatively, or even strategically, to gain an advantage in the game. So it might pay off for a player to pretend he’s hurt, to exaggerate his limp.
And what about cheating in real life? Is cheating on your spouse, at an exam, or at you taxes just breaking the rules, or a crime? Criminals and anarchists threaten social order, or the powers that be. But who isn’t guilty of everyday misdemeanours that seem to provide an advantage in real life? Jumping the turnstile, speeding, jaywalking. Don’t pretend you haven’t ever downloaded a movie, or lied to your boss.
Aren’t coffee, sugar, and aspirin a form of doping as well? And wouldn’t it be naïve to assume we could get through the day without cutting some corners? What about hip replacements, then? Pacemakers? Silicon implants?
The rules are changing all the time, so it’s getting harder and harder to tell what’s right or wrong. Who is playing by the rules, and who is cheating. Life is unfair. Do we need a referee?
Funded by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and sponsored by wooga.