Not playing yourself....cheating??

[Trotter]

Such is the nature of the beast.

Back when I played pen and paper RPG's, transitioning characters from one person's game into my own was sticky business. I made my players work for their levels and loot, whereas other DMs piled it on like there was no tomorrow. Usually I ticked people off when I started going down their character sheet, ticking items they would lose as well as adjusting their levels/stats. Some would walk, others stayed and had a great time.

My wife's motto for me was, "Sending us out to fight a dragon with a toothpick." Since I didn't ladle on the junk, they had to use their minds and creativity to make up for the sheer firepower others might have in other games. but this made for much better games that had a sense of balance and achievement.

The same thing applies here. Sure, so pencilneck that doesn't have a life will hit the top slots first, but he will have to do it the hard way... the same way you will have to do it. But that makes it worth something. What we have to work for we appreciate, but what cost us nothing we tend to not hold in regard.

 

[synergy]

Great example. The problem I see with it, however, is that in the virtual/electronic world there is no way (as of yet) to adjust levels or "demote" characters as there was in your example with pen and paper RPG's. As far as the coded rules of the game(s) go there is no violation whatsoever. It's more of a moral cheating concept than one of blantant changing of the game code. People in China or Romania or where ever just log into a valid account and validly upgrade the character, but that doesn't mean it isn't cheating as far as I see it.