A Plea: Monster Hunter World and Other Cooperative Games

[Venator]

I'll admit this is probably just a lot of hot air from me. Maybe, it's just cathartic, but I felt compelled to say something in some detail in follow-up to a matter discussed in the thread for Squall8's Monster Hunter: World table. I saw someone talking about using the table in sessions with other players [link] and I responded with an admonishment not to do so [link], before being reminded that the game requires us to be online to participate in events [link].

I truly and genuinely mean it when I say that I do not mean to ignite anything on the "online vs. offline" discussion with Monster Hunter: World, though the heart of the matter could really be applied to any game with cooperative play. Regardless, I spoke hastily on the matter referenced earlier. Obviously we do not want to impact anyone else's experience, but we also have to be connected to an online session -- even if it is private and we are alone -- to take full advantage of any ongoing events.

Right now, we have a big event on PC and Kulve Taroth is around the corner in November. In the midst of this, we are all -- more especially some of our "heavy hitters" in the table making section of the community -- now busy with seeking solutions for what appears to be an anti-cheat measure. Tinkering with anything that updates "live," as it were, such as current health, results in automatically being tossed into offline mode. That's not a huge problem in and of itself, but it closes off access to the events.

Maybe it's not actually an anti-cheat measure; perhaps it was just a consequence of something in the update and it will disappear as quickly as it came. It certainly feels like the first step in discouraging people who use CE or other tools, though. My point, in short, is really a plea. Please, please, please don't use any tables or trainers when you're playing with other people or to do something clearly impossible when it comes to online ranked events (i.e., the arena and arena challenges in MHW).

I think most of us just like to have a level of control over our personal game play experience. Maybe that applies to all of us. However, if it's obviously impacting the experience of others, no matter how small that impact might be or seem to us, then we're going to see more and more aggressive efforts to stop anyone and everyone from using these tools. It's a short-term gain with a much larger loss in the long-term.

I've greatly enjoyed MHW. Sometimes I use the table for helping me to get through more frustrating grinds (after 4 or 5 tries without the table, I may feel justified using it to get what I was trying to find in the first place). If they do go after table/trainer users with more and more aggressive means, though, it certainly wouldn't be the first time I've seen something happen with a "rampant cheating problem" that led to developers coming back with heavy-handed responses. There have been many games I've enjoyed but I've ended up leaving because the occasional shortcuts that made it manageable for me are no longer available. That's just me, of course, but I know I'm not the only one here who's come across that.

TL;DR Version: To everyone, please don't give into that temptation to use tables or trainers while you're actively playing with other people. Your being there means you're part of their game experience, and if you're tinkering with the game then you're impacting them as well. It will likely come back to bite us all in the rear if you do that. The less restraint we show in using these tools, the more developers are going to come back with heavier and more aggressive replies to cheating.