Suggestion: Mods / Hacks / Cheats / Exploits

[Matt]

I didn't see any sections for mods/hacks/cheats/exploits or *gasp* piracy and/or hombrew. I know most sites don't allow piracy talk, links, etc. but it's still a part of gaming regardless of what side of the fence you're on. I think it would be beneficial to at least have a mods section as modding is a part of gaming whether they're software or hardware mods. I realize that homebrew and/or piracy might not have a place here and I can live with that.

I also realized that the community might benefit from a hobbies (such as cosplay) section. Is a trading/for sale section out of the question? Finally, it might be nice to have an off-topic area. I know there are a lot of sections as it is, these are just some of the more common ones I've seen over the years that I don't see here.

EDIT: Read the code of conduct (should've done that first)... Again, I realize the purpose of this forum and if anything I've suggested is out of the question, I understand completely and I won't bring it up again.

[aileron]

Second vote to the modding section. Piracy, eh, I think someone might notice and crack down hard. There are enough other places to look for that. Now cheats, hacks, walkthroughs... I'm not sure why those are banned. Back in the day, gamefaqs used to have tons of cheats and walkthroughs. Will a game company really go after a website posting those?

[Riyley]

Do Not Share Cheats/Cracks - Please refrain from publicly posting cracks and cheats for video games.

Anything related to cheats and hacks are against the CoC (like you said in your edit), it's not going to be a thing. As for modding, I'd suggest just making a thread in one of the sections. "What's your favorite mod for X?" or "Any good X mods that aren't that common?" if you really want to talk about that sort of thing. As long as it's legal and doesn't break the CoC, obviously.

I like the idea of cosplay being talked about, I don't think it needs a section though since cosplay isn't exclusive to games. Like with mods, just make a thread for it in its respective forum.

As for what Aileron said, I can imagine people going after EG if there's anything sketchy since not everyone likes the idea of the forum. Best to just leave things like cheating and hacks out, though I don't see a problem with walkthroughs. In fact, I'd encourage helping others if they're having trouble with a game.

[aileron]

What happened to god mode? <shakes head and leaves room>

[Damian Cunliffe]

Hacks/cheats/piracy = hell no. Like I keep reminding people - we're already going be under attack from the moment the website is live. They'll use any ammunition they can get to attack the site, get advertising pulled (if we get any), get the provider to shut the site down and so on and so forth. Do not give them ammunition!

A mods section is a great idea. Despite Bethesda and one or two other developers trying to monetize them, the modding scene is stronger than ever on PC. An exploits section could work but only for single player games. Again, it's just giving ammunition.

[aileron]

Ok, I just can't leave this one alone. I don't get it. How is a cheat being considered the same level of badness as piracy? I mean, the developers programmed the cheat into the game, they put it there on purpose, it's there to be used by players from the people that made the game. Piracy is completely different. You're ripping off the developers, telling them you don't want them to make money for their work, totally disrespecting them, and it's illegal. Don't make me type some old Mario Bros A B button sequence into this box to prove my point.

[monnef]

I think they should split forum to much more sections. Like video games are only 1 section? Sure, if you want to talk generally about video games, this section is fine (e.g. "are AAA games crashing?" or "morality in video games"). But if you want to discuss some genre on a PC? Or Xbone? Or PS4? Or Switch? Or if you just want to browse only PC-related topics? Or maybe you are looking for discussions related to gaming on Linux? Sure, I see there are some tags, but unless it is mandatory to properly tag topics, it will be just chaos. I think sections are a great way to split forum, so users can easily show only what they are interested in (and I think people will be more likely to post in a most specific category, than using tags).

If there would be more specific categories (e.g. "mods for PC games" or "video games on Switch"), it might be nice to be able to subscribe to a whole category and when a new topic is created you could get a notification.

[Fexel]

As per the current CoC, it doesn't state that discussion about hacks, and warez aren't allowed. However, You are not allowed to upload, link, or distribute hacks and warez here.

As it stands, the rules seem to exempt game modding (like that of fallout 3/NV/4, gamemode mods, total conversions, etc.) and cheat codes (explicitly stated in the CoC) embedded into the game, like the konami code and the like.

This does tend to imply (at least to me) that discussion about piracy and the scene is ok, but enabling piracy is not. Some examples of what's disallowed in that sense are: uploading dumped roms, PSX BIOSes (which are copyrighted), keygens, and DRM removal tools.