Cheating: Multiplayer Gaming's Achilles' heel?

Let's face it. Games are a lot more competitive than they used to be back in the days of Commander Keen and the original Quake. The rise of multiplayer gaming has seen many developers focusing substantially on multiplayer features in their flagship titles, and the ever-improving state of broadband Internet has facilitated a much more enjoyable online gaming experience. Lag is now rarely an issue and many are able to obtain an online experience similar to that provided via a LAN (Local Area Network) - as far as pings are concerned, anyway. In either case, the bottom line is that multiplayer gaming, especially in the online arena, has become much more enjoyable as games and technology have advanced, and the elimination of lag issues has allowed players to take a much more competitive stance while online. After all, what's the point of multiplayer gaming if not to compete with humans, rather than the monotonous and highly predictable pre-programmed bots?

There are hundreds of thousands of gamers fragging online at any one time, and with the more popular games it often takes quite a while before you are even able to join a server. This immense popularity has also led to an increase in the overall competitiveness of the community, as the general skill level of those playing has risen greatly over time. With such a high level of competition, it's only natural for us to try and overcome this added difficulty, whether it be by practicing for many hours a day, or even upgrading our PCs to ensure maximum frame rates. Even away from the PC, similar events take place all the time. When you were a child and mum asked you to tidy your room, did you neatly fold each t-shirt and pair of underwear before carefully placing it into your dresser? Or did you sneakily sweep every scrap under your bed so you could get back to whatever it is you were doing before you were ever so rudely interrupted? Thought so! However, these acts were ultimately only harming yourself and thus, weren't that big a deal. It's when cheating moves to the multiplayer arena that it starts becoming an issue.

Cheating in games is certainly not a new concept. Games as far back as Doom have featured pre-programmed cheats (added by the developer himself) to allow those that are stuck to move through the game with reduced difficulty. We've seen a whole gamut of cheats ranging from no clipping mode (see-through walls) to all weapons, to unlimited ammo and even invincibility. However, these were all cheats for the single player game, and it wasn't until relatively recently that cheats of the same nature were introduced to multiplayer gaming, as well. This is a significant issue because, unlike single player cheating where you're only affecting your own gaming experience, multiplayer cheating affects everyone playing in the server with you at the same time.

Cheating is now close to destroying entire gaming communities (Counter-Strike anyone?), and it's gotten to a point where developers are having to spend a large portion of their research and development time creating barriers against the individuals who program and utilize such cheats.

It's clear that cheating is a significant issue in the multiplayer gaming community, however, there are thankfully a number of ways to spot and prevent cheats before things go pear-shaped. Interested? Read on.