Growing up when I was gaming in the 90s and on, I knew of the stigma of cheating in video games. You were seen as stupid, someone incapable of completing challenges on your own. You were seen as lowly, someone who can never go through life without cheating. Like, it was a pretty big deal as I grew up, hearing all of this for years on end.
I’ve been able to beat games without cheating, of course. But during my late teens and early adulthood, I just tried going past the stigma. Cheating in video games don’t necessarily reflect how you handle life and don’t translate. I’ve found it quite fun to cheat in video games. Probably not in multiplayer and especially on the receiving end.
I even use cheats just to beat games anymore, who the hell cares. People only care if you want to make a big deal about it, by showing it to everyone and boast how you’ve beaten a game in record times. I’ve tried beating some games head on without cheats but there just comes a point where you ask yourself if it is fun dying a hundred times at some part of a game. I don’t think so, personally.
So yeah, I don’t have the stigma anymore. I kinda like how gamers today only care about cheating if it was done in multiplayer or if you’re trying to beat a speedrunning record or some score record. Fun is meant to be how you find it.
It strongly depends on the game and the definition of cheating. I do mod a lot of games, and some mods make them easier/give me advantages so that can be seen as cheating. If a game has MTX I always cheat myself everything I can buy, either the premium currency or the items directly. You might be rich enough to buy your way to success, I’m smart enough to do the same thing without spending a dime. Other than that, I may use a cheat or two if I get to a point in a game that frustrates me, be it because of difficulty or grind. I do enjoy an occational challenge and I have quite a tolerance for grind, but both have a limit and once it is reached, I prefer to just skip ahead and continue from there.
One thing I loved to do was counter-cheating in multiplayer games. I had my cheating setup ready but disabled and play the game normally until I met another cheater, then I started everything and showed him how its done until he gave up and left. Good times. But once my interests shifted more and more away from multiplayer pvp I eventually also stopped doing that.