I don’t find shame in cheating in video games. It was a stigma to hear about growing up, that cheating in video games meant you prefer the shortcuts in life or that you didn’t know what earning anything was. When, that was all just bullshit talk.
I cheat in video games, when available to on some games, to give me a little kick of fun. Sometimes I don’t have the patience to tediously go through the standard way. Other times, I feel I’ve earned it anyways, because of having undergone the stresses and frustrations or the time I’ve played of certain games to go through the normal way.
Like in Terraria, it’s a game I’ve clocked in upwards of 900 hours. I felt like I had done everything in the game prior to the content that added the Moon Lord and many other things. At that time, it was 850 hours.
So the point of the matter is, yeah I don’t find it that big of a deal to cheat in video games. If I cared to and want to, I’m decent enough to handle games without cheats, given enough time.
Multiplayer of course I never cheat in those.
In a world where everything is trying to steal as many minutes of our attention as possible, cheating in single-player games is just a way to experience the content without the grind. I appreciate any SP game that offers “dad-mode” difficulty options, but those are few. My favorite types of games are those that incentivize replay by offering “cheats” within the game. Games such as Dead Space and Silent Hill IV incentivized replay by offering enhanced items or, in the case of SH4, an infinite rocket launcher. Those are still, to this day, games I’ve played at least 3-4 times from start to end just to find fun ways to play and be a badass while doing it!
As with most things in my life, if it isn’t hurting anything/anyone why would/should I or anyone else care? Cheating in MP is akin to drinking water from a public toilet, though. Almost nothing grosser than that action and those people!
All that said, one thing I’ve learned about myself over the years, especially since my ADHD diagnosis last year (or the year before, time is a blur anymore), is that cheating is nearly always going to kill any interest I have in that game. It’s when I know I’m nearing the end of my interest in the game. It extends to hobbies, too, though the “cheating” in that is splurging and finally buying stuff to really get good at the hobby. I did that with woodworking, 3D printing, and ghost hunting. Bought the shit, got excited about using it, and basically didn’t touch the hobby afterwards. It kind of sucks and I’m working on that stuff, though!