This should be a good one, thanks commy for the idea My view on it is this: Using a cheat program is the same as hacking someones account, or scamming them. When you hack or scam, you steal their neopoints. When you use a cheat progrma, such as an aber, you steal nps that they could of had. Example: Lets say bob is a legit neopets palyer. And Billy is a cheater (a real scum bag). Now, when Billy uses that aber, he gets a 10 million np mp from the magic shop. While billy abed that item, Bob was also trying to get that item, but he wasn't using an aber. If billy wasn't there, bob would of gotten that item. But Billy used a cheat program, stealing (aka scamming) that item from bob. Now, lets say bob acually got the 10 mil mp, but billy got mad and decided to hack bob and get that mp. Now take a look at it. The first way was using a cheat program, the second way was hacking... Results: In both cases, Billy ends up with the morphing potion, and bob ends up with nothing. They both did the same things, but billy cheated, and bob didn't... NOW IS THAT REALLY THAT DIFFERENT? Debate.
YES ACTUALLY. They are different. 1. First off, the chanes of someone submitting to an FLP or Cookie Grabber are MUCH higher than the chances of two people, 1 legit restocker and 1 ABer, both trying to get an MP. 2. To anyone who says they are 1 and the same- you are not understanding the difference between "hacking"- a usually more hard core or violent way to cheat, and "cheating"- in this case ABing. When you AB, you are making others loose money that they earned legitly, you are just getting money, from neopets, for yourself. When you hack, you are taking someone else's earned (most of the time's) cash. That, sir, is wrong.
The difference is that with hacking, the user usually doesn't have a "chance", as it is a much more vicious way of gaining neopoints. With autobuying, the user doesn't even know that they lost to an autobuyer, unless they are a 1337 restock(which in that case they would have lots of nps anyways). In this case, the people just work harder. But with hacking, they would take much more than one item - the entire account. "Billy the scumbag" wouldn't just settle for the mp, he would want more. He would take all the nps, items, etc. and then sell the account. Besides, legit players usually beat out autobuyers simply because autobuyers need huge wait times to remain safe.
Is using an ebay program to bid on the videogame system someone else wanted the same as breaking into their house, stealing everything they own, then demolishing the house? What a ridiculous question.
^ made me lol :'D no, I see your point, but as the other said, it's not the same. I mean, if someone built up a 8 year account and had the nicest pets, and you just grabbed their password and stole the account, it's really not the same thing as abing an item they wanted..
HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHA THAT IS THE FUNNIEST contrast/example/analogy I have EVER heard!!!! I agree ----- And also, I believe Cackle is right, Billy could get greedy and destroy the account.
ok lets say i have a flp account that has sat there for 2 weeks and still not iced ive changed all the info on it... whats the risk there compared to a account that has just been abed on.... and all ppl saying its stealing form a person whats the diff from stealing form me and stealing from neo? same principal
well.. grabbing an abed item is totally different then losing your whole account ... so i gotta say hacking and progging are not similar.
I gotta agree with everyone else here. Just using a program such as an ABer you just take that one item from the person, they don't lose anything else but the shot at that item. If you get there password they can't even try again. So that's my 2 cents
While your points are correct in that situation, most hacking isn't like that at all :/ Most cookie grabbed and otherwise accounts are generally those who are either too naive or too young to understand that you can't get anything for free, and that if it sounds too good: it probably is. So it's like stealing a child's lolly. That being said, I don't find anything wrong with the benefits of being on the 'good' (ie. hacker) side of hacking.
*Cough* *Cough* http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hacking hacking (uncountable) 1. (computing) Unauthorized attempts to bypass the security mechanisms of an information system or network. ........ so from a programmers point of view my theory is I am hacking no matter what I do... if it is a cookie grabber or if it is an autobuyer.
When i ran a cger.. it didnt matter how much experience the player had ... naive new old talented 1337 restocker i got everything. but with all good things it came to an end. I dont think a cg in anyway comes close to just taking an item away from a restocker.
Ok, here's a new analogy: It's like this.. An alright looking guy is talking to a smoking hot babe in a bar. A hotter, better conversationalist butts in and steals her away. When they're walking out of the bar, the alright looking guy knows he's lost, and will not get laid. In this situation, the hotter looking guy is the ABer. It's unfair for the other guy, but it's still okay. When you change said situation to incorporate hacking, the alright looking guy gets the girl, walks out.. and then gets clubbed on the head. Another guy came along, followed them through a dark alley, knocked them both out, and raped the babe. That's what hacking is. Rape in a dark alley. LOL.
lol, no. as what i do, i now careless about the account just the nps in the account. i don't change pw, nothing. i just take items and nps. like dark said, your stealing from someone. wether it be tnt or a person, according to you, steal stuff from people is "morally wrong", but using an aber, which steals from tnt, isn't? your still stealing...
Okay, then. Another analogy: Let's say the Neopian economy and it's citizens are the polar ice caps. So legit players are the greenies. The people who drive Priuses, the people who use solar, etc. Illegit players are those who build factories with HUGE smog coming out of their roof, the ones who drive V12 cars, massive trucks, etc that pollute the air with carbon dioxide. They indirectly melt the ice caps. Hackers are the people who grab a massive fucking laser and melt the ice caps in one go. In short, the difference between hacking and programs is that hacking will effect the players directly, whereas programs will effect them indirectly.
what this and other guys are saying here is the same that if i said "its ok you shoot that homeless guy long as hes not a regular guy.." what affects one should be the same affect for all weather that be me or tnt its the same thing...
So you don't freeze the account or change the password? Then you're a pretty bad scammer, since doing those things would decrease the chance of the nps and items getting traced to you. But that's besides the point. The reason why cheating is the lesser of two evil is because when you auto buy something, there are many other people competing to get the item, and they still have plenty more chances to buy other items. This does not affect their accounts drastically. They might get disappointed that they didn't get the item, but they didn't lose anything on it. When you scam a person, you take everything they have built up over the course of weeks, months or even years and it is very hard to build up an account again, especially if you have been playing for a long time. So to sum it up: AB'ing: No other player loses any neopoints, they only lose the oppertunity to gain some. Scamming: The player lose all of their items and neopoints and in many cases even decide to quit playing. As you can see, there is big difference.
so its ok that we rip of the COMPANY that does this and employs people that make there living doing this game .. but the people who play for free them we can hurt... so according to this i can go into walmart and steal what ever i want? AS long as i dont take it form people shoping carts .... exact!same concept ....
No, it's not the same concept. I'd rather see you go in to walmart and steal something, than stealing something from the customers cars or even their cars while they're inside shopping, or stealing something they've just bought. The point is that everything is relative. For the company (auto buying), the loss would be considered small, while for the individual (scamming) the loss would be massive. Also, the company (Neopets) would lose more money on all the people who quit after being scammed, compared to the slight irritation of restockers.