I was reading the blogs over at SMH this morning and it occurred to me that many of them are less about the author crapping on for a thousand words and more about the blogger trying to stimulate some kind of dialogue or whatever with the readers. So like, whatever. I can do that.

Anyway, let me start by confessing that I cheat in RPGs. Chronically. Compulsively. I'll play for a few hours, maybe even a few days, but then after a while I start to wonder what it would be like to have the best armour, maxed-out stats, all the skills, the full bit.

So it's over to www.gamefaqs.com for a quick read up on what I have to do to get the awesome sword of awesomeness +25. And then I'm away.

Of coure the game then becomes completely pointless because what RPG has a story good enough to make the process of levelling up superfluous? Well, Planescape Torment perhaps. But it sure does take the swing out of things.

The worst cheat I recently encountered was "irolltwenties" for Neverwinter Nights 2. It maxed out every skill, gave my character every feat, and was in fact so uber it totally broke the levelling up system - I couldn't level up because I already had all the feats.

My all time favourite "cheat" is doing the Navarro Run in Fallout 2. This isn't even a cheat, technically. Instead of engaging in the story and painstakingly building up your arsenal throughout the game, you run straight down the map to the San Francisco area and dart around until you stumble on Navarro.

Because the game is so free-form you can immediately do the combat-free mission there that gives you access to the absolute best combat armour and weapons in the game. No hacking hex files, no codes. Just exploiting the game.

But now I want you to tell the stories. The choice is simple - either tell us about a cheat that completely ruined a game for you. Or, rather more positively, tell us about a cheat you love to use. It changes the game irrevocably, sure, but still makes it fun. Just fun in a naughtier way.

Let the commentage begin!