Harris59's Blog (9 followers)

So, hello there, I don't really tend to write blogs at all on here or create much of a discussion these days but I whilst I was looking through the achievers (yet again) for a particular confirmed unobtainable trophy (currently there are now 8 achievers) I started thinking about both hackers and other examples of false accounts such as egregious boosters online and exploit abusers/trophy buyers etc.

So, my mind started to casually drift around deciding whether I, or anyone, should really even give a shit about this behaviour blah blah blah, and how it's pretty much "whatever" if it isn't directly effecting anyone else etc. But while I was randomly thinking about this for a brief moment a comparison came to mind which made me question the entire mentality of why anyone would even bother do such a thing in the first place and also I suppose adds to the conclusion that it really doesn't matter to anyone but themselves.

We all knew THAT kid in the playground of your primary school right? You know the one? That kid who would jump into your playground chatter you're having with friends about how you just got the new exciting cool platformer game that's been in all the latest games magazines and would proclaim, without any hesitation "I've beaten that game, 100% and all the bonus levels". You all look at each other, you know, your friends know and that kid probably even knows you know but no one says a word... The unspoken realisation that kid most definitely doesn't even have the game, let alone beat it. Over time in the conversation the most obvious tells start to show, there is more to beating a game than just a "well done" stamp at the end, a person who's beaten a game, especially if very recently has all that knowledge and information freshly squeezed into their brain, all those little nuances of their playthrough that come through in conversation so naturally and you can smell a liar of completion a mile off.

But hey, achievements are here for to save the day and put an end to the awkwardness and inability to just say "you're lying, dum dum, and your daddy is stinky", now proof they haven't is right there, it's the modern equivalent of bringing your 100% save file memory card to your mates house to show off to them all your unlockable skins and bonus FMVs (only to accidentally leave it there at home time). But, it's only a matter of time until a system has a loophole, a way to break and deceive it. For your memory cards you had cheat codes, gameshark and asking your dad to do the tough bits to get those precious fake stats saved on there to show your mates without doing the work and for today's world we have boosting, exploits, hacking and buying achievements. But despite all this, one thing remains unchanged, no matter how many systems of evidence are in place and how many of them are eventually broken to deceive... It's that unspoken feeling between people, when it is so apparent they haven't done it remains... As I said before, there's just no way around being void of that experience, people can just sense it, and it doesn't matter how many wikis you read up on and how many playthroughs you watch on YouTube, just speaking to a person who hasn't actually done something shows so clearly.

So to the point, why do people bother keeping up this facade. After all, we are not primary school kids anymore (well, I suppose some are I guess, lets not rule them out), the whole idea of compulsive short term unconvincing lying for attention or to impress should be long since grown out of them. As I've said, it's that same moment as in the playgrounds, we all know and I'm pretty sure they know we know, so why do they feel compelled to continue lying to themselves and the rest of the world when we all, unspokenly, know the truth?

I understand, even in adulthood people try to lie and be deceptive and we probably can all think of someone in our social circles who's a bit of a compulsive liar but I feel like this kind of behaviour is distinct and separate to that, because, like I mentioned it's the kind of lie that everyone's unspokenly aware of and continuation and commitment to such a lie is usually only a trait in young primary school age children.

So, why is it that such accounts and profiles exist across all games and platforms, what is the motive and am I missing something? If it's not an inner child-like self what could it be that compels this. Could it simply be the craving of conflict, do people do such blatant acts of deception because they are aware that everyone knows eventually at least someone will call them out on it so they can argue about it and try to proclaim innocence just because they crave conflict so desperately? Aside from that possibility I just can't get my head around the mentality behind it, I'm trying to get in their heads but nothing makes sense to me.

Can anyone shed some light on this for me? Any ideas as to why people feel compelled this way?

And if you somehow got some interest out of this blog, I don't really write blogs, so let me know if you do since I always love a good rambling and could easily plop out some more written diarrhoea another time.