Nothing ruins an online gaming session like a cheater entering the server. The fun factor quickly drops to zero and everyone exits, looking for another place to play. But why do these people do it? What kind of possible satisfaction can a cheater get from breaking all the rules? EGM recently talked with a few cheaters to answer these questions.

"It's frustrating," says Duncan Ariey, whose cheating ways date back to 16-bit Game Genie hacks. "To lose consistently to people who got better than you by playing six to eight hours a day while you're at school or work-some people cheat just to even the playing field." Latecomers are especially disadvantaged, says Ariey: "Nobody wants to turn on their new game and be killed 50 times in a row by people who have had the game longer. I know many people who cheat not to boost their win column, but to keep it from being ruined in their first few days of having a game."