For as long as there are rules to follow, there will always be someone who will try to go around them, or even break them. In that respect the game world isn't that much different from the real world. In a recent article, CNN takes a closer look at cheating in MMORPGs via the new book "Exploiting Online Games" by Gary McGraw and Greg Hoglund.

They observe that some online game companies seem to have accepted that cheating is an inevitable part gaming so instead of tightening security they just observe game play and look for anything suspicious. Some companies really crack down on cheating though.

Nexon America Inc., for instance, apply patches to remove every method of cheating they discover in their games. Others just actively boot cheaters from the game. The problem with this though is that most of the time they can just return with another identity.

One idea from Intel sounds promising. To prevent cheat commands coming in from a player's computer to the game's server, a chip will be embedded unto the PC itself. The chip will monitor if the PC sends commands that don't coincide with the rules of the game, like if a single mouse click sends a "fire 100 shots" command.

Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa on the other hand, says they've done all they can do to prevent cheating in the game. Starr Long, producer of Tabula Rasa, comments on cheating in MMORPGs:

In the old days we didn't really think through what would happen once we started letting people play together. Every single piece of content we put in the game, the first thing we say is 'Here's what we want this thing to do.' And the second thing we say is, 'OK, how are players going to try to exploit this?

Developers certainly don't benefit from cheating. What about the players? Hubert Thiebolt, who leads one of the largest teams in World of Warcraft says that cheating degrades the experience for everyone else. Perhaps measures for preventing cheating should start with the only ones who benefit from cheating.

 

Xfire has got a whole lot of other interesting statistics for the month of March this year, and it looks like plenty will be head-turners for the PC gamers and avid MMO gamers alike. During Xstatic's official launch, it was made aware that the Xfire community, numbering some 6 million gamers around the world, would be statistically tracked for every game they play.

And for the month of March, it seems that the top 20 games played be Xfire community members are topped yet again by Blizzard Entertainment's cash machine World of Warcraft. Also noticeable in the top 20 games list is the appearance of Electronic Arts' recently released Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars for the PC, which sits at one spot away from the Top 10.

Top on the MMO list is (tada?) World of Warcraft with NCSoft's Guild Wars tailing behind. Free-to-play MMO giants JoyMax Co.'s SilkRoad Online and Nexon's (and Wizet's) MapleStory pick up the lower two of three spots on the top five list. Scandalous Eve Online enjoys a comfortable seat at the fifth spot.

Top of the FPS list is Counter-Strike: Source, Valve Software's next-generation anti-terrorism shooter. Activision's Call of Duty 2 in multiplayer mode fills the second spot, and Electronic Arts' Battlefield 2 takes on third. Valve manages to slip another CS title with Counter-Strike 1.6 at the fourth spot, leaving id Software's Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory to bar Battlefield 2142 from entering the top five.

Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne peaks off the top 10 strategy games, with Electronic Arts' Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars stealing second spot. Big news: contending RTS titan Supreme Commander is tailing behind C&C3 with a staggering 20,000 player gap, although February saw THQ and Gas Powered Games' Supreme Commander securely at second.