Cheating is a term thrown around quite a bit and I'm curious to hear how this community defines cheating.

Keep in mind, the only rules we are SUGGESTED to follow are: No porn, No hate, Be nice.

I won't get into the lack of user agreement, but it does exist. What I will get into is that rules do not clearly define what cheating is.

No porn -- that's pretty clear.

No hate -- Well, ok. But my motives and actions in hating someone could be your way of showing love. Just a few days ago someone suggested that the table fuck me up the ass. I would consider this hate, but perhaps the player was just suggesting a new hobby.

Be nice -- This is kind of a subhead of no hate? I applaud getting the 'rules' down to three easy to remember statements, but this one doesn't do anything to define the no hate policy or how to be nice.

Really, cheating is up for personal interpretation.

If you set a goal out there for people to shoot for, understand that they are going to do everything in their power to achieve it. They will manipulate what rules or in this case what few rules there are to attain their goal.

If you haven't given clear parameters for the game to function within, you cannot deem one players actions cheating over another player.

In a sense what we are quick to call cheating is creating a much larger definition to the strategy already developed by the community.

Do I like all the creative strategies developed? No. Would I like to see some of them curbed? Yes. But it is inevitable that given the rules of the game, subgroups within the community will develop different ways to achieve their desired goal.

It's evolution, right before your very eyes. The very basic drive for survival of the fittest played out in a microcosmic level.

Bottom line for me? Until you have solid rules to define what cheating is, you cannot define it.