FromSoftware's games are known for being particularly demanding, particularly due to certain difficult bosses that put players' knowledge and reflexes to the test. A concept that doesn't appeal to everyone... and especially to certain unscrupulous individuals who don't hesitate to cheat to make their task easier. A worrying trend for the studio's first fundamentally cooperative game.
The first method used by these players is none other than duplication—a technique that, as its name suggests, allows players to create copies of a useful object using a glitch.
This isn't exactly a new thing; different variations already existed in almost all of the studio's games, although the method has evolved over time. Historically, this technique has mainly been used in certain speedrunning categories where the rules are intentionally lax. In this context, it is therefore a generally accepted practice. But unsurprisingly, players have also found ways to achieve this in Nightreign.
During our last games, several of us have come across pairs of players who do not hesitate to duplicate their best finds, such as the famous legendary weapons or the most sought-after talismans, to ensure that they finish each game with an extremely powerful build. And each time, the result was the same: the boss was taken down in an instant with minimal effort, removing the stakes and tension that make the game so appealing. A completely frustrating waste of time.
Third-party software to manipulate content
But that's nothing compared to what less scrupulous players can accomplish with other, even more problematic cheating techniques. Some clever people have, for example, found a way to manipulate relics, these objects that allow you to strengthen your character from one game to the next.
Most of these objects have completely random bonuses; Having to compose a coherent build with the suboptimal relics at our disposal is therefore an integral part of the progression system and the overall experience... or at least, it is for honest players.
Others, however, have realized that they can use third-party software to build custom relics, and even arbitrarily modify their values to create veritable weapons of mass destruction that completely trivialize combat. On Reddit, user giraffewithaspoon, for example, encountered a player whose inventory was full of artificial relics of this kind. Result: This individual's basic bow was dealing around... 2000 damage per arrow — more than ten times the normal value.
A worrying trend
It's one thing to Cheating freely in a single-player game; even if it's a more than questionable philosophy, it remains a personal decision that only affects the person committing the act. But the impact of this practice is very different in an inherently cooperative game like Nightreign. Most players are well-intentioned, and are looking for an authentic experience that is consistent with the studio's vision; whether they realize it or not, by cheating in this way, these individuals are ruining the experience for their teammates.
Certainly, for now, the overall impact of this problem remains fortunately quite limited. But what is worrying is that more and more players seem to be giving in to the temptation to do so. On YouTube and certain community platforms, we are seeing that more and more tutorials and other content explaining these practices are starting to appear.
Historically, FromSoftware has not stood idly by in the face of this kind of abuse. In Dark Souls 3, players caught cheating often received a "soft ban," a temporary or permanent exclusion from the global matchmaking system. With Elden Ring, the studio has gone a step further by integrating a dedicated anti-cheat system to detect third-party software and suspicious behavior. But that hasn't stopped some cheaters from circumventing this system and wreaking havoc in PvP mode. And recent examples clearly show that EasyAntiCheat (EAC), Nightreign's anti-cheat system, also has considerable blind spots.
Faced with this threat, we can only hope that FromSoftware will strengthen its defenses, while encouraging players to maintain the spirit of challenge for which its games are renowned. It would be a shame if this unique experience were to end up ruined by an army of cheaters with no consideration for the rest of the community.
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