I have a game that I bought on GOG years ago that I love to death. I’ve played it end to end several times. Probably hundreds of hours. So much that I don’t really have an interest in playing it again. Every last drop has been squeezed out, so to speak.
I recently fell back in favor of Steam and I bought the same game on Steam so that I could display it in my “Favorite Game” showcase. But it looks rather pathetic sitting there with zero achievements and 5 minutes playtime (I launched out of curiosity).
With this in consideration, do you think it would be unjustified to unlock the achievements with an achievement manager? I know that I covered every nook and cranny of said game, I have gone through all of the motions and conditions that would have triggered unlocks had only I played it on Steam. And certainly 300+ hours of my life should entitle me to some simple self-satisfactory recognition, no?
Additionally, I can be smart about it. I know the game well enough to recreate the cadence of unlocks in a believably chronological timeframe. Idle the game for a few hundred hours, during which automate times to trigger the unlocks in said order. Why do I care? Well I have a ‘clean’ Steam profile and I don’t want to sully it with “315/315 achievements unlocked May 22, 2026".
Personally I don’t see anything wrong with this and have done it myself. For both GoG and the 360/PS3 era of games. I used to hunt achievements religiously and now only do it games I just cant put down. At my age I don’t have the time, or even the want, to replay all 3 Mass Effect games multiple times over again to get all the achievements on Steam. Or the Last of us for the 10th time, I Platinumed it in the PS3 and PS4. I had fun doing it but that time has passed. At the end of the day it doesn’t change anything if you have them unlocked or not so if you want to show others why not. Also most people don’t even look at it. Ive had one person ask me how I had so many achievements in the Kingdom hearts collection with so little hours. I told them what I did and they were just like “huh makes sense”
You don’t need to justify to anyone about manipulating the numbers. However why do you care, why did you feel the need to pay for something you already had, and had not intention to use, just to show it? The answer is not for me, it is for you.
My view, is Cheating in Multiplayer is always wrong, even if it does not hurt anyone.
Cheating in single player, can be Great, and add replayability, creativity, ease of use and casual fun.
But, like you already did, I would recommend anyone considering cheating in single player, to complete the game first, then go back and cheat if they feel the desire. They paid for the game, and should get to enjoy it.
Cheating for internet reputation, is dishonest, but doesn’t hurt others, only yourself.
Some games, even have actual achievements that require cheats to achieve