I'm gonna get flamed for this - it's inevitable, but there have been SO MANY POSTS lately about people who stat pad. After doing a little bit of researching, I've come to the conclusion that there is nothing wrong with stat padding. Let's look a little bit deeper...
There is very little in EA's TOS rules about stat padding. After reading EA's Terms of Service agreement for their online games (which can be located here http://www.ea.com/global/legal/tos.jsp) I came across almost nothing that deals with what we deem as stat padding. There were 2 paragraphs, however, that caught my eye. Under section 3 labeled "Online Conduct" there are 2 notable paragraphs, which I will paste here -
-You will not exploit any bug in the Service or in any EA product to gain unfair advantage in the game and you will not communicate the existence of any such bug (either directly or through the public posting) to any other user of the Service. ·
-You will not do anything that interferes with the ability of other Service users to enjoy playing an EA game and using the Service, in accordance with its rules, or that materially increases the expense or difficulty of Electronic Arts in maintaining the Service for the enjoyment of all its users.
Firstly, I will define define exploit. Straight from dictionary.com -
1. To employ to the greatest possible advantage: exploit one's talents.
2. To make use of selfishly or unethically: a country that exploited peasant labor. See Synonyms at manipulate.
3. To advertise; promote.
Now I will rule out definition 3 because no one is really promoting anything in BF2. Now, that leaves us with a positive and negative connotation of exploit. However, when you think about it, they are nearly the same - just because something might be "unethical", doesn't mean that you can't use it to your advantage. Don't agree with me? See the American Government as a prime example (don't flame me for this comment, but the US does exploit anything and everything we can - it's Capitalism).
Continuing on with my first part - "You will not exploit any bug in the Service or in any EA product to gain unfair advantage in the game and you will not communicate the existence of any such bug (either directly or through the public posting) to any other user of the Service".
Simply stated, a stat padder could be deemed as someone who exploits a bug (such as driving a humvee into the water and repairing it yourself for points). However, 95% of what stat padders do is not a BUG, and therefore does not constitute exploitation of a BUG, and is therefore legal. If 3 guys get on 2 teams and knife revive each other, that exploits no bug in the software. Also, if you would like to be REALLY technical about this, you could say that anyone who chucks c4 and detonates it quickly, or anyone who exploits the ability to do things like that could be deemed an exploiter and would thus be subject to the same penalties a stat padder would.
On to the second part of the TOS - "You will not do anything that interferes with the ability of other Service users to enjoy playing an EA game and using the Service" is the key phrase. This is the only other thing in the TOS that can almost relate to stat padding. However, 3 people knife reviving on the side of the map do not directly interfere with your game. To the same extent, if someone is using an APC and baseraping an uncappable spawn, he is "interfering with the ability of others to enjoy playing an EA game". In this example, the player is DIRECTLY influencing your experience. The only way a padder could influence someones online game (if they do it by themselves) is if they got the gold for the round. If this is the case, it might upset someone who worked hard for the gold spot. However, if you're in a server of 64 people, 63 people who didn't have access to a tank because the guy with the gold medal was using it to his advantage, might be upset that THEY didn't get a gold medal, even though they worked hard, but had to deal with someone in armor or a jet, etc.
Think about this people - seriously dwell on this. Why would EA implement a rank and award system in their video game? To make it addicting. Think about it. People are more apt to play a game for longer hours if they feel they have something to work towards - that is why some of the medals have you playing for over 500 hours. EA couldn't care less if you have fun or not, so long as it makes them money. And it DOES make them money. The more you play,t he more others play, the more games are sold and servers are used.
To finish, what does it matter if someone pads, honestly? It's for their own personal gain - you, as an individual, neither gain nor lose anything from someone padding. There's no cash prize, there's no reimbursement of the funds you've paid to play this game. The only thing you receive is the personal gratification - the warm fuzzy feeling - of seeing a shiny new badge in your personnel jacket. So what's the harm?
I've made my point - I want INTELLIGENT responses only, please. I don't want to read "BUT OMG TEH SERAPHIM CUZ OF STAT PADDERS I COULDNT GET MY BADGEZ CUZ WE LOST CUZ THEY WEREN'T CAPPING FLAGS LOL?!!??11?" - Also, keep the flames to a minimum.
There is very little in EA's TOS rules about stat padding. After reading EA's Terms of Service agreement for their online games (which can be located here http://www.ea.com/global/legal/tos.jsp) I came across almost nothing that deals with what we deem as stat padding. There were 2 paragraphs, however, that caught my eye. Under section 3 labeled "Online Conduct" there are 2 notable paragraphs, which I will paste here -
-You will not exploit any bug in the Service or in any EA product to gain unfair advantage in the game and you will not communicate the existence of any such bug (either directly or through the public posting) to any other user of the Service. ·
-You will not do anything that interferes with the ability of other Service users to enjoy playing an EA game and using the Service, in accordance with its rules, or that materially increases the expense or difficulty of Electronic Arts in maintaining the Service for the enjoyment of all its users.
Firstly, I will define define exploit. Straight from dictionary.com -
1. To employ to the greatest possible advantage: exploit one's talents.
2. To make use of selfishly or unethically: a country that exploited peasant labor. See Synonyms at manipulate.
3. To advertise; promote.
Now I will rule out definition 3 because no one is really promoting anything in BF2. Now, that leaves us with a positive and negative connotation of exploit. However, when you think about it, they are nearly the same - just because something might be "unethical", doesn't mean that you can't use it to your advantage. Don't agree with me? See the American Government as a prime example (don't flame me for this comment, but the US does exploit anything and everything we can - it's Capitalism).
Continuing on with my first part - "You will not exploit any bug in the Service or in any EA product to gain unfair advantage in the game and you will not communicate the existence of any such bug (either directly or through the public posting) to any other user of the Service".
Simply stated, a stat padder could be deemed as someone who exploits a bug (such as driving a humvee into the water and repairing it yourself for points). However, 95% of what stat padders do is not a BUG, and therefore does not constitute exploitation of a BUG, and is therefore legal. If 3 guys get on 2 teams and knife revive each other, that exploits no bug in the software. Also, if you would like to be REALLY technical about this, you could say that anyone who chucks c4 and detonates it quickly, or anyone who exploits the ability to do things like that could be deemed an exploiter and would thus be subject to the same penalties a stat padder would.
On to the second part of the TOS - "You will not do anything that interferes with the ability of other Service users to enjoy playing an EA game and using the Service" is the key phrase. This is the only other thing in the TOS that can almost relate to stat padding. However, 3 people knife reviving on the side of the map do not directly interfere with your game. To the same extent, if someone is using an APC and baseraping an uncappable spawn, he is "interfering with the ability of others to enjoy playing an EA game". In this example, the player is DIRECTLY influencing your experience. The only way a padder could influence someones online game (if they do it by themselves) is if they got the gold for the round. If this is the case, it might upset someone who worked hard for the gold spot. However, if you're in a server of 64 people, 63 people who didn't have access to a tank because the guy with the gold medal was using it to his advantage, might be upset that THEY didn't get a gold medal, even though they worked hard, but had to deal with someone in armor or a jet, etc.
Think about this people - seriously dwell on this. Why would EA implement a rank and award system in their video game? To make it addicting. Think about it. People are more apt to play a game for longer hours if they feel they have something to work towards - that is why some of the medals have you playing for over 500 hours. EA couldn't care less if you have fun or not, so long as it makes them money. And it DOES make them money. The more you play,t he more others play, the more games are sold and servers are used.
To finish, what does it matter if someone pads, honestly? It's for their own personal gain - you, as an individual, neither gain nor lose anything from someone padding. There's no cash prize, there's no reimbursement of the funds you've paid to play this game. The only thing you receive is the personal gratification - the warm fuzzy feeling - of seeing a shiny new badge in your personnel jacket. So what's the harm?
I've made my point - I want INTELLIGENT responses only, please. I don't want to read "BUT OMG TEH SERAPHIM CUZ OF STAT PADDERS I COULDNT GET MY BADGEZ CUZ WE LOST CUZ THEY WEREN'T CAPPING FLAGS LOL?!!??11?" - Also, keep the flames to a minimum.