[Megathread] The mentality and conduct of real hackers, and how you fit in.

**Rainscape** · 01-20-2011

This was written by a co-worker, not by me

On a lot of sites, I tend to make these kinds of posts to help members find a place to fit in among everything - society exists online aswell. This should help everybody fit nicely in with one another without looking like morons.

Being a hacker

Many people misinterpret what being a hacker actually means. Being a hacker doesn't necessarily mean hacking bank accounts in front of 10 screens like seen in Hollywood films, but rather being part of a specific meticulous way of life. Hackers try to get things to work, try to improve on other people's code, and usually hacking can be applied to anything - be it mechanics, music, or electronics. Hackers are commonly confused with "black-hat" and "white-hat" cracker trash, which really don't have any other goal than to bypass security algorithms and cause others harm; this is true no matter what anybody will tell you. Hackers help secure via exploitation, while others exploit for personal profits and meaningless ranks with their internet buddies.

The video game hacking community doesn't have such a noble cause, but there are hackers running the scene. We are the ones that write the code, keep it updated, and educate ourselves about a ton of things in the software engineering field while managing to have some fun on the side. Many video game hackers can make proficient software developers, with experience in low level development with tons of experience with how to manipulate memory space, etc.

For all of you who don't understand all this jargon, nor care for it, here are a few simple tips:

Don't speak in 1337 or slurred English; it's not cool and it won't get you any respect. You'll be frowned upon like some idiot who tries too hard to be someone.
Hacking doesn't mean downloading a copy of Linux and installing it on your mom's Dell, trying to find your best friend's AIM address at two in the morning.
Learn a programming language; it'll come in handy for this sorta thing. Don't give up if you can't get anywhere on the first try; it takes experience just as it does with relationships with others. Give it time.
Be an educated person; take pride in having extra knowledge, it's more than some can say at the end of the day.
Become involved with other hackers - learn from your peers, it's the best education you'll ever be provided.
Read this, it goes more in depth.

Being a part of the community.

So you're not cut out for all this technical mumbo-jumbo, we can live with that. It would be sort of freaky if everybody was good at one thing anyway!

Be a part of the community, talk to people, and embrace it. We are your friends, your family, and we're here in your time of need. This might sound a bit exaggerative, but the internet is just a portal to another human being - why shouldn't it be fun? Being a member is all about being socialble and fun, being someone people like talking to. There are large boards out there that call themselves communities, but there's no cozy feeling, and nobody cares about anybody else. That's crappy and boring.

Try to follow this advice:

Be sociable; talk to people.
Be friendly towards newbies, remember, we all start with nothing.
If someone releases a hack, please do thank them. It takes quite a bit of dedication to even release public hacks - some of which are really high quality. Don't complain - it's not nice.
Don't ask for release dates repetitivly, it'll be done when it's done. We all have lives, we're human too! We're not internet gods with the power of instant gratification.
Don't make useless posts; having 20 people say "thx" or "cool" in a row is cluttersome and annoying to browse through. Threads are used for discussions, thanks can be provided through the thanks button!
If a hack is patched, PM the programmer who made it. Don't fill a thread with "PATCHED U SUX" because you'll probably end up banned. Seriously.
If you can contribute to a hack or to a project, PM that person or find a way to talk to them! We don't bite! (Just make sure you know your stuff, don't waste someone's valuable time...just because I know how to write an essay doesn't mean I can write an epic.).
Don't fight with staff or their decisions. Just because you think you're some sort of free willed spirit doesn't allow you to be a complete jerk to people that run the place.

To summarize the "Being a hacker":
If you think about it, Hacks are used so games can actually improve themselves, that's what hacks were suppose to do, then people started calling blackhat's and whitehats "hackers" which they are not, they are blackhats and whitehats, which steal valuable information such as credit card information etc. While hackers find flaws in codes for games, and such, and that's why it's called "Patching". The patch improves the game, sometimes making it faster, but to the normal users eye, nothing has changed, that code has just moved. And it all starts over again with flaws, patch, flaw, patch, you see?

**flameswor10** · 01-20-2011

Wrong section?

**Rainscape** · 01-20-2011

Idk, I thought it snuggled right in here, but guess not then

**flameswor10** · 01-20-2011

Theres a section called General HAcking

**Rainscape** · 01-20-2011

I only use the forum links at the top, and the forum for the general section xD

**flameswor10** · 01-20-2011

Go look for it then

**Dr.Dental** · 01-20-2011

If I wanted a definition of hacking I would've just used a dictionary.

**BenXer** · 01-20-2011

so im not a hacker at all

and i thank people if the hacks works.

**flameswor10** · 01-20-2011

Dude.. Making "hacks" are not the term. A hacker is someone who finds a flaw in a system (which is how hacking acually works in real life like stealing info etc.).
Hack users are exploiters. So white hats and black hats and game exploiters are the same. They are considered as hackers.

Hacks are basically a file which manipulates the game engine tricking it into thinking that the file is part of the game which allows direct access to the game console which is why injection is needed.
A good hack is one that is undetected by the antimanipulation software.
Game exploiters are known as hackers to make people scared. To be honest, we can't really harm you in any way.
A true hacker can harm you when he wants