> I just recently (today) saw a log of Kariforus (he's deleted so I can mention this), instant messaging his buddies while he's playing.

...and? Ever pulled off some sick #### and pasted it to one or two buddies? I don't see anything wrong with that. In his case, he got shafted and pasted his anathema to his friends. So what? As long as his friends won't go easy on him because he knows them ooc, there is nothing wrong with what he did (imho).

> His buddies sounded like they were also empire.

Well, I guess this comes back to how some people like to play cf. Some people like to play alone, be a solo act and self-reliant. Others like to play as a team, and like in other games, that sometimes extends in playing with your friends. Personally, I see nothing wrong with that, as long as:

(1) You don't exclude everyone else ie: if you just group with your ooc buddies.

(2) You don't use ooc channels of communications to do things you couldn't do ic...for instance if you get slept + gagged etc...and call for aid over aim. Very bad form.

(3) You treat your friends characters as you would treat any other character. If your a rager and your friends a scion, you two shouldn't be holding hands around the campfire, so to speak.

> So how is a person supposed to have a decent shot at survival, fun, fair combat, or even exploration with this going on?

Surviving is easy. Very easy. Fair combat? Give me a break, its much easier to coordinate combat/pk ic than it is to do it ooc. Exploration? wtf? I don't see your point as to how cheating will impact on your cf experience while you explore an area. If people want a walkthrough for a quest or area that's their business, though its much more fun and enjoyable to go through and figure it all out by yourself. Some people like the spoon, so what? Thats life.

It's been said a billion times by immortals and players alike that people who figure things out for themselves make much better players/killers than people who get #### handed to them on a platter.

> I'm just feeling really bitter tonight, but this has also been building up for a while. I think I can some it up in one sentence. QUIT %^&* CHEATING!

When it comes down to it, CF is a game and cheating is going to occur, like in all games. I suggest you simply concentrate on how you play the game and try to continually make yourself a better player, rather than worrying about how others are playing the game and blaming their cheating/whatever for your deaths/lack of knowledge/bed-wetting/divorce/miscarriage...

Romanul.