Is RNG abuse like cheating for shiny pokémon?

[supersmew]

Like the title says, does anyone thing RNG is cheating?

[Zecaomes]

I don't have a full understandment on RNG, but from what I read, it's not cheating. I mean, RNg only uses what the game offers them, they just manipulate the game with it has to offer. I personally don't like it, mostly because I think the fun part of finding a shiny Pokémon is the randomness, but I have no problem with whoever uses it.

[Thunderstrike18]

I don't think RNG'ing is cheating, because you still have to take the time and work to RNG the Pokemon to be said shiny.

[AmbipomMaster]

Its just using your resources. Unfortunately, I don't have the resources, so I'm stuck doing the pioneer way of getting shinies and flawless Pokemon.

[Excitable Boy]

It's not by any means.

/pre-flame war thread
/post-flame war thread

[Moonrox]

This is a highly controversial topic, and I'm fairly certain it'll get locked. Until it does:

As it currently stands, it's opinion based. I personally consider it cheating becuase it manipulates the game in ways it wasn't supposed to be manipulated. It doesn't require any external devices, but without a certain tool, it's nearly impossible to do. I have a decent understanding of RNG manipulation, but I haven't tried it my self.

[virizionx86]

This is probably what most people are going to answer, so I'll just post it now.

Is RNGing legitimate?
In scenarios like these, something is "legitimate" if it is achievable without the use of hacks and other outside programs. In the case of RNGing, that "something" is catching a Pokemon with desired characteristics (a shiny Pokemon, a flawless Pokemon, etc.) Catching a shiny Pokemon or a Pokemon with flawless IVs is very unlikely without RNGing, but the truth is that it's not impossible, and thus achievable. Because you are able to catch a shiny Pokemon or a Pokemon with flawless IVs without the use of a RNG manipulation program, RNGing is legitimate.

Is RNGing hacking?
With RNGing, you are not actually doing anything that the game normally doesn't allow you to do. "Hacking" would include walking through walls, having your character on a water tile without the use of Surf, or getting your Infernape's Flare Blitz to have 99 PP. You are merely using an aid to help you track when and where to catch a certain Pokemon with certain qualities, and not actually doing anything that the game doesn't allow you to do. Therefore, RNGing is not hacking.

Is RNGing cheating?
"Cheating" implies some sort of fraud or violation of rules or regulations. However, these "rules" are different from player to player. If one person's "rules" doesn't allow them to use the aid of an RNG program to help them find a shiny or a flawless Pokemon, then it would be cheating to them. On the other hand, if that person's "rules" only consist of doing things legitimately and as efficiently as possible, then RNGing would not be cheating to them. In essence, some people believe that you cheat when you RNG and others do not.

The main confusion and passion that arises from these types of threads is the confusion between the words "legitimate", "hacking", and "cheating". Because people blur the line between the three words, it is not surprising that what one person says about one of the words may not be true for another person who says something else about the same word. In addition, because it cannot be helped whether or not RNGing is "cheating" differs from person to person, disagreements will undeniably result, and thus these types of threads suffer the terrible fate of being locked. However, what I have posted above answers the main three questions that people ask about the morality of the subject.

RNGing is legitimate.
RNGing is not hacking.
RNGing may or may not be cheating, depending on who the person is.

[Will-powered Spriter]

I think RNGing is fair for the purpose of competitive battling, as provided both sides are doing it, it removes any imbalance on who got luckiest with breeding pokemon (no amount of effort can otherwise get more then 3 max IVs).

However, I feel it should not be used to obtain shinies. Shinies are basically only valuable because they are rare. RNGing removes the rareness, so it removes the value.

[Shadow♠]

Another one of these threads? Anyway, I don't think RNG is cheating.

[Zachmac]

I think RNGing is fair for the purpose of competitive battling, as provided both sides are doing it, it removes any imbalance on who got luckiest with breeding pokemon (no amount of effort can otherwise get more then 3 max IVs).

However, I feel it should not be used to obtain shinies. Shinies are basically only valuable because they are rare. RNGing removes the rareness, so it removes the value.

This is almost exactly my view on things.

Well, I don't mind it if people RNG shinies, but it's when people treat these as shinies just as valuable as when gained through other means. If 60% of all pokemon were shiny, I don't think shiny hunters would even exist.

[Mystical Jackal]

I didn't know what RNG was before this thread. It seems pretty useful.

[Jessara]

This is something I've always wanted to ask....would people have even known of RNGing if people didn't hack the games and look into the game code? So I reckon it is cheating etc....because of that. The game had to be hacked in the first place to gain knowledge of this stuff.

[Zenotwapal]

This is something I've always wanted to ask....would people have even known of RNGing if people didn't hack the games and look into the game code? So I reckon it is cheating etc....because of that. The game had to be hacked in the first place to gain knowledge of this stuff.

The games were already known to have a pseudo-random number generator. Eventually there would have been some form of RNGing come to surface, though not at the level it is today without actually taking and breaking down an actual games coding. (Note that before RNGing came to fruition, they already knew that Emerald's RNG was broken beyond belief, spitting out results that could be repeated.)
Hacking is sort of subjective here. The hacking done on the games in order to advance the process of RNGing was purely for informational purposes, not malicious intent. The type of hacking done was not to affect the outcome of the game, only to study it.

[Shine]

This is probably what most people are going to answer, so I'll just post it now.

Is RNGing legitimate?
In scenarios like these, something is "legitimate" if it is achievable without the use of hacks and other outside programs. In the case of RNGing, that "something" is catching a Pokemon with desired characteristics (a shiny Pokemon, a flawless Pokemon, etc.) Catching a shiny Pokemon or a Pokemon with flawless IVs is very unlikely without RNGing, but the truth is that it's not impossible, and thus achievable. Because you are able to catch a shiny Pokemon or a Pokemon with flawless IVs without the use of a RNG manipulation program, RNGing is legitimate.

Is RNGing hacking?
With RNGing, you are not actually doing anything that the game normally doesn't allow you to do. "Hacking" would include walking through walls, having your character on a water tile without the use of Surf, or getting your Infernape's Flare Blitz to have 99 PP. You are merely using an aid to help you track when and where to catch a certain Pokemon with certain qualities, and not actually doing anything that the game doesn't allow you to do. Therefore, RNGing is not hacking.

Is RNGing cheating?
"Cheating" implies some sort of fraud or violation of rules or regulations. However, these "rules" are different from player to player. If one person's "rules" doesn't allow them to use the aid of an RNG program to help them find a shiny or a flawless Pokemon, then it would be cheating to them. On the other hand, if that person's "rules" only consist of doing things legitimately and as efficiently as possible, then RNGing would not be cheating to them. In essence, some people believe that you cheat when you RNG and others do not.

The main confusion and passion that arises from these types of threads is the confusion between the words "legitimate", "hacking", and "cheating". Because people blur the line between the three words, it is not surprising that what one person says about one of the words may not be true for another person who says something else about the same word. In addition, because it cannot be helped whether or not RNGing is "cheating" differs from person to person, disagreements will undeniably result, and thus these types of threads suffer the terrible fate of being locked. However, what I have posted above answers the main three questions that people ask about the morality of the subject.

RNGing is legitimate.
RNGing is not hacking.
RNGing may or may not be cheating, depending on who the person is.

That is pretty much the best answer I've seen so far, and I think that is the only answer needed for this kind of thread.

And since this kind of thread more often that not evolves into a flamewar....yeah, closing, before it's too late.

There's already the above great answer anyway, so it's not like the thread starter's question went unanswered.