the logical decision as a game developer: let the player choose, for christ sake
Not always true. The options will simply pile up. There are some gamers (like me) who don't want hundreds of options in a game because a) It gets too complex and overwhelming, and b) It'll start to feel as if it you are developing the game, not the developer.
Whether or not reloading is cheating should be up to the individual player.. in fact, what is cheating anyway? Want to use a skill editor? Go ahead! Want god mode? Go ahead... I don't care. As a game developer all I want is for you, the player, to have as much fun as possible - because then I sell more games.
I stand firmly on my opinion of cheating. Cheating to me is: Giving yourself an unfair advantages over the normal circumstances in which you have to play in. So if the game, by standard, has a hero that is invincible, it isn't cheating.
Furthermore, I think cheating is like being really rich. It's something that at first might seem really good, but turns out to be a real drag. Rich people don't really have as much fun in life as less rich people, because they take more things for granted. A poor person might find great joy and satisfaction from finally being able to buy that car they've always wanted, whilst a rich person wouldn't be as happy with his new car.
Same with cheating. Most people ruin the game for themselves by cheating, and alot of the times without even realizing it. They'll just cheat and get bored real fast, and call the game bad. They'll have less fun than if they completed the game normally.
In multiplayer it's even worse, because cheating causes frustration and paranoia (since you don't know who is cheating and who isn't). Games like CS (which I used to love) are completely ruined because of the vast amount of cheaters. This isn't fun at all.
The only thing cheating is good at in singleplayer games is some replayability when you've already played it to death on normal mode. People might try an old game again to find out what it's like to cheat. But often, the cheats bore the gamer pretty fast, and the replayability is very limited.
because then I sell more games.
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/offtopic.gif" alt="" />If you want to sell more game, you have to make a game and just completely focus on graphics and physics. I swear to god, if you have those two things, your game will sell. Let's face it: To the majority of "gamers", gameplay is dead. All people want is eyecandy they can use to show their friends how wonderful their new monster computer is.
Tovi 
