User blog comment:Tephra/Hardcore Ethics/@comment-58609-20150823061723

Hmm...

It's definately a fair question. I'm not a Hardcore player, but as someone who's played a lot of RTS games, it reminds me a lot of "save scumming" - where someone will save their game just before launching an attack, and if it fails, they can just start over. Something that's generally frowned on by players (myself included), but isn't cheating in that it's using pre-existing mechanics within the game.

Per the specific point, I certainly wouldn't call it cheating or anything like that, as it's an action that's allowed for within the mechanics of the game. I guess I would say is what 'rules' you establish within the game itself for your play - for instance, are you just after the challenge, and are playing for yourself? Or, is this being played competitively in terms of your mindset? If for instance you were competing with another player then I might call this out, but under the basis of playing by oneself for the challenge, then I think it's a player's perogative to undertake such an action.