History Main / MyRulesAreNotYourRules

This is one of the most {{egregious}} forms of TheComputerIsACheatingBastard, in which the AI players break the explicitly laid-out rules of the game. This throws any idea of equality out the window. However, since many games would be rather dull if the AI played fair, [[TropesAreNotBad some believe this to be a necessary evil]]. Others, meanwhile, will take great, detailed pains to elaborate to their associates what horrors they would adore visiting upon the game programmers.

This is one of the most {{egregious}} forms of TheComputerIsACheatingBastard, in which the AI players break the explicitly laid-out rules of the game. This throws any idea of equality out the window. However, since many games would be rather dull if the AI played fair, [[TropesAreNotBad some believe this to be a necessary evil]].

** In one location in [=HeartGold=] and [=SoulSilver=] versions one is able to to encounter a wild Noctowl at level 7, though it doesn't evolve until level 20 or so.
** In fact, there are many evolved pokemon at very low levels in the 2nd gen, especially in the Kanto region. This opens up a lot of possibilities for the Pika Cup on PokemonStadium.

** Actually, most of the Civilization games have AI that largely ignore some of the basic game rules when playing on the higher difficulty levels with the recent edition of Civilization 5 being the worst, where they AI can literally just ignore some of the game rules. For example, when a player founds a city it decreases the overall happiness of his empire thus resulting in things like lower production and a lower growth rate. This is done to prevent the player from expanding too quickly via settler spamming. Plenty of players have reported however, that on the higher difficulty levels the AI can more or less just do as it pleases and produce vast number of cities without any penalties, and produce units at a much faster rate then the player for no reason. The actual AI itself however, does not actually appear to get smarter, making this a perfect example of FakeDifficulty and TheComputerISACheatingBastard.

*** Because AI special infected never tend to spawn far ahead of the players (being in range so that they can be heard) and the fact that the end of level safe room areas generally don't have many hiding places, so special infected are never seen spawning outside the safe room and then wandering in to set up an ambush. If you happen to be dead during the game and use the free look view and zoom in to the safe room while the other players still have a ways to go, you should be able to see a special infected bot suddenly pop into view inside the safe room. This is more common in the 4th map during the gauntlet run in Dark Carnival. Granted, it doesn't happen every time, but when it does (especially if it's a Witch or Tank), it's hair pulling.

** Actually, most of the Civilization games have AI that largely ignore some of the basic game rules when playing on the higher difficulty levels with the recent edition of Civilization 5 being the worst, where they AI can literally just ignore some of the game rules. For example, when a player founds a city it decreases the overall happiness of his empire thus resulting in things like lower production and a lower growth rate. This is done to prevent the player from expanding too quickly via settler spamming. Plenty of players have reported however, that on the higher difficulty levels the AI can more or less just do as it pleases and produce vast number of cities without any penalties, and produce units at a much faster rate then the player for no reason. The actual AI itself however, does not actually appear to get smarter, making this a perfect example of FakeDifficulty.

* In HeroesOfMightAndMagic II, resting in a city will restore your hero's magic points at the beginning of your next turn; if the computer attacks while you are resting no points will have been restored. The computer, on the other hand, has its points restored as soon as their turn is over; attack a city housing a hero who had no spell points left, and voila! they have them all back, even though in the same situation you's have none.

* A particularly blatant version appears in ''SoulCalibur 3'' in the Chronicles of the Sword campaign. Certain stages have status effects such as Ice, PoisonedWeapons, Unblockable, and so on. When the enemy controls the stage, only you get the disadvantage or they get the buff. When you control the stage, it effects both of you equally.
** Well not really. You see when you take over a building the building's level goes down by one. Level three or higher buildings apply the bonus in the most benifical way while level one and two buildings have it effect both players. You can increase the building's level by "fortifying" which costs actual gold so no one bothered with it.

* In FinalFantasyXII the only elemental spell that doesn't have a higher-level version is Water. Unless you're one of the many enemies with Watera or Waterga. Do the PC's get it? No. And there are many opponents who are weak against water. Those enemies tend to attack en mass, where a multi-target water-based spell would be great. Oh, and one of your Summons gets Watera, but won't use it very often. [[SoYeah Yeah, real fair....]]

* In the earliest versions of ''StreetFighter'' ''II'' it was not uncommon for a CPU controlled Guile to use his Flash Kick from a standing position, often as he's walking toward you. For those who don't know, the Flash Kick requires you to hold down (crouch) for two seconds, then press up and a kick button.

* In ''FinalFantasyTacticsA2'', abilities are all learned by specific jobs. Blood Price, for instance, can only be learned by Spellblades, a Viera-only class. Now, there exists a job changing system, so you can use abilities from one class to another, so this means finding Red Mages and Summoners (both Viera jobs) with Blood Price isn't terribly out of the ordinary. However, AI units tend to ignore the exclusivity of support abilities like these, and you'll find plenty of enemy units with abilities they just simply shouldn't have. Illusionist (Humes and Nu Mou only) with Blood Price, despite lacking the Spellblade job necessary to get it? Sure, why not? And, whenever you compete in the "Cup" missions to get scions, some enemy units will have support skills that raise Magick/Resistance, or raise Attack/Defense (which can also be learned by monsters, but they could simply just be abilities only learned ''by'' those monster), or support skills (not Evade Magick, that's a reaction skill) that allows the unit to evade all long-range attacks. Of course, your clan will never learn such skills, oh no.
** Let's talk about ''FinalFantasyTacticsA2'' some more. A very literal example of MyRulesAreNotYourRules is the law system itself. In the prequel, laws were universal: everyone in the conflict was bound by the judge's ruling. In this game, your clan has its own personal judge, who deals you one law per battle, which ''only applies to you''. Best of all, the laws are not random, so if the judge thinks that your battle against the nigh-[[DemonicSpiders Demonic Spider]] Flans would be improved by disallowing all magic, then prepare for a long, painful battle. Presumably other clans have their own judges imposing similarly arbitrary laws, but you never see them or their effects.

* In Warlords, ANY Warlords, the percentages are soo lopsided in favor of the AI you can only accomplish a fair fight if you sacrifice ludicrous amounts of cannon-fodder at an equally powerful enemy group before taking on them. Also, funny stuff here, rising the difficult seems to have no effect on enemy tactics, it only makes the chances even more lopsided in favor of the AI...

* YuGiOh has Forbidden Memories, in which enemies are able to summon fusion monsters as regular monsters. Guess what? ''You cannot do this''.
** Wrong. You ''can'' acquire and play fusion and even ritual monsters as standard summons in Forbidden Memories. You just have to know how to acquire them.

* ''BaldursGate'' mostly avoids this, just about anything your enemies can do you can do, but a few times the computer cheats: Putting spells into contingencies or spell triggers that are much higher level than they should be for instance.
** Also by having multiple contingencies or spell triggers, of which the player's characters can only have one of each.
** There's also the 'tattoo of power', which triggers an additional level of protection spells and activates instantly. Only computer-controlled mages gets them.