I will cheat in single player games. I give it a solid "first time" unmodded play through. If it's good, I'll do other "paths" or "builds" depending on the game.

Then make it a little more... interesting, or different even.

Then you work up to Total Conversions, and thats fucking great for longevity.

Then at a certain point, its quality of life. I don't want to spend 20 hours getting to the "interesting" part of the game. I can no longer get even just an hour to dive into a game uninterrupted. I love immersion; in the past it was an unhealthy escape mechanism, now when I get it, its a breath of not dealing with my day to day shit for just a little bit. Life always gets in the way of living, at least the way we want or need to in the moment. But I digress...

But cheating in a multiplayer game really defeats the purpose of multiplayer. An unbalanced play field isn't fun for anyone.

I'd like to see more games embrace a modding community. If you and a few friends want to play with mods A, B, D, and F, more power to you guys. Keep enjoying that game.

Just don't force an imbalance on other people.