Turn Saves Counter: Blessing or Curse?

[John Given]

I'm still conflicted on this issue, so I haven't cast a vote.

My feelings are pretty much summed up here; (thanks Rado)

I think it is good, but certainly it does not stop cheating. In my experience, some players cheat without saves, simply making their moves, noting significant positions, and then they simply delete the file and re-save the file from their opponent's email & start the turn over. This type of cheat will not show up except in their very consistent "perfect" moves

And here; (thanks Larry)

if, and only if, the game is tweaked to save every move/shot as it is made, similar to the way the campaign games are saved. The counter serves some purpose, but if the true intent is to stop perfect turns, have them saved continually. A person could still cheat, but on large scenarios it would be prohibitive to have to play the entire turn again to change one move or shot near the end. Of course, the mythic cheater could still explore and avoid ambushes and such and then restart with a fresh turn, but he can still do that now under the counter too. And in the small scenarios this wouldn't help much, you could play the entire turn again easily.

The bottom line is that the save counter won't prevent cheating. And though I think it's great that IMO all those I've gamed with are an honest bunch, anti-cheating measures in some other forms of play (like online shooters, such as Battlefield 2, which uses Punkbuster for anti cheat/hack protection) run alongside the game or are embedded in the software (you get 'out of sync' errors if someone in the game is cheating, a la Age of Empires and other Microsoft games). These measures are not only very common, but also very necessary - I can't even imagine a lack of anti cheating / anti-hacking measures in many of the other games I play, because it would essentially make those games unplayable due to the sheer volume of cheaters.

So basically, I'm for the counter, but I'm also aware it does absolutely nothing to stop a determined cheater, and IMO that is a fact that MUST be addressed if we're to have any real closure on the issue.