We love Counter-Strike: We love the developers of Global Offensive, and Valve's crack team still sticks its head over the fence and throws us a bone every few months. But Valve's crack team still sticks its head over the fence every few months and throws us a bone. Then everyone complains that the bone is missing some vital marrow, that it's the wrong kind of bone, that we didn't ask for the bone anyway.

I half think it's intentional. Anyway, the latest patch for CS:GO has arrived: the Premier mode can now be selected along with other competitive maps (previously you had to select one or the other), and the game now allows multiple matchmaking presets for competitive play (i.e., favorite map groups). There are also miscellaneous fixes, such as War Games' bot difficulty selector, and the ever-present "stability improvements."

But what really caught my attention in the patch notes was the addition of "a link to the CS:GO Fair Play Guidelines for playing on official game servers." In other words, when the 'Accept' button appears to confirm a competitive match, it now includes a link to the new Fair Play Guidelines.

"When playing CS:GO together, it is most effective if everyone approaches a match with similar expectations. Players who choose to play on the official CS:GO servers are expected to:

in all modes

- not cheat. - Do not verbally abuse teammates or opponents. - Not use automation for any reason.

Oh my, they did it! I can feel the despair wafting from the bedrooms of cheaters around the world as they realize that CS:GO has their number. In all seriousness, it is obviously not uncommon for a developer to state clearly, "Yes, we don't want cheaters in our game." However, given CS:GO's omnipresent problems with cheaters of all kinds, and the situation where Valorant seems to be doing a great job with its custom-built Vanguard anti-cheat software, one has to think this is a bit ridiculous.

But it is actually even more ridiculous. The Fair Play Guidelines state that in competitive and wingman modes, you are expected to "play to win." Well, that's right. There is a small asterisk after this, with the following note added at the bottom of the page: "Of course, it is fine to try new things and experiment with new strategies and skills, but players should not enter a match with the intention of losing or confusing their teammates."

The guidelines also state that players should "play to win.

It's a strange mix of the obvious and what Valve seems to stumble over when it tries to muddle through. Of course, it remains my favorite shooter, and at the very least, cheaters who ignore the Fair Play Guidelines will suffer a burning shame.