To me, it's really simple when you are playing by yourself. Just ask yourself, does it feel like I'm cheating? Be honest with yourself, and you'll have your answer. In other words, if you feel like you're cheating, then you are. If you don't, then you're not. If you have to ask, then most likely, you actually feel like it's cheating, but aren't being honest with yourself.
Examples:
1. Recently, I built an XP farm in the nether above the bedrock. When ghasts started spawning, it started to really annoy me, so I set game mode to peaceful while I worked. I also went into creative occasionally to fly between some areas that would have required constructing elaborate scaffolding and build platforms to negotiate otherwise (the farm is nearly 150 blocks above the bedrock, so a fall is death). While it would have been possible to build without any flying at all (I didn't use much, only when the alternative would have meant extreme amounts of extra work), it would have doubled or tripled the time it took to build. I did make sure to always be in survival mode when placing blocks, so every block placed was earned legitimately. Nevertheless, it felt like i was cheating (even though I tried very hard to keep it at an absolute minimum).
2. Just a couple of days ago, I had built a villager breeder, and had built a mine cart track from my base to the nearest village. However, when I got there, I found that it was completely empty. No problem, I thought. I then checked the next nearest village, prepared to move my rail. Strangely, that one was empty too. So, instead of looking for another village that could be who knows how far away, I went into creative, got a villager spawn egg, and repopulated both villages. I only spawned them until I got a brown coat in each one, so the village could fix itself after that. Once, done, I used the legitimately-laid track to move the villagers. In this case, I don't feel like I cheated at all, since I have no idea what happened to those villages. The last time I'd visited them, there were both hoppin'.
I also fly up to get bird's eye view screenshots. I don't consider that cheating, either.
If you're playing single player, the whole point is moot. By definition there is no cheating. You can quibble all you want about what Mojang "intended" for you to do, but if the game comes with the ability for you, the player, to change the settings without using any third party software, then there simply isn't any cheating. There is simply no moral issue here. None at all. If you set out to play a SSP world and you impose on yourself certain rules, and you break them, then perhaps you have merely let yourself down. It is a failure of sorts, but it certainly isn't cheating and not something by which you should be judged or your character questioned.
If you're playing single player, the whole point is moot. By definition there is no cheating. You can quibble all you want about what Mojang "intended" for you to do, but if the game comes with the ability for you, the player, to change the settings without using any third party software, then there simply isn't any cheating. There is simply no moral issue here. None at all. If you set out to play a SSP world and you impose on yourself certain rules, and you break them, then perhaps you have merely let yourself down. It is a failure of sorts, but it certainly isn't cheating and not something by which you should be judged or your character questioned.
The moral issue comes down to personal integrity. You have to develop your own right/wrong in this situation because there isn't a provided path. Then you have to stick with that developed morality. If you break it, you've failed yourself.
In the final analysis, you are indeed correct.
Examples:
1. Recently, I built an XP farm in the nether above the bedrock. When ghasts started spawning, it started to really annoy me, so I set game mode to peaceful while I worked. I also went into creative occasionally to fly between some areas that would have required constructing elaborate scaffolding and build platforms to negotiate otherwise (the farm is nearly 150 blocks above the bedrock, so a fall is death). While it would have been possible to build without any flying at all (I didn't use much, only when the alternative would have meant extreme amounts of extra work), it would have doubled or tripled the time it took to build. I did make sure to always be in survival mode when placing blocks, so every block placed was earned legitimately. Nevertheless, it felt like i was cheating (even though I tried very hard to keep it at an absolute minimum).
2. Just a couple of days ago, I had built a villager breeder, and had built a mine cart track from my base to the nearest village. However, when I got there, I found that it was completely empty. No problem, I thought. I then checked the next nearest village, prepared to move my rail. Strangely, that one was empty too. So, instead of looking for another village that could be who knows how far away, I went into creative, got a villager spawn egg, and repopulated both villages. I only spawned them until I got a brown coat in each one, so the village could fix itself after that. Once, done, I used the legitimately-laid track to move the villagers. In this case, I don't feel like I cheated at all, since I have no idea what happened to those villages. The last time I'd visited them, there were both hoppin'.
I also fly up to get bird's eye view screenshots. I don't consider that cheating, either.
That what the people who peek at cards in Solitaire say to excuse themselves.
The moral issue comes down to personal integrity. You have to develop your own right/wrong in this situation because there isn't a provided path. Then you have to stick with that developed morality. If you break it, you've failed yourself.
If you are planning to make a suggestion, please read this.
If you want to know more, you can read this.
For those who complain about post-Beta generation, you might want to see this.