"Tricks", "Exploits", and "Cheats" are 3 very very different things...
"Tricks" are simply good strategies that aren't apparent or obvious to all players...anyone can do them, but a simple lack of experience or knowledge can prevent someone from implementing them...using armistice right before RB actually fires is a "trick" (one would have to know that RB has a delay time)...colonizing asteroids/moons with one colony frigate and using a turret is a "trick" (one would need to know that militia krosovs move and reposition when a turret starts building)...
"Tricks" may not have originally been intended by the devs, but they are by no means game breaking or huge distortions to balance...they also do not require bugs, hacks, or glitches in order to work...
There are many tricks that skilled/experienced players use, and most nearly all of them have been openly discussed on the forums...in short, they are by no means "trade secrets" though one may need to do some asking or browse the forums in order to be aware of them...
"Exploits" are a full step above mere "tricks"...like "tricks", "exploits" are available to all players...however, "exploits" clearly are unintended strategies that result from either a bug/glitch or a dev oversight...playing as VR and glitching 2 Orkies into the same gravity would be an "exploit" if it were possible...illuminator spam back when overtime weapons were bug would be an "exploit"...researching wail then scuttling 4 civ labs (but still being able to use the ability) would be an "exploit" if it was clear by the devs (either through the forums or other game decisions) that all late game abilities were supposed to require labs both to research and use....
Sometimes "exploits" only become apparent when a balance patch comes out...as in the above example, it may not be known whether the devs intended wail to always require 7 civ labs in order to work...but if a patch came out and fixed that, then it would be apparent that it was in fact formerly an exploit...(to clarify, wail in and of itself would not be an "exploit" even if it was grossly OP; researching it then scuttling the labs would be the "exploit")
Like "tricks", "exploits" are fair game since anyone can use them...that they may ruin a game or severely distort balance does not change the fact that they are fair game....but, hosts may ban well known or OP "exploits" and to use them then would put your reputation at risk...
"Cheats" fall into 3 categories...the first kind of "cheats" result from a "proper" mechanism for cheating...for example, nearly all Maxis games (like the Sims) have cheat codes that can be entered in by the player...in sins, this would be the dev.exe, and if it was possible to use it on ICO then doing so would clearly be cheating...
The second kind is what I call "classic cheating"...screen-looking is the most common example for console gamers...if I was in a game with Radioactive (but on the other team), and I was watching his live feed while playing against him, that would also be "classic cheating" (albeit a rather lame one since there is delay and I'd have limited intel)....
The last kind of "cheats" are hacks...they are not part of a "proper" mechanism for cheating and do not exploit mere glitches or simple bugs...this type of cheating is not "available to everyone" in that it requires specialized knowledge or skills...modding your Xbox to fly up in the air while playing Halo 2 is a clear cheat...using a DNS attack to force players out of a game would clearly be cheating...running a program that accelerates your income relative to other players would be cheating...