I don't think they ruin the game. But I do think they change the game dynamics fundementally.
My husband is a professional geek, and when he explains things to me sometimes things that are very simple to him, go WAY over my head. It is like talking an entirely different language. He sometimes finds it difficult to explain it in terms that non-techy person understands.
In some respects, scripts like mass recruit / mint coins would be better simply being written into the game mechanics so they are accessible to everyone. The trouble being that really there doesn't seem any financial incentive to Inno Games to actually do this on the surface of it. I think in reality, its one of those things that would vastly improve the playing experience of a large number of players who lie are in the more casual player bracket and would infact increase revenue as a result.
I honestly believe that if Inno Games want Tribalwars to continue and allow newer players to get into the game in the face of extremely tough competition from players who literally have years of experience this is the route they need to look at going down - anything that helps to reduce the advantage that the most experienced players have. The .co.uk team (and indeed .net team) work hard to make sure that the best guides are promoted, and perhaps organised in a way that makes them as easy as possible for players who haven't been playing since the Ice Age can find them and learn from them in order to be able to compete effectively as quickly as possible.
This saddens me