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| Thread: Official Strategy Guides | |
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Iris
Responsible
Supreme Hero
of Typos
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posted September 30, 2006 09:09 PM |
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Poll Question:
Official Strategy Guides
It's always interesting to get people's perspective on these things.  From what I can tell, there are 3 groups of people:
1) People who collect them for the game that they own
2) People who get them for the walkthrough/secrets/other info/pretty pictures
3) People who go to GameFAQs
Did I miss anyone? So which group do you belong to? And what are your thoughts on these things?
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War-overlord
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
Presidente of Isla del Tropico
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posted September 30, 2006 11:27 PM |
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Actualy in could fall under each of these categories, depending on which game we're talking about. Mostly I browse through such strategy guides to compare my strategy with the strategy of the writer(s).
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Vote El Presidente! Or Else!
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russ
Promising
Supreme Hero
blah, blah, blah
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posted October 02, 2006 04:39 PM |
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I bought a guide for Oblivion (the 2-nd game I ever bought, lol)!
I find it very useful. Some stats are very nice. And the maps section is nearly torn apart by constant usage  .
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TitaniumAlloy
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Professional
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posted October 02, 2006 05:23 PM |
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Yeah some of them like the Oblivion one are good.
I like them for the pretty picturees
and the information as well, but usually when I'm stuck I'll just google it.
I don't have the oblivion one it was too expensive but I wanted it, I have the Halo one, the UT2004, and the Perfect Dark one, and probably some others I dno.
The Halo one is good to read about multiplayer maps for different tactics, as well as the UT2004 one. More like a book, read it through and then you're done.
The stats and maps are good for reference as well.
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John says to live above hell.
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Iris
Responsible
Supreme Hero
of Typos
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posted October 02, 2006 08:32 PM |
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Edited by Iris at 20:34, 02 Oct 2006.
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I collect them.
I have all the guides for the FF series (with the exception of FFXI), SC series, CC, CT, and some other random ones.
Some of them are so bad... Like FFIX: "Please go online for more information."  Yes, spend money for instructions to go online.
The FFVIII one also makes me angery, especially their tips on how to beat Omega. "Summon Eden," they say. Sit and boost until your fingers fall off and your head explodes. 
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william
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
LummoxLewis
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posted October 03, 2006 04:31 AM |
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Strategy guides you say.
Well.....
Usually, I get strategy guides if I am in need of help at a certain part of the game, and then I put it down and play the game until I perhaps need some help by looking at the strategy guide.
Strategy guides wouldn't be called cheating I guess, but it can sort of come close at times, and at times, it can spoil the game for you, by telling you everything that will happen, which kind of loses the challenge and fun of the game, and people usually do not like that.
People usualkly like to have a chellnege and have fun while playing the game it is meant to be played, not by having it spoiled by some Strategy Guide.
I have't used a Strategy Guide for a long time, not even when I got my first Xbox game which was Max Payne, which I finished in 1 day.
Fable, I used a Strategy Guide for that at certain times, but usually I just got in with the game and started playing and eventually finished it in a pretty good time frame
I usually like to finish the game and then play it again and read the Strategy guide, to see what that person who made the strategy guide recommended, and I guess, reading Strategy Guides can be fun at times, well for me anyway, because they are quite interesting.
I wouldn't boast about how many strategy guides I have aswell, makes it seem like I am hopeless at games and need all the help I can get without doing it for myself 
But I do use them at some stages while playing computer or xbox games, and they can give you prettyy good insite, but I hardly use them to finish an entire game just by looking at evry single thing the strategy guide told me to do, that's boring I guess.
Strategy Guides and FAQ's in some ways, can be similar, for example: some FAQs provide strategies for certain levels in the game, whereas Strategy Guides provides strategies for virtually every aspect of the entire game that you are playing.
FAQS and Strategy Guides are different in that respect, but similar in other aspects.
Well hope this was some information hehe ;P
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~Ticking away the moments that
make up a dull day, Fritter and
waste the hours in an off-hand
way~
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Iris
Responsible
Supreme Hero
of Typos
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posted October 03, 2006 06:08 AM |
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My personal problem with strategy guides is that over time, I become more and more dependent on them. Even the sucky ones. I used to just pick up games and play, spend hours walking around towns, talking to everyone for information, searching every pot for items. All that jazz.
Now I've reached a point where I feel somewhat helpless without maps or boss stats. Maybe it's because I don't have the time to explore the game by myself anymore. Or maybe I'm just getting lazier. Either way, I'm trying to break away from this habit. Unfortunately, I don't really play games all that much anymore either.  Meh.
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william
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
LummoxLewis
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posted October 03, 2006 06:14 AM |
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Quote:
My personal problem with strategy guides is that over time, I become more and more dependent on them. Even the sucky ones. I used to just pick up games and play, spend hours walking around towns, talking to everyone for information, searching every pot for items. All that jazz.
Now I've reached a point where I feel somewhat helpless without maps or boss stats. Maybe it's because I don't have the time to explore the game by myself anymore. Or maybe I'm just getting lazier. Either way, I'm trying to break away from this habit. Unfortunately, I don't really play games all that much anymore either. Meh.
That happens with many other's aswell.
It used to happen to me early on when I was new with strategy guides and all of that.
But nowadays I only look for what I need the most in a strategy guide, not look for every detail for everything even for stuff I have finished already.
If I really need help, I go to strategy guides, but I am not that dependant on them nowadays.
I prefer to solo something or do it with a friend.
A Classic game where I didnt once use a strategy guide is Diablo 2 on battle.net.
Finished Normal difficulty with a good friend called Guitarguy, and then with Nightmare we were going into that and then I got rushed by some other people.
Rushing means getting the main things and missing out on all the little things, and rushing means you get the main wps (wps = waypoints) and then finishing that really quickly and then I went on to hell.
I never once used a strategy guide with Diablo 2, because other's helped me.
I used strategy guide at times with Fable on xbox.
And like I said in previous posts, Strategy guides can take the fun out of playing the game.
It is a shame that you do not play games that much nowadays Iris 
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~Ticking away the moments that
make up a dull day, Fritter and
waste the hours in an off-hand
way~
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Guitarguy
Responsible
Supreme Hero
Rockoon.
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posted January 18, 2008 03:16 AM |
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I have a small stack of strategy guides, most of which were obtained out of necessity. In just about every game I've played, there's been a point where I've gotten stuck and didn't know what to do. I've never been very good at figuring out solutions myself, so I've sort of caved to using these hintbooks. And certainly, much of the appeal lies in their maps, stats, and other interesting info.
I relied heavily on hints for a number of old Sierra adventure games. If you've played these types of games, you should know what I'm talking about. Where do I find the key to this door? How will I obtain the ingredients to make a magic potion? I've searched everywhere, so why can't I find the maiden's missing money pouch? These games were fun to play, but I was often hindered by many of the puzzles and quests I encountered. Once I learned what to do, all was good once again. However, the downside to using hints for these games is that you'll pretty much know what to do the next time you play the game from scratch. Since these games are somewhat lacking on the replayability scale, very little changes the next time you want to start over. More than any other genre, I regret using hints to spoil my adventure gaming experience.
It's been my experience that TBS and RTS game strategy guides offer more generalized hints rather than direct instructions for what needs to be done. This is because games like HoMM and Warcraft 2 contain a lot of variability each time you play. As a young gamer, I had many questions in mind. In which direction will my town be invaded? Will the enemy attack with Grunts or Ogres? How do I conquer their base? The guides can only offer so much help because of the games' complexity. These hints were often helpful in giving me a direction to pursue, whereby my skills as a gamer could pull the rest of the way. Several guides failed to impress me, though, due to their lack of depth in areas where I really needed help. Some, for instance, only devoted a paragraph three lines deep for an area of the game where I had no clue how to beat. With such scanty details on how to overcome those problems, I found myself learning to find solutions through trial and error.
Two of my favorite strategy guides were for King's Quest and Dark Forces 2: Jedi Knight. The first book was divided into two sections: the story-like walkthrough and the direct hints walkthrough. The story version is presented in the style of a fiction novel, with dialogue between the characters to make it an enjoyable read. Those who just want a step-by-step walkthrough need only check the second half of the book. The latter strategy guide was very thorough as a companion to the FPS game. Each section of the game maps are explained in detail, such as the location of foes and powerups. The maps were somewhat confusing to follow, but I seemed to manage just fine without them. I also appreciated the guide for the often humorous text (courtesy of the author). A comical slant is always welcome when there's a lot of writing on each page.
-Guitarguy
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Aculias
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
Pretty Boy Angel Sacraficer
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posted January 18, 2008 03:19 AM |
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If you got a Suikoden strategy guide. I'll buy it from you!
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Dreaming of a Better World
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Jelze
Adventuring Hero
of Electromancy
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posted January 27, 2008 03:26 PM |
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I sometimes get them, not terribly often tho, usually with deals. Otherwise if I'm desperately stuck in a game I'll head to gamefaqs.
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