Do you buy strategy guides?

For me, i really need them for games like The Sims as they really help me get to grips with the features and I can find out lots of useful things that I probably never would have worked out for myself, such as gems and job promotion requirements in The Sims 3.

I also sometimes buy guides for games such as Gears of War where I struggle at the multiplayer and use them to improve my game, and to help me if I get really stuck on a level.

Finally, I also use them for games with lots of collectables such as Battlefield: Bad Company and Fable II- the guide was also useful for finding out weapon details and campaign help.

Do you buy guides for your games, or don't you bother?

If you are posting on this site there is no practical reason to buy and own a strategy guide.

If you are posting on this site there is no practical reason to buy and own a strategy guide.

mandatorymarley

If you are posting on this site there is no practical reason to buy and own a strategy guide.

mandatorymarley

[QUOTE="mandatorymarley"]

If you are posting on this site there is no practical reason to buy and own a strategy guide.

muthsera666

I owned several strategy guides when I was younger and none of them are as good/detailed as the best guides I've found on Gamefaqs. I guess if you're a collector or something... or plan to read them when not playing the game for some reason and like the colorful pictures.

If it's too much trouble to alt tab away from your game (or look over to your computer if you're playing a console) printers were made for a reason.

Yes I still buy them sometimes. Usually for the really big RPG games like the Final Fantasy's. I really like all the artwork and write-ups they'll put into them which makes them to be a good read and a nice companion piece to the game itself. I'll typically only buy them if it's done by Brady as I really like their work.

[QUOTE="muthsera666"][QUOTE="mandatorymarley"]

If you are posting on this site there is no practical reason to buy and own a strategy guide.

I owned several strategy guides when I was younger and none of them are as good/detailed as the best guides I've found on Gamefaqs. I guess if you're a collector or something... or plan to read them when not playing the game for some reason and like the colorful pictures.

If it's too much trouble to alt tab away from your game (or look over to your computer if you're playing a console) printers were made for a reason.

No I don't. Maybe back in the day I would get them every so often. Not anymore though. I just use the Internet. :P

I rarely buy Strategy Guides. Most of the game stores where I live don't sell the guides in the first place. I bought a guide for Mass Effect and Army of Two though.

I noticed a downside with buying guides: all the same info is free on the Internet.

In most cases no. In certain games like others have said like Oblivion, Morrowind etc. they are ok especially if one is planning on using it for multiple play throughs as a simple guide. But I don't believe in them for every single game or going step by step with them because that ruins the game by eliminating the adventure and exploration factors.

GameFAQs provides walkthroughs that are more valuable in almost all cases than the strategy guides which are not necessary for most RPGs anyway.

I only buy one if I want to have a keep it for momento.

Like the pretty FFXII book with all the neat art. I did not save it in the cover to sell on e-bay i got it to read and look at

I used to buy some until I found out i could get the same info for free online.

Then again my deluxe copy of Demon's Soul comes with a strategy guide so I guess I will have one for it.

Never, I haven't even read the free ones that came with the games. As mentioned there is no practical reason to have them. They defeat the purpose of owning and playing the game.A strategy guide is(A)HOW TO not have fun manual.

i usually browse around webisites and go through FAQS.. :D.. but i bought a strategy guide for silent hill back in my PS days.. :P

I have some strategy guides, but I don't use them. I'm more of a collector I guess. I even have the LoZ: Phantom Hourglass hardcover guide and I have never owned the game lol :S (but I do intend on buying it one day).

strategy guides are for noobs. seriously where is the fun in reading through a guide that will tell you everything that is coming up in the game and what to do. fair enough look something up if your stuck somewhere but playing a game through start to finish with guide seems like a waste of money, hell if your gonna do that why not load up youtube and just watch a video of someone completing the game for you it would save you the £40 the game would cost to buy.

Those are all valid points, but as I have stated, I don't buy them all the time.

For me they are only best used when I am away from the internet for a long time (like on holidays) or when I am playing on a PC game and can't access the internet at the same time and it saves leaving the game, looking it up, and loading the game up again. See my point?

I used to buy them but now if i get stuck in a game i just go on the internet.

Never, I haven't even read the free ones that came with the games. As mentioned there is no practical reason to have them. They defeat the purpose of owning and playing the game.A strategy guide is(A)HOW TO not have fun manual.MagnumPI

Having something to help defeats the purpose of playing the game? Does a scope defeat the purpose of the rifle?

strategy guides are for noobs. seriously where is the fun in reading through a guide that will tell you everything that is coming up in the game and what to do. fair enough look something up if your stuck somewhere but playing a game through start to finish with guide seems like a waste of money, hell if your gonna do that why not load up youtube and just watch a video of someone completing the game for you it would save you the £40 the game would cost to buy.AGMing

I'm a noob, then. I enjoy reading a strategy guide. If they are well written, it's like reading the screenplay to a movie.

I try to do them without first and many RPGs you can succeed.

If I get stuck or need help there is always GameFAQs and I do like the nice collectors edition books - whether you actually need them for reference or not they are great and probably the only way you will ever get 100%

back when I started playing there was no such animal as a walkthrough, we had to figure things out and often got very frustrated

I only have 2, bioshock and the fallout 3 collectors edition one both for the artwork in it

[QUOTE="mandatorymarley"]

If you are posting on this site there is no practical reason to buy and own a strategy guide.

muthsera666

Exactly how I feel. I've carried strategy guides all over the place with me, much easier than sitting in front of a computer screen.

I picked up the LBP strategy guide last year (the first time I've bought a strategy guide since 2001). The internet could have told me what I needed to know but I liked the artwork, screenshots and what have you.

The only guide I have ever bought was for Half Life 10 years ago. Online guides and walkthroughts these days from Gamespot or IGN are more than suitable if needed.

[QUOTE="muthsera666"][QUOTE="mandatorymarley"]

If you are posting on this site there is no practical reason to buy and own a strategy guide.

Exactly how I feel. I've carried strategy guides all over the place with me, much easier than sitting in front of a computer screen.

I don't bother with the guides I prefer to play through and figure stuff out on my own and will only go and look at faq's if I get really stuck. Think it takes away that sense of achievment if you've read how to beat part of the game before hand

lololol no, I pay for Time Warner Cable.

No. For one thing, generally all of the information one could want is available online somewhere. For another, I don't like any help with single-player games, though if a game isn't making something about the game mechanics clear or something along those lines, I'll sometimes look that up. On rare occasions I might look up some tips on how to get through something, but that is usually only if I'm not really enjoying the game in question but I'm forcing myself to play through it anyway for whatever dumb reason.

However, I'm talking about general strategy. If something is clearly meant to be a "puzzle," then I can almost never bring myself to look up a solution. It would have to be some game with puzzles with ridiculously random solutions for me to look them up, and that doesn't really tend to happen in games too often anymore. For example, in the original Zelda game for the NES, the game gave absolutely no clue whatsoever as to where some of the dungeons were. If someone gets a kick out of going around the whole overworld burning every single bush and that somehow makes them feel clever, then I guess more power to them. :P

Also, once I've finished certain types of games, then I will sometimes look up things just to see if there was anything I missed and might never even notice otherwise. For example, some of the hidden things in some of the Final Fantasy games are incredibly obscure and there is no reasonable way anyone could ever know about them without being told about them outside of the game (which is a terrible design decision in my opinion.) Sometimes I won't bother with things like that even once I do know about them, of course.

Yes. It's called my monthly comcast bill. :P

I've never bought a strategy guide. If I get stuck in a game I'll take a look at a walkthrough online, but if the game is interesting enough I'll just keep working on it until I figure it out myself. I consider it a failure on the part of the game developers if the player has to constantly be looking up stuff just to make it through. I also find it far more rewarding to create my own strategy rather than just use someone else's out of a guide. Isn't that sort of the point of most games?

I've bought a couple. But I usually just get the information off the internet. I try to save that $20