Poll of the Day > Something I've noticed recently, is that people do not make game guides anymore.

(+) Yeah! (+)

A lot of games that would have usually had game guides (like Dragon Quest XI) end up just having spreadsheets that collect the information in a clear and concise fashion, and these spreadsheets are not publicly aggregated, and are spread on social media instead of just hosted on GameFAQs.

It's almost as if we've went backwards. Nobody cares about a well written and thought out guide for a game anymore.

I feel like this is just another side affect of the normalization of the internet, and there being a time a long time ago now that the denizens of the Internet were intellectual on a level that is no longer seen anymore because social media exists.
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Most games that need a guide have wikis now it seems.
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kind9 posted...

Most games that need a guide have wikis now it seems.

Pretty much. In all honesty, that format makes a lot more sense than having formal walkthrough documents. Most of the time, when people use a guide for something, it's to look up something specific. You don't need a full guide for that, you just need the ability to learn about that specific thing, which a wiki page is generally more effective for. Failing that, pretty much every game popular enough to ever have guides made also has enough forum communities (at the very least, GameFAQs and Reddit) to be able to search for somebody asking a similar question, or to ask it yourself as a last resort. Plus youtube can be a help in some cases.

Basically, guides are just obsolete now. It's nothing to do with there not being intelligent people capable of writing a decent guide, it's that nobody really cares anymore because community-made wikis are more efficient.
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there are also youtube videos which has visual game guides
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The thing is that it's not very efficient anymore. Formal game guides by nature tend to be linear or "step-by-step."
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I noticed that a long, long time ago. As people have pointed out, Wikis with lots of people working together are much more efficient, and YouTube videos are quick to make.
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You only just recently realized this?
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Its an antiquated art like VHS tapes
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Much like my discs I do enjoy a hard copy guide, but the thing is games are more user-friendly now with features like in-game maps, bestiaries, or save points. A full guide isn't really necessary these days. A quick text guide here doesn't require a publisher either. Then as was mentioned you got wiki's and forums for questions.
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kind9 posted...

Most games that need a guide have wikis now it seems.

JOExHIGASHI posted...

there are also youtube videos which has visual game guides

Came in to say both of these.

I haven't looked at a FAQ on this site for years. For nearly every single question I might have in a game, I'm almost always better off looking for a Wiki for detailed information, or a YouTube walkthrough for step-by-step directions to things. FAQs never seem to convey enough information, or the specific information I'm looking for.


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ParanoidObsessive posted...

FAQs never seem to convey enough information, or the specific information I'm looking for.

I find they almost always end up providing some combination of too much information overall and too little on what I'm actually looking for.
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yeah, wikis have made the concept of a faq or guide more or less obsolete
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In-game tips, youtube videos, wikis, etc. make it some guides aren't needed. And if you need a little more information than that, you can ask on social media, or on games boards. Sometimes, when I ask a specific question on google, the first few answers usually lead me to here or reddit with someone asking that same question. Or someone putting the info there so if someone needs it later.
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Comes in with a stupid topic that has a easy answer and doesn't come back to reply.

You know, i likely wouldnt spend money on a game guide, but if I am playing a console game, which I share that monitor with my PC, itd likely be a hell of a lot easier to keep a physical guide at the ready.

xjayguyx posted...

Comes in with a stupid topic that has a easy answer and doesn't come back to reply.

In particular, he ends the opening post by acting intellectually superior for having used the Internet when guides were more common, as though the intellectual inferiority of everyone else is the only explanation.
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xjayguyx posted...

Comes in with a stupid topic that has a easy answer and doesn't come back to reply.

What's up? You posted when I was asleep. I assure you that wasn't the intent but sometimes I like to create a thread and listen to the replies.
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Most games now are so stupidly easy there's no point in trying
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I miss game guides, with everything in one source.

Now a lot of games, especially lesser known ones that don't get huge wikis created for them, I need to save a list of links to various places to see how different battle mechanics / crafting / etc... works.
Some games are simpler. A lot have introduced weird or very detailed subsystems, without really explaining how it works to the player, and the non-physical manuals are always much less info than the old school ones were.

Like, here's my link list For Xenoblade Chronicles X....
Search engine!: birdonwheels5.no-ip.org/xenoblade/index.php
Probes: www.gamefaqs.com/boards/701151-xenoblade-chronicles-x/72970915
Gathering guide (all continents): imgur.com/a/0fDln
Squad Missions: www.gamefaqs.com/boards/701151-xenoblade-chronicles-x/72945335
Squad tasks: www.gamefaqs.com/boards/701151-xenoblade-chronicles-x/72997529
Collectopedia items: www.gamefaqs.com/boards/701151-xenoblade-chronicles-x/73084765
Probe layouts: www.gamefaqs.com/boards/701151-xenoblade-chronicles-x/72969200
FN site info map: i.imgur.com/ljP71wt.jpg
Research/storage/duplicator locations: www.reddit.com/r/Xenoblade_Chronicles/comments/ 3yunpi/research_probesstorageduplicator_probes_in_all_my/
M-Missile Build: youtu.be/2Rn60O-Br9A?t=296
238K Storage: imgur.com/a/PA5xD
300K storage: bozumemo.blogspot.jp/2015/05/x30.html
Ultra Infinite Armor locations: www.gamefaqs.com/boards/701151-xenoblade-chronicles-x/73179745
Class stat adjustments: i.imgur.com/5uxiUwI.png

(Had to put a space in the reddit link for it to fit)
In the olden days, one dedicated mad man would compile a single giant FAQ covering all that crap.

It sucks when you go to looks up stuff for a smaller, maybe lesser known title on a site like this, and find barely anything. Like maybe a page of topics (But sometimes, barely even 10 topics), no guides or answers, and the cheats are just stuff the game literally tells you...
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Prima still makes those fancy hardcover Zelda player's guides.

Too bad their writing style sucks (remember when player's guides had personality? like Versus Books), and tend to be full of errors
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LinkPizza posted...

It sucks when you go to looks up stuff for a smaller, maybe lesser known title on a site like this, and find barely anything. Like maybe a page of topics (But sometimes, barely even 10 topics), no guides or answers, and the cheats are just stuff the game literally tells you...

yeah, there must hundreds of obscure or JPN only games that have no FAQs or info whatsoever
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HylianFox posted...

LinkPizza posted...

It sucks when you go to looks up stuff for a smaller, maybe lesser known title on a site like this, and find barely anything. Like maybe a page of topics (But sometimes, barely even 10 topics), no guides or answers, and the cheats are just stuff the game literally tells you...

yeah, there must hundreds of obscure or JPN only games that have no FAQs or info whatsoever

Yeah. You have to search all over the internet. Sometimes, Reddit will have stuff, though...
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I use wikis mostly for lore. I've never been to a wiki that tells you how to play better.
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Solid Sonic posted...

I use wikis mostly for lore. I've never been to a wiki that tells you how to play better.

Some will tell you what items do and where they are. And stuff like that. They aren't always a straight up guide, but they do have good info in a lot of them...
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