At what point do we resort to guides?

Conrix

Conrix

"KIWIFAGS REEEEEEE"
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Nov 28, 2014
So, DSP saying he was gonna use guides due to lack of stream chat got me thinking - mostly it's that he's a lazy buffoon who can't even manage video games and a goldfish flopping on the buttons could beat him.

But enough of me sperging about DSP, the thing I wanted to get at is, when do we normally resort to guides in our games? For me, it's when I've been trying to clear a puzzle or boss fight, or trying to find something, for hours and I need to figure out how to do it so I can move on.
 
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Conrix said:
But enough of me sperging about DSP, the thing I wanted to get at is, when do we normally resort to guides in our games? For me, it's when I've been trying to clear a puzzle or boss fight, or trying to find something, for hours and I need to figure out how to do it so I can move on.
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I try to put it off until I've beat the game "fair and square" at least once. So I'll use it for subsequent runs, or for getting the whole collection of achievements/easter eggs for games with a lot of them. Or just to get better at the game. This is when I'll also watch playthroughs by better players.
 
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I used to be more of a purist about this than I am now, but when there's missable stuff and I'm time limited (which is a given). I typically do a google search for "[game title] missable" and see what comes up, especially if I don't think I'll ever do a second playthrough. And of course if I'm beating my head against the wall against a boss for which there has to be some sort of trick to it I'm not getting, or if I'm stuck with nothing but dead ends and have no idea where to go.
 
Depends on what I'm having trouble with and how long the problem persists. Most common cases are when I'm completely lost on where to go or have no clue how to solve a puzzle.

To use a more specific example: I'm horrible at solving Silent Hill riddles. I like them and want to challenge myself mentally, though, so I usually set the riddle difficulty to Hard. At this level they're so damn cryptic that I don't have the patience to waste hours trying to figure out the answer.
 
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Since I collect strategy guides I'll usually have one within arms reach if I own one for a game.

The ones I like to get are usually for games that are really hard to get into. Like I got the Ultima strategy guide anthology that contains guides for the first 7 games. I'll also get guides for RTS games.
 
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The only time I actively resort to guides is when I'm aiming to get a collectibles achievement. Usually most games will be cool and reveal their locations on a map, and I just hop from place to place, but in other games where the collectables are really fucking obtuse places, I just say fuck it because I'd rather swallow my pride and spend five minutes hunting down an item instead of spending two hours and find nothing (looking at you Darksiders 2, you bent cock of a game).
 
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I usually use guides if I get stuck on a section for too long or if I want to find out about when and where I can find missables or side quests.
 
Only for bosses,collectibles and after beating the game.
Also for flight sims,for obvious reasons.
 
When I go from "wow this is a fun challenge" to "I'm so fucking bored"
 
It depends.

In general I'm pretty reluctant to use guides on my first playthrough. I feel like it ruins the experience. It's also often the case that the solution is one I could have easily discovered on my own with just a little more effort or simply by walking away and letting my mind clear. That's always a bad feeling. So, in no particular order, here are the main reasons I use guides:

- I think the game is glitched. Mostly applies to Bethesda games.
- The came is competitive and I'm using guides to improve my performance.
- It's a crafting game like Minecraft and I can't figure out the recipes.
- I've beaten it before but can't remember how to get past this part.
- I've been on this fucking puzzle for a fucking hour god fucking damnit.
 
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When I am utterly, utterly convinced the game designers were smoking crystal meth when making the puzzle / quest triggers in the game.

I'm looking at you Sierra.

Or if it's a game that expects me to have outside knowledge of how it's systems work, IE sports manager games.
 
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Only if I'm trying to collect stuff. I'm really bad at getting everything my first go through.
 
Under normal circumstances, I would use a guide for collecting extras.

Say it's a game like Zelda, then I might use a guide for a really difficult dungeon
 
If I've become hopelessly stuck with no way through, or if I'm trying to fulfill certain requirements and I can't figure out the correct way to do so, then I'll flee for a guide. I used to use them A LOT when I was younger. I've gotten better though.

That being said, since Zelda has come up a couple of times, take it from me. If you play the first two, GET A GUIDE AS SOON AS YOU SEE THE TITLE SCREEN.
 
Depends on how complicated the game's mechanics are. If they're indepth with lots of "behind the scenes" interactions to determine things and/or the game really doesn't do a good job of teaching you those interactions, I hit up a guide. Most Paradox grand strategy games usually start with me having the game open on one monitor and a guide of sorts open on the other.
 
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