The Daily Grind: How dependent are you on internet guides?

Not at all dependent but i'm not opposed to using them if I absolutely have to.

If a portion of a game is so difficult or I feel like i've gone through everything I can think of to defeat it, i'll look up a strategy online rather than quit. In my mind, its more important that I move past it and on with my game than get stuck and give up in frustration.

When I played WoW, I used to use thottbot and wowhead all the time. Every once in a while for a quest, when I didn't feel like hunting for an objective or something. But I used the databases all the time to find sources for good gear, and whatnot.

I only looked things up when I would get frustrated trying to find something. Most of the time I'd prefer to puzzle it out myself.

I have been known to go looking when I get stuck; but as a general rule, I try figure out myself before resorting to the guide(s).

I only use internet guides when im rely rely stuck or u need to collect like in Assassin creed 2 100 feathers I used a guide book I bought cuz would be pain in the ass to search for all hehe. Yeah I buy guide books more for collection than use.

I've never bought a guide, occasionaly If I get stuck or unsure how to proceed and I have exhausted all my ideas I will go looking for a solution on the net but most of the time I want to work through a problem for myself.

Sometimes I check just to make sure I'm not bugged too, like for example the boss in portal 2, first time I encountered it I wasn't being attacked and the countdown was still running. I checked the internet and discovered it was a bug and just restarted the level and that solved my problem.

I had guidebooks even for my old NES games, so I guess I am pretty dependent.

Ive never used a strategy guide book for like questing but I definitely use online databases for information on items/drops that I just wouldn't know about otherwise had I just learned from playing. Today's MMOs are just too big to not use them with some games having hundreds/thousands of items and weapons, you could potentially be playing the game months and still feel you don't really know that much about how it all comes together.

I'll just say this: thank goodness these guides exist on the internet. I wish I had them back in the earlier gaming days so I wouldn't have gotten the physical editions. I'll happily use them if I get stuck or need help with figuring out a game mechanic.

I really appreciate it that databases such as Wowhead have comment sections for each item so that players can provide their insight into something. So for something that you might want to look into that would not normally be covered in a standard guide, you can at least access the database for something so specific. And really, it's more up to date than a static guide could ever wish to be.

I try to get by on my own, yet I'm quite happy they're there when I happen to get stuck. I certainly wouldn't want to see them go away or sneer at someone who uses them heavily.

I don't like them, sure ill use them if i have to, but i want to avoid them.

For some games, I didn't use a strategy guide or wiki at all, like the Portal games. They were designed to be solvable by anybody, since, essentially, you only had one class to "balance."

For more complex RPGs and RTSs, wiki and strategy guides are almost required to experience the full game. Why should I agonize over number-crunching, searching every nook and cranny, constantly loading from a save game, when someone else already did the hard part for me? They're not taking away from when I laugh at a quip, cry when a party member dies, or fighting my battles for me, so I don't mind.

I use them all the time, especially if I'm playing a new MMO ( new to me). For example I spent an hour of the 2 hour window I gave my self last night alt tabbed reading a Burglar guide in the LotRO forums.

Not until I've beaten the game at least once!

The only time I resort to them except as a last resort is when confronted with puzzles, which I find an annoyance and a waste of time. Fortunately, these don't turn up all that often in MMOs.

I usually try to make my own builds first, and only change them to a researched standard when I get to a raiding stage.

Depends on the game, there are certain titles that I only want to go though it once. So I will grab the guide or walkthrough to make sure I get all the pick ups items, completions whatever.

Some games, just the very thought of having to go though them again feels too tedious. A good example of this is a straight on rails shooter where there are no other options or ways to play differently.

50pts Achievement Unlocked: You were bored, you had nothing better to do and this achievement is proof of that.

Trophy Awarded: 4th new 20hr game started, you have now unlocked the blue pants option wooo!

Unless I get completely stuck or seem to be utterly ineffective I will normally play my first character in any mmo without referring to anything more than the instruction manual and most of the time not even that. My firsts may not be to most efficient or strongest character I ever play in a given mmo but they are without doubt the most fun.

I'll tell you my anecdotes, although you are free to skip this. It may be short, but I doubt it. :P

"Back in the day" I remember going through games by pluck, exploration, and tenacity. They were good times, but I had many many games. Luckily, being younger, I also had more time to play.

Then, along with my japanese import playing (and Anime interest in mags), I noticed Japanese getting strategy game guides! I (and others) were chomping-at-the-bit at these lucky folks having a guide for games and specifically areas that were tough to clear. After a year or two, these games finally came out in the States, brought by independent studios that translated the Japanese guides or those that translated/made Japanese games. (There was of course, News Groups that had home-brewed guides, too, but that was a maze in itself for most net people).

So, now we have guides as part and parcel of games launch. I try to use them after a game section, just in case I miss something (I hate 2nd playthroughs), but some games taught me, they cheat. When you get "in the moment" of rescuing the princess and "rush" to do so and don't explore, game devs hide stuff that you can't go back to get. This "trick" upsets me a bit, because I am trying to play the game "pure" but I don't want to play a second time to collect all the stars hidden in say, a game like Super Mario RPG! :P

So, I feel I have to "cheat" to get it right the first time, but I try to keep spoilerage low. Actually, it doesn't hirt *that* much, but your mileage/viewpoint may vary.

I tend to like maps with markers most off all.

I'm not dependent on them, but generally I have to know EVERYTHING about ALL THINGS ALL THE TIME so I end up reading them anyway just to see if there are any interesting details I missed. >_> What's spoiled for me in terms of fresh super wonder adventure I make up for in being the guild encyclopedia.