To Cheat or Not To Cheat

[RaychelSnr]

Joey Arone checks in today with a topic many people just brush off in the community: the use of strategy guides and the evolution of gaming manuals. Check out Joey's thoughts on this phenomenon and how companies can improve the product in his article To Cheat or Not to Cheat.

Quote:

"I hate to admit to myself, much less anybody else, but I do believe I am old school. I am old school when it comes to the wonderful world of strategy guides. Again, I hate to admit to myself much less anybody else, but I guess I am an old codger now who can spew frontier gibberish when my dander is aroused by these young whippersnappers today. In print, it would look something like, "Firkin frick frak young whippersnappers n riggamarole laziness usin sum rootin-tootin fancy book learnin to jebediah and howard johnson straight through cheatin n I oughta with a switch n take them frikin fudgmalickin babies cheatin playin a confalutin game." Well you get the picture. I feel rather strongly about how easy it is for most gamers today to pick up the strategy guide and read, step-by-step, how to play the game."

[Trevytrev11]

Use Google. If they're going to cheat you out of proper instructions, cheat them out of the extra $20-$40 by getting this info online.

[LP]

Good article. Strategy guides should be just that, detailed strategic info. They should not have to be the source that explains things necessary to play the game.

[Matt Diesel]

One thing I find severely lacking in strategy guides is actual strategy. Most 'strategy' guides are mere walkthroughs and do this there and that here and here is where you find this item. How is that considered strategy?

They should be called tactic guides.

Misnomer to the nth degree.

I will admit that the HC guide is a pleasant deviation from the norm.

[djcorrosive]

^^^^^^^I couldn't agree more mddst34, there is no strategy in most strategy guides today. I too found myself buying the HC09 strategy guide due to the lack of in-game instruction or paper manual. While I'm glad I bought it, I long for the days of book-sized instruction manuals, or at the very least in-depth in game manuals. If the issue is saving paper, why not offer a full manual on-line in .pdf? Oh yeah, then hey couldn't charge us $20 for the strategy guide (unless of course, they actually put some strategy in the strategy guide....great concept).

[bowdown2shadi]

Quote: Originally Posted by mddst34

One thing I find severely lacking in strategy guides is actual strategy. Most 'strategy' guides are mere walkthroughs and do this there and that here and here is where you find this item. How is that considered strategy? They should be called tactic guides. Misnomer to the nth degree. I will admit that the HC guide is a pleasant deviation from the norm.

Yup your right. Whats the fun in that?

[deaduck]

I still stressed about the Head Coach guide being a cheat or more of a tool.