Do you figure games out yourself?

britboy4321

britboy4321

britboy4321

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This will take a bit of explanation so bear with me:

On WOW there was a thing called 'Thottbot'. This seperate unofficial website detailed exactly how to complete all the quests .. where the mystical 'diamonds of Algaar' were positioned exactly etc. My mates mostly run this on their laptop, whilst in WOW on their desktop. They get a quest, they look up on Thottbot exactly where to go, and do it. They fly through everything. For example there is 1 quest in WOW which is a riddle you have to solve. They didn't even bother reading the riddle just Thottbot and go straight to the destination to pick up the item job done. They levelled about twice as fast as me!

On a similar note I notice on the net there are exact, precise build instructions for starcraft 2. The perfect set-up. exactly how to start off the perfect base. You don't have to decide yourself whatsoever. A lot of my mates built their FIRST EVER SC2 BASE with a sheet of paper telling them the order build .. and upon questioning me they simply couldn't understand why I didn't want to read the list and could possibly have fun figuring it out myself (with lots of error). Me and a 'non-perfect-base-reader' have awesome battles figuring it all out .. the 'know the perfect setup' mates think we're mad. And total noobs :) , and 'why would anyone want to be a noob?'

On shooters they always, ALWAYS take out the perfect weapon. BFBC2 before the patch, every single go they took out the M60 as it was unbalanced (or the grenade launcher), and they just didn't understand me trying the weaker guns .. in fact they never even saw the graphics for any other machine gun once the M60 was unlocked, they literally couldn't see the point whatsoever.

I think games are much more fun if you actually just play them and formulate your own strategies and try the guns for yourself - but of course harder. see what works and what doesn't and decide your own best way to proceed, probably with a lot of failure but also a lot of fun. My mates think I'm a looney and 'how can losing so much/taking so long to become good' be remotely fun?

So just taking a general consensus here really - do you prefer making all your own mistakes, figuring things out slowly and applying them? A blimin' long-winded approach admittedly. Or onto t'net for the ultimate guide of exactly how to play don't bother with the learning curve, so you don't get totally owned on multi-player?

There's no wrong or right answer. Just interested if I am in a minority for actively ignoring the 'Here is EXACTLY how to do well' guides coz I want to figure it out for myself..

I guess I could have just written 'Do you enjoy the learning curve or read guides on the internet to circumvent it'!
 
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britboy4321 said:
So just taking a general consensus here really - do you prefer making all your own mistakes, figuring things out slowly and applying them? Or onto t'net for the ultimate guide of exactly how to play so you don't get totally owned on multi-player?
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I buy a game to play it myself, not read a guide on how someone else thinks it should be played. That said, im not adverse to a cheeky check on a guide for when I get to a bit where im completely bamboozled and are about to hit the screen in frustration, I think its Justified at that point :P
 
I agree, but I do kinda half and half. For example right now i'm playing The Witcher, and I occasionally use a guide but only when i'm either stuck or I have a decision to make (I don't have time to play through twice so I try and maximize my content).

Shooters and RTS and the like I just find out myself.
 
I try to do stuff myself but once I am stuck long enough ie I tried everything I could tink of few times I use gamefaqs, youtube or thottbot (used in the past while playing wow).

EDIT: also good luck playing wow and figuring out the quests by yourself, some of them are really difficult ie you have no idea where to go and it's only a time waste not to use thottbot as the quests will give you little to no satisfaction by doing them yourself.
 
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Depends on the game, if its a fps game online i will tend to use whatever is best for me and allows me to get a good score. I dont find getting owned online fun or enjoyable.

If its a rpg or single player game i will tend to do things my own way at my own pace. Trying to explore as much as i can and testing differant things out. I find it more rewarding this way esspecily when you find sometihng that quite well hidden.

Its the same for rts i will always play my own way and dont really do this build order lark as for me it would make the game borring playing the same way all the time.

I will only go online for help if i am really struggling with a game to either make me a better player or when i dont know wtf i am doing wrong.
 
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Its one of those things I think that has changed over time.. many people seem reluctant these days to bother trying to work something out for themselves, especially in MMOs. Its so common now to see many people asking "where do I find <insert object, npc, creature>" or "how do I get to <insert place>". Its like they just cant be bothered to work it out for themselves, so now they either ask immediately where it is (sometimes even though its actually written in the quest text, obviously reading text is too much of a strain to some), or download a utility/mod to show them on the map exactly where they have to go, or look on a website.

Pity really that the art of deduction and discovery is so far along on the path to oblivion.
 
^^ That's a very valid point - especially with RPG style games- I can't stand the though of missing out on bits, so will often sneak a peak at the walkthrough - but in terms of getting through the game I think your friends are short changing themselves - it's a bit like the god-modes of old, if you are invincible, the challenge is gone from the game and the rewards feel hollow. I always finished a game first, then would consider using cheats on subsequent runs for a bit of fun. Using cribs to get the 'best' strategy just sounds like someone who can't stand losing, and is willing to undermine their experience to avoid it. Having said that - I guess some people are motivated by different things, I derive my pleasure from facing and overcoming the challenges, and the sense of achievement that brings, I guess they get their kicks from 'winning' - each to their own.
 
Usually try and play it blind the 1st time through, but a guide is always handy afterwards to make sure I experience everything. You'd miss a lot of fun in the GTA series without a walkthrough.
 
I prefer not to but I will do if I'm completely stuck.

I did for WoW a few times because the quest text was often either misleading or completely wrong.
 
It's all down to the player - if they want to run through the entire game using a walkthrough that's their choice, but I doubt it will be anywhere near as enjoyable.

lawz said:
I buy a game to play it myself, not read a guide on how someone else thinks it should be played. That said, im not adverse to a cheeky check on a guide for when I get to a bit where im completely bamboozled and are about to hit the screen in frustration, I think its Justified at that point :P
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This.
 
I will play games myself and only resort to guides to either check options on a second playthrough (RPGs mostly) or if i get hoplessly stuck on a certain bit (DMC 4 on DmD or when i used to play MMOs to save time)

i like playing games myself and i get a far greater sense of satisfaction being good under my own steam.

for example ive persisted with the assualter in BC2 since it started and have 90% of my time played with a m16 despite other guns being more popular, but it works for me and i do well with it and when i beat m60/medic noobs i get a far greater sense of satisfaction =)

TLDR: guides are for when your stuck, fully exploring the game on a second play through not to play the game with.
 
lawz said:
I buy a game to play it myself, not read a guide on how someone else thinks it should be played. That said, im not adverse to a cheeky check on a guide for when I get to a bit where im completely bamboozled and are about to hit the screen in frustration, I think its Justified at that point :P
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Same.
 
I only use guides when I'm collecting things on like a second or third play-through (that's if I actually attempt to collect special items in games, which I often don't). Or in the case of a couple hundred pigeons dotted around a fairly large map (a la GTA IV), a guide is somewhat of a godsend and a massive time-saver.
 
I used Thott loads when I played Wow, but only after my initial 2 characters (one Alliance, one Horde) were max level, so I got to enjoy the lore anyway - and lets face it Blizzard are good at lore.

My alts were all just rush jobs/power levels (eg chuck bags and gold on them) done over the course of a week or so as I got really bloody skilled at doing it, and if I couldn't remember where something was I used Thott. Then of course there were in game mods which made it even quicker.
 
I'd only use a guide or something at the start just to get the thought process. Like in defense grid there was this hard level I couldn't do, so i looked up how the person did their maze and why, and that alllowed me from then on to make my own ideas. I just use it as a foundation to get me started.

Same for online CoH stratgies, I found it difficult mulitplayer wise as i just plugned into it without doing the campaign. Watching what the pros did and how their countered stuff I could make my own build order etc which always worked out quite wel until level 11 :(
 
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