Do you ever use any form of help, like walkthroughs, when playing video games?

[Locut0s]

Originally posted by: apoppin
i really don't think too deeply about my games


i consider them entertainment and will do whatever i want to to enjoy them.
-that said, *some* games so intrigue me i try to understand and exploit the mechanics that drives them ... i *finished* Oblivion with 1,250+ hours into it at level 92 without using the console, cheats or walkthroughs and even "pioneered" new ways to accomplish goals on their forums ... and i feel the same way about Hellgate:London where Max is a Level 40 Summoner [heading for the Level 50 cap] on <Nightmare Difficulty.

Other games are decent enough but don't hold my interest - or are too buggy - to play to the end, so i fire up "godmode" and walk-through it just to see the ending

What is guilt in a videogame?

My only complaint about oblivion is that it was either too easy or quickly got far too hard. If you never slept and hence never levelled up you could finish everything in the game with relative ease but that was not the point of the developers. If you did sleep and level up on the other hand you had to do so almost perfectly or else the enemies quickly became insanely deadly. It's a game that was supposed to reward experimenting yet there were really only a few ways to properly level up without making the game impossibly difficult. I finished the game without sleeping more than 10 times or so.

 

[InflatableBuddha]

Generally not walkthroughs, but I have used UHS hints a few times for various adventure games. Usually I need just enough of a hint to point me in the right direction without giving away the secret.

For FPS or platformers, I will grind away repetitively, trying different approaches, until I pass a level. It takes a lot more to make me resort to a walkthrough for those games.

 

[CP5670]

I generally don't refer to them the first time I play a game. However, I usually replay the game a year or two later and often read them at that point, as I do things more thoroughly then and try to find everything that I missed the first time around.

I think the only games where walkthroughs dramatically change the gameplay are adventure and puzzle games. I try to avoid using them in such games unless I really get stuck on something.

 

[imported_Imp]

Rarely. Usually, it's only when I'm completely stuck in an action game cause the designers decided to hide the advancement point/path in a retarded place (Jedi Knight 2) or I'm stuck in an RPG quest. I don't feel one bit guilty though, cause by the time I actually bother to quit the game and start googling for a walkthrough, I'm so pissed I could go on a rampage.

 

[KeithTalent]

Only if I am really stuck and I only feel guilty if what I needed to do was really freaking obvious, ike a forehead slapping "you dumbass" kind of thing.

KT

 

[oogabooga]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
Only if I am really stuck and I only feel guilty if what I needed to do was really freaking obvious, ike a forehead slapping "you dumbass" kind of thing.

KT

Same, If I look up something and it's like "flip the switch, dummy" then I do the forehead slap and ridicule myself for either not looking hard enough, looking to hard, and other general stupidity.

 

[RandomFool]

I use them every now and then when I get stuck. Sometimes I feel dumb for missing obvious things but generally it doesn't bother me.

 

[cdmccool]

Feel guilty for using a game guide??? lol

I feel like game guides help me get MORE out of the game. For games that I've really been looking forward to, I will always buy the guide the same day. If it's a game I don't really care about, then I'll just play through once without the guide.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Only when really stuck, and no guilt whatsoever.

 

[BD2003]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
I think my level of guilt depends on what the walkthrough says

In a couple cases, something was mentioned that I think I wouldn't have thought of on my own or there's an obscure "trick" to it.

In those cases, I don't really feel guilty at all for checking.


In other cases when it's something that was on my list of things to try or I just didn't have the timing down yet / whatever, then I feel bad that I didn't just try a few more times.


Just to clarify things, I only check walkthroughs or tips. Cheat codes take all the fun out of it

Same on all counts.

 

[Jadow]

back when I was a kid, I was much more hardcore, but now my time is more important. I'll definitely look up hints or walkthroughs now.

 

[Noema]

Only if I'm so infuriatingly stuck that I'm bound to never play the game again unless I manage to progress.

 

[ChaoZ]

There are some games that are just so hard that it's almost impossible to beat it without a guide, like Resident Evil 2. All the puzzles in that game drove me crazy.

 

[Ika]

Originally posted by: PhoenixOrion

Originally posted by: Aflac
I'm the kind of person who NEEDS to search everything and find everything (i.e. Bioshock, I loot every container and body and I will frequently scour an area 9-10 times over the course of the level to make sure I got everything. I use walkthroughs to save myself some frustration in that respect. I also use walkthroughs when the game is freakin' ginormous, like Baldur's Gate II or Golden Sun. Actually, I use walkthroughs on most RPGs, but usually I'll complete a level then read over the walkthrough to see if I missed anything.

Lol. With that kind of explorer approach to games, I wonder if you ever finished Oblivion?

Never played it. I don't really play that many RPGs anyway. I've played Baldur's Gate 2 all the way through at least 6-7 times, though. There's still a bunch of stuff I don't know yet :

I did spent over 150+ hours on FF7, FFX, and FFX-2 each, too. I generally stay away from massive RPGs because I spend enough time on small RPGs in the first place.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Locut0s

Originally posted by: apoppin
i really don't think too deeply about my games


i consider them entertainment and will do whatever i want to to enjoy them.
-that said, *some* games so intrigue me i try to understand and exploit the mechanics that drives them ... i *finished* Oblivion with 1,250+ hours into it at level 92 without using the console, cheats or walkthroughs and even "pioneered" new ways to accomplish goals on their forums ... and i feel the same way about Hellgate:London where Max is a Level 40 Summoner [heading for the Level 50 cap] on Nightmare Difficulty.

Other games are decent enough but don't hold my interest - or are too buggy - to play to the end, so i fire up "godmode" and walk-through it just to see the ending

What is guilt in a videogame?

My only complaint about oblivion is that it was either too easy or quickly got far too hard. If you never slept and hence never levelled up you could finish everything in the game with relative ease but that was not the point of the developers. If you did sleep and level up on the other hand you had to do so almost perfectly or else the enemies quickly became insanely deadly. It's a game that was supposed to reward experimenting yet there were really only a few ways to properly level up without making the game impossibly difficult. I finished the game without sleeping more than 10 times or so.

i did that in SI ... finished it at Level 2

you missed it ... Max slept regularly ... He was *level 92* - "you cannot improve on perfection" - withOUT using cheats or the console

... and now Max {II} is Level 41 Summoner in Hg:L *nightmare difficulty* ... i "busted" their mechanics

 

[KaOTiK]

Originally posted by: Locut0s

Originally posted by: KaOTiK
I will only go to like gamefaqs if I am stuck on a part for at least 6-8 hours, thats how long I will try before I will go look for help, so you can say I nearly never use help for games. But the few times I have, most the time I am a bit pissed but at myself for not figuring it out, only a few times was it due to the game and bad design.

6-8 hours? Some people spend months stuck on a section of a game.

Well 6-8 hours is more then enough time for me, like I said I rarely ever need to use a faq. I've done so once in the pass year I believe. I don't have the time to dedicate to spend a month or whatever to figuring something out. I have tons of other games to play and I like only playing 2-3 games at a time otherwise I will forget what is going on and that kills the whole experience for me.

 

[Martimus]

Originally posted by: aplefka
I definitely try not to use them unless I absolutely have to. Or if I want to get all the extras. I used once for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 a couple nights ago and felt really guilty about it.

The second time I went to use it though it was so poorly written I didn't understand it and accidentally discovered how to pass one part on my own so I felt a little better about myself. Then I died on the last boss of the game multiple times and wanted to drink away my sorrows that a game created almost 14 years ago pwned me.

The hardest game I ever played was the original Castlevania. I just could not beat Frankenstein. That little Igor would alwas get me! Newer games are made so they aren't as frustratingly hard I think. It makes well written ones rather fun.

 

[QuantumPion]

I played through hitman 3 entirely using video walkthroughs to get the best rating on each mission the first time through. I think I started doing it around the 3rd mission or so because I was stuck. It completely ruined the game for me and I'll never do it again.

 

[Martimus]

Originally posted by: DainBramaged
Depends on the game but I always try for a long time before using a walkthrough. I love the Hitman series and have completed every game without using a walkthrough but I have gone back and read them after I was done just to see how everyone else did it.

Yeah, me too! I get some satisfaction when I read through a walkthrough and my method of getting Silent Assasin is simpler than the methods they come up with. Of course I also read some of theirs that are pretty ingenious as well!

 

[HannibalX]

Typically no but I have been known to on occasion read a hint section of a fan website. So far I haven't encountered a game that I needed to buy a $30/200 page guide to complete.

 

[LintMan]

I'm a completist and hate missing parts of the game, so walkthroughs are great to help avoid missing out on cool parts in a game, especially a big game like Oblivion. Without walkthroughs, I waste way too much time searching in uninteresting areas looking for interesting things and it gets really boring fast.

No guilt, either. I have no ego or pride wrapped up in my game playing. For me games are purely about entertainment, fun, and exploration. I often quickly tire of games with grind or a frequent fail-and-reload factor, but I hate not finishing a game. If a game's so unfun I won't finish it, I usually feel ripped off and bitter. So, in that situation, cheat codes have frequently enabled me to finish a game and have fun in my own fashion and not feel ripped off.

 

[zerocool84]

For games like Zelda and such I will pass it without using a guide then replay the game with a guide to find all the hidden stuff.

 

[Brainonska511]

I used a walkthrough when I got stuck playing Zelda: Link's Awakening, because after a while, it just becomes boring (being stuck). I've also used one when playing IceWind Dale II and I was in one of the temples. I wanted to know what the layout of the temple was and how to work some various widgets within the temple. I don't see it as a big deal.

 

[garkon]

Originally posted by: BrownTown
I have never used any sort of help guide and do feel a need to somewhat insult someone who would. I don't really see where in a game you would ever need one, but then again I don't play those really involved RPG type games which might get alot more tricky. Also since 98% of my gaming is online it doesn't really apply although I have gone to websites to investigate different aspects of some online games, notably exploits for different maps and weapons that would not be immediately obvious to most people.

First bolded: Are you serious, come on, thats just... i don't know kinda pathetic/mean/unnecessary people enjoy games in different ways, is all I'm saying.

Second bolded: But you will look online for exploits or what not for things that you didn't find on your own so you can be better than other people online. And you feel the need to insult someone using a guide in a single player game .


1. I'll use guides if i get stuck long enough to go "what the hell am i supposed to do", and just cant figure it out. Cheats i usually use after i've already beaten a game and want to go crazy. Very rarely have i had to resort to cheats to pass a part of a game, devs usually make sure you can do it with what your given, it has happened though.

2. I never feel guilty about it, i dont wanna waste time sitting at the same spot of a game for hours because it's just not clicking for me, i'll move past that point and continue having my fun

In online games, there is no need to cheat, because the fun part is the competition. Plus you cant really get "stuck" in online games, just worked over, and over, and over, lol.

 

[JBT]

Can't think of a game I needed help on really in the last 5 years. I probably would have for Far Cry but I didn't even get half way through that before I was bored. At any rate if I did need help I wouldn't have felt bad about it, its just a game.