Why isn't the guide sold ahead of the game? I would love to have the guide a week before the game even if it cost me 5 or 10 bucks.

no, but then again I don′t wanna buy the guide at all, there is a thing called the internet...plus guides just spoils the fun, like getting a copy of the script before seeing a movie.

1. Because then you would know everything about the game before you even play.
2. Because the guide writers dont always get advance copies of the game
3. You are looking at $20+ for a guide.

I trust the guide more than the internet, and with Fallout 3 that was a good thing. As far as spoiling the fun, to what degree would be up to the reader and ultimately there choice.

and I trust the money I save more then supporting a old, dieing form to milk money from people.

oh well each to there own, have fun paying money for something someone is gonna copy/paste onto a free online site. ;p

Actually I trust the internet more than a guide. Just have to find websites I can trust, like the Vault. I've read tons of info on there for fallout 2 and 3 and it has never given me false info.

• 1. Game exposure is the readers choice.
  
• 2. With F3 + NV they did.
  
• 3. Yes

This. would never buy a guide for a Fallout game. The Vault has all the info i'll ever need, and for free. the vault has EVERYTHING in the game, with details on how to get it, bugs involving it, and notes about it.

The only strategy guides I bought outright were one for Final Fantasy X-2 (i actually got two from the same guy off ebay because the first one arrived all damaged), and the one for MGS4, which did come in handy. I also got the special edition of Demon's Souls, because I heard without the strategy guide, the game was QUITE difficult. And I would tend to agree. the strat guide for that made it so much more managable.

As for fallout, not only are the games pretty self explanatory when it comes to quests and features, but the vault literally covers *everything*.

I prefer to trust an EXPERT with 100's of hours of dedicated gameplay to the game than an altered by any shmuck wiki.

Nope, won't even buy it after .

:rofl:

You are pretty naive. Just because some guy(s) has a job writing guides doesnt mean hes an expert. The sad truth is most guides are simply garbage put out there to milk a little extra money from people dumb enough to buy them. The wiki is free and its a lot better. Ive never seen a guide yet that didnt contain misinformation somewhere. The Fallout 3 guide was a turd in comparison to the wiki and the same will be true for New Vegas.

Guides have been outdated for a long time now. The internet contains more information assuming you know where the source is. The one for Fallout just happens to be the wiki.

Really as an example take a look at this for Fallout 3, Big Trouble In Big Town..

http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Big_Trouble_in_Big_Town

The Fallout 3 guide doesnt contain anywhere near that level of information. Everything involved with this quest is a click away which will contain equally detailed information, notes and bugs. This information in particular helped my screwed up save game..

"# When presented with the option to defend the town by repairing the damaged robots, the robots will not be in the town, due to the flying creatures and items glitch. This renders this section of the quest unable to be completed. On the PC, entering the console and typing PRID 2d934, kill, resurrect, disable, enable, PRID 2c11b, kill, resurrect, disable, enable should restore the bots. If they fail to appear, you may need to enter one more command: "moveto player".
# If only the sentry bot is there, repair it, then wait 24 hours in-game, and the protectron will show up allowing you to complete the quest. "

I literally cant count the amount of times the bug information on the wiki has helped me avert game ruining problems in Fallout 3.

No.

The vault is hands down the best gide for fallout. Not only does it have walkthroughs, but every little grain of sand in F3 is explained with great accuracy and detail.

I find guides utterly worthless now that we have the internet. Well, that's not entirely true - they sometimes have great artwork in them - which, come to think of it, can often be found on the internet as well. Developers and publishers often have deals with the companies that put out the guides. Guides provide a way to make extra money up front on a title, but often have problems.

You see, the guide writer does get an advanced copy of the game, and there-in lies the problem. He is working from a different build of the game than you are playing. Tweaks done in the last month-month and a half of development on the game, like changing item locations, or rebalancing an enemy's stats, don't make it into the guide, because it has to be researched, written, and sent off to the book publisher well ahead of the release of the game. Bugs may be present in his copy but not in yours, and vice versa. You don't have to look far to see complaints on the internet of "professional" guidebooks getting details wrong. Often, the writer or "expert" as you call him, will have to rely on word of mouth from developers or looking at the design document to put things in the guide, but between the time he does that and the guide ships, changes are often made. Sometimes the developers had to drop something, sometimes a change had to be made at the last minute, etc.

You have to wait longer to get a complete guide on the internet, but in my mind, you shouldn't be playing through a game for the first time with a guide anyway - it spoils all the fun of discovery. Guides are for second playthroughs and after, to "guide" you to neat things that you missed the first time. Internet guides also offer the advantage that they are created using the same version of the game that you are playing, and that whole "altered by any shmuck wiki" actually means that the facts presented there are naturally going to be more accurate, since they represent a consensus by a large number of players.

And for the final point, that professional guide is only good (if then) until the first major patch or DLC, then its information becomes outdated and incomplete, and in some cases, previously true things are now wrong. That wiki and the internet are going to change to reflect the changes in the game. All you'll be left with is a pretty book that you shelled out $20+ bucks for once upon a time and now gathers dust on a shelf.

In response to the OP - no. Even if I did buy a guide, I wouldn't do so before a game came out. As someone else said, that's like reading a script before seeing the movie, or reading the Cliff Notes before reading the book.

If I found the game in a store today then yes.
I'm too much of an addict to let go.
I have no self-control.
I NEED that book. :twitch:

The reliable guide had me searching for a mask that wasn't even in the game but the wiki knew that it wasn't there. I wont buy the guide.

Im gonna buy the hard cover, just to add to my collection. I have the collectors edition of FO-3 and I paid for the same for N.V. Might as wee get the game guide too.

If you get it for free with something like the Collector's Edition, then by all means enjoy the artwork and pictures. I've gotten guides before - when they were free with some editions, or when I could buy them for a dollar - they make great bathroom reading.

Love game guides personally (and yes I use the Vault too), but I wouldn't buy one till I've played---hrm I dunno---FIVE times AT LEAST!!!

With a game like Fallout, spoilers can ruin the fun, which is why Oct. 22nd I will not return for at least six monthes.

lol no they didnt atleast not with fallout 3. if anything they got like an older version of fallout 3, which is why some of the stuff they talked about in the guide weren't there or none-existant.

I'm gonna buy the guide when I get the game, but I'm gonna put it on my bookshelf and not open it until I beat New Vegas.

I will never buy the the guide...

Cause of money, principle or logic?

Money: Can't afford.
Principle: You don't believe in game guides since it ruins gameplay for you.
Logic: Wikia is free!

they would never release teh guide b4 the game was out.

Man I haven't seen anyone using "teh" for almost a half year now.