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What motivates the authors of video game walkthroughs and FAQs?

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Re: What motivates the authors of video game walkthroughs and FAQs?

#31

Post by Natsu »

zoomablemind wrote: post #7

[...guide authors approach games with the mindset of a medical examiner. They do not play games so much as dissect them, which erodes enjoyment of the hobby they like best. Rarely can authors “just enjoy the game;” instead they must “stop every 20 seconds to write something.” ...] Is this really the case? I would rather believe that the writers are gamers too. It's quite common for gamers to play a [fun] game through…

Speaking as someone with several Steam guides and at least one on Gamefaqs, this is silly. Yes, sometimes I had to take notes manually, but for some other games, I made the guides I did by reading the game's data files.

It's far easier to make item tables when you can read the data file saying it's a 2% drop or what have you.

Re: What motivates the authors of video game walkthroughs and FAQs?

#32

Post by Natsu »

29athrowaway wrote: post #12

Before online walkthroughs you read official guides from Nintendo Power, or you contacted your local game guru via the guy that knew a guy.

I was the local game guru once upon a time. Got a free rental out of it one time after they had a customer who was stuck call me for hints on a game.

Also you could write letters to Nintendo Power. They told me what the spells in Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord did and explained why the "Octopus Eraser" in Earthbound that they showed in a screenshot got changed to "Pencil Eraser" in the actual US release.

Re: What motivates the authors of video game walkthroughs and FAQs?

#33

Post by Natsu »

UI_at_80x24 wrote: post #23

How is this any different then old-school CRPG's and needing to make your own map using graph paper of dungeons? I remember NEEDING to do this in Pools of Radiance (IIRC), just to get around the dungeon, and make sure I found everything on the level. For those that don't remember the game, you moved one square at a time in a N,E,S,W direction. one move = one square on the graph paper. No helpful pointer arrows like o…

One thing a lot of modern games have changed is that they take the notes for you. I really like when the game has a bestiary and drop tables and museums/collections built into the game so you don't have to alt-tab to the wiki all the time.

Re: What motivates the authors of video game walkthroughs and FAQs?

#34

Post by 29athrowaway »

tasogare wrote: post #29
29athrowaway wrote: post #12

Before online walkthroughs you read official guides from Nintendo Power, or you contacted your local game guru via the guy that knew a guy.

And then you spend 10 hours trying to surf on a truck in the hope of getting that #251.

No guide would work for TMNT, though. That game had randomized enemies and it was frustrating as hell.

Re: What motivates the authors of video game walkthroughs and FAQs?

#35

Post by narwally »

wlesieutre wrote: post #20
FractalParadigm wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would argue this the most likely case - I do similar with movies. It's usually not until the 2nd or even 3rd time through a movie I'll really pay attention and 'understand' the plot, I spend a lot of time focused on the background and technical aspects, trying to pick up on Easter eggs for instance, or marvelling at how well something was shot. You can ask me how I liked the movie, but it's highly unlikely I'll hav…

It's been a long time since I saw Contact but I'm pretty sure I remember the shot you're talking about. It's the one with the mirror?

That's the one. It's an impossible looking shot that even if you know how to do VFX is hard to figure out. It's actually done with a combination of some pretty simple techniques, but like any good bit of magic, it only seems obvious after you've been told the trick.

Re: What motivates the authors of video game walkthroughs and FAQs?

#36

Post by DoreenMichele »

This is a weird piece. Writing generally pays poorly for most people and JK Rowling's first check was like $2000. Children's authors didn't get rich when she was writing the initial drafts of Harry Potter. It was her series that changed that fact and made it easier for other children's authors.

Anyway, a lot of people do a thing to do the thing. Money isn't everything.

It's weird this piece seems to be agog at the idea that motives other than money even exist.

Re: What motivates the authors of video game walkthroughs and FAQs?

#37

Post by cgriswald »

zoomablemind wrote: post #7

[...guide authors approach games with the mindset of a medical examiner. They do not play games so much as dissect them, which erodes enjoyment of the hobby they like best. Rarely can authors “just enjoy the game;” instead they must “stop every 20 seconds to write something.” ...] Is this really the case? I would rather believe that the writers are gamers too. It's quite common for gamers to play a [fun] game through…

As a kid I loved Phantasy Star for the Sega Master System so much I tracked all the stats of the monsters, characters, mapped every maze, etc. I basically wrote an in-depth GameFAQ on pen and paper. I did it because I loved the game. I also tried various things (like trying to kill the Succubus who is supposed to kill you the first time — you could). I’ve also played the game through countless times (the most recent time being last year when Ages came out). I didn’t not enjoy the game. I enjoyed it far more than most people and in deeper ways.

I think there is an idea that if you look too hard at any art form (paint, film, comics, music...) you kill the magic. I’m not sure who believes that idea. The more I learn about any art form and the greater my skill at analyzing it, the more enjoyment I get from it.

Re: What motivates the authors of video game walkthroughs and FAQs?

#38

Post by narwally »

BookPage wrote: post #3

I used to LOVE reading GameFAQs walkthroughs for RPGs as a kid. The fact it was just a big text document made it super easy to hide in my "computer typing" classes too. I'm kind of sad that the whole scene has largely slowed down, at least for modern games... Now you can just find video guides on any subsection of a game you're playing; or follow an IGN guide. I have huge respect for authors of the oldschool guides t…

I know exactly what you mean, sometimes I could get a hold of a guidebook for a game that I didn't even have the system for; I just enjoyed reading about the world and the systems at play inside of it. Hell, I've never even played NetHack, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading the Guidebook. It's this weird combination of technical documentation and fantasy world-building that I for some reason find fascinating.

Re: What motivates the authors of video game walkthroughs and FAQs?

#39

Post by steve_adams_86 »

zoomablemind wrote: post #7

[...guide authors approach games with the mindset of a medical examiner. They do not play games so much as dissect them, which erodes enjoyment of the hobby they like best. Rarely can authors “just enjoy the game;” instead they must “stop every 20 seconds to write something.” ...] Is this really the case? I would rather believe that the writers are gamers too. It's quite common for gamers to play a [fun] game through…

As a kid I enjoyed games so much that I felt the need to understand and create them. That’s how I started doing this. The craving to pick every detail apart was incredibly gratifying to satiate and actually made it so I got so much more out of the games. It gave me insight into all aspects of creating them, which was more or less my passion and obsession for a very long time.

Re: What motivates the authors of video game walkthroughs and FAQs?

#40

Post by hnick »

zoomablemind wrote: post #7

[...guide authors approach games with the mindset of a medical examiner. They do not play games so much as dissect them, which erodes enjoyment of the hobby they like best. Rarely can authors “just enjoy the game;” instead they must “stop every 20 seconds to write something.” ...] Is this really the case? I would rather believe that the writers are gamers too. It's quite common for gamers to play a [fun] game through…

Yeah I think it's a bit unfair too. Taking things apart to learn how they work is fun, it's part of the hacker mindset. I view FAQ and walkthrough creation the same way.

Teaching is also the best way to learn or retain knowledge, and the process helps you get to know and appreciate a game you already enjoy.

I've never done that but I've played many games where I spent more time outside the game thinking and plotting and planning than I do actually playing the game. I mean, there's a reason people sometimes tease Path of Exile by calling it "Path of Excel" because of all the interactions you can reason out.

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