WoW Strategy Guide: Yea or Nae?

[-Lord Ebonstone-]

Is anyone planning to buy the OSG for World of Warcraft?  I'm kind of up in the air about it... the maps and resource spawn locations would be great, but I understand the actual hard data will probably already be outdated on release... what's your take?

PS:  Feel free to share URLs here of free WoW info sites that can be used as an OSG replacement.

[Calvin]

No.
Absolutelyd not.
Thotbott has everything you could ever want to know. Or just find closed beta testers and ask them.

[Destructor]

Thotbott has everything you could ever want to know.

Got a link to Thotbott? I've used it before in my beta testing, and I found it to be an absolutely fantastic little addon program to WoW.

[Calvin]

http://www.thotbott.com

[olaf]

Its been my experience that MMO strat guides are HORRIBLE.  Not necessarily the fault of the authors, but they change so much that entire sections become inaccurate and/or useless.

I cant see the WoW strat guide being any different.  They are making tons of changes to core gameplay mechanics as late as today.  How will that stuff make it into the guide, let alone make it into the guide as a part of a valuable 'strategy'?

olaf

[Interloper]

I'd pass on an MMO guide also.  THere are so many resources online that are kept up to date, for free, that it's not worth buying a guide IMO.

[wonderpug]

Don't think of the strat guide as something that will give you hints/tips/whatever to actually help you with the game.  Think of it as a "fun companion book" for the game.  If pretty maps and bathroom reading appeal to you just for their own sake, it might be worth it.  Otherwise, fansites will have much better and more up to date maps/info/quest walkthroughs/stats/kitchen sink.

[EngineNo9]

I wish there was a way to have the best of both worlds: a companion book that I can read in my own time away from the computer (I just really like having those paper pages in hand) but that also has the latest information.

[The Grue]

I would never buy a strat guide for an MMORPG.  Too many things change so close to release.  For instance, when Star Wars Galaxies was released, they had changed the Smuggler requirements a good deal from the information that was in the guide.  For these, I think that online is the best place to get the information you want.

[Ibby]

I can't imagine shelling out the cash for a MMO strategy guide.  I suppose that if you're a rabid fan of a particular game, and you have to everything associated with it, fine.  But to use it as an extension of the manual?  

Upon release it's going to have information that's horribly out of date or just plain incorrect.

[olaf]

In the Holiday issue of PC Gamer, they offer a WoW starter guide.  It looks to be sections ripped right from the Brady guide, with their permission of course.  They had detailed strategies for an Arms/DPS (lol) Night Elf Warrior and a pretty standard healing build Undead Priest.

The way the strategies were presented was encouraging, they were more in depth than I thought they would be.  However, they were also outdated as this most recent patch changed Warriors a lot.

olaf

[-Lord Ebonstone-]

Well, I caved and bought the guide because I'm a pussy.

Let me say this:  it's awesome.  432 full-color glossy pages of love.  Penny-Arcade comics strewn throughout.  Guarenteed updates/errata from Brady.  Fantastic maps.

Quite a solid addition to your WoW purchase.

[warning]

Well, I caved and bought the guide because I'm a pussy.

Let me say this:  it's awesome.  432 full-color glossy pages of love.  Penny-Arcade comics strewn throughout.  Guarenteed updates/errata from Brady.  Fantastic maps.

Quite a solid addition to your WoW purchase.

I thought you weren't going to play WoW anymore?

[-Lord Ebonstone-]

Well, I caved and bought the guide because I'm a pussy.

Let me say this:  it's awesome.  432 full-color glossy pages of love.  Penny-Arcade comics strewn throughout.  Guarenteed updates/errata from Brady.  Fantastic maps.

Quite a solid addition to your WoW purchase.

I thought you weren't going to play WoW anymore?

Uh... I'm not.  I'm just buying the guide.  Uh...  For a friend.  Yeah.   :oops:

See "The Installation Dance" thread for my confession.

[Calvin]

Well, I caved and bought the guide because I'm a pussy.

Let me say this:  it's awesome.  432 full-color glossy pages of love.  Penny-Arcade comics strewn throughout.  Guarenteed updates/errata from Brady.  Fantastic maps.

Quite a solid addition to your WoW purchase.

I thought you weren't going to play WoW anymore?

I think I convinced him to come play with us

[olaf]

The guide does look sweet.

The pdf updates they allegedly are going to be doing also sound good.

Still, a lot of the info is out of date, not only in the guide but also in the manual.  They have their work cut out for them if they really plan on trying to get the guide up to date.

Did anyone catch the latest Gamespot preview piece?  They asked a Bliz dude about durability and the new death penalty.  He claims that they had planned on it for 'months', yet neither feature is mentioned at all in the guide or the manual.  Odd.

olaf

[Sepiche]

I wwas planning on buying it, but I just went into the store and was told it was $25?!?  Since when did strategy guides cost half as much as the game?

Anyway, I skipped it.  I was wanting to see it for hte PA cartoons and support them a bit, but no way would I pay that much for information that will be shortly outdated that I can get on the internet anyway.

s

[-Lord Ebonstone-]

I wwas planning on buying it, but I just went into the store and was told it was $25?!?  Since when did strategy guides cost half as much as the game?

Anyway, I skipped it.  I was wanting to see it for hte PA cartoons and support them a bit, but no way would I pay that much for information that will be shortly outdated that I can get on the internet anyway.

s

I bought it with the game and it only ended up costing $20.

[Raintitan]

"I wwas planning on buying it, but I just went into the store and was told it was $25?!? Since when did strategy guides cost half as much as the game? "

Don't you mean:

"Since when did the manual cost have as much as the game?"


 :lol:

Actually, WoW has a pretty nice manual...by today's standards.

[Sepiche]

"I wwas planning on buying it, but I just went into the store and was told it was $25?!? Since when did strategy guides cost half as much as the game? "

Don't you mean:

"Since when did the manual cost have as much as the game?"


 :lol:

Actually, WoW has a pretty nice manual...by today's standards.

hehe  Too true.

And yeah, the manual is actually really good.  Excellent when compared to most MMORPG manuals.  In fact I've been really impressed with Blizzards documentation.  I think this might be the only MMORPG I have played that had most of the game info in print somewhere when the game when live.

s

[Raven]

The guide is basically thot bot in book form. Whether it's worth the 20 bucks to sort through all the info offline is your decision. It was the first strategy guide I've bought in years, and I'm very please with the purchase.

[Falator]

No, look at thottbot (and game forums) for help. You can find any information you could ever want just looking through the class/quest forums and thottbot has a ton of info too.

[unbreakable]

I had the strat guide when I was playing FFXI, and it was like a bible.  I couldnt imagine playing FFXI without it sitting in front of me.

Im guessing it will be the same way with this game.  The answer to your every stupid little question will be contained somewhere within that mystical tome.  

Want to know where shaman can learn axe skill?  The answer is a minute away.  Where is the closest place to find Mageroyal?  Ditto.  Best armor for your level?  Closest alchemy trainer?  etc etc etc.

I think of it as one of those "quality of life" expenses, like having a maid or a washer/dryer in your home.  There are workarounds for doing it yourself, but sometimes you realize the money you spend should improve your life, rather than serve as an arbitrary score on a piece of paper.

[EngineNo9]

The guide does look sweet.

The pdf updates they allegedly are going to be doing also sound good.

Still, a lot of the info is out of date, not only in the guide but also in the manual.  They have their work cut out for them if they really plan on trying to get the guide up to date.

Did anyone catch the latest Gamespot preview piece?  They asked a Bliz dude about durability and the new death penalty.  He claims that they had planned on it for 'months', yet neither feature is mentioned at all in the guide or the manual.  Odd.

olaf

Durability actually is in the manual.  Page 63.

[olaf]

Yeah you are right, but the feature the interviewer actually asked him about, durability loss upon death, is not mentioned anywhere.  And if it had been planned for months, I believe it would have been.

olaf

[unbreakable]

maybe the reason it wasnt in the guide was because, while they knew it would be in, they didnt know exactly what the end result would be (like the recent tweak of resurrecting in the graveyard only doing 10% damage to items, rather than 100%).  

Im opining that Brady Games made the editorial decision to omit that subject completely, since they didnt have an exact detail to take to the presses.  And remember, the end result is the responsibility of Brady, not of Blizzard: so no matter how much info Bliz may share with them, the inclusion/exclusion of certain details is really the domain of Brady Games.

[unbreakable]

Just an update- I put my money where my mouth is, and picked up the strat guide.  My money situation right now, for reasons I dont want to get into, is currently a 'use it or lose it' proposition, so spending my pennies on it is ok.

First, if you are ordering the game, do yourself a favor and get it from Amazon.com- you will save yourself about $10.  I purchased it at GameStop for $25 plus tax, since that is the B&M going rate.

As has been said before, the book is HUGE, and the printing is really small.  I havent had time to go into it indepth, but it appears to have tons of info.


As an aside, in case you havent already, please add your characters to the WoW player list thread