so is it?

also this includes ANY kind of walkthrough whether it's leveling up help or how to get past monster X to help n00b Y in town Z!

Yeah, but does it matter?

I played fable about 5 times, then got the walkthrough and tried to do everything I hadn't.

look the walkthrough can't beat the game for you so its not cheating, however you prolly should feel stupid for not figuring things out on your own. ps i think this thread has been done before but that might have been for guide books

It is cheating if you are beating the game the first time. It is NOT cheating when you have beaten said game and after spending godless hours of time trying to find said secrets and what not I find it acceptable to look at a walkthrough.

Good thing about walkthroughs is to be able to find everything the game has to offer. I remember after beating Star Ocean the Second story that I wanted to try out the characters I missed. Turned out I had to start from the VERY BEGINNING just to get Dias, Opera, and Earnest(Choose Claud my first time through)

walkthroughs are good with games that have poor level design there is noting more frustraiting to me than wandering around for an hour because the game does not clearly define the next point or the next door is hidden in some F#%ked place E.G. the darkness

Walkthroughs are good for games where there are collectibles scattered around a large map. Also, some puzzles are ridiculously hard and only serve to bring gameplay to a screeching halt. Walkthroughs are good for those too. So, I guess if something is going to take an unreasonable amount of time, then using a walkthrough to cut down on the time is reasonable.

Only in the case of Guide Dang It

Well, if you are completely stuck, in a way that actually makes the game unplayable, using a walkthrough is not cheating. As long as you make an honest attempt to try it before resorting to a walkthrough, then it's fine by me.

It's not literally cheating however it does mean you're shittier at a game.

:)

Aiden Rebirth:
look the walkthrough can't beat the game for you so its not cheating, however you prolly should feel stupid for not figuring things out on your own. ps i think this thread has been done before but that might have been for guide books

I did not feel stupid when I had to consult a walkthrough for Curse of Monkey Island. Honestly, a lactose intolerant volcano?..

I usually give a puzzle about an hour of tinkering and trying everything before I just say screw it. I'm pretty sharp at adventure games, it's these goofy Japanese puzzles or weird action game ones that throw me. It's always those obscure Silent Hill puzzles where I'm supposed to figure out what the weird poem written in blood has to do with the silver clock and why can't I just smash the box ope- AH DAMNIT ANOTHER ZOMBIE!!! - open.

After about an hour of that noise, I just gamefaq it.

Walkthroughs have become increasingly unnecessary for game-clears as game makers have been focused on making it easier and easier to reach the end credits, all the way up to 'No game over' in Fable II and 'chapter skipping' in Alone in the Dark.

That said, I find no shame in looking at walkthroughs, though sometimes I feel the walkthrough writers need to get off their thrones and stop acting like you're garbage. Okay, you noticed that hole that gets revealed on camera for a split second during that water level change cutscene in Ocarina of Time. Good for you. It doesn't make you a god, genius, or Presidential candidate.

It's kind of annoying when people absolutely refuse to play a game without a guide of some sort walking them through every step of it, since I personally feel that kills the FUN of playing the game, but as long as they don't try to tell me every step of getting through something when I want to figure it out, there's no problem there either.

I'm printing out a FF 9 walkthough right now, so umm...no? Although I would never use a walkthrough for something like Phoenix Wright, or some crappy shooter.

Mariena:

Aiden Rebirth:
look the walkthrough can't beat the game for you so its not cheating, however you prolly should feel stupid for not figuring things out on your own. ps i think this thread has been done before but that might have been for guide books

I did not feel stupid when I had to consult a walkthrough for Curse of Monkey Island. Honestly, a lactose intolerant volcano?..

I will give you that one...:)

It's kind of cheating, but you're really only cheating yourself.

For example, if you're playing a RPG, reading a walkthrough is like endowing your character with a kind of non-canon psychic fore-sight, which can rob you of the immersion & game experience.

If you read that at the end of 'dungeon X' there is a horde of 'monster Y', so you take the time preparing & equipping yourself to easily defeat the monsters in said dungeon before you enter it, then you lose out on the challenge & surprise of having to face these monsters unprepared, as was probably intended by the game's designers.

It's not black and white. It really depends on the game.

I beat the game first and then use a guide on my second attempt to find everything. This also gives me more bang for the buck and makes it so that I don't feel bad about dishing out $60 for a game that I might be done with in a handful of hours.

Not really. If I'm stuck at a part of the game with only a vague riddle telling me where to go next (happens more than you'd think) I'll bring up a guide. Also ham handed level design will prompt a visit to walkthrough country but these only after every solution to the problem I can think of.

Is asking for help while you bleed out on the floor cheating? No. Walkthroughs are not cheating.

How is it not cheating? It tells you exactly what to do so of course it's cheating.

No. Sometimes you just get stuck for a very stupid reason and without a walkthrough you simply can't get further in the game. You should only use it if you are really stuck and have tried almost anything though.

Kind of, but often justifiable. If you are not having fun being stuck at this one point in a game and you want to keep enjoying it, then you should not have to put out with it.

I would say they're more an admission of incompetence than cheating.

to me, using a guide to get you through something is cheating, but there are different levels of cheating. anything to do with the main game is bad cheating (e.g using a guide to get you through a level you cant figure out) but stuff to do with side quests isn't as bad (e.g using a guide to get all the gold skulltullas in OOT or checking to see what enemy spoils you can get from a certain area in mumorpugers)

Sometimes I use a walkthrough/guide to either;

A) Help me on a part I'm stuck on
B) Help me find secrets and stuff
C) Shows me were some cool stuff is that I never noticed before.

I don't care if you use a walkthrough/guide, if you want to use one at the begining of the game so you won't miss anything, fine. It isn't cheating in my book, just being lazy.

Isn't the whole point of the game to figure everything out on your own? I just think walkthroughs take away from everything that the game is supposed to be... Exploration, discovery and fun.

I say it's cheating. Do I do it anyways? Yes. Do I scold other people for doing it? No. So maybe I should think about what the word 'cheating' means to me.

Only on stupid puzzles.

That bathhouse "Go through 20 doors in a certain order" thing in Sands of Time....>.<

Yes it's cheating. Does it matter though? Sometimes you need help to get 100% on a game.

Sometimes? I'm not entirely sure. Some games, like FF need them if you plan on getting the most out of your games. Others really don't.

Cheating is stuff like action replay and glitch exploits. If a guide is cheating then asking for help is also cheating.