Strategy guide

[FINALCUT]

Anyone know if there will be one,a Brady games guide or something for STO. Do they have one for Champions. I kinda collect them,so I really hope they make one.

[Aq3nt]

Anyone know if there will be one,a Brady games guide or something for STO. Do they have one for Champions. I kinda collect them,so I really hope they make one.

I dont know, I haven't heard anything... just wondering that myself today... However Im "hoping" that they'll make a Strategy guide for STO when it comes out...:D We just have to wait and see.. :cool:

[Late_wolfy]

What would be the point in writeing a strategy guide or an MMO?

I mean, Cryptics said they plan on releaseing a major expansion every 3 or 4 months, so the game will be seriously upgraded/changed 3 or 4 times a year, so a strategy guide would be outdated before its even been out long.

Also, most games with strategy guides, these guides were written while the game was in development, they'd of finished writeing them by now for most other games. However, with an MMOlike this, they can constantly add and take away features any time up to launch. Even on release day, when you have your CD, you could install it and find that you need to patch it before you can play because thy've added new features or taken some away.

Also, look at Eve Online as a prime ewxample, if you wrote a strategy guide for that when the game came out, imagine how out of date it would be now :P

Anyway, just giveing the reasons I feel a strategy guide is a bad idea for an MMO which is ging to go thorugh some huge changes.

[MAM1701]

Anyone know if there will be one,a Brady games guide or something for STO. Do they have one for Champions. I kinda collect them,so I really hope they make one.

I would love to see a strategy guide for STO. I am think of playing a science career Captain and would like to know some of the possible mod choices that would bring. Thanks

[sandman105]

Well... pretty much the first time a content patch or expansion comes out.. the guide will be moot. However it would make for some good reading material while you are on the can.

[Kazzy]

Isn't there some excitement in not knowing, and just making blind choices just because you want to?

[regenhardt]

STOked (i.e., Jupiter Broadcasting) is planning on doing something in the way of a series of Video sessions based on what their fleet learns (heck, their fleet will probably be in the videos demonstrating). They're still taking recruits too.

[don_bagwell]

i just have to LOL

[Katagasm]

If I could buy a stradegy guide before release i would, would love to be ready for game day. Come game day I dont want to have to read :) besides google is your friend, I'm, sure there are people in Beta now that have fully functional websites with quests, Beasteary and Item Databases just waiting to go up on release day.

[theatreelf]

Most strategy guides are out of date the moment they hit the racks. I guess you could get some useful info. Unless they have POIs on maps, meh...not sure they are worth it.

[Norexan-Guy]

Anyone know if there will be one,a Brady games guide or something for STO. Do they have one for Champions. I kinda collect them,so I really hope they make one.

WoW have strategy guides and is plagued with the same problem of content update as STO will be.

[treysik]

What would be the point in writeing a strategy guide or an MMO?

I mean, Cryptics said they plan on releaseing a major expansion every 3 or 4 months, so the game will be seriously upgraded/changed 3 or 4 times a year, so a strategy guide would be outdated before its even been out long.

Also, most games with strategy guides, these guides were written while the game was in development, they'd of finished writeing them by now for most other games. However, with an MMOlike this, they can constantly add and take away features any time up to launch. Even on release day, when you have your CD, you could install it and find that you need to patch it before you can play because thy've added new features or taken some away.

Also, look at Eve Online as a prime ewxample, if you wrote a strategy guide for that when the game came out, imagine how out of date it would be now :P

Anyway, just giveing the reasons I feel a strategy guide is a bad idea for an MMO which is ging to go thorugh some huge changes.

Actually many MMOs create Stradegy guides. I used to collect them (still have them) for many of the MMOs that had them come. SWG, DAOC, EQ/EQ2, WOW to name a few. It's certainly not unheard of.

[Late_wolfy]

Actually many MMOs create Stradegy guides. I used to collect them (still have them) for many of the MMOs that had them come. SWG, DAOC, EQ/EQ2, WOW to name a few. It's certainly not unheard of.

Is the information in them still very accurate and up to date? Obviously, the episodes and missions wont change much, ships and equipment wont change much, but what about all of the OTHER factions and ships, equipments, missions, episodes, etc

[sandman105]

When an MMO changes over time as content is added, you can still use the original strategy guide to get a decent feel for the game at least... cause some content the guide covers will have been changed or added to.

[Katagasm]

When an MMO changes over time as content is added, you can still use the original strategy guide to get a decent feel for the game at least... cause some content the guide covers will have been changed or added to.

Yes, but google finds anything faster than I can with a table of context and a book.

[sandman105]

Yes, but google finds anything faster than I can with a table of context and a book.

Well... if the guide isnt outdated... i find flipping pages faster then typing and searching.... sorting through 10 or 20 pages with key words, then settling on a page that might answer my question.

[Xaxomz]

Go Go Strategy Guides FTW!!!
Even if they are dated as soon as they hit launch, who cares, they are usually extremely well presented, nice and shiny, full of glossy pics and great motivators if your feeling mmo'd out

Theres always a demand out there for them.

They are collectable, something akin to memorabillia I guess. . :D

[wavingstrider]

Instead of a paper Strategy Guide, I always thought it would be a good idea for MMO's to make an official Wiki for their game. That would make it easy to update as the game changes.

[theatreelf]

A lot of times sites like Zam.com (old Allakhazam.com) are just a useful.

[Late_wolfy]

Instead of a paper Strategy Guide, I always thought it would be a good idea for MMO's to make an official Wiki for their game. That would make it easy to update as the game changes.

ahh, see, that idea I like. Besides, you can gaurantee that if Cryptic doesnt set one up within days of the Open Beta starting, the fans will create one for it anyway

[Katagasm]

Maybe I waited too long to buy it, maybe it was just a bad guide, but i found the DAoC guide to be COMPLETELY useless.

[DanSeale]

If there is a strategy guid available, I wonder if it can be a DL (for a price of course). I'd be currious to better understand how the varrious commands work, controls, hot keys .. etc. IMHO if we could get this before 01-29-2010 that would be cool !

[blowitup]

In the game it comes with a booklet but other than that your going to boldly go...

I do believe that they could make a virtual or downloadable guide that gets updated regularly.

[GhostBirdofPrey]

With the constant patching thaat takes place in most games nowadays, strategy guides are close to becoming obsolete. Usually a game with more than 3 players has a wiki that is updated with similar data but is kept fairly up to date.

Also alot of MMOs seem to have so many quests that a strategy guide would seem to be impractically big.

[Boboki]

lol, I still have my old Ultima Online strategy guide from 10 years ago. Now THAT is out of date lol.

The charts and maps in the guides can still be mostly accurate, and the early stuff in the books can give you a hand given how crappy most instructional manuals are I guess. I never really used them for that though, just for the maps.

[Xanusus]

Strategy guides are excellent even for MMO's. The developers of these guides such as Brady games already know that the information they put within their guides will be changed or maybe even incorrect at release or shortly thereafter. They take this into account and adjust their guides periodically online as well even if you bought the hardcopy paper edition. However, a large portion of the information they put within these guides is still valid within the first months of an MMO's release and even on the stuff that has been changed you can still look at the guide to get a feel for how things operate and where stuff is.

STO's guide will contain detailed specs on the ships, modules you can fit on them, where stuff spawns, what the skills do, crafting, tips, missions types, etc.

I've never been disappointed with any strategy guide I've bought for my many MMO's over the years. You are definitely ahead of the curve with them especially at the very beginning of a new MMO. Even if some of the information in them gets changed right before launch you won't be blind like a lot of other players are. They generally give you a better of idea of how to build your character to accomplish what you want to do WITHOUT having to spend weeks blindly learning and making decisions that later you would have done differently with the proper information.

And generally the information contained in the guides is way ahead of the curve for information that will be released from a player run website like alakhazams, etc. Most player ran information sites generally don't really come into play with the amount of information you get from a guide until the game has been out for a while.

[Borticus]

STOked (i.e., Jupiter Broadcasting) is planning on doing something in the way of a series of Video sessions based on what their fleet learns (heck, their fleet will probably be in the videos demonstrating). They're still taking recruits too.

We're also intending to put out some Tutorial videos during the course of Open Beta, covering topics like Alien Creation, Stat/Bonus Explanations, and an explanation of the many UI elements. Hopefully these will help you both scratch your itch, and learn some new tricks. =)

[smtgb]

Strategy guides are excellent even for MMO's. The developers of these guides such as Brady games already know that the information they put within their guides will be changed or maybe even incorrect at release or shortly thereafter. They take this into account and adjust their guides periodically online as well even if you bought the hardcopy paper edition. However, a large portion of the information they put within these guides is still valid within the first months of an MMO's release and even on the stuff that has been changed you can still look at the guide to get a feel for how things operate and where stuff is.

STO's guide will contain detailed specs on the ships, modules you can fit on them, where stuff spawns, what the skills do, crafting, tips, missions types, etc.

I've never been disappointed with any strategy guide I've bought for my many MMO's over the years. You are definitely ahead of the curve with them especially at the very beginning of a new MMO. Even if some of the information in them gets changed right before launch you won't be blind like a lot of other players are. They generally give you a better of idea of how to build your character to accomplish what you want to do WITHOUT having to spend weeks blindly learning and making decisions that later you would have done differently with the proper information.

And generally the information contained in the guides is way ahead of the curve for information that will be released from a player run website like alakhazams, etc. Most player ran information sites generally don't really come into play with the amount of information you get from a guide until the game has been out for a while.

I'll chip in on this old topic: I agree. Many players don't seem to like any kind of guides but rather spend their time googling for info on forums and sites. I guess it depends on your personal preference, but I like having all I need in one place so I can find it quickly when I need to. And to answer OPs question, apparently there are several guides but I only read sto mastery so far (www.stomastery.com) - I wouldn't say it's brilliant but I did like it and find it useful. Its not free so I guess not everyone wants to spend money on something like this. Someone also mentioned Brady's guides: I didn't find any STO guides by them but I read their Warhammer guide some time ago and I immediately regret purchasing it :(

[nakedian]

I am actually a HUGE fan for guides for this type of game. I generally DON'T buy guides for games like first person shooters and the like. Several points... and I actually think they have ALL been at least TOUCHED upon in this thread:

The game WILL change... ALOT!
Some one asked.. isn't it fun to just make blind choices and learn things yourself? To this I answer: No, not for me personally..I like to make sure I have a high quality and efficient character. Mistakes in MMO's are often irreversable and/or COSTLY to fix.
Game guides for MMO's tend to teach basics AND specifics. The BASICS generally stay the same... specifics change and can be looked up on the internet. Personally I need some basics for this game.


That being said... I think this game is PRACTICALLY in Beta (as of 2/27/2010). It is still a little too early to even make a guide. I don't think many of the BASICS are even worked out yet. I think a guide is most likely in the works, and there IS an online guide, but it's more of a leveling walkthrough. Just my two cent's worth.

[Camonchain]

I think it would make sence to release a free expansion ecery 3 to 4 months and then sell the strategy guides in bookstores and target or wal-mart. They still get subscrption money and they can sell 3 to 4 guides a year. There is money to made like that, I'm sure.;)