Why is it that every single FAQ has a version history and a copyright warning? No one, and I mean no one, really cares how you edited your FAQ. As for the copyright warning... really... why would someone plagiarize your work? Every strategy guide that is actually published has much better sources (that actually know how to spell check for one.) No one is going to try to steal your FAQ, and if they do they're not going to get any money for it. If anyone is doing one just to get credit for it, that's a little pathetic.

I also have objections to FAQ authors who include controls and back story in their FAQs; things that would be obvious to anyone who had the game, the entire document would be useless to someone who didn't.

Really people, grow up. Cut right to the chase. You can put your own name on it if you really want, but don't try to make your video game guide sound more important by threatening legal action if someone posts it on their own website.

Your telling us not to do this you have not given one guide. Make one then we will see.
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Today is yesterdays tomorrow.

What does that have to do with it? Do I have to start writing songs beore I say that Good Charlotte sucks? Do I have to be president before I can say Bush is a terrible president?

Version History - I'd say it's mainly there for the reader to know how recent the last update was. Since most FAQs are on multiple websites and there are often different versions of the same FAQ, it's nice to know which is most recent. Also, online games that change often can make an entire FAQ obsolete with one update. I'd like to know, if I'm reading completely false information that was written when the game was first released.

Copyright Warning - I've seen plenty of guides ripped right off of gamefaqs and sold on ebay (One of mine included). Plus, there are many websites that will take your FAQ without asking and some simply stick their name on it.

Most everyone here writes FAQs for nothing in return. It's always nice to receive thanks for your work, but comments like this make me sick. If you don't like the way things are done, write your own FAQs. But until then, you can keep your mouth shut.

Do I have to start writing songs beore I say that Good Charlotte sucks? Do I have to be president before I can say Bush is a terrible president?

Maybe not, but who's going to take anything you say seriously when you're clearly talking out of your ass?

[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

Someone naive enough to think, that there are no thieves willing to rip you off, is telling us to grow up? This same person, complaining about how a guide is useless, because it has content that you'd choose not to read? Tell me, when you need to look up a word in the dictionary, do you stomp around with your arms in the air, because it has other words in it as well? It looks to me like you are the one who needs some growing up to do.

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"I never liked Booker. His head looks like a pineapple." - PsychoPenguin

So did he go away?
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Today is yesterdays tomorrow.

Why is it that every single FAQ has a version history

I include a version history for two reasons:

It helps me track what I've done and what I still need to do (sort of a built-in TODO list).

It allows readers to see what I have changed; perhaps they need to re-read a section because I've got better information there.


and a copyright warning?

People do rip off the FAQs. I bought a book off eBay that is full of ripped off GameFAQs guides. It's sitting right here on my shelf. I keep it as a reminder that some people will steal anything.


I also have objections to FAQ authors who include controls and back story in their FAQs; things that would be obvious to anyone who had the game

Only if you bought the game and received an instruction manual. I've bought used games that had no manual included. I've rented games that did not have a manual. Having all the information in a comprehensive FAQ saves me from trying to track down a copy of the manual on the Internet (usually through eMule).


Really people, grow up.

That's funny. I'm probably at least twice as old as you are. :)
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'blog: www.sacredcowdiner.com
Game guides: www.pyric.com

Really people, grow up. Cut right to the chase. You can put your own name on it if you really want, but don't try to make your video game guide sound more important by threatening legal action if someone posts it on their own website.

Yes, you're more grown up by whining and complaining about trivial things that barely affect you. You don't like reading them, then skip them and GET to the walkthrough. That's why FAQ authors set up a tutorial on how to use the search string and how to get to areas of the FAQ easier.

I also have objections to FAQ authors who include controls and back story in their FAQs; things that would be obvious to anyone who had the game, the entire document would be useless to someone who didn't.

Except you assume everyone will own the game. Ever think that the information may be relevant to those who don't own the game, but would like to know the basics of the game to get the feel on how to play it? Maybe they want to read up on the story from the author's point of view and see how he/she thinks of it? You assume too much..... -_-

Every strategy guide that is actually published has much better sources (that actually know how to spell check for one.) No one is going to try to steal your FAQ, and if they do they're not going to get any money for it. If anyone is doing one just to get credit for it, that's a little pathetic.

Not all sites are owned by geocities and angelfire, and any other basic site that can be made in minutes. Some video game sites are companies that make revenue off the information they provide.

In short, not everyone thinks like you do, so telling someone to grow up because they don't think like you do, is more immature.
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I am societies child, this is how they made me, and now im sayin what's on my mind and they don't want that. This is what you made me America- Tupac

>As for the copyright warning... really... why would someone plagiarize your work?

Honestly? I don't understand it either. But it happens every day. Do you know how many files I've reported for plagiarism and gotten successfully removed? More than my father's age. And I don't even go out of my way to try and find them.

Why do people do it? You tell me. Some people are stupid. Some people are attention hogs. Some people are just asses. But it happens.

>No one, and I mean no one, really cares how you edited your FAQ.

Are you familiar with the concept of speaking for yourself, and not others? Just because _you_ don't care to read through how a file is edited (and many others agree with you, I'll say it upfront), does not mean _everyone_ doesn't care for one. Often times people play through a game and use a walkthrough, for example. All of a sudden the author updates it. Now the gamer wants to know what's changed. Did he miss something he should go back for? Is there something new he can do against that optional boss he couldn't beat before? Can he get a nice side quest done now that it has been discovered? What's he going to do? Read through a 400kb file and try and find every thing that's changed? Yea, right. He'll read the version history, and wham bam, know what's new.

Is a version history always helpful? No. Certainly not. Do the majority of users on this site ever read it? Probably not. But so what? You, who wouldn't want to read it, can skip it easily. No one forces you to read it. Hit Page Down. It's not hard. But for the niche of readers who have use for it, it'll always be there for them.

>Every strategy guide that is actually published has much better sources

I've yet to ever come across a published guide that wasn't chalk full of mistakes. Then again, I only ever see Brady and Prima, and they tend to suck every which way.

That being said, yea a lot of FAQs out there have misinformation and terrible sources. Naive and gullible authors or plain inexperienced ones tend to perpetuate things like this. But that's a by-product of the fact that _anyone_ even a illiterate 2nd grader could feasibly submit a file to GameFAQs. So of course you're going to find bad guides.

But if you think anyone here is going to take you seriously when you say official strategy guides are always with better resources, you'll excuse me if I laugh. Have you ever even opened up a Brady official FF guide? They should rename it to: Brady's Official We have no idea what we're talking about Guide to Final Fantasy.

David Cassidy and Elizabeth Holliger and all the other published game writers don't spend hours upon hours dipping into game mechanics. Tell me something, have you ever seen a published guide give you information like this <http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/snes/file/final_fantasy_iii_algorithms.txt>

Ultimania doesn't give you that kind of information, much less NA published guides. Better sources my red monkey ass.

_

>No one is going to try to steal your FAQ, and if they do they're not going to get any money for it.

Please stop making gross assumptions. Hell, there are people on eBay right now selling GameFAQs text files. I guarantee it. People stumble across them all the time and report it.

Did you know there are tons of sites out there that charge users subscription fees to access parts of their site? Did you know that often times you can find plagiarized FAQs behind the subscription service?

Did you know that more than a few published guides have been found to be rip offs of internet based guides? Let me give you a scenario that's happened before. Semi-big title comes out in Japan. Gamer plays it, writes a file about it. Comes out in America. Published guide comes out... looking remarkably like the existant, internet based guide. Gee, what happened there?

>Really people, grow up.

That's rich. Did you think of it all yourself?

You come in here, ranting to people about stuff, half of which is grossly misinformed on your part, and you tell us to grow up?

You come in here, complaining about not "cutting to the chase", when all you need to do is hit the Page Down key one more time to get past it, and you tell us to grow up. Child, please spend your youth doing something more productive than moaning to us.

You don't have all the answers, kiddo. You don't even know the first thing about the FAQ writing community, and yet you come in here with your know it all assumptions, almost all of them misleading in one way or another, and some of them just flat out incorrect.

_

No one, and I mean no one, really cares how you edited your FAQ.

People usually like to check they have the latest version of a guide, and what was added in any newer version that exists. I downloaded version 1.1 of guide XYZ. Hey, the author updated to 1.2! What did they add? Is it worth re-downloading? So on and so forth.

As for the copyright warning... really... why would someone plagiarize your work? Every strategy guide that is actually published has much better sources (that actually know how to spell check for one.) No one is going to try to steal your FAQ, and if they do they're not going to get any money for it. If anyone is doing one just to get credit for it, that's a little pathetic.

The ebay auctions, for starters. And saying that every strategy guide released is better than every guide here obviously means you haven't read a lot of strategy guides. Most strategy guides are rushed out for release as soon as the game is released, and some games still have secrets being discovered years later. People do steal FAQs. Other authors plagiarize. Other websites steal FAQs. We spend many hours putting in the hard work, so what's a few paragraphs saying this is our work, don't steal it? You've got a scroll button. Either use it, or don't read the FAQs.

I also have objections to FAQ authors who include controls and back story in their FAQs; things that would be obvious to anyone who had the game, the entire document would be useless to someone who didn't.

Some people get games second hand without manuals, or OEM versions of PC games that come with a CD and nothing else. Perfectly legal. And a lot of games nowadays do not discuss controls in-game.

Really people, grow up. Cut right to the chase. You can put your own name on it if you really want, but don't try to make your video game guide sound more important by threatening legal action if someone posts it on their own website.

If you threw possibly even hundreds of hours of work into something, created a product, legally copyrighted it, and then someone stole it out from under your nose and put their name on it, how would you feel? For any real life item, and for FAQs as well, it's illegal and we are well within our rights to threaten legal action.

Again, you've got a scroll button. Scroll past these few paragraphs that offend you so, get off your high horse, and deal with it.

Or better yet, write something yourself and see if it happens to you.
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If your boss gets you down, stare at him through the prongs of a fork and imagine him in jail.
o.O Push button to turn on. Play with button to drive wild.

Two of the most stupid questions I've ever seen on the FAQ help board, not including questions about karma either.

Tagged.
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Power not abused is power wasted. -RaptorLC

In regards to backstories and controls, a good FAQ can stand for itself without referring the reader to other sources. There's no point writing a FAQ when the answer to every question is "Read the ****ing Manual".
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The wind will take me home...
Queue Stomper of GameFAQs! http://members.optusnet.com.au/scottie_thenerd

All of the responses are valid. You forgot one thing, what if you buy the game used from Blockbuster or on eBay, and it doesn't have a manual. Hmm...guess having the controls scheme in the guide was a good selection afterall.
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http://www.antseezee.com/ - Writer of 44 FAQs
XBL Gamer Tag: antseezee

Really people, grow up. Cut right to the chase. You can put your own name on it if you really want, but don't try to make your video game guide sound more important by threatening legal action if someone posts it on their own website.

People do it so idiots don't just steal their hard earned work and just paste it into their own FAQs and claim it as their own.

And in the bolded bit, you're telling us what to do now? That's very interesting as the only ones I'll take orders from are the mods and admins cause they can make life unpleasant for you if you don't follow the rules.

Also; and if they do they're not going to get any money for it. If anyone is doing one just to get credit for it, that's a little pathetic.

Hold the phone there kid, people do try get money for it. n eBay, occasionally an "Xbox FAQ book" with ten FAQs from GameFAQs will appear there for like $5.00. So people do try make money off it.
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www.geocities.com/imationm320 My awesome site!
Power not abused is power wasted. -RaptorLC

I include revision history for 2 reasons:

1) Motivation for me. I read my older revision histories and get motivated easily.

2) I tend to write FAQs over long periods of time. Revision history is good for when I pick up a FAQ after 5 months and don't really remember what I have left to do.
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Psycho Penguin rules!

Every strategy guide that is actually published has much better sources (that actually know how to spell check for one.)

Have you ever actually read a published guide by one of the big companies and a walkthrough written by a fan of the game? Hell, a lot of the games are written using a pre-gold copy of the game (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas comes to mind), meaning a lot of information is different than what is in the final version of the game. Also, walkthroughs written by the normal person usually delve into the deeper mechanics of the game, as mentioned by the link provided before for FF3/6. I think of published guides kind of like the first guides up for popular games; they are simply there for the walkthrough and really nothing else. Although the non-published guides can be updated with more info and stuff, the published ones are final.

Brady's San Andreas guide, for example, has a horribly bad Photo Ops section where the map and the pictures of the objects are completely different from each other. Other published guides are exactly the same, with some using pre-gold copies of the game. Another example is the Official Wild Arms guide (I don't think it had a major publisher, although I may think Versus might have had something to do with it). That guide barely had any strategies for the bosses in a game, which is a big no-no in a RPG guide.

Really people, grow up. Cut right to the chase.

I believe the same could be said of you. You also need to think a little more before you begin to talk out of your ass. A lot of people put their Version Histories at the very bottom of the guide, meaning the people who use those guides won't have to wade through that. The controls section is for people who don't have the manuals, which is possible because of renting and buying used games. The copyright has been justified enough to not warrant a response from me.
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http://www.freewebs.com/mastervg782

You forgot one thing, what if you buy the game used from Blockbuster or on eBay, and it doesn't have a manual.

That's exactly why I include them. Also, some people are more inclined to look at the controls in a FAQ over a manual.

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By the time you finish reading this, three more strategy games will be released for PC.

Hmmm.....

I will give you the reasons for everything you said was worthless.

1.) Version history...

So people don't have to read the whole thing once, write it down, read the whole thing again, and check for changes. They just have to read the version history to see what's new.

2.) Copyright

You know, if someone steals your FAQ and doesn't remove it, you can sue them, and get $$$... Without a copyright, they have as much of a right to the guide as you do.

F.E. A guy named bill sends in a FAQ without a copyright. Turns out Supercheats was looking for a FAQ for the exact same game. He saw bill's guide without a copyright notice and stole it. Bill saw the site using his guide, and told them to take it off. Supercheats didn't. Bill and the owner of Supercheats went to court. Dave (Supercheats's owner), hired an undefeated lawyer. Since there was no copyright, the plaintiff (bill) had nothing saying Dave had no right to the FAQ. And, with Dave's undefeated lawyer, he turned the case around to the plaintiff and the court awarded Dave 1,000$ from the plaintiff. (this story is completely fictional, just wanted to use it as an example.)

Here's an example for version history...

Now, after the case had settled down, Bill went to work on more FAQs. He had just gotten a guide for GTA, San Andreas accepted. He updated it a few times, and didn't put in a version history. One guy was so mad at bill, he sent him so much hate mail that it clogged his mailbox, allowing him to recieve no more mail. It turned out his wife had just died in a car accident, and since Bill didn't have a phone, E-mail was the only way of communication. Since the mailbox was full, he didn't recieve the mail that his wife had died. His kids hated him for not coming to the funeral. With the other guy sending him hate mail about no version history, his kids eventually committed suicide to be with their mother in heaven.


As you can see, not putting either can result in seriouys concequences.
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Some dude: How can I lower my insurance taxes?
Insurance agent: Don't crash your car. That'll be a million dollars.

a lot of the game [guides] are written using a pre-gold copy of the game

I would think all printed game guides are written using beta copies of the game. If the turnaround from writer starting work to book hitting the shelves is less than three or four months, I'd be highly surprised.
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'blog: www.sacredcowdiner.com
Game guides: www.pyric.com

You know, if someone steals your FAQ and doesn't remove it, you can sue them, and get $$$... Without a copyright, they have as much of a right to the guide as you do.

Wrong.

http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html

#1 on the list. Provided one doesn't explicitly release the guide to public domain, the author retains copyright control. However, no one writing GameFAQs will ever be able to get any money--especially enough money to make a lawsuit worthwhile. A) I don't know of anyone who gets a registered copyright, making the protection somewhat weaks; b) we're not earnng money from the publication of the FAQs; and, c) the offender isn't necessarily earning significant money from publication of the FAQ.


Here's an example for version history...

That's just...silly.

Sheesh. Version histories are a convenience and a nice thing for both authors and readers; but, they are hardly essential.
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'blog: www.sacredcowdiner.com
Game guides: www.pyric.com

The funny thing is that regardless of this topic, I'll continue putting both of those things in my guides.

Muahahaha. Watcha gonna do?!

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By the time you finish reading this, three more strategy games will be released for PC.

Never eat a knif oh **** wrong board. Anyway there right do it do it now!
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Today is yesterdays tomorrow.

I spelled knife wrong.
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Today is yesterdays tomorrow.

Okay, I've read a few responses, they got redundant pretty quickly.

Selling FAQs on Ebay might go on, but do you think a copyright notice is going to stop them?

Version history: wanting to provide someone with enough information to know whether they're reading an obsolete FAQ is fine, but how does giving a history of changes made matter then? If you're really concerned, a number would do fine, then anyone who worried about that type of thing would be able to get the most up to date version.

Controls: whoever mentioned about rented games, that was the one gem I noticed, so congrats. Still, I've seen FAQs for some games list the controls when the controls were completely intuitive, but I will grant you that with some games, its not as ridiculous as I thought.

Growing up: some brilliant and mature responses here. Yes, I am in fact half whatever age you are. I'm going to cry now.

Scroll buttons: yes I could and do scroll down past the garbage, but that's not a reason to include it. I was wondering why anyone would bother. Additionally, stupidity annoys me, and bloodraven69 threatening to sue me if I copy part of his FAQ on my website is stupid.

Selling FAQs on Ebay might go on, but do you think a copyright notice is going to stop them?

Having a copyright notice is a warning to those. It might not stop them, but they have been warned. If they get caught, then they'll get in trouble. It ensures that they don't say, "I didn't know, it didn't say anything about it". Ignorance is not an excuse nor should it be, so it's safe to put one.

Version history: wanting to provide someone with enough information to know whether they're reading an obsolete FAQ is fine, but how does giving a history of changes made matter then? If you're really concerned, a number would do fine, then anyone who worried about that type of thing would be able to get the most up to date version.

Some people like to KNOW what changes were implemented and what were removed. It may not concern you, but you don't speak for the other people in the world. Some might want to know if they included certain information they were looking for or if was removed or not.

Controls: whoever mentioned about rented games, that was the one gem I noticed, so congrats. Still, I've seen FAQs for some games list the controls when the controls were completely intuitive, but I will grant you that with some games, its not as ridiculous as I thought.

Not everyone is smart as you think they are, so they might know right away. Some probably have never played a video game in their life, so you can't really expect them to know right away; so if they don't own/have it, sometimes the FAQ that lists the controls can be helpful. Any scenario could be possible where listing controls can be helpful.

Growing up: some brilliant and mature responses here. Yes, I am in fact half whatever age you are. I'm going to cry now.

Well, you are the one ranting about things that barely concern you and can be solved easily.

Scroll buttons: yes I could and do scroll down past the garbage, but that's not a reason to include it. I was wondering why anyone would bother. Additionally, stupidity annoys me, and bloodraven69 threatening to sue me if I copy part of his FAQ on my website is stupid.

These types of information are scattered along various documents you read on the internet. The ensure our documents are protected and also lets us and the readers keep track of our documents(hence the version history/details on it). If you mostly like to read FAQs, then it's best that you just scroll past the useless information anyways. I don't know why you have to turn this into the hardest thing ever.
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I am societies child, this is how they made me, and now im sayin what's on my mind and they don't want that. This is what you made me America- Tupac

From: nominalgrevious | Posted: 6/8/2005 9:43:03 PM
Okay, I've read a few responses, they got redundant pretty quickly.

In other words, you skipped all the posts that made your argument look stupid.
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The wind will take me home...
Queue Stomper of GameFAQs! http://members.optusnet.com.au/scottie_thenerd

Growing up: some brilliant and mature responses here. Yes, I am in fact half whatever age you are. I'm going to cry now.

How old are you kid? 11? 12?
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www.geocities.com/imationm320 My awesome site!
Power not abused is power wasted. -RaptorLC

Using his logic, he must be not more than 9.
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The wind will take me home...
Queue Stomper of GameFAQs! http://members.optusnet.com.au/scottie_thenerd

Your reply was perhaps even less intelligable than your original post. So, to twist what magic1990 said, a bit: I'm sure no one would disapprove, if you decided you'd like to try eating a knife.
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"I never liked Booker. His head looks like a pineapple." - PsychoPenguin

Version Histories are there to let people know what has changed since the last version without them reading the whole friggin' document. I don't even use version numbers in my FAQs because I don't like them, but I still include an Updates section to inform the readers what new things are included.

Controls: whoever mentioned about rented games, that was the one gem I noticed, so congrats. Still, I've seen FAQs for some games list the controls when the controls were completely intuitive, but I will grant you that with some games, its not as ridiculous as I thought.

Remember that not all of the controls are mentioned in the manual. For example, the Dynasty Warriors 5 manual doesn't mention that you can strafe while aiming with the bow. Creating a whole section devoted just to that one thing would be ridiculous, so you would include all of the controls. Hell, there are probably 5 topics each week that ask how to use the Musou Rage token on the DW5 board.

Additionally, stupidity annoys me, and bloodraven69 threatening to sue me if I copy part of his FAQ on my website is stupid.

You must annoy yourself quite a bit then. If you do such a thing and refuse to take that excerpt down off of your site, then the person who wrote the guide has every right to take you to court if he wanted to. Have you ever heard of the international copyright law?
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http://www.freewebs.com/mastervg782