FAQ Contributors - General
FAQ Pet Peeves
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| The Admiral | Posted 4/21/2008 6:15:06 PM | message detail |
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I looked through quite a few guides this weekend and noticed several
"bad habits" that I wish FAQ writers would be more mindful of. This got
me thinking: what are everyone's biggest pet peeves in the guides you
read on this website? My intention isn't for this to become a complaint
topic, but rather a list of potential issues for new writers to keep in
mind and avoid. Here are my three biggest pet peeves. 1. Unnecessary spoilers Nothing annoys me more when I open a guide to find a minor piece of information and end up having critical plot points spoiled for no good reason. Some authors do not even realize they are doing this, often revealing such information in the introductory sections. For example, some guides give a brief description of characters at the beginning and include spoilers on hidden characters or evil characters that turn and later join you. Some writers also have a bad habit of "excessive foreshadowing," if you will, in the walkthrough itself. This can be something like "Ella joins the party now and is very useful, but don't get too attached to her because she dies at the on disk 2." This name is fictional, but the rest of the example is not. 2. "Final" or other non-numeric versions Some writers feel that version numbers are their place to express wit and creativity, giving version numbers named after game characters or other clever terms. The point of a version number is to let a reader clearly see that a guide has been updated. Let's say your FAQ is posted all over the internet and some sites do not update it as regularly as they should. If I download 3 versions of your guide and can't immediately tell from the version number which is most current, your version numbering has failed and needs to be changed. I find "final" versions equally annoying. I know this is a common practice among many writers here, but "final" is not a version. Final is your way of saying the guide will not be updated again, which has nothing to do with how many versions have come before. If this is your intention, I would much rather see this in the version history within a guide. For example, say "Version 1.6 (Final Version)" and display 1.6 as the version for the FAQ. As a reader, I don't care if you intend future updates or think the guide is complete. Also, nothing is ever really final. I see "final" versions updated everyday. Even if it's just to change an email address, this is still a version increase that readers should be able to discern. This becomes even more of an issue when you have different "final" versions on different websites. There is no downside to ever using a number and plenty of benefits, so why not just do it? 3. Excessive use of pre-formatted tables and boxing This has become a common habit in RPGs and is one of the big contributors to the inflated size of guides in recent years. Yes, good formatting helps a reader identify key information, but bad formatting wastes space and makes info harder to find. Unless text is clearly meant to be offset, do not box it. An do not go overboard with multiple different styles of boxing and lines of padding on each box. I have seen boxes that use 6 lines and only surround 2 lines of text. Huge waste. I noticed that some authors like to use pre-formatted tables for enemies and bosses that list every possible element and status ailment in the game in nicely laid out boxes. Then, I read that the boss is only affected by 2 status ailments and immune to 30. Listing those other 30 ailments is a huge waste of space. I am sure the readers will figure this out if they only see 2 ailments listed under weaknesses. Not to mention, it just makes it harder to see the 2 relevant ailments when all 30+ are listed every time. Anyway, those are my biggest pet peeves. What does everyone else think? What really rubs you the wrong way when reading guides? |
| PeTeRL90 | Posted 4/21/2008 7:37:45 PM | message detail |
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I'm going to guess that number 2 is mainly aimed at Shotgun, Damir, and myself. I just like including a female character as the version number and to justify it, if I make a major update, the date of the file will tell you that, as well as the version history. If I only make a minor update, such as spelling and grammar corrections, then I'll leave the date as when it was last updated. --- Total Files/Complete FAQs: 55/39 http://club.ign.com/b/list/custom?&lid=100018&owner=PeTeRL90&mode=vown |
| The Admiral | Posted 4/21/2008 7:47:24 PM | message detail |
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Not directed at anyone in particular. Just my observations from looking over the "What's New" pages for the last few weeks. --- - The Admiral |
| Split Infinity | Posted 4/21/2008 7:54:35 PM | message detail |
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- Spoilers in guides. - Retelling the (whole!) story. - Posting entire version history at start of guide (I think it belongs on bottom). - Excessive swearing. - Adding stuff to Table of Contents that isn't yet in the guide at all. So I click on random guide because I need weapon info, see "Weapons" in ToC... aha, cool... then I get big fat "Coming Soon" notice after scrolling down or CTRL+F'ing my way there. Either do the section, or don't until it's ready. --- Now Playing: Ar Tonelico II youtube.com/view_play_list?p=4D5662F701A265ED (Lost Odyssey channel) |
| Games | Posted 4/21/2008 8:02:43 PM | message detail |
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Number 2 I just dislike. Nothing against the people that use them, but
I just think the Numbers are better as it can identify how many
correction and/or additions has been added to the guide. I also dislike: 4. "Coming Soon" warnings I don't want to know if a part of a guide is coming soon. I want to know the information I actually need. I wish that any guide that states that information is "Coming Soon" is removed from this site as disruptive. 5. Uncompleted Guides marked as completed Head over to the TimeSplitters FAQ page to see what I am talking about. Two of the four "complete" guides are lacking certain Challenge Levels. With these missing Challenge Levels, it is not complete, thus should not be advertised as such. Note: The Levels I refer to are actually part of a selection screen called "Challenges" before I hear the "Challenges should not count towards guide completeness" 6. Guides that claim that they are incomplete (with Half circles) for two or more years Please, just change them to the empty circle, unless you will actually complete them soon. If they have been updated since they have been on this site, I do not have as much of a problem with them as the ones that just never get updated. I still would like to see some sort of rule implemented about these types of guides. --- www.geocities.com/games_ps2_pc/ Trolls are a separate race. - redrick2 |
| The Admiral | Posted 4/21/2008 8:18:18 PM | message detail |
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Agree completely with the "Coming Soon" placeholders. Always amuses me to see that in a tthree year old guide. --- - The Admiral |
| cloud VS sephiroth | Posted 4/21/2008 8:38:04 PM | message detail |
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Well, here goes. 1. Walls of text There's nothing worse than a Guide that consists solely out of laps of text. There may be some genre's where this is justified, such as certain shoot'em ups, but some tables here and there, as well as a little ASCII map can be very useful. 2. Sections that cover non-game related features. I don't see this too often, but it annoys the heck out of me. I don't care what someone thinks of the new X360 console when I'm reading through their FF8 Guide. Really, I don't. 3. Guides with tons of abbreviations. A few, okay, but it's entirely unnecessary to shorten 30+ terms and make a separate section about it. I mean, it's not that much work to write out "Poison" instead of "PSN or POI", is it? Besides, it doesn't even save all that much space, it only ends up confusing people. --- Absolute Steve. www.shillatime.org |
| Shotgunnova | Posted 4/21/2008 9:21:36 PM | message detail |
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- Spoilers - Excessive waffling & padding - Walkthrough prefaced by a bazillion appendices --- With such loving craft and shape They leap upon the sky and the heavens’ golden braids |
| StarFighters76 | Posted 4/21/2008 9:30:13 PM | message detail |
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I have some, that I could see people having an issue with my FAQs. Seperating each room/section by "Section, Room, Screen *insert number* and then (REVISITED), or repeating the boss strats again. I just do that to make things easier for the ready so they don't get lost. --- How much is a large water? - 50 cents How much is a free water? - O_o |
| warfreak | Posted 4/21/2008 10:26:42 PM | message detail |
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Unnecessary Spoilers - I am guilty of that sometimes, but I try and avoid it whenever it is possible. Final or non-numeral version numbers - I used to do that but I contacted SB and removed all the finals in it and replaced it with numbers. Excessive use of tables and boxing - I only do that when it will be must more appealing to do so, otherwise I tend to avoid it. Coming Soon Warnings - I only do that when I know what I'm writing but I don't have the time to do that specific topic. Incomplete marked as Complete - I never do that, only when I have 100% finished the guide will I do that. Incomplete after two years - I tend not to take that long to finish a guide. Walls of Text - I try not to do that, I paragraph and section all my work neatly so it doesn't appear so. Sections for Non Game Features - I have never done that, only references, but sections!?! Abbreviations - Nope, only the common ones like can't, don't, etc. Stat Padding - That is the most unprofessional thing you can do, so avoid it. Appendices - Stick em at the end, thats where they belong. What I hate Control Guides - Why repeat what was just listed in the manual? It is, in my opinion, a nice way to stat pad, especially when you put a controller in ASCII art form and explain what the A button does. --- Defence is the best form of attack, except when the other side is defending. |
| GhostOfLegault | Posted 4/21/2008 10:47:39 PM | message detail |
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Control Guides - Why repeat what was just listed in the manual? It
is, in my opinion, a nice way to stat pad, especially when you put a
controller in ASCII art form and explain what the A button does. I agree with you with the ASCII part (I think people know where the "B" button is if they're holding the controller in their hand), but sometimes it can actually be somewhat frustrating to figure out what all of the buttons does what. Not all games come with instruction booklets, especially if you buy the game used or rent it. My copy of Dark Sector didn't come with a manual and I was pretty lost at first. 4. "Coming Soon" warnings I don't want to know if a part of a guide is coming soon. I want to know the information I actually need. I wish that any guide that states that information is "Coming Soon" is removed from this site as disruptive. I certainly don't mind this at all. While it certainly does not help out the reader with the info that they are looking for, it lets them know that they WILL be covering the section sooner or later. Leaving it out entirely leaves the question of whether or not it will be covered in the air. I mean, that is what incomplete FAQs are all about, right? Not all of the information is there, so obviously the rest will be "coming soon". I think this ties in to the dilemna of half circles that haven't been updated for years. I'll mostly agree with a lot of the posters on their peeves. I tend to "pad" my guides with descriptions of scenes, but I tend to keep it on the short side and never flesh out every single motion in every cutscene. If I am about to spoil something big (which I rarely do), I warn the reader beforehand. I occasionally use tables in my guides, mostly for bestiaries in the RPGs. I'm really indifferent on the situation, but to be brutally honest, I'm too lazy to format them differently. I hate walls of text and always break up my paragraphs into tiny bits. I usually never go over eight lines in a paragraph. It just becomes too hard to read at a certain point. Off the top of my head, I can only think of two things that really bug me (that haven't been mentioned): Sloppy guides: Fairly common peeve I'd say, but it's worth bringing up. I think formatting is the most important feature when writing a guide. I hate looking through guides that fail to use dividers; sometimes you don't even know when the section ends and the next starts. Space your sections out as well. Guides that look like one giant glob of words from top to bottom aren't cool in my book. I tend to look past the quality of the writing when I spot a messy guide. Boss strategies that aren't in the walkthrough: I rarely see this, but it bugs me to no end. I try to look at it through the eyes of a person looking for help on their first playthrough of a game. If you're reading the walkthrough and reach a boss, you don't want to have to scroll all the way down to the boss section to find the strategy. Then when you're done fighting the boss, you have to find your place in the walkthrough again. Too tedious can can easily be solved by just putting the boss strategy in the walkthrough. --- (¬_¬)/¯ - It's good to go! "His legs are like an extension of his body!" - Don West on Senshi |
| TripleJumpMB | Posted 4/22/2008 12:34:28 AM | message detail |
| i'm guilty of all of those |
| Tessa 6 | Posted 4/22/2008 1:55:59 AM | message detail |
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I'm guilty of some. I know my FFX guide still has large "Coming Soon"
sections in it, nearly five years after I finished writing it... I am
meaning to get to them some day, but in all honesty I probably won't. I've also been known to put some off-kilter version numbers.... I think just 'AU' for stuff I submit on Australia Day, the rest are all normal. Oh, and 'final' - my earliest guides used final, my later ones have not. And of course, story waffling and commentary that a lot of people love but some people hate, but I wouldn't change that for anyone, that's my style. --- ~Karpah~Iron Maiden - 4th February 2008 ^_^ What do girls do during sex, anyways. They just lay there and moan a lot! |
| Rampidzier | Posted 4/22/2008 2:52:40 AM | message detail |
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You know, my biggest FAQ pet peeve is when someone creates a credits or
thank you section in their guide and then thanks themselves for the
guide. I mean seriously, do you really need to announce that you are
giving yourself credit for your own work and thanking yourself for
creating the guide? Do you have another personality within yourself
that you need to thank? Are you simply unable to tell yourself, "Good
job, I'm proud of myself" so you have to do it in written format? I
never could figure out why people would do that, other than to simply
tell the reader, "I did this and I'm thanking myself, so you should
thank me as well." --- Deal with it. |
| TripleJumpMB | Posted 4/22/2008 2:53:41 AM | message detail |
| ^ Well, your signature contradicts yourself :O |
| A I e x | Posted 4/22/2008 3:03:14 AM | message detail |
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I agree with absolutely everything in this topic. I feel like writing
just one more guide, just to get it all right. I feel like I came
really close with Final Fantasy XII, but I still broke "Uncompleted
Guides marked as completed" Actually I only semi-agree with the one about version numbers. Yes, names are lame, but I think "final" is just fine, and our opinions I think differ solely on the fact that I don't like to keep track of the different "version" updates in the guide itself. If "final" gets me even one less email from a reader who might otherwise have sent me one of their "alternate strategies" that I'm not interested in at all, then all hail the "final" version. --- Never stop the car on a drive in the dark... http://www.last.fm/user/A_I_e_x/ |
| Rampidzier | Posted 4/22/2008 11:02:39 AM | message detail |
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TripleJumpMB | Posted 4/21/2008 8:53:41 PM | message detail ^ Well, your signature contradicts yourself :O Yea, I know. I had that sig back when I first made this account, actually. I changed it a couple of times, but eventually changed it back to that about...over 5 years ago? That was the tail end of my "I'm better than everyone else" phase. I've humbled a lot since then. I just haven't gotten around to changing my sig. --- Deal with it. |
| _Lagoona_ | Posted 4/22/2008 1:36:36 PM | message detail |
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.I'm guilty myself for the 'Controls' part in guides, sometimes even
having an ASCII of the controller. But I don't think it's that bad,
actually. Maybe I'll change my mind one day that it indeed is more
filler than helpful and take it out... The most annoying thing in my opinion is also the 'Coming Soon' chapters, especially when they're not marked as such already in the ToC. --- .Nobody is perfect, I'm nobody. :-Þ *Blob* |
| Sashanan | Posted 4/22/2008 1:38:34 PM | message detail |
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Agreement pretty much all around. 5. Uncompleted Guides marked as completed Head over to the TimeSplitters FAQ page to see what I am talking about. Two of the four "complete" guides are lacking certain Challenge Levels. With these missing Challenge Levels, it is not complete, thus should not be advertised as such. I tend to submit a quick problem report if I've just read a full circle guide and find it's not complete. I've had good results getting the full circles retracted. I don't see this as a slight to the author, either - just a little building block in making GameFAQs that much more accurate. --- First you draw a circle, then you dot the eyes http://www.mastagus.com/sash/collection/collection.html |
| Space Medafighter X | Posted 4/22/2008 2:18:35 PM | message detail |
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Hey, Games. You have to remember that the GameFAQs definition of "Complete" is a beginning-to-end walkthrough,
not a guide filled with absolutely everything you can do in the game
(or even the Time Trials, which seems to be an alternate,
non-walkthrough mode). --- We apologize for the inconvenience. MegaMan Social Board - http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/gentopic.php?board=527 |
| PapaGamer | Posted 4/22/2008 3:30:56 PM | message detail |
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My biggest pet peeve is poor language, especially excessive typographical errors and use of any IM-speak. As to the Controls issue, I'll echo that not all people using a FAQ have an instruction manual. As for ASCII of the controllers...well, why do instruction manuals have pictures of the controllers with a description of what the A button does? Having a Controls section and emulating instruction manuals by providing some type of pictorial representation of the controller is aimed squarely at new gamers looking for help when they have no instruction manual to go by. I see no problem with it at all and usually provide a Controls section in my guides (and have even resorted to ASCII controllers on occasion). --- www.papagamer.com Own the game |
| Adamantno1 | Posted 4/22/2008 4:52:18 PM | message detail |
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Hey, Games. You have to remember that the GameFAQs definition of
"Complete" is a beginning-to-end walkthrough, not a guide filled with
absolutely everything you can do in the game (or even the Time Trials,
which seems to be an alternate, non-walkthrough mode). The challenges in Timesplitters are essentially a second set of levels, though. But yeah, here's one: "Walkthroughs" for score-oriented games: If the object of a game is to amass a high score, than that's what the guide should focus on. No one plays NES Donkey Kong to beat the three levels the game has and then turn off their console, so why the crap do we have 6 "walkthroughs" telling us how to beat level 3? Give some score pointers or something, dammit. It's like writing a Pac-Man guide where you explain the controls, list all the fruit, and tell the names of the enemies, before saying "To beat the game, simply eat all the dots on the screen". --- My nick's Adamant. I have a "no 1" that looks stupid. Would've changed it if I could without losing karma. So it's Adamant, not Adamanto or Adamantno. |
| Snow Dragon | Posted 4/22/2008 4:56:01 PM | message detail |
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My two cents: Unnecessary Spoilers: I can see how this is annoying, but when I use a guide for help (as opposed to just reading it for fun - yes I'm a loser, sue me), I zero in on what I need and tune out everything else, so I don't notice this as much. Final/Non-Numeric: I have used "Final" once and only once, and it was to indicate that there is no more relevant information that could possibly be revealed about the game and thus will not need to be updated ever again. Unless, of course, I dedicate a different account to FAQ-related emails, but at this point that's unlikely. I've never used a guide that had a non-numeric version number. Not on purpose; it's just never come up. Excessive Tables/Boxing: Sometimes tables are necessary, I don't have a problem with them as long as there's more information than formatting. Boxes are never necessary, ever. Ever. "Coming Soon": Extremely annoying. Putting this in your guide pretty much ensures that the fates will conspire to make you never get around to adding whatever was supposed to come soon. Incomplete marked as complete: Can't say as it's ever been a problem in my experience. Really old (1yr+) half-circle guides: I find this annoying on principle (finish what you start). To curb it in my writing, I just don't submit guides until they're 100% complete. Walls of text: Annoying and unnecessary. Paragraphs should top out at around seven or eight lines, ten at the absolute most. Non-game-related sections: I've never encountered this. Sounds asinine though. It does remind me that I hate seeing a review of the game in a FAQ though. That's what the review submission form is for, folks. Abbreviations: This goes on a case-by-case basis. If they are abbreviations that are actually used within the game, that's fine, although you may want to use the whole word in the beginning for people who are still learning the ropes, then use the abbreviations in later sections when things like that can be assumed when writing to more experienced players. I don't like people making up their own abbreviations though, especially when they don't explain what they're abbreviating. Control guides: Necessary for completion in my opinion. Not all people have access to an instruction manual, and you can't presume to know how prepared people are going into a game. You need a control section in your FAQ, no matter how redundant you might think it is. Sloppy guides: This is fairly vague, but I get the gist and I know a lot of my old guides are really sloppy-looking. I've formatted some to make them look better but I wish I had time to get to them all. Boss strats not in walkthrough: Supremely annoying. A walkthrough should flow from start to finish and have some sort of point-A-to-point-B momentum; sectioning off boss strategies in a completely different part of the guide destroys this momentum and just about collapses a guide's usability entirely. The only way I can see this being acceptable is if the game in question is pretty non-linear. Thanking yourself in the credits: I have no opinion for or against this. --- "Are you going to shoot me?" "That depends. Do you see me?" |
| The Admiral | Posted 4/22/2008 5:17:28 PM | message detail |
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Along with abbreviations, I would say using excessive "insider"
language that is not accessible to a casual fan. For example, I was
looking at a Smash Brothers Melee guide once and had no idea what it
was talking about. The strategy was something like "back him up using a
1-2 wave dance and finish him off with a tipper." Now, I am quite
familiar with that game but have clue what that means. These are not
terms that are officially uses by the game, so I wish the author would
be more careful, or at least explain these points in the relevant
section. I agree with basically everything else. This is a nice "bad habits to avoid" list for new writers. --- - The Admiral |
| Adamantno1 | Posted 4/22/2008 5:38:37 PM | message detail |
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But yeah, here's one: "Walkthroughs" for score-oriented games: If the object of a game is to amass a high score, than that's what the guide should focus on. No one plays NES Donkey Kong to beat the three levels the game has and then turn off their console, so why the crap do we have 6 "walkthroughs" telling us how to beat level 3? Give some score pointers or something, dammit. It's like writing a Pac-Man guide where you explain the controls, list all the fruit, and tell the names of the enemies, before saying "To beat the game, simply eat all the dots on the screen". http://www.gamefaqs.com/coinop/arcade/game/589548.html What's funny is that this IS actually the case with the lesser of the two guides posted for the arcade Pac-man here. Thank god the other guide is actually good. --- My nick's Adamant. I have a "no 1" that looks stupid. Would've changed it if I could without losing karma. So it's Adamant, not Adamanto or Adamantno. |
| kirbix | Posted 4/22/2008 5:54:21 PM | message detail |
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None of the things listed so far really bother me... The one thing that really ticks me off is when the table of contents sucks. There's nothing worse as a reader then having absolutely NO clue where the info I want is. I hate having to ctrl+f a word through 50 or 60 sections before finding what I need. What's that? Section 3 is the wakthrough? Wonderful... it would help if you gave me a quick ctrl+f tab for each level, because in a game with 70 levels, your table of contents really didn't help me by just saying "walkthrough- section 3" I see this in WAY too many FAQs. --- Signatures that consist of quotes are bizarre- you could falsify a quote and no one would know.-Jesus |
| Sashanan | Posted 4/22/2008 6:30:44 PM | message detail |
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What's funny is that this IS actually the case with the lesser of the two guides posted for the arcade Pac-man here. Not to mention he missed the third intermission where PacMan, apparently, robs Shadow of his clothes offscreen. --- First you draw a circle, then you dot the eyes http://www.mastagus.com/sash/collection/collection.html |
| jelly soup | Posted 4/22/2008 7:01:04 PM | message detail |
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On version numbers, I feel that there are cases where not using a
number is a good thing. If I had been using numbers on my Neopets
guide, this last update would have been version 80 and that's just
insane. As for peeves, I hate it when a section is labeled on thing in the Table of Contents and something else in the body of the guide. It makes searching such a pain in the ass..... --- What is an FAQ? A miserable pile of facts and questions. |
| The Admiral | Posted 4/22/2008 8:37:12 PM | message detail |
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^ Your neopets guide is actually one of the times a number system would
be most useful. If a gamer downloaded your guide 3 months ago, how can
be possibly tell if the current one is newer? How can he tell what has
changed? So what if your guide would be at version 1.80? At least
someone will know version 1.81 is more recent. Version numbers and history are not meant to be some arbitrary thing. This site should actually require people use proper formats. There is no benefit or defensible reason for letting people use whatever system they choose. You would never see this with any type of professional writing, and it makes no sense to allow it here. --- - The Admiral |
| jelly soup | Posted 4/22/2008 8:54:45 PM | message detail |
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I never thought about it like that. I'll take that into consideration in the next version. What about images? Normally, when I have listed everything that can be of use in an image, I'll place the version as final, simply because that update would contain every last bit of relevant information I could possibly include without writing a guide. --- What is an FAQ? A miserable pile of facts and questions. |
| jelly soup | Posted 4/22/2008 8:56:36 PM | message detail |
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^^^ Doing that also helps me keep track of which images might still need something. When I run down my contributor list and see an image without 'Final' next to it, I know that there was something more I wanted to do and now would be a great time to revisit. --- What is an FAQ? A miserable pile of facts and questions. |
| Coffee | Posted 4/22/2008 9:30:12 PM | message detail |
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I'm surprised no one has expressed annoyance at FAQ writers who think
they're lawyers, with silly legal threats and big walls of legal info
as if they know what they're talking about. --- I can sexy! |
| Games | Posted 4/22/2008 9:30:36 PM | message detail |
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Control guides You have no idea how many E-Mails I obtained for my Looney Tunes Walkthrough about the Controls for the game. I was even keeping count of them, until my E-Mail box became full of "What the the controls for ***** *****?" questions. I then went on the offensive and posted the answer in two more sections, "FAQs" and "Contact Details". I still got a few more E-Mails asking for help. Those E-Mails basically had a "Look in either 'Controls', 'FAQs' or 'Contact Details' sections". Due to that experience, I find that guides not including a "Controls" section to be incomplete, although GameFAQs would consider them complete. The ASCII Art of a controller is just filler, as any user should have access to the controller if they are playing the game. About TimeSplitters, the Challenge Levels are basically another set of levels, not any sort of time bonus. --- www.geocities.com/games_ps2_pc/ Trolls are a separate race. - redrick2 |
| cloud VS sephiroth | Posted 4/22/2008 9:58:03 PM | message detail |
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I'm surprised no one has expressed annoyance at FAQ writers who
think they're lawyers, with silly legal threats and big walls of legal
info as if they know what they're talking about. I can't believe I forgot to mention that one. It's probably on the top of my list of things I dislike. Writers that ramble on and on about how they are going to kill, annihilate, exterminate, eradicate, and all other words that mean "kill" you in some way.. It's silly and horribly annoying. If some dude in Russia (or where-ever, really) decides to take your FAQ and put it on his site, there's not a thing you're going to be able to do about it, nor should you care all *that* much. --- Absolute Steve. www.shillatime.org |
| warfreak | Posted 4/22/2008 10:14:51 PM | message detail |
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Generally speaking most modern games will have an instruction booklet
telling you the controls. This applies for all platforms, and the only
people who don't have controls are those playing the older games and
pirates. Personally, I keep out controls, not to not help people. but
to deter pirates. It is obvious when you get the manual, which is
pretty thick, and you email me saying you don't know the controls. My
answer is always read the manual. --- Defence is the best form of attack, except when the other side is defending. |
| The Admiral | Posted 4/22/2008 10:35:53 PM | message detail |
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"What about images? Normally, when I have
listed everything that can be of use in an image, I'll place the
version as final, simply because that update would contain every last
bit of relevant information I could possibly include without writing a
guide." I don't think versions for images are as important, as there is no place for a version history anyway. A version number if much more relevant for FAQs. The standard convention, which I believe is explained in the help files, is that version 1.0 is the first complete version of a guide. If a guide is submitted as incomplete, its version number should be roughly the percentage that is done. For example, version 0.80 is about 80% complete. Once a guide is done, the usual convention, again, is that normal updates add 0.1 and major updates add a full version number. So, if I see a version 2.0, I would assume that the guide underwent a major rewrite or restructuring. You can also use 0.01 increments for minor updates or cases such as neopets, where updates will occur very often. Without at least some standard convention, version numbers are not that useful. I really like how, if I look at a technical document or piece of software, I can immediately tell something about the changes just from the version number. For example, if I have four documents with versions 1.0, 1.1, 1.11, and 2.0, I can tell that 1.0 was the first release, 1.1 was a usual update, 1.11 was a minor update (probably spelling/grammar fixes), and 2.0 was a major overhaul. Seeing guides where version numbers are something like "Ryu," "Ken," "Guile," "Final" mean nothing to me or anyone else. --- - The Admiral |
| The Admiral | Posted 4/22/2008 10:39:42 PM | message detail |
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I should have looked at the help files first. They do a pretty good job
of explaining basically everything I just typed in my last post: • For guides that are only partially complete, your version number should reflect the percentage of the guide you have written. For example, if your walkthrough covers the first quarter or so of the game, it can be "Version 0.25". • The first "complete" version of the guide should be "Version 1.00". • Minor updates increment the version number by a hundredth (1.00 -> 1.01). Major updates by a tenth (1.00 - > 1.10). • Full rewrites deserve a full integer (1.00 -> 2.00). Avoid using "Final" as your version number, simply because time has shown it's never the final version. While it may be the final planned update to a guide, each day GameFAQs receives updated "Final" guides, which defeats the purpose of using a version number in this manner. • Avoid using "gimmick" version numbers. These are impossible to follow and aren't really useful to either GameFAQs or your readers --- - The Admiral |
| Games | Posted 4/22/2008 11:18:18 PM | message detail |
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My answer is always read the manual. My answer to you would be to try and find the Controls for Colossus Tweety in the Manual. --- www.geocities.com/games_ps2_pc/ Trolls are a separate race. - redrick2 |
| pop | Posted 4/23/2008 11:01:48 AM | message detail |
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Controls and Game Basics I don't understand why people have a problem with this, many games don't have instruction manuals. Let's all keep in mind that we're writing FAQs, many people have no idea how the controls work since many games don't come with manuals. The same applies to gameplay basics. Lots of people are completely clueless when it comes to the basics of a game, again, this comes from the lack of an instruction manual. Full coverage of a game means full coverage, a one stop for all the information concerning a game, a place where all questions can be answered... how can we claim that a guide has accomplished this if we leave out the basics? Never forget, people who buy used games aren't always blessed with a manual. Formats Tables are extremely important in many FAQs. Formatting keeps the FAQ from being a jumbled mess of text. Looking through an enemy or weapons section of a guide can be an impossible task without a proper table. I think the real problem is over-complicated tables, keeping it simple allows your FAQ to look professional and easy to use. Version Numbers I also don't agree with complaints concerning the "Final" version of an FAQ. I like to put a notice at the top of my FAQs that state "the latest version of this guide can always be found at GameFAQs.com" The word "Final" informs the reader that the FAQ, along with all of the sections, are complete. Sometimes version numbers work very well, especially for online games that are constantly updated, but non-internet based games are radically different. "Final" versions of FAQs for offline games inform the readers that they can expect to find all the information listed in the table of contents. I pretty much agree with everything else though --- I'm like the ugly girl FAQer - they don't mind hanging out with me, as long as they don't look directly at me. ~ Vegita |
| Sashanan | Posted 4/23/2008 11:53:17 AM | message detail |
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*blinks* I'd typed a long response but apparently I've closed the tab without posting it. Oh well. It was real nice. --- First you draw a circle, then you dot the eyes http://www.mastagus.com/sash/collection/collection.html |
| brian sulpher | Posted 4/23/2008 10:14:12 PM | message detail |
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Wow, that be Coffee... been a long time since I have seen him around. --- 77 FAQs for games never covered at www.GameFAQs.com. Redemption is only three fights away |
| Coffee | Posted 4/23/2008 10:31:25 PM | message detail |
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Wow, that be Coffee... been a long time since I have seen him around. I'm surprised people remember me. ^_^ I haven't been around in years, at least 3 years since I made a FAQ... so many new people here, unfamiliar names. But you, BSulpher, are not one of them. --- I can sexy! |
| PeTeRL90 | Posted 4/24/2008 12:06:56 AM | message detail |
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I've read a few of your guides before I started contributing myself in 2004. --- Total Files/Complete FAQs: 55/39 http://club.ign.com/b/list/custom?&lid=100018&owner=PeTeRL90&mode=vown |
| Space Medafighter X | Posted 4/24/2008 12:09:48 AM | message detail |
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I recognize Coffee from LUE and he might recognize me vice versa :O --- We apologize for the inconvenience. MegaMan Social Board - http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/gentopic.php?board=527 |
| Super Slash | Posted 4/24/2008 12:11:44 AM | message detail |
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I recognize Coffee because I've looked at his DK64 guide. --- Current Amount of FAQs: 27 (7689 Total KB) Current KB FAQ Rank: KB King |
| PapaGamer | Posted 4/24/2008 2:37:43 AM | message detail |
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Never forget, people who buy used games aren't always blessed with a manual. I've only bought one or two used games that didn't have a manual. On the other hand, I've never rented a game that came with a manual. Just a list of very basic controls on the back of the rental case. The only time I don't put a Controls section in a FAQ (or only a very superficial section) is when the game has the manual in PDF on the disc, which happens frequently with PC games. In that case, I just tell people where to find the manual on the disc. --- www.papagamer.com Own the game |
| kirbix | Posted 4/24/2008 3:28:01 AM | message detail |
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As someone who's worked at Gamestop and shelved games, I can guarantee
that about 30% of the games don't have manuals. Control sections are
absolutely a necessary thing in any FAQ. As for "Final" versions, I have that on my FFX guide, which I haven't updated since 2004 when I first put "final" on it. I never plan to change it, either. If you actually know you're never going to touch it, then "final" is fine. Especially if it's "I'm done- don't email me any more about it." --- Signatures that consist of quotes are bizarre- you could falsify a quote and no one would know.-Jesus |
| The Admiral | Posted 4/24/2008 3:38:02 AM | message detail |
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I think control sections are useful for older games and optional for
modern ones. Any pre-PS2 game that might be played on an emulator
should include a controls section. Since this section is rather small
in even the worst case scenario and doesn't prevent players from
finding other information more easily, I don't see any problem with it.
I'm sure it does help some people. --- - The Admiral |
| ASchultz | Posted 4/24/2008 5:03:53 AM | message detail |
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Control sections can be critical for older games, i.e. which button do
you push to do X, or which sequence of keys should you get used to
typing, as often it can be counter-intuitive. From what I've done with (relatively) modern games, I know I can jumble which controls do what. It's often useful for me to read something like, you're likely to push this wrong key/button combo instead of what you meant to, or watch out for gummy controls if you try to do X, or what does holding down/repeatedly pressing a key do. That's what I think control sections should be. Reading through the list of pet peeves I think I've been guilty of every one and all I can say is, avoiding the big ones is best, at least for the first draft. Anyone who tries to write for multiple games runs in to a quality vs quantity issue, and there are a lot of mistakes I know better than, but I don't do better. My peeves have mostly been covered, namely the excess formatting. I know I had more text maps than I really needed to, but then I slowly got away from them and sent in images. I also disagree with the statement that nobody, say, plays Donkey Kong to get through the first three levels. When I looked back and played it, I did! It can get repetitive and often people just want to know how repetitive it might get, or if they are missing anything after the fifth time through. To me, the 3 levels are a walkthrough, but to others it might not be. This may be a matter of personal playing style and what you are looking for. I like this topic--I can't avoid everything, but I can remind myself of the big mistakes. I know a lot of new writers also tend to avoid the small mistakes obvious to them and they miss the big picture. And I would bet a lot of FAQ writers looking at a list like that might say "Yeah, I meant to avoid that but I didn't." --- LEMSDAY. |
| kirbix | Posted 4/24/2008 5:57:27 AM | message detail |
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The only one here that I'm really sorry that I did was excessive
swearing. Granted, I was 14 when I wrote my first FAQ, and that was 5
years ago. At the time I loved that I could swear and no one would say anything, and so I just let loose with "**** you!" throughout most of my FAQs. Some time last year I looked at it and frankly got embarrassed, so I went through them all and deleted every swear word that wasn't "damn" or "ass." Other than that, it looks like I'm doing all right... good to hear! One comment: About "coming soon" sections- I don't mind them as long as it says "coming soon" in the ToC (which is what a FAQ of mine did). It's when there's no warning about it and you have to ctrl+f to find out that they haven't added it yet. Of course, this goes back to "Lousy Table of Contents" as my peeve... Am I the only one? --- Signatures that consist of quotes are bizarre- you could falsify a quote and no one would know.-Jesus |
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