Bob Colayco Associate Editor

Now Playing: Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (GC), Unreal Tournament 2004 (PC), Ape Escape 2 (PS2) Anticipating: Battlefield Vietnam (PC), Ninja Gaiden (Xbox), World of Warcraft (PC), LOTR: The Battle for Middle-Earth (PC), NBA Ballers (Xbox)

A Salute to FAQ and Guide Authors

I've got to hand it to the game guide and FAQ authors out there. What they do is a dirty job, and it's one that I salute them for. I should know. I actually got my start in this business by writing an unofficial StarCraft multiplayer strategies book. On the surface, writing a FAQ or a guide seems like a pretty fun task. But when you think about it, playing a game enough to write a strategy guide for it isn't as enjoyable as it may seem, even if you love the game to death (and when you don't love the game it makes the task that much more onerous).

I salute you Vice City hidden packages mapmaker dude.

I think most people play games with a very casual mind-set, or at least, that's how I am with games that I'm not reviewing or previewing. You're just there to enjoy yourself and take in the experience. You usually don't care about the hows and the whys. The point is to get through the level, continue the story, and move on. But when you play a game for the purpose of writing a strategy guide, your focus becomes a lot more analytical. Was that the ideal weapon to use against that enemy? What would have happened if I had turned left at the last fork instead of turning right? Do the bad guys always spawn in that spot, or is it random? Did I miss an important piece of treasure in that last room? Dangit, the door locked behind me. Time to reload.

Breaking a game down in to such a clinical exercise can really take the joy out of it. I used to play StarCraft and other RTS games very heavily. I'd check out the top fan sites and see the ultrahardcore players going so far as to analyze the damage potential of various units in mathematical terms. I don't care how much you love a game, if you're doing crazy stuff like performing integrations to find out the number of hit points per second a hydralisk is capable of draining, you've gone off the deep end. However, if you have a taste for this sort of thing, you probably have what it takes to be a good FAQ and game guide author.

But even if you do get all of the little details down and have the ability to communicate it all very clearly, writing FAQs and guides is a thankless task. There are always people out there waiting to pounce on you, eager to prove that you don't know as much as they do. They found the bug in the game that will instantly kill that miniboss. They discovered another secret door in the level that you missed. They know a better line to take through that curve to shave three-tenths of a second off of your best lap time. And you're some kind of a moron because you didn't know it and they did.

"...you're takin' one for the team so your buddy can live the dream...wingmaaaaaaaaan!"

So, brave game guide and FAQ authors out there, I salute you--just like the Coors Light "wingman." Keep doin' your thing, and don't let the haters get you down. Your work is appreciated, even if the snotty 11-year-old kids don't show you the love.