Online vs Physical Guides?

Physical Guides or Online Guides?

  • Physical (books)

    Votes: 4 33.3%
  • Online (Wiki pages, etc)

    Votes: 8 66.7%

  • Total voters
    12

Jedimatt98

Terrarian
I was wondering if anyone has read any Terraria books? There is one called the Ultimate Survival Handbook and it looks like it has a lot of tips and information about weapons and biomes. I usually find it annoying to use the Wiki pages when I’m playing on my PC because I need to change tabs or windows so much.

https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Sur...qid=1488294171&sr=1-1&keywords=terraria+books


I was wondering if this would be a good option? What do members here prefer when using guides, physical ones or online ones?
 
My own vote would be online pages, But since Terraria is a kids game, I would rather prefer a book for them. Or explain it to myself. It's a game to discover things on your own as well.

The wiki source can also be edited by anyone, whether it makes things better or...lesser clear, if not vandalising.

Anyways, it's a preference that will vary for each. But I will personally prefer the wiki.
 
Coincidentally, I just recently ordered some of the Terraria Collector's Books online since I love books, and having them in my hands.

There is always the wiki and online guides to help players, and those are commonly used, but there is something that feels special about actually owning the physical book and collector's/strategy guides for your favorite games. Idk if it's because I'm "old-fashioned" this way, but when I read, I read my books physically. And I don't get the same feeling from reading stories online.

This also comes to guides, and though I haven't bought many of them recently. Physical Guides will always hold a place in my heart for me from remembering my early days of playing Metroid and purchasing all the Strategy Guides I could.
 
The main problem I have with the Terraria books is that they can not be updated, while Terraria itself continuously changes. I generally don't like older prints of non-fiction books (or trading cards. Bloody AstroTrain...) for exactly the same reason: because I always get the feeling I'm missing something important. Terraria Strategy Guides inevitably become outdated, so they suffer from the same issue, at least in my experience.

What I will say in favour of the books (and this is admittedly based on the few extracts I've seen) is that it tries more to be a guideline as opposed to actively spoil every single mechanic (à la Wiki). Which is good for the people who are new to and confused by Terraria, but still want to discover all of the secrets themselves.

I do however agree with Aurora that books are just fun to have. Same with CDs: you can practically listen to every single song ever made on the internet, but those little disks just give that extra validation to your musical experience. So if you just want to have those books for the sake of having them, then by all means, go for it.
 
I prefer books more due to the same reasons mentioned of tabbing or switching windows. That and I love to read & write. So in a way jotting down my own findings and organizing them seems to work for me.

I think the only thing I ever used the wiki for was what certain building materials look like and certain recipes. I don't own the book, and have not used the wiki all that often; like to discover things myself for the most part, unless it is to look at building options. :dryadsmile:
 
Coincidentally, I just recently ordered some of the Terraria Collector's Books online since I love books, and having them in my hands.

There is always the wiki and online guides to help players, and those are commonly used, but there is something that feels special about actually owning the physical book and collector's/strategy guides for your favorite games. Idk if it's because I'm "old-fashioned" this way, but when I read, I read my books physically. And I don't get the same feeling from reading stories online.

This also comes to guides, and though I haven't bought many of them recently. Physical Guides will always hold a place in my heart for me from remembering my early days of playing Metroid and purchasing all the Strategy Guides I could.
I'm the same way, I totally prefer having a physical guide for things. However, I do understand the point that @Kazzymodus makes about the books not being updated.

Did you get the books yet? Would you recommend them?
 
Did you get the books yet? Would you recommend them?

I've gotten one of the books and am still waiting on the others. Haven't had the time to read it yet, but I will read it at one point and then give my rec on them then. :)

Discussing Game Guides makes me want to get more game guides again as well. They're so fun to have and it's been ages since I've bought a new one.
 
With other titles I usually go with online guides/wikis nowadays since games keep getting updated. Plus, spending that much money on books for every game I play would burn a hole in my pocket fast. Back in the day, though, I used to get them all the time. I remember getting guides for specific games like Donkey Kong Country and Diablo 2 (ah, the days where I had time to theorycraft).

I thought about getting some Terraria books, but haven't pulled the trigger yet.
 
I don't think thread bumps that add to the topic are against the rules but if they are then feel free to warn me.

On to the topic at hand, I think that online guides are a lot better because they can be easily updated (unlike books) but using online guides are a lot more tedious to use compared to physical guides because you have to constantly get out of the game just to see the guide itself.
 
I prefer online guides:

1. Accuracy. Not only can guide books get messed up from game updates, but often they're inaccurate to begin with because the guide-writing company got an early draft of the game or made mistakes that weren't caught before printing.

2. Free. Printed guides cost money, but wikis can be accessed by anyone.

3. The ability to Search. Sure, books have tables of contents, but it is far more convenient to be able to type things into a search bar, or ctrl+f a word to find exactly what you're looking for.

4. I can't accidentally misplace a wiki. Wikis are also less likely to get damaged from my pet birds chewing on them or carelessly getting used as coasters.
 
I prefer online, but thats because I have no money to buy physical guides XD

Though the few times I have been able to buy physical guides I can say I've liked them a lot more the the wiki.

All that said, if you want the best guides either search these forums, reddit or youtube. Those (IMO) are where you'll find the best guides.
 
I like the Wiki, but I would think a book might be fun. I just don't care to spend money on a physical guide when there is a wiki that will be forever up-to-date out there.
 
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