Guides and Gamerscore

Many people have used a strategy guide to help themselves in a game but with youtube and ign have the strategy guides met their superior? Before these guides were started the most likely source of help is from your friend who can find new insight into that level you've been stuck on for weeks. Then the guide came to save the day and a game can be beaten without thinking. Now....there is no need, youtube has endless walkthroughs of almost any game and on sites such as ign you can find cheat codes, walkthroughs and more. I admit to using youtube and a strat guide from time to time but should people be given the answers to a game? In the end I admit it is the skill of the gamer that will beat the campaign but skill is no longer finding a route but learning to hit the buttons at the right time. Are the strat guides and walkthroughs killing the gaming experience, or enhancing it? 

Many people see achievement points as enhancing a game experience and for the most part they do a good job I must applaud bethesda on their use of achievements to draw the gamer into side quests that will create a longer and more fufilling game experience (in my opinion). At what point does enhancement become obsession. We have all heard the term gamerscore whore which can be summed up into the simple name Avatar. This game proves that people will stop at no lengths to gain some online fame but in the end I look down upon them for caring more about a virtual point than the game itself. The experience and story are why I play, not the gamerscore, I have looked online for collectable item locations in gears of war and fallout (not in assassins creed every acheivement there is completely legit). It is this type of achievement that can become rediculous or can enhance the experience. Gears of war and COD:4 I found pointless because it was looking for items that in the end didn't effect anything. Gears of war 2 got somewhat better with their 41 collectables which actually provided information about the story for those who are interested and gave a new perspective on the war in some cases. There have been few games which I find the collectables to be worth finding such as the ingots in fallout 3: the pitt because they got me a better gun and a cool experience talking to the slaver. While these were somewhat annoying it was nice that there was more benefit than just gamerscore. My point in all of this is that gamerscore can be used to enhance the experience or be points and not achievements. GH3 is an example of a game that offers true achievements. Most of the achievements in that game are very hard to get and truly take talent and effort. While it was probably frustrating to some because they have 150GS and no hope of going any further it gave me a goal to strive for no matter how seemingly impossible. So to avoid droning on more than I already have I leave you as always with a question. How much of gamerscore is achievements and how much is points?