Strategy Guides..who buys them? Who uses them?

I'm trying to get a general feel for how and if people use/buy Strategy Guides for their games.

Myself I have never once purchased a Game Guide, not even back in the day when I was a kid. But I have resorted to using some online FAQs when I was severely stumped in a game. But in general I try to never use them as I feel they ruin the gaming experience.

my bro has bought a few and i've peered through them, but prefer to not buy them. i only want them for things that aren't really related to completing the game, ie like front mission 3,4 where each type of armor has a special it gives, and you don't know until you eventually use it, which doesn't happen easily, so it sucks to waste time to finally set it up and it be a crappy one.
i browsed an ff7 strat guide and found things that they had not
personally, i'm a gamefaqs person when i get stuck though or have a general question. a whole strat guide usually isn't needed. gamefaqs gives you that small extra push for that one thing you couldn't find.

with fighting games, strat guides are worthless from what i've seen. they give movelists usually the game already provides and crappy novice combos. better resource there is people

overall, useful, but not wanted unless i'm stumped

NEVAH!!! :lol

never that is.
I cannot stand to use them. I feel like a retard if I have to look at the manual to play the game. Even in RTS/RPG games.. I don't look at the manuals.

†B†V† :hat

I mostly buy strategy guides just to have them as part of the collection. For most games, I never even use them. But when I do it's to get past a part I'm stumped on.

It also doesn't hurt that I can get strategy guides for free. At GameStop, strategy guides eventually get down to a price of one cent ("pennied out") and then we just throw them out, or are allowed to take them. I've picked up numerous strategy guides this way that I never would have actually bought; Burnout 3 (who needs a strat guide for a racing game??), Panzer Dragoon Orta, Mario Kart Double Dash, Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga, Viewtiful Joe, Beyond Good & Evil, and Psi-Ops are a few that come to mind.

While I can understand Mai's reason, I don't like to use them. Every now and then I find that I have to, but I'm not going to lie down 20 bucks for one. I just use the online ones.

I don't like to use them one bit. I just feel that it takes away from the game experiece. Only if I seriously have to will I use one.

:? what does a double dash strat guide tell you?

they does look pretty though, but usually a friend's word can do enough for some parts.
like, the online one was very useful for RE Outbreak. i can't imagine finding the special items for clothing for some of the characters

I buy them usually for just RPGs 'cause otherwise I'd get stuck, miss that important thingy, etc.,etc. and then give up and never finish the game. At least this way I finish the game and get my money's worth out of the game.