Like others here have said, the hardcover collectors edition is worth the money, IMHO. The biggest single headache fixer is the quest guides...especially if you have a tendancy to gloss over things quickly and then later wonder "How many scrap metal did he need?" and the ever frustrating "WTF...you mean I could have turned in tin cans instead of scrap metal???"

Just remember to give the person a nice card saying "I hope you enjoy the book, just remember to use in only in emergency situations during your first play through so as not to spoil too much".

Guides definitely worth it..just so you don't have to get up and go to the computer every time you need help.

Presonally I abhore wiki's.Full of spam,can be confuseing and a little rough to navigate.Either way you pay for the information.Either in cold hard cash or in advertising bombardment.Yea..I bought the guide.Hard copy.I like to have it in my hands or on my desk while im playing full screen.

I'll use the 'Net for cheating, console commands and fixes.

I ordered the CE edition of the guide when I pre-ordered the CE of the game. I'm a completist.

The CE is hardbound, saddle stitched: it's a good quality printing on solid paper that will survive being flipped back and forth.

I like to crack it open on my legs with the game paused and read the just the barest hint of a quest; I find no matter how well I explored the world, I always miss some little out-of-the-way quest giver.

You know your friend: if he doesn't care about books to begin with, I doubt this will turn his crank.

Best of luck!

Unfortunately it refers in a few places to cut/changed content. Or content bugged to unavailability.

Plus the wiki has an up-to-date list of bugs and bug resolution steps. For a game like this, you'll need that list quite a lot. For those times when you're wondering, "did I trigger that follower dissapearing because I did something or did they fall through a hole in the map?" Not to mention the guide doesn't tell you what quests you cannot complete thanks to bugs if you've done other quests, making their overall planning use somewhat useless.

I agree, it just ruins the whole exploratory effect of the game to have a big book saying "look over there! That's one of the few good secrets Bethesda and Obsidian actually managed to put in the game! Would have been really cool if you found that on your own, wouldn't it?". I've never bought a guide for one of my games for a long time, but I would not reccomend getting him one. Maybe a lunch box and bobble head?

Well if they know their friend is the kind of person that likes to have a guide, then this problem is obviated. Some people like to have a road map some like to find their own way there.

The only thing I can't stand is when the game guide is less of a map and more of a GPS that tells you to turn left over an embankment and into a river... That isn't the case here thankfully, but you'll still be using the wiki plenty.

I guess I never thought about the fact a guide might be really nice for console players though, on a PC I can alt-tab to the wiki if I need, on a console having a book in my lap, even if it is a flawed guide, would be better than none.

Well yeah, I like to check on youtube for spoilers and where to find unique weapons, but in my opinion it just destroys the whole feeling of finding it yourself, because usually how it goes on youtube is you search for good unique weapons and it shows what they do and then you see where they are and you just go "aw man I gotta have that!!" so then you go out of your way to find it just to find a weapon that you realize is just like the Experimental MIRV from Fallout 3, either useful or something almost useless with extremely limited ammunition. When, what you could do is just play it and explore to see what's out in entire game and the experience completely changes.

I'm saying it makes the game better to have an up close and personaly experience to just look and see for yourself instead of having a map that tells you where everything is (guide and wiki alike), because if you go through some kind of tripped and trapped house full of mines and rigged shotguns and have a guide to tell you where they all are so you don't even have to take your time with it is so much less satisfying than triggering the trap and having no idea about it then learning from it to find another one that you trip, and the process continues like that until you find what was waiting at the end of that dreadful room which the guide/wiki would have just given away.

It's Fallout. It wasn't meant to have a map.

I got the CE guide for NV for my birthday last week...I'm very pleased with it. I was already on my second playthrough so spoilers really aren't a issue. I like to have the guide for the bigger games, like FO3 and NV, that are keepers though I don't buy or use them until I've beaten the game once. If your friend likes having the guide....and loves the game...then I'd get it for him.

Most guides are bad gifts these days, because they become quickly outdated.

I'd buy the guide for the map/maps alone.

Problem with the guide is the fact it was written months ago.

A new patch will come in December, overhaul half of weapons in the game and what then with your .pdf printed guide? It's worth nothing. At the same time Wikia will have all the new info on the very same day for you to browse.

Paying for the guide is silly or pointless at worst, saying Wikia is worse is plain dumb.

I'd take "fans for fans" kind of content over mercenary work any time.

Guide: Approved by and made in association with the game maker
Wiki: Written by "users" (but still 99% accurate, thorough and well laid out)

Both have mistakes (though the wiki will often be updated to fix them as soon as they are noticed).

I just picked up the collector's guide. I used a friend's copy on my first play-through when I was stuck on a mission (Ed-E's quest).
On subsequent play-throughs I have used it a lot. The huge map is great and the comparison charts for weapons/armor/clothing/etc. are wonderful.
The flow charts for the quests are absolutely the best part. They show all of the different ways to complete quests. I as amazed at how easily I could have finished quests that I spent hours doing on my first try. I also found some that were long and interesting but I had bypassed with a speech check on my first run. Then there are the ones that have multiple rewards options depending on how you do the quest. Pick what you want, take the steps, reap the rewards.
The tour of the wasteland section is a great tool for exploring locations, and not missing that extra box of goodies behind the bed, on re-plays.

Guide or wiki I highly discourage looking at them on your first trip through the Mohave unless you get stuck. After that, both are a great resource. I use both.
I actually prefer the manual (I've only found ONE error in it so far: the location of Dinner Bell).
Having said that, I enjoy using the Wiki. The search function is very helpful as are the quick links to other related info. I sometimes use it on my lunch break to plan out an evening's agenda. Copy-paste a few times and I've got an itinerary to follow (or not).

For me I prefer tangible. Wiki's great and the web keeps you up to date. I still need something to read while in the bathroom.

And once the next version of Fallout hits the shelves, the guide for NV can be used for other things in the bathroom too... one page at a time. :deal:
Just think, you'll get to use Dinky to dry your dinky,
Drop a bomb and recyle pages of your manual to clean up the fallout?


I'd like to see the Wiki do THAT.

.

If you mean printed guide then yes, online one no.
I bought the Steam one, was very disappointed that it only allows access to a website rather than being a .PDF.
The online guide has errors as noted, it is also impossible to read some parts of the tables due to layout issues, overall a poor product. Looked like it had been done in 2 minutes using a PDF -> HTML converter, not good when it costs 50% more than a printed one through Amazon.
First time since I started using Steam in 2003 that I have required a refund on a product.

I would still consider the printed version though if you are a fan.

Being a 360 player, it's just easier to reach over and flip through the guide rather than run to the PC for the wiki.

The maps are worth the cost of the guide. The extremely in-depth coverage of every quest is worth the cost of the guide. I've not yet once used it for weapon/armor stats, so I can't comment about those tables.

I wish I had more time to reply to each of you individually (as needed) but popped on to let everyone know I ended up springing for the guide. The post that made me shakiest was actually about the patch and the fact that it will likely obsolete a solid 30% of the weapon stats thanks to the rebalancing of Energy Weapons. Nevertheless, the maps for each location seemed as if it was worth the price of admission. We all know how poor the interior 2D map is. Makes me wonder if they were kept intentionally poor to sell more game guides. oo:

Nevertheless: A million thanks to all who replied. I really appreciated all of the feedback!

Talk to you all later!

:)

i bought mine for about $16 on Amazon and IMO it's worth it. with the detailed maps and everything else i think it's definitly worth it. if nothing else, it's worth it for the fact it has more words in it then War & Peace. i love having it around since i buy everything on console, saves the tediousness (is that a word...?) of running back & forth from computer to tv.

just my 2 cents

I like guides for reading on the toilet.

I have found the guide hard to follow.

I prefer books with useful indexes and organized in some useful way.

But maybe I just don't get it.

I prefer the wiki and don't use the guide even though I have it.

I've found that the map is the key to using the tour part of the Guide. If I know that Camp Guardian is at 3.19, then I can go there in the tour section because the locations are numbered. The front index has the names of the Quests and we know what Quest we're on when it's marked in our Pip-Boy. The charts of weapons, clothes, creatures, collectibles and crafting are all in the index. Recently I needed to know if there were any clothes that would bump my Luck and I used the chart to find the only item.

It just takes a little getting used to...there's a ton of information. I don't always look at the book but when I do, it really helps. If I just want to do a quick search on the wiki, I have that too and the Bugs lists are invaluable.

The Fallout wiki website is better and also free. I think you'd be better off getting him something else.



Sir-Stabs-Alot said that best. That's basically all I've ever used a game guide for. Reading material on the can.