I've cracked a few of the old EQ binders since I recently started on this server. I'm sadly realizing if they'd offered a degree in EQ I'd have been valedictorian.

I like this article.

I remember watching 300 with some friends and breaking down exactly what the phalanx was and why it was such a strong defensive unit. Now tell me that many hours spent playing civilization and reading the civilpedia was a waste of my time :p

Hell, I learnt more playing that game than anything else. I mean i would be playing it, discover a new technology, and i'd read about the technology i just discovered, then i'd click on a link of the units that were now available. Man... it was like wikipedia before wikipedia!!!

As for classic EQ, i used to do the usual inventories, sales projections as to how long it'd take for me to save up to buy an item. I'd plot maps, pull strategies.

Games are becoming easier, and as a result kids are becoming dumber and lazier.... and angrier for some reason... possibly because they expect things to come to them with little to no effort.

Hell, people i know who play WoW don't even like challenges. They choose not to try something they deem too hard, where as i'm of the opinion if it's hard, then it makes it more challenging, so you should do it!

Oh, and as for kiddies not reading the manual. I remember buying the original diablo, i took the manual to bed and read it as if it were a book, due to the fact it had some seriously great lore about the diablo world.

Games nowadays don't even come with backstories, you're thrust into the game and it's a 5 minute tutorial for the controls, then follow the linear story without really thinking about it, get to the end of the game, beat the boss... Next game pls....

Something I think is interesting is that a lot of older games are considered "hard" because most people bought them used at flea markets back in the day. When games like Illusion of Gaia, Earthbound, LOTR (snes) etc. were bought new, they came with manuals that were more like strategy guides because they told you everything you had to do for the majority of the game. Without them people were super lost and had no idea where to go most of the time, and so those games really rewarded kids who were clever and could figure things out on their own.

Nowadays you'll notice most games come with an annoying built-in tutorial or something to that effect. Where's the fun in that? As a kid I liked exploring the mechanics of a game on my own and only deferring to the manual (assuming I had one) once I'd spent about a week without showering failing to figure something out. There was even the option, if you were REALLY desperate, of calling a hotline to have certain puzzles solved for you. No joke. I called one of those when I was 7 to figure out how to get past that stupid ice cave in Mystic Quest. I still feel kind of silly for having not figured it out on my own.

I think I had something deeper to say, but I forget what it was.

That hotline was invented for the ice cave in Mystic quest...

And I'm equally ashamed to know exactly what you're talking about as well as having been likewise stumped. I see people bitch about the water temple in Ocarina of Time, it was nothing compared to the ice cave.

Eff the water temple.

I remember going to stores with my dad when I was little and looking in sega strategy guide books. I would bring paper with me and copy down cheat codes and then capitalize.

Anyone remember NBA jam? "HES ON FIREEE"

I'll take Stockton/Malone vs the field in NBA Jam!

Anyone play NOX?

That game was amazing for its time and oldschool

Anyone remember the completely awesome manual and nintendo power guide foldout dungeon map and reference chart for final fantasy? that was the best.

I recall reading the baddie list and seeing the 30k hp mechanized boss on there and about shitting myself.