Poll: Do you use strategy guides?

So it seems like the majority of you (who answered the poll, anyway) only purchase Collector’s Editions of guides if they like a particular franchise. Makes perfect sense to me, mostly due to the fact that this is what I do, especially now since I buy so many guides for reviewing purposes.

However, this poll sparked an idea for this week’s poll due to comments on my Facebook page. One of my avid gamer friends commented that she would never buy guides because that’s cheating. I’ve never considered using guides cheating, but I guess that is no surprise as I have them and well, write about them. However, I actually have a reason for not considering it cheating other than these facts.

I can guarantee that everyone, no matter your gaming expertise, has gotten frustratingly stuck in a game. This is one reason why people abruptly quit a game mid-stride. I don’t find failing at one spot over and over again fun, so I look up assistance. If I don’t have a guide, I’ll try to find a suggestion online. I’ve paid way too much money for a game just to have it frustrate me into quitting. And I admit, my patience threshold is practically non-existent (hence why I hate platformers so, so much), so it’s almost like guides were created for someone like me in mind.

And I like art books. I really, really like art books. Guides are like giant video game artbooks as well. Double score for me.

So no matter your reasons, please vote! Next week’s poll: Am I wasting my time and energy writing about strategy guides?