Everything I've read and heard suggests that it will be a lot easier knowing what to do next and where to go than Morrowind was. Personally, having a strategy guide on the couch is too tempting, if I'm going to break down and look for help I actually want it to be a bit of a hassle, so I know I REALLY need it

I prefer the joy of discovery rather than knowing what's over the next ridge or cave because I accidentally glanced at a map or paragraph while looking for some other hint.

I would hold off and play the game first, see if you really need it as you go. If you do buy one anyways, let me know how it is. If nothing else, I bet it's really cool looking!

I'm thinking I'll probably pick it up and use it to clean up quests/etc. that I missed in areas that I've already been though. I did that with Wind Waker, and it worked pretty well.

Yep. It's always irked me that developers don't release more concept art after their games come out. I love that stuff. In most cases, the strategy guides seem to be where you most often see the cool artwork, sketches of level design concepts, etc. I've thought of buying several just for that, but $20 for only a few pages worth of concept drawings, when I don't want all the walkthrough, seems like a little much.

A great free alternative, but it'll take a good 2-3 months before someone creates a comprehensive guide. Still, can't beat free.

You really shouldn't need it. But...

Yeah. What I've read in interviews with Pete Hines is that this guide is pretty much entirely produced by people at Bethesda, and that it is only edited and published by Prima, which to my understanding is a fairly unique thing in the world of strategy guide creation. He said that one of their goals was to have plenty of useful and interesting information in there even for people who didn't care for any help in exploring the world and completing quests.

Who knows how true this is, but if it really is the case I might actually consider picking it up.. except that the temptation to use the information for "evil" might be too great. We'll see...

Yeah, but those 2-3 months are an optimistic guess. I bought Morrowind half a year after the release, didn't exactly look closely, and still came up against problems not adressed in GFAQs. Had Morrowind not bored me so fast, I would have likely purchased my first guide, ever, with it.

i dunno sheared, when everyone get OB, and if it turns out too be good, I think the forum maybe quiet for a long while

The Morrowind guide was a fantastic piece of work. I used it to make sure that I was on track with quest sequences, and to uncover new spots in areas I had thoroughly explored. It also helped with the "find this book" quests, which were just a pain.

It was huge, and fine print. I loved it.

I was talking to Pete Hines today and he had this to say about the guide:

There you have it!

Nope, just a regular old ICQ conversation.

With so much speculation around this game I love official sources all the more. Thanks Certis.

I don't own a single printed game guide, but I will probably pick this one up as another kind of "relic" like the Collector's Edition swag. Put it on my shelf and thumb through the sections not related to quest lines, and maybe check out the walkthroughs if I absolutely have to. I'm in no rush to buy it, but I know I will eventually.

I dont think Ill buy it unless it has a lot of artwork. One thing I loved about the WoW collectors edition was the hardcover art book.

For information I dont think it can tell me much. In a game like this if I get stuck, Ill go do something else for a while and come back to it at some point. GameFAQs will have enough info by the time Im looking for things I havent done.

The only game guide I ever bought was back when they called them 'hint books' Kings Quest V was a little too advanced for my age so I pretty much let the book solve nearly every puzzle for me.

I don't think I'll buy the strategy guide, partly for reasons list above and also because of the following:

Yesterday when running errands I stopped by the Gamestop down the street from my office because it is the closest game vendor that will receive the day-1 shipments of the game. I reserved Oblivion and was asked if I wanted the strategy guide. As I always do when posed that question, I declined. The manager who was taking my preorder looked at me with a wtf expression on his face and said "You're the first person who has preordered the game that didn't buy a strategy guide. Are you sure you don't want one?"

I responded "Definitely."

Begrudgingly he printed out my preorder confirmation and continued to give me that look (you know, the one that says "Damn you for lowering my sales attachment rate!"). Were it not for the fact that they will get the game in before the larger b&m stores, they wouldn't see a penny of my money. They definitely won't be seeing the additional $17 for a strategy guide I could do without.

Unless ... I decide to reenact a Seinfeld episode and decide to return the guide "for spite."

Or you could wait 2 months for the book's price to drop to $5.

Then you might want to pick this up instead...