How do you like your guides?

[Sobend]

As one of the people who adds content to the site I was wondering what style you prefer in quest guidewriting or guide set-up. There are two styles I'm going to list here, however if you like another please say so.

 

Down to earth - These guides aren't filled with pictures and rely more on chatheads and item images. Examples:

Underground Pass

The Golem

Troll Stronghold

 

Picture oriented guides. Examples:

Animal Magnetism

Lunar Diplomacy

Back to My Roots

 

Personally as a write a quest guide now I am doing something in the middle. What are your thoughts?

[Shooter585]

I prefer less pictures and more items and chatheads, or down to earth. If pictures account for a majority of the "scroll space" then that is definitely too much. Pictures should be small and/or wide if possible.

[Guitarguy]

Perhaps I don't have the best input as I don't often use guides, but I believe there should be a balance between the two, whichever is more convenient. I recall in the days when I did play RuneScape that the text would sometimes confuse me and contain amiguity in vital details. In such cases, it might be helpful for a picture to be the guide, in order to ensure that you're in the right place and such. Additionally, a wall of text is boring and unprofessional for many people. Those who do all their quests alongside a guide need the guide to be part of the fun.

But of course, as mentioned above, there is a limit for various reasons. Some people have bad internet connections, scrolling constantly is a pain, it takes longer to update guides with pictures, etc. Thus they should be used whenever practical, and whenever there seems to be a shortage that makes the guide dull and unappealing.

I believe the examples provided are a good indicator of the upper and lower limits to images; the picture-to-text ratio should be somewhere between them.

Edited February 3, 2014 by Guitarguy

[Aabid]

You should bold the main instructions so that people who are skimming through can get it while not missing the important parts.

I don't really read guides anymore cause sadly I don't play Runescape.

[Shooter585]

Perhaps I don't have the best input as I don't often use guides, but I believe there should be a balance between the two, whichever is more convenient. I recall in the days when I did play RuneScape that the text would sometimes confuse me and contain amiguity in vital details. In such cases, it might be helpful for a picture to be the guide, in order to ensure that you're in the right place and such. Additionally, a wall of text is boring and unprofessional for many people. Those who do all their quests alongside a guide need the guide to be part of the fun.

But of course, as mentioned above, there is a limit for various reasons. Some people have bad internet connections, scrolling constantly is a pain, it takes longer to update guides with pictures, etc. Thus they should be used whenever practical, and whenever there seems to be a shortage that makes the guide dull and unappealing.

I believe the examples provided are a good indicator of the upper and lower limits to images; the picture-to-text ratio should be somewhere between them.

Yeah I'm not suggesting something minimalist, I think the Underground Pass is a good mix (the pictures are all pretty wide, guy who took those really knew what he was doing you know)

[Sobend]

Perhaps I don't have the best input as I don't often use guides, but I believe there should be a balance between the two, whichever is more convenient. I recall in the days when I did play RuneScape that the text would sometimes confuse me and contain amiguity in vital details. In such cases, it might be helpful for a picture to be the guide, in order to ensure that you're in the right place and such. Additionally, a wall of text is boring and unprofessional for many people. Those who do all their quests alongside a guide need the guide to be part of the fun.

But of course, as mentioned above, there is a limit for various reasons. Some people have bad internet connections, scrolling constantly is a pain, it takes longer to update guides with pictures, etc. Thus they should be used whenever practical, and whenever there seems to be a shortage that makes the guide dull and unappealing.

I believe the examples provided are a good indicator of the upper and lower limits to images; the picture-to-text ratio should be somewhere between them.

Totally agree with the images thing; I'm putting up a (grandmaster) quest right now, started 20 minutes ago, and I'm more than halfway done since there's only 13 images or something.