You are aware that I never said people shouldn't use walkthroughs or guides, right ? I merely mentioned something that tend to happen when people blindly follow them without trying to figure it out first. Yes, people can use guides, I've done it myself. I'm just think it's a crying shame some people would rather rush through following the "right anwers" without reading what's in between, aside from sex scenes, especially when they then post about how some event happens out of nowhere because they didn't paid any attention to the events unfolding.
I'm not saying using them is disrespectfull to the devs, I'm saying using them to bumrush the story and not pay attention to anything but the porn is ddisrespectfull to the devs.
This discussion of walkthroughs caught my eye as I just completed a WT for
Callisto, another well written virtual novel free-roaming (or part sandbox) game. The issue is that many first time players of games that let you 'wander through their universe' and experience events in random or varied sequence get lost and frustrated. They get the 'where do I go next to advance the plot' feeling that they're getting nowhere. This is especially true if they're a computer neophyte who is still learning 'which buttons do I push to save a game'.
LltP walk through was a 'hold my hand' type of WT which, for the most part, served a good purpose getting into the game's universe. Later, by missing a clue or two, it sabotaged those who 'just want to walk the shortest path' through the story and win (whether for fapping or not).
To solve that from happening in
Callisto, my WT just hand holds the MC through the first 2 weeks of the game action, solves the first (possibly most confusing and difficult) puzzle and sets him up for the first Mission. Then it lets him go on by himself. By then, he's familiar with the game behavior and got a feel for the
Callisto Universe. There are other help screens in the game so he's not abandoned but he is on his own from that point. It is not a perfect solution but it helps in complex games like
LltP and
Callisto IMHO for getting players started and 'off on the right foot.'