Presentation

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Content goes hereWoW Secrets comes as a number of different PDFs. These are well designed with great graphics and are eloquently written. What’s more, they are designed in such a way as to maximize their readability. It’s simple enough to follow this guide and it’s pretty enough to look at. I wish there were some great videos to go with this guide, but you can’t always get what you ask for. Nevertheless, this is a professional looking guide.

Content

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This is a strength for WoW Secrets. I’m not sure if there is any WoW guide that is more comprehensive. You get a little bit of everything and WoW secrets is extremely, extremely detailed. You get so much with this guide that it’s hard to list it all. But you’ll see stuff for PvP, PvE, making them cash monies, builds, class guides, walkthroughs and so on. You definitely get your moneys worth with this guide!

Results

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WoW Secrets offers some concrete results. You’ll make more money, level up faster and discover the best places to farm gear. Still, it won’t make you into a WoW God. I love playing with Gnomes, and my Gnome definitely doesn’t look like Jeng Poon’s Gnome Warrior on the sales page. Nonetheless, I’m still well on my way. I started my Gnome Warrior from level 1 and am now max level with some great items and am now a master crafter. You’ll get results with this guide, just be realistic.

Value

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WoW Secrets give way more content than the average WoW guide. And it does this at a price tag of $17. If you’re doing the math, that is damn good. It’s definitely worth getting and very, very highly recommended.

Zygor guide is the omnibus of guides. With over 60,000 users, this WoW guide sports double the audience of any other WoW guide. Can 60,000 users really be wrong? The simple answer: nope.

Presentation

Score: 5/5

This is one pretty ass guide. It’s clear that the designers of Zygor’s WoW guide are professionals. Professional graphics, professional writing and professional videos. Get it? It’s professional. What’s most impressive though, is that Zygor’s WoW guide is an actual in game guide. What does this mean? It’s a literal add on to your gaming interface. It’s pretty unbelievable and should mark the standard for all guides going forward.

Content

Score: 5/5

I’m sure there is something that Zygor’s WoW guide doesn’t include. I just haven’t found it yet. You can get leveling tips, crafting tips, builds, raid walk throughs, boss tips, PvP tips, PvE tips and so much more. What’s most impressive is that much of this is integrated into your actual gaming experience. You won’t need to tab back and forth between the game and an online or paper WoW guide. But seriously, the content in this guide is pretty exhaustive. You can get info on mounts, vanities, macros and even achievements. What’s more, the guide is almost perpetually being updated. And this is good because the game is almost perpetually being updated!

Results

Score: 5/5

Noticing a trend? This is the best damn guide for any MMO guide out there. It is nearly perfect in every respect and absolutely groundbreaking. The in game integration makes it’s content so much more accessible and useful in game,  resulting in a substantially enhanced playing experience. At times I felt like I was cheating while playing the game, until I realized that Zygor WoW guide had just turned my Gnome into Predator. Everyone I looked at I could analyse for information, receive tips on how to proceed and advice on how to slay the next boss. I very, very rarely play WoW with the Zygor WoW guide anymore.

Value

Score: 4/5

Ahh, finally a caveat. This guide is pretty expensive. It ranges in pricing depending on what you decide to get, but you can trust that it won’t be the cheapest guide on the market. But it is priced for what it is worth. It’s the best guide available and has loads and loads to offer. If you are dropping over a 100 dollars on WoW monthly fees already, you can probably afford to get the single most important add on to that game. Plus, they give a free trial. So if you don’t love it, give it back!

If you haven’t heard about Starcraft 2 yet then you’ve been living underneath a rock. Starcraft 2 has already surpassed its predecessor, with millions already joining in on the online fun. Beyond the obvious appeal of the single player campaign and unique world, Starcraft 2 stands out for its unparalleled balance and level of competition in online play. But with all the competition, at times you can feel ill-equipped to handle players drawing on a much larger knowledge of game mechanics. Anyone stuck in Bronze league knows this feeling. Luckily, Starcraft 2 has a huge community offering solid advice, tips and replays to learn from. Standing out amongst the huge swaths of advice is Shokz Starcraft 2 Guide. This Starcraft 2 guide is easily the most comprehensive guide available, providing advice for both campaign and online play for all three races. Best of all, it’s created by one of the top 100 players in the world, Shokz. It’s hard to go wrong with this guide.

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Content

Starcraft 2 has a unique league system, placing you in divisions with players of similar talent and competing for the top spot. Reaching number one in your division within your league is always rewarding, but only so rewarding when you find yourself number one in the Bronze league. But there’s something about fighting your way through the leagues, aiming to play alongside the Starcraft II pros, that keeps me motivated to keep improving my game and to keep moving up through the ranks. Shokz Starcraft 2 guide provides all the info and more that you might need to improve your game and move up the league ladder. It’s got so much that I figured I’d just list it all:

Micro and Macro Advice: Being a successful Starcraft 2 player requires mastering both the micro and macro elements of the game. The Shokz Starcraft II guide gives solid advice for practicing and improving both sides of your game.

Terran Strategies: Whether you are facing a high level or low level player, a Zerg, Protoss or fellow Terran player, the Shokz Starcraft 2 guide offers strategies for every situation. After reading through the Terran strategies you’ll feel as though you could choose many different build orders and re-actively respond to your opponents strategy and build order.

Protoss Strategies: Protoss are a challenging race to play at higher levels, but with the Shokz Starcraft 2 guide you’ll learn the most tried and true Protoss strategies. Whether you choose to go for fast Void Rays, four gate or even a cannon rush, the Shokz Starcraft 2 guide has the best possible build order laid out in a clear and easy to understand instruction set.

Zerg Strategies: Zerg are known to be the most challenging of the three races of Starcraft II. They demand heavy micro and macro and depend on map control and unit composition. Learn the best counters for every possible opponent, when to expand and when to defend and how best to go about scouting your enemy. With the Shokz Starcraft II guide you’ll unlock the nearly infinite possibilities of the Zerg race, and find yourself finally matching up against the best Protoss and Terran players.

Team Game Strategies: Not many people realize that team play is substantially different than solo, 1v1, play. The Shokz Starcraft II guide provides specific advice for 2v2, 3v3 and 4v4 games!

 

Results

The Shokz Starcraft II guide completely changed my experience. I mean, it SERIOUSLY changed my experience. No, I can’t say that I’m one of the best players in the world after reading the Shokz Starcraft II guide… but then you’d know I’d just be lying. Instead, the truth is almost as impressive. I went from being a mediocre player, relying on cheese tactics to beat better opponents to a high level player able to play against some of the best players in North America in my Masters league. The information contained within the guide is invaluable. I went from middle of Silver all the way up to the Masters league, playing against some very, very talented players. I don’t win every game, but I win a lot. It wasn’t easy, and it took hard work, but I can’t speak highly enough about the Shokz Starcraft II guide’s contribution to my growth as a player!

Value

Given all that this guide offers, it’s easy to see its value. It will run you 37 dollars, which isn’t the cheapest guide around. But then, it is so far the best Starcraft 2 guide that you would be wasting your money on any other guide. And honestly, the free advice contained on the official forums doesn’t cut it. This is one of the only chances to get legitimate strategies, tactics and advice from one of the top 100 players in the world. Shokz is a for real Starcraft 2 pro, and this guide reflects that.

Presentation

I’ve reviewed a ton of guides now and this guide is among the very best in terms of appearance. I didn’t give this a perfect only because it lacks some of the quality videos that a perfect guide would include. However, my suspicion is that this will change as the game ages a bit. It does have wonderful writing, good graphics and detailed and easy to understand walk throughs. It also has some solid videos, but this is, as I’ve said, an area for improvement.

Content

This is an all encompassing guide.  It includes sections on basically everything you could imagine whether it’s items, bosses, builds, walk throughs or gold farming. What’s more, the tons of content is all quality content. The vast majority of the info offered is novel and legitimately hard to discover on your own. The developer of this guide clearly has a tremendous grasp of the game, and amongst Diablo 3 guides, this offers the most useful information. There is still a lot more to discover, but this Diablo 3 guide plans to update frequently to keep up with the growth of this soon to be goliath in the MMORPG genre.

Results

For all this guide has to offer, I can’t offer anything more than a 4/5 yet for the results until the game is actually released. For beta, the guide is great. But betas aren’t finished products. If the game changes, I expect the guide to change with it. And when that happens, i’ll give this a 5/5. If that doesn’t happen, expect this score to go down.

Value

Diablo 3 Secrets weighs in at $47 dollars, fairly standard fare for Diablo 3 guides. It’s still hard to think any guide can really deserve a price tag similar to the game itself, but in this case I think it’s close to the correct value. You really do get a ton with this guide and the vast majority is seriously useful. I suspect I’ll be using this guide on a regular basis if not every time I play. I’m competitive in general, but Diablo 3 brings out my bloodthirsty side! This guide helps satisfy that thirst.

Presentation

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Honestly, this isn’t an exaggeration. This is a beautiful, professionally made guide. It’s clearly written by people who not only know their stuff, but also mastered the English language. The writing is clear, concise and easily understood. On the flipside, it’s also presented in a neat format with some really compelling graphics.

As far as SWTOR guides come, this ranks right up there with the best of them. It makes good use of both videos and written walk throughs with professionally done graphics and voice overs. In my mind, a guide that effectively makes use of videos, graphics and writing allows for easier comprehension and more effective communication. But more than just having videos and professional graphics, a guide needs to make intelligent use of them. The Aeon guide does just that. This guide is so professionally done I can guarantee you won’t be let down by this guide’s presentation.

Results

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Full disclosure, I have only played through the republic side while using this guide, so my comments don’t necessarily reflect the entirety of what this guide offers. Having said this, I can’t imagine the quality can drop off because from what I’ve experienced, I can only say that I’m left speechless. I really wonder if the team of developers for SWTOR decided to spill all the best secrets of the game to the Aeon Guide’s makers.

It seriously has some of the best gems I’ve ever seen. Not only did I level up at a rapid rate, I was able to maximize my efforts for farming credits (I’m rich bitch!) and hunting for the best items. The makers were apparently involved in the closed beta, so they’ve had the opportunity to learn it all. And damn, they don’t hold back. My favorite component of MMO’s is definitely the PvP, and the Aeon guide did not disappoint!

This is easily the best SWTOR guide for PvP advice. Using this guide, I became an absolute monster. I can only imagine (read: fantasize) that the other players were bowing down to me behind their computer screens as a sliced through them with my lightsaber time and time again. But what’s probably most telling is that I still use the Aeon guide. Of all the guides I’ve tried out, this is the guide I use every time I play. No questions asked. 5/5.

Content

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The content in this guide is juicy. It covers both the Republic and Empire, PvP, leveling, builds, gear, abilities and talents, guides by role and a shit ton more. And best of all, it’s all good stuff. There is way more content in this guide than you can possibly ever use. But what’s more, that library of content is constantly growing. The makers of this guide are almost always adding new content, almost every day. Updates are free after purchase, so once you pay the one time fee you’re set for life! I’d say I’ve read probably 3/4 quarters of the available content and have had the chance to use maybe 1/4 of that. That’s a pretty dang good ratio.

Value

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The Aeon guide’s one drawback is its price, sitting at a pretty 57 dollars. But this guide is so comprehensive, I still consider it a good value. It’s definitely the best guide available for SWTOR, and with nearly constant updates, it’s a onetime investment for a lifetime of use. But if that price is too high for your blood, Aeon offers some discounted, limited products. Do you play only Republic, well than for 37 dollars you can get that half of the guide. Same for the Empire. My recommendation, buy the whole thing. But if not, at least pick up the guide for your side of the force!

Bottom Line

Get this. Guide. Now.

Presentation

Usually, the ‘Secrets’ guides are well made and excellently presented. But the standard of premium guides is going up and the quality and professionalism of guides is improving. Unfortunately SWTOR Secrets doesn’t quite keep pace with some of the better guides on the market. It lacks professional videos and at times its presentation feels tacky and campy. Maybe some people will enjoy that, but I review guides as if they were professionally made, even when they aren’t. This lacks that professional touch that would put it in league with the big players.

Content

This is a reasonably comprehensive guide, but it was put out early in SWTOR’s release. This means that some of the content is now outdated and in need of updates. I was sorely disappointed when I went to follow the steps of a quest only to discover that quest has been changed! Regardless, there is some quality content here but I never felt like what I was learning was that ‘secretive’. Much of the content feels recycled. And I never felt like its maker is an elite SWTOR gamer. Granted, you don’t need to be a professional player to create a damn good guide, but it sure helps.

Value

For $47 dollars you can get the complete guide, otherwise you can pay $27 dollars and just get a piece of the whole guide. Personally, this feels way overpriced and the $27 dollars for a portion of the guide is ludicrous. You can get a better SWTOR guide for $27 dollars that actually includes the whole guide! I don’t want to say steer clear, but I would suggest heading for clearer skies. This isn’t a bad guide, it just isn’t a great one.

Diablo 3 Gold Secrets is the first and only Diablo 3 guide focusing on the real money auction house being introduced in Diablo 3. The RMAH is a daring decision that Blizzard has implemented into its newest Goliath. Using real money, you can buy and sell in game items allowing players to both enhance their playing experience and make some extra money. But if your focus is exclusively on making real money in Diablo 3, then this is the Diablo 3 guide for you.

Presentation

Score: 4/5

Diablo 3 Gold Secrets is a membership only website that includes articles, images, videos, forums and a piece of software intended to make selling and buying in the auction house easier. All in all, it’s a well put together website. Is it as professional as it could be? No. But it’s still pretty quality and represents the seriousness of its mission. To make you money by playing Diablo 3.

Content

Score: 4.5/5

There’s a lot here. The forum is great with a fair amount of active and intelligent users. The step-by-step guides are informative and plentiful and there is info for every player no matter their level or commitment to the game. The software available is still in its beta version, but it does look promising. I can’t justify giving this a 5 until I see the auction house software in full swing with all the bugs worked out. But if that does happen, this will be the definitive resource for making real money on the Diablo 3 auction house.

Results

Score: 3.5/5

The game is young and the auction house is fairly barren. I haven’t made much money yet, but I can definitely see this score improving as more people start playing. There is a lot of potential here and I think if it’s possible to to make money, that info will be here. Just don’t expect to make this your full time job; at least not yet.

Value

Score: 5/5

This is a rare 5/5 for value and the reason is simple. This guide is priced at $17 dollars. Now I’m not saying you’ll meet with that much success, but you will EASILY make that money back on the RMAH. If you don’t make ten times that then you probably aren’t doing something right. This is an investment in your future on the RMAH and it’s easy to see why its worth getting. As far as Diablo 3 guides go, this one is probably the most bang for you buck, literally.

Diablo 3 Speed is a Diablo 3 guide focused on maximizing your time to the level cap. Everyone enjoys games differently and a great many gamers are total speed freaks. But maybe none can compete with John Bradley Smith, the maker of this Diablo 3 guide. If you haven’t scene his Mario Bros. 3 speed run, check it out below:

But all fun aside, this is a serious Diablo 3 guide intended for serious gamers.

Presentation

Score: 3.5/5

Diablo 3 Speed is a step-by-step written guide with accompanying images. While these types of guides can do the trick, videos are almost always superior. They give clearer visual cues and allow for gamers to follow the guides advice with greater ease. It’s especially hard when there are guides in the same niche offering videos. Nonetheless, what’s there is well presented, but not quite professional enough to earn a higher rating.

Content

Score: 4/5

This is a very limited guide in scope. You won’t get much more than advice on leveling at the speed of light. But the advice it gives on this topic is impressive and comprehensive. I always rate guides as a whole, so if a guide chooses to only focus on a niche, it needs to do it damn well not to be penalized. Diablo 3 Speed does just that. You won’t be disappointed with the quality of what Diablo 3 Speed has to offer.

Results

Score: 4.5/5

This guide is for real. I did a Diablo 3 Speed run and raced through the game in one sixth the time it took me without the guide. That’s pretty damn impressive. I leveled up faster, owned bosses and raced through every area. I can’t say much more than this because Diablo 3 Speed lives up to its promises. That’s what I call results.

Value

Score: 3.5/5

This guide lives up to its promises, but for 37 dollars, this guide is definitely on the higher side for a niche guide. Having said that, you get what you pay for. If you want a guide that will race you through Diablo 3 then this is your guide. If not, I’d probably take a pass as the value just isn’t great enough.