Leveling guides are instruction books and/or videos that contain hints or complete solutions to specific online games. The line between leveling guides and walkthroughs is somewhat blurred, with the former often containing or being written around the latter. Leveling guides are often published in online. In cases of exceptionally popular game titles, guides may be sold through more mainstream publication channels, such as bookstores or even newsstands. But most publishers sell E-Book versions on their websites.
Leveling guides marketed as "official" are written by game distributors themselves or licensed to a specialty publishing house; Prima Games (a division of Random House) and BradyGames (a division of Pearson Education) specialize in writing official guides for various companies. There are also a number of publishers who make unlicensed, "unofficial" leveling guides, and many of today's mainstream publishers began by making such guides.
The contents of a leveling guide varies between game genres. Typically, the guides contain detailed gameplay information, for example, maneuvers that are not detailed in the manual.
Complete maps of the game, which show the placement of all items (including hidden and hard-to-find ones). You can also find detailed instructions for specific locations and information on how to proceed from there.
There are explanations of puzzles and details of enemies, including techniques on defeating individual enemies (especially bosses), the segment for minor enemies is commonly referred to as a bestiary.
Game editing has been less common in official guides. Walkthroughs, on the other hand, are usually present to help the player complete levels. And there is also advice on tactics and strategies for use in multi-player (games with multi-player only)
In order to be released at the same time as the game, commercial leveling guides are often based on a pre-release version of the game, rather than the final retail version. Some leveling guides are sometimes published before the game itself is published.
For example, for the recently released game SWTOR (Star Wars The Old Republic Game) there are several leveling guides available. Here is a list of some of them:- 1) SWTOR Secrets Leveling Guide Review; 2) SWTOR Aeon Leveling Guide Review SWTOR; 3) SWTOR Saviour Leveling Guide Review; 4) WealthyHutts SWTOR Credits Guide Review; 5) Strife SWTOR Video Leveling Guide Review; 6) SWTOR Online Leveling Guide Review; 7) SWTOR Use The Force Leveling Guide Review; 8) SWTOR Ultimate TOR Leveling Guide Review
The increasing availability of online multiplayer games (MMORPG’s) has increased some of the demand for leveling guides. Print guides often feature extensive picture-by-picture walkthroughs, maps, and game art, none of which is possible in the plain-text works hosted by prominent sites such as GameFAQs. Some newer sites allow leveling guides to be hosted in formats that allow pictures and videos, which further undercuts the advantages of print leveling guides.
The rise of video-sharing sites such as YouTube has given rise to video walkthroughs using programs such as Fraps allowing players to more easily mirror the strategies being described.
