New Rules for Writing Achievement Guides

[The Pants Party]

Ok, there has been a steady decline in the quality of achievement guides being written on the forums, and admittedly a sloppy job by us mods of checking them over before they are posted on the main page. Because of this, mediocre to poor guides are being posted on our site. Many people have complained that the guides just plain aren't helpful, to the extreme that people have stopped coming here all together.

This is obviously a problem, as achievements and guides are our bread and butter. To counteract this, all guides will now be reviewed by the mods as soon as they are posted, with tips on how to make it better. Anything that seems unclear, we will ask you to elaborate on. Further on in this post you will see some examples of how to explain achievements.

Ok, here are the rules. Very simple, and they will make your guide outstanding.

Spelling and Grammar (Make it readable.)

A guide won't do anyone any good if they can't read it. If you have poor spelling and/or grammar, ask someone to look the guide over before you post it. If you have Microsoft Word, write your guide there first and run spellcheck, or use Firefox as your browser; it will run spellcheck as you go.

Not a sentence: "U got 2 the top it is ther."

Don't use any internet abbreviations or 1337 speak. Write it like you were submitting it for an English class.

Layout/Format (Make it pretty.)

Follow razzelson's guide HERE on how to get the achievement list to the forums for editing. Once you are done, it should look like THIS.

Line 1: Achievement Picture, Achievement Name
Line 2: Achievement Score, "G" Picture, Achievement Description
Line 3: Achievement Walkthrough (Add Italics and/or a different color to make it stand out)

Example:

Manic Roller
20 Hint: Running into walls will destroy your katamari.
For this one you have to run into walls 30 times during a stage. Try to get Eternal Mode unlocked on a level (by getting a score of 100 or more), then just keep running into walls for a while and hit X to exit the level. Do this together with "Speedy Roller" by dashing into the wall.

Achievement Detail (Make it descriptive.)

1. Write the guide assuming the user does not have the game manual.
2. Write the guide assuming the user will be terrible at the game.
3. Write the guide assuming the user is a little girl.
4. Write the guide with so much info, the user couldn't possibly have extra questions.
5. In other words, don't assume they will know anything. Do not assume the guide's user will have any previous knowledge of the game, the system, the controller... anything! Go into so much detail that your head hurts after writing the guide.

Here is an example using an achievement I just made up:

"Kill the rabid dog."

• Worst: "Self-explanatory" or "Like it says, kill the rabid dog." -- this gives no indication of where this dog is or how to kill it. No help whatsoever is given, it simply restates the achievement description, which we already know.

• Bad: "Kill the rabid dog in level 3." -- this gives the level location, but not an exact location and still no way of actually killing the dog.

• Better: "Kill the rabid bog in level 3 by sneaking behind and shooting it with your gun." -- still only a general location, but now we know pretty much how to kill it and with what to kill the dog.

• Best: "When you start level three, you will be in front of a brown house. Go around the left of the house to the back to find the dog. Press RB to go into sneak mode and get a few steps away from the dog. Pull out your gun (by pressing up on the D-pad), then shoot it with X." -- as you can see, this leaves no questions on where to find the dog or how to kill it. This means no one will have any doubt about how to get this achievement.

Achievements the "quick" way. (Make it easy.)

Aside from the "legit" way to get the achievements, is there a simpler way? These guides are not only how to get the achievements, but the fastest and easiest way to get them. For instance:

• Can you play against a second controller instead of the CPU?
• Can you play on the easiest game setting?
• Can you move any game sliders?
• Can you input cheat codes or turn in-game cheats on?
  
• Can you boost/trade online achievements? If so, how?
• Is there a complete walkthrough for the game itself?
• Do you have a list for collectibles? What about maps for them?
• Do difficulty achievements stack?
• Can you use level select for achievements?
• Do kills/collectibles/etc carry from game to game, difficulty to difficulty?

You should always note if these things apply to the game, because people WILL ask them. We get tons of repeat questions on the forums because these questions are not clearly addressed in the achievements guides. Make sure the user knows if any of these apply; if they don't, make sure they know that as well.

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In closing, a guide is not truly a guide until it passes the above standards. We will no longer be accepting the first guide posted, and it will no longer be up to the user when the guide is "done" and submitted. The mods will look the guide over and tell the user if it is ready.

Any suggestions or criticisms the mods impose on you, they are for your benefit, the guide's benefit and the site's benefit. Just take the help and fix the guide accordingly. Don't argue and piss and moan, that gets us nowhere and gets you closer to losing the chance at having your guide posted on the site.

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I feel like I've missed stuff, so if there is anything else you think should be in the "rules" or "guidelines" for writing our guides, please let me know and I'll think it over.

Thank you,
Alan

[Steelhead]

Holy crap, Pants. If people follow this model, the guides are going to be frickin incredible! Nice!

[Shinobi273]

You might also want to include a section on citations or giving credit to individuals that contribute to the guide. Also maybe some info on video guides/walkthroughs.

[Bodangles]

I LOVE THE PANTS PARTAYYY! 'tis beautiful pants. the perfect model for a guide. also, i really appreciate the lengths you are going to in order for our guides to be improved upon. it really is impressive. thanks again!

[DrH3rbz]

Very nice guideline for the guides, would have been a bit nicer to have had a few extra things in the Saints Row guide over the last few days, if only these guidelines were up sooner

(No offense to the SR guide writers intended)

[Crusher524]

Excellent setup, will make life a lot easier when following guides. Will these rules be used on older guides as well or just the new ones coming in?

[o BL4D3 o]

i personnally think pgr3 needs a better guide

[PerpetualHeaven]

Originally Posted by o BL4D3 o

i personnally think pgr3 needs a better guide

Then either submit changes for specific achievements you thought weren't very good OR make a new one and submit to Pants or put it in the submit forum (avoid posting it on the forums).

Anyways, excellent outline Pants. Hopefully this will increase quality of our guides. Pants, add in there that people cannot ASK for stickies. I see a lot of the time people are asking for stickies. No more asking for them and the mods will decide whether to sticky it or not.

[ClutchPapi34]

I people follow these guidelines for making the guides. I also think people should make video guides on you tube for some of the harder achievements.

[Brighton X]

Very, very good Pants, I'll change up my SC: DA Guide right now since I'm FINALLY almost done with it.

[Maka]

I must say taht hopefully this will help out our guides, but theres two points, on which I dont totally agree.

I dont think the description needs to be a different colour or italics, as long as its in a paragraph under the picture, description and points, I feel as though its perfect. Also about the "Self-explanatory" part. I understand, that in your example, it doesnt really make sense, and its a bad idea, but for something like "Play 10 games online", anyone who can read, can get it, and doesnt really need your help, unless there's some complex way of going into the online mode of that game.

All in all, good post.

[The Pants Party]

I disagree Maka. Like I said, it should be idiot-proof. An idiot would not know how to get to the online games, even if it was simple. You need to say, choose "Online" from the main menu and then select "Quick Match" to find a game. I don't care how easy the achievement seems, it needs a detailed description. That's the whole point of this operation, people are just assuming the achievement will be easy for people, so they aren't putting an effort in. However, they end up doing this with achievements that aren't easy, and then the guide is not helpful.

As for the different color/italics, that's just a suggestion to help the description stand out. I find it works better.

And yes to whoever asked, this does apply to older guides. If you feel an older guide is not up to snuff, attempt at writing a new one.

[Scotian Bred]

Now i know why my Sega Rally Revo guide isn't up yet after submitting it a week ago. but it all sounds good .. nice rules to follow.

but i got a question if your guide has spelling mistakes or the wrong word in a spot how does a guy tell someone who can change it .. who is in control of the guides section of the site ?

[Cyrex]

i tend to bold and underline my achievement names, and keep the pictures out because it looks much sloppier than without.



Another Idea make sure that the order of the achievments on the front site is the same as your guide that makes it even easier to find them when scrolling and looking for it

[Blind x360a]

^^But if your achievement is "See blah blah'' then Covert told me you should put them together so it is easier for people and they don't have to search.

[Dukefan45]

Great idea Pants. A guidline like this was needed.

[razzleson]

Originally Posted by number uno

but i got a question if your guide has spelling mistakes or the wrong word in a spot how does a guy tell someone who can change it .. who is in control of the guides section of the site ?

If you see any problems with any of the guides use the Feedback forum, there's a thread there for reporting spelling/grammatical errors. Just provide a link to the error and state what's wrong with it and one of the mods/admins will get to it ASAP.

EDIT: Here's a link http://www.xbox360achievements.org/f...ead.php?t=5808

[PerpetualHeaven]

Originally Posted by The Pants Party

I disagree Maka. Like I said, it should be idiot-proof. An idiot would not know how to get to the online games, even if it was simple. You need to say, choose "Online" from the main menu and then select "Quick Match" to find a game. I don't care how easy the achievement seems, it needs a detailed description. That's the whole point of this operation, people are just assuming the achievement will be easy for people, so they aren't putting an effort in. However, they end up doing this with achievements that aren't easy, and then the guide is not helpful.

As for the different color/italics, that's just a suggestion to help the description stand out. I find it works better.

And yes to whoever asked, this does apply to older guides. If you feel an older guide is not up to snuff, attempt at writing a new one.

The number one question that occurs with online achievements is this question: "Does it have to be a ranked match?" If it says win 10 online games, no one knows if it can be ranked or player and really, if you say "self explanatory" then maybe people try to earn it on a ranked match when you could clearly earn it in a player match with a friend. Which again brings us back to the point you had. Sometimes it may seem self explanatory but "Can it be done in a ranked match?" is a legitimate question that most people skip out on.

[Maka]

Originally Posted by PerpetualHeaven

The number one question that occurs with online achievements is this question: "Does it have to be a ranked match?" If it says win 10 online games, no one knows if it can be ranked or player and really, if you say "self explanatory" then maybe people try to earn it on a ranked match when you could clearly earn it in a player match with a friend. Which again brings us back to the point you had. Sometimes it may seem self explanatory but "Can it be done in a ranked match?" is a legitimate question that most people skip out on.

Maybe not the greatest example... But there have to be achievements that people seriously dont need help to get, no matter how slow you are.

[PerpetualHeaven]

Originally Posted by Maka

Maybe not the greatest example... But there have to be achievements that people seriously dont need help to get, no matter how slow you are.

Never say never my friend. I'm sure even you have seen examples of this. Honestly, I've seen people ask questions about King Kong. Let's be serious. You just play the game and beat it and you get all the achievements.

[Clipse 2]

Rules look good Pants. I personally don't care how the damn thing looks just as long as someone with the mindset of Karl Childers from Slingblade can read, understand, and follow it.

Hopefully people will see this and follow it.

Thank you.

[Scotian Bred]

Originally Posted by razzleson

If you see any problems with any of the guides use the Feedback forum, there's a thread there for reporting spelling/grammatical errors. Just provide a link to the error and state what's wrong with it and one of the mods/admins will get to it ASAP.

EDIT: Here's a link http://www.xbox360achievements.org/f...ead.php?t=5808

thank you very much .. i need to do some editing on my Sega Rally guide , i noticed a few mistakes.

[Way Fast CBR]

hopfully people will follow that, i love this site for the guides and would hate to see it go bad like alot of other sites have. its great when somone is descriptive about how to get it and where to find somthing. take all the guess work and searching out of it

[killlah631]

I think the most helpful part of this addition is that the mods are going to review it thoroughly...so regardless if the people follow the guidelines or not, their guides wont make it to the main site or be stickied without official mod review.. Great new addition!

[Tibbs]

great plan pants, most guide i had read in the pass few months, more then other said Self-explanatory, and when I first got here on the site, the guide was a really idea... hope everyone follow your outline, again great job

[jackanape]

Sounds like a plan to me. Just one question really. Are you going to go and reassess all of the old guides and get rid of any that aren't of the required standard? Or will you leave all the guides up unless someone complains or makes a superior version?

Just wondered really as if there are any improvements to be made to older guides it might be fair to approach the original author first and give them a chance to make changes.

I would like to say that all of the guides I've used on this site have helped me immensely. Keep it up all you helper monkeys out there!

[The Pants Party]

Any older guide we'll leave up to the members to call out. They've been up for this long, so they must be doing a decent job, but I'm sure there are a bunch that could be better.

[PerpetualHeaven]

Originally Posted by jackanape

Sounds like a plan to me. Just one question really. Are you going to go and reassess all of the old guides and get rid of any that aren't of the required standard? Or will you leave all the guides up unless someone complains or makes a superior version?

Just wondered really as if there are any improvements to be made to older guides it might be fair to approach the original author first and give them a chance to make changes.

I would like to say that all of the guides I've used on this site have helped me immensely. Keep it up all you helper monkeys out there!

People have always had the ability to submit changes to a guide or actually submit a brand new guide to replace it. I guess no one really knew until now but we're encouraging people to help us improve the guides. Of course we'll be approaching the original authors to let them make changes. If anyone thinks they can improve it, submit the improvements or a brand new guide and they'll get credit. Simple as that.

[shoutemup92]

Originally Posted by Steelhead

Holy crap, Pants. If people follow this model, the guides are going to be frickin incredible! Nice!

YEA THEY WOULD BE IF THEY ALL CAN BE LIKE THIS!

[sawman90]

Hey, I have a question, can we redo and of the achievement guide that are up, if they are unhelping to how to get the achievements. because I have noticed in some of the older games the guide just tells you what to do but no help how to get there or what to do to get there.