No paper manual?

[Davor]

I was bored so I clicked on a link to see the Special Edtion of Civ V. They have a pic of what you get. So I see you get 5 minis, The Art of Civilization, the Score, and the disc. What I don't see is a paper manual.

So this is telling me that there will be no paper manual at least in the Special Edtion of Civ V.

Sorry if this was mentioned before, I don't recall reading about no paper manual.

 

[Tylerryan79]

It will more likely than not be inside the case. So there will be a manual, but not a huge detailed one, unless they change it. They may have a PDF that's much more in detail, or a PDF of the civlopedia. Or just the tiny insert manual and the in game civlopedia.

 

[AriochIV]

Most games come with at least a pamphlet on how to install the game, but that's generally all you need. Printed manuals are expensive and usually out of date when the game ships.

 

[paradigmx]

As with most games made in the last 5 years, I expect a small, useless manual, a wall chart(tech trees etc.) and an in depth tutorial system. It's basically been announced that the advisors will walk you through the game if you want them to, that sounds like a tutorial to me.

Besides, the Civilopedia is pretty much all the manual you need. As another option, I would put money on there being an in depth strategy guide released on launch day, if you care to waste your money on it... like I will be... I'm a sucker for anything bearing the Civilization name.

 

[Davor]

Printed manuals are expensive and usually out of date when the game ships.

How come games are not getting any cheaper then when no manual is included then? I find it funny that the price to pay the game on steam is the same price that I pay for at a store?

I thought the store price would be more expensive, because of box, shipping and what not. So what is the excuse for the high price on steam and other digital download sites? Ah forget it, that is another story, this is one about manuals.

Well I find it weird that they wouldn't show the manual in the Special Editon.

I believe it was said no tech tree poster or anything like that so I am not expecting it. It seems those days are gone now.

 

[paradigmx]

How come games are not getting any cheaper then when no manual is included then? I find it funny that the price to pay the game on steam is the same price that I pay for at a store?

The cost of making a manual is very minimal in comparison to the rising costs of game development. It used to be that a high budget game would cost under a million dollars, nowadays a mid level budget is $25 million with some games reaching nearly $100 million.

Doom had a budget of $100 thousand, Starcraft 2 is supposedly $100 million.

 

[bestrfcplayer]

Most games come with at least a pamphlet on how to install the game, but that's generally all you need. Printed manuals are expensive and usually out of date when the game ships.

How are they out of date when the game ships? When I got CiV,EaW, and other games, the printed manuals always helped me play, and I got good thanks to the manuals (and the CiV tutorrial).

 

[CoolLizy]

When I got CiV,EaW, and other games, the printed manuals always helped me play, and I got good thanks to the manuals (and the CiV tutorrial).

CiV? Um... you mean the original Civilization, back in '91? It came with a whole pamphlet correcting mistakes in the manual (including references to an entire playable civilization that had been replaced), plus a second sheet of paper making additional corrections to the pamphlet!

 

[AriochIV]

How come games are not getting any cheaper then when no manual is included then? I find it funny that the price to pay the game on steam is the same price that I pay for at a store?

Two examples of the same thing: companies love to make products cheaper to manufacture, but that doesn't mean they're going to pass the savings on to us.

How are they out of date when the game ships? When I got CiV,EaW, and other games, the printed manuals always helped me play, and I got good thanks to the manuals (and the CiV tutorrial).

The lead-time to print manuals is pretty long, so they often have to send the manual to the printer before they're done tweaking the game. So, many times, a game ships with a manual that has errors in it. But even if that's not the case, the first patch that tweaks any numbers will make the manual obsolete.

 

[Zhahz]

Most manuals these days are pretty sad so why bother.

And many games these days have such slick UIs with readily available information or built-in reference materials (civlopedia for ex), that repeating it all in a printed manual is a waste of paper. Add some decent tutorials to introduce game concepts and whatnot, and the manaul is pretty much pointless.

 

[toft]

It is better for the economy AND the environment to skip the manuals. I would be just as happy about a pdf file.

 

[Wolfwood]

Yup, if I remember correctly, my Civ4 manual was out of date almost at the moment I got the game. It was ok to read while the game was installing, but not useful long after that.

 

[bite]

The only thing i used by civ manueal for was something to read on the Bus ride home to take the edge off before I installed it.

 

[Gamemaster77]

I actually read the big civIII manual cover to cover as a book. And that things more than a hundred pages and has small print.

 

[craig123]

How come games are not getting any cheaper then when no manual is included then?

As paradigmx said, development costs are growing exponentially yet games are still about the same price they were a decade ago. Therefore, companies have to look at ways of reducing costs (and trying to sell more games).

I find it funny that the price to pay the game on steam is the same price that I pay for at a store?

I thought the store price would be more expensive, because of box, shipping and what not. So what is the excuse for the high price on steam and other digital download sites? Ah forget it, that is another story, this is one about manuals.

The majority of a game's cost is its development costs. Even if they passed on the savings to customers that download the game, it wouldn't be that much cheaper (maybe $5?). Also, retail stores would probably object if the digital copy was being sold cheaper than the physical copy.

 

[aziantuntija]

It is better for the economy AND the environment to skip the manuals. I would be just as happy about a pdf file.

Civ manual is not actually a manual, its a good and funny book and im enjoying reading it very much.


Books are good, there must be some other way of saving the environment than stop making books