Why Do So Many Guides Lack Gameplay?

In all the guides I have reviewed so far, I can say with absolute confidence that the one section that is consistently missing is the gameplay section. Why do so many lack it?

I have a theory: It's easy to list the pros and cons, to give reasons for items and listing ways to use skills, but it is far more difficult to teach. Translating your own actions and thoughts to words isn't easy, and it's even harder when the audience may not even be familiar with the god in question. That's just my own crackpot theory.

In my honest opinion, I think gameplay is just implied sometimes. Every god in each role plays very similarly, so if every guide for Artemis, Neith and Cupid all say "Stay at the back and attack the targets you can reach, stay out of harms way in a teamfight", then it's be rather monotonous, to the point where I would be complaining about how every guide says the exact same thing (Although, admittedly, I rarely check out the guides section of SmiteFire, so I probably wouldn't even realise this 'issue' in the first place).

Also, may I ask, why are you implying that 'listing ways to use skills' isn't gameplay?

I mean, after all, in my opinion, the ways to use skills, or the ways to play with the lack of certain skills and mechanics, is the only thing that would differentiate gameplay between multiple characters of the same role.

Er, I could have worded that a bit better.

Most guides put down a skill, then put "Use Wing Gust as an escape or to deal damage. It's not burst damage, blah blah blah." They list what it can be used for, and I'm fine with that.

The main problem is the lack of, er, let's say there's a mid guide for Isis. The guide would show what each skill can do and how, but it doesn't help for stuff like contesting mid camps, laning aggressively vs passively, role in teamfights. Stuff like that.

So even if the Isis guide showed you what each skill could do and how, it wouldn't help you know when and where to use them, which is arguably more important.

Honestly, if I'm looking at a guide, I never read any "gameplay" sections anyway. I look at a guide to see what items they recommend using on such a god and maybe once in a while why to use them, and then formulate my own build for that god depending on what I think suits me more.

Besides, I feel like what you listed ("the pros and cons, to give reasons for items and listing ways to use skills") is fine enough for a guide. Some guides add more, and that's cool, but I don't think you really need to hold the hand of a person too much more. Sometimes the best way for people to learn how to use a god is for them to field test him/her/it.

Guides arent going to teach you the god after reading them. You might pick up one or two tricks by reading a gameplay section, but at the end of the day, a guide is intended to help guide you in the right direction with a specific god/role.

Guides can teach you what.
They cannot teach you how.
The how you will learn by yourself from experience.
Also applies to real life.

I don't mind when guides don't have a specific gameplay section, mostly because its a guide, not a gameplay bible.

Still, there should be chapters that explain what you should be doing.

Like let's say I want to know how to play Odin as a solo. I would want to know the general strategy and approaches that should be taken when laning, and what to do in such-and-such situations. Just listing a skill/item build and rather bare explanations of skills and purpose won't help at all.

Personally, even though I know my rather outdated guides are guilty of it, I hate guides that lack a gameplay section. You can tell someone all day every day exactly what to build, what to skill up, and how to use abilities. But if they don't understand how to USE the god, they're going to sit there and freeze during an engagement. You can tell when people simply don't know exactly what a god does - they either spam all their skills badly or don't cast any at all.

I really want to see more gameplay sections, at least for a teamfight section and a levels ~ 1-5 section.

^ Exactly.

Edit: Ooops, meant Sunfall's.

EditEdit: Actually, it could Apply to Raventhor's comment too.

^

^^