I agree with all of this! I too really hate guides that go "you'll want to do X because of Y later". Even if it IS a walkthrough, writing it this way says "the best way to play the game is to know what's coming up". As a matter of principle I will not do something because I expect event X, unless the game has given hints that event X is likely. In most of these cases, doing this "preparation" isn't even necessary - it just makes it easier.

Some guides do more than hint at you being stupid. :) What I find funny though is that often times these guys are just wrong - their "best" way is often just ONE way, or sometimes not the best way to begin with! So I take some consolation knowing that their the ones that are stupid (but I'm too lazy to blast an email at them).

Also agree that general hints, especially combat skills, are useful, or to say "skill X is never actually used", since that happens in F1 (not so much F2).

Additionally, it's useful, especially for F1/F2, to know what the skills actually DO (apart from the combat skills, since they're self-explanatory). For example, I don't think the manual actually explains what Outdoorsmanship does, so you'd need a guide for that. Also useful to know that most skills are not needed past 100%, and to know which ones are. True that, worth checking out - although from memory I think it's any value less than 4 (although if you're going to go below 4, you may as well bottom it out and use the stats on something else).

Stupid characters miss out on a lot of dialogue, but gain their own dialogue. There are some options you don't have as a stupid character. They miss out on a number of quests, but in F2 there is at least one quest I know of that only stupid characters can get (not sure about F1).

Definitely worth trying at least once for the LOLs.