Hello new Adventurers! 
My name is FoulFox; Streamer, Part-time player, and Critical Failure. 

I have been around this game so long that I should know everything, but I don't know anything. I have made my share of mistakes and much of them have been enough to make me rage quit a few times. Though admittedly, I continue to find myself back here because the PEARL ABYSS team happens to be the only team in the industry today who know how to make a half-entertaining MMO. (Yes shots fired at Blizzard and Amazon.)

I want to share with you today the unspoken rules of BDO Guides. 
Rule number 1 is of course, is to ALWAYS RESEARCH whatever you are working on, always triple confirm your knowledge. But more importantly is rule number 2. 
Rule 2. NEVER IMPROVISE You will read through guides and assume that because you know what has to happen first that you just go start that and tab the page? NO heed the warning of a failure and make sure you read every bit of the guide before you start. 

Imagine you are me? You decide, "Boy Im going to go make an Epheria Sailboat today!" So you go look it up and see the material list and figure "Ehhh Ok lets start gathering" You spend tons of time gathering and processing and then you place all  the items in storage at PORT EPHERIA and think "Oh boy its time to make that boat!" 
Just to be slapped in the face with reality and realize that you should have been storing said material in Port Epheria the whole time because the workers need to carry 1 piece of material at a time to the shipyard... 
Even worse is you hired slow GIANT WORKERS because you figured the hard part is over. Now after gathering and collecting for nearly 2 months you have to wait for your workers to carry 1 piece at a time for 2 - 3.5 hours a piece. All because you didn't read the guide entirely. 
NEVER IMPROVISE, ALWAYS READ THE GUIDE IN IT'S ENTIRETY. 

Rule 3. NEVER INVEST IN PLEASURE 
I have made a lot of in-game silver. And I have wasted just as much on silly crap like horse breeding and buying logs for a boat. 
Never spend all your silver on things that won't help you advance the core-game. Boats, Housing, Horses, Leveling pets and Fairies... All of that can be done as you work on core-game things like leveling, growing, grinding, Node Wars, etc. 
The truth is that had I spent my silver on my character's gear score I would have likely had 12 boats and dream horses by now what with boss runs and node wars... Always prioritize your character's gear score over anything shiny. 

Finally the 4th unspoken rule from a Prolific Failure is; THE COMMENTS ARE ALMOST ALWAYS RIGHT. 
That edgy keyboard warrior commenting below? Yea... He probably right though... Never take anything at face value. The community is good at weeding out BS. 

This has been a beginner's guide to BDO guides as told by a Prolific Failure... And remember... Please sale me all your logs so I don't have to go chopping...