We chat about videogames and videogame accessories.

I'm not disagreeing that a lot of games handle help and teaching and other things in a very lazy and poorly-done manner. The part I do disagree with, though, is this:

You may well complain that they should make golf easier so everyone can score under par.

That's not at all where I'm going at. The analogy would work if once you scored under par they kicked you off the golf course (and also you didn't get in the way of other patrons but analogy), but otherwise it's going in a completely different way. I don't think someone should ever be locked out of significant portions of a game's content just because they can't figure out a puzzle or concept or can't get the timing of a maneuver down or anything along those lines. I'm all for putting in the option to ensure people still have to earn their way through it if they want, but what if I can't earn it but still want to get further into the game? Should I just suck it up and have only 40% of the game experience or should there be ways to help with it?