Alternatively there were the hotlines, though they were expensive.
I'm ESL so playing OOT was a bit hard for me back then since I wasn't able to read what was going on, or only had vague ideas.
The first time I called to the nintendo line in my country it was for help on how to makes Darunia dance by playing the saria song.
I remember the lady who helped me on the line was very sweet and nice, she even joked when I mentioned Navi to her, saying something like "oh, navi, navi".
The way the explained what I had to do was also very clear, and I felt like I was talking to someone who actually played and knew the game (even if maybe she was reading it all from a guide and never played the game, who knows).
I kind of felt attracted to this lady, still remember her voice. A weird but nice experience for me.
The second time was shitty, another lady picked the call, and this time I could tell she had no idea about the game, and just started reading from a guide like a machine, I couldn't even follow her instructions, I just solved the problem on my own by trial and error, the call was a waste. It was for help on the Silph Co. building of pokemon, the part with the maze and the directional pads.