> I'm assuming that pretty much everyone who completes The Trainer goes ahead and registers for Fantasy Quest, which means that there are a hillion jillion players out there who have abandoned FQ in the middle of things. Why? Is it only because of the black cat or similar stumpers (for which Sam has already received more than his due share of flak)?

The cat is the biggest one. About nine out of ten requests for hints are about the cat. I maintain that that's a reasonable puzzle. (I've conceded the point on the first-floor-to-second-floor tower puzzle, though.)

As of right now, there are 1006 people with Fantasy Quest games in progress. I haven't done any sort of check to see what percentage of them were abandoned after the first one or two moves, or any other sort of assessment of what percentage of the people are where, or how many of them are still "current." (This does, however, only include games that have been touched at some point since April 1.)

> ...if people are just giving up because they get bored, what a pity. Only 39 people (or less) have ever read the really great ending to Fantasy Quest. That's a shame...

For some reason, I'm not too concerned about this. It makes it more special for the people who do finish to be listed as one among a few. Huh. I guess it doesn't bother me because 39 is still way more people than I've ever roped into playing any of my games before, back before the web provided me a humongous ready-made audience. (And as the game will remain available, that number will grow without bound as time goes on.) And that 1006 people have been playing it just in the last three months is mind-boggling to me.

Nevertheless, GotA won't have any of the particular types of sticky spots that weigh down FQ right in the middle, like the cat and the tower. I hope it will turn out to be just as difficult, but in a manner that the game earns the right to be, by playing fair, keeping the puzzles logical, and keeping the story consistent.