> I hope that really tough puzzles are the main reason people aren't finishing FQ,

I've got news for you: people are sissies when it comes to games these days. And that's because games these days tend to be far too simple. It's not just puzzle games (though ultra-easy stuff like Myst sure has hurt what used to be a tough genre -- play Myst and then try going through Zork). People aren't used to having to actually think or getting stuck in games. Especially with the growth of the internet where you can go grab a guide after you get stumped for more than 30 seconds, people just don't seem to have patience for things like gameplay.

It makes me sound old saying this, but growing up playing video games I know that way back in "my day" games were cruel, frustrating and very unforgiving. Now, a lot of times this was due to poor design, but you just expected a game to be tough (and you complained if it wasn't). Nowadays there's a lot of emphasis on graphical glitz and making games user friendly to the point where they're not tough at all.

Bah. It just upsets me, that's all. Fortunately there are still difficult games coming out (and I *loved* spending hours mulling over puzzles in FQ), and more so for computers then for consoles. But hey, its really sort of off-topic, so I'll stop ranting...

Ste "Way too obsessed with the gaming industry" phen