ooh well i have to say that i disagree with that in the strongest possible
terms. for me, the prose is utmost. my own game "busted!" has very few
merits in terms of puzzles (they've been done before, they're illogical, etc)
but i like to think my writing makes up for it. many have emailed to say
that that is indeed the case, so i feel like i'm not just making this up out
of thin air. :)
> As I said in my previous post, I don't think one has to be a good
> writer to "write" a good IF game. Indeed, a number of IF authors have
> said that they don't consider themselves good prose writers. It doesn't
> detract one whit from their games.
i think it detracts enormously. there are plenty of games that have seemed
interesting to me that i have just thrown out without finishing because i
couldn't stand reading the text. like it or not, IF is a text-based medium
and i think the quality of the text - in all respects - is incredibly
important. even the LAYOUT of it on-screen is important to me.
> It just goes to show
> that people enjoy IF in a myriad of different ways. And that's as it
> should be.
i agree with you here! and that's why i think mentioning the quality of the
writing is ABSOLUTELY appropriate for a review of an IF game.
-jon