#1 rule of the internet - don't feed the trolls. Oh well, here's dinner. Q: "Who really wanted to run around solving puzzles to open doors with herring bones when they could be exploring dungeons, shooting cacodemons, racing cars or any of the other more lively pleasures that 3D gaming embraced?" A: My 75yo mother. All gamers do not fit the white, English speaking, male, 20-30yos stereotypical profile, which probably doesn't event make up 50% of the market. Some gamers simply do not want "lively pleasures". The single most successful computer game in the history of the field (hours played / units shipped) is Free Cell. As a suggestion for a better (and more constructive) topic - perhaps examine why/how the sucessful adventure games transcended the fundamental difficulties you see with the genre. Special attention to The Longest Journey or Zork - don't remember a lot of pretty pictures in Zork - it worked though.