Letters Any letters or e-mails received on an adventuring-related topic may be reprinted in here unless marked 'not for publication'. -------------------------------------------------------------------- @~Last issue there was a suggestion for an HTML version of SynTax. @~So we'll kick off this issue's letters section with a comment @~from: Richard Hart, Howard Beach USA by email I like the idea of the paper version and disk rather than the HTML Version, and with the 3.5 disk I can take it with me and read it on my notebook whilst I am waiting somewhere. As well as have it in the office. Plus I can go back to previous editions for a hint on a game. -------------------------------------------------------------------- @~Next a query about MM7 from: Brian Burke, Nottingham by email I recall when playing MM6 that it was possible to move the character windows. i.e. if your super bowman is normally on the left & you wanted to move them to the right - it was possible to do that. But I can't seem to replicate this in MM7. Firstly I've forgotten how I did it & second the key combinations I've tried so far aren't working. Of course it's always possible that the feature has been removed. @~Does anyone know how to do this? -------------------------------------------------------------------- @~It's always nice to know which bits of the mag people enjoy. Here @~are some comments on last issue from: Carolyn Brown, Cumbria by email Thank you for the latest SynTax, which I am enjoying. I particularly liked your article on game manuals, and I think there is a lot of truth in what you say about manual readers and non manual readers. I am one of the former, and agree with you that it probably has everything to do with my upbringing; my parents believed (like most of their generation) that you had to do whatever you were told without question, and if something was unpleasant then it was better for you than something nice! So, I'm told to read a manual by the game people and I b----y well read it! I feel I'm not doing it right if I don't, which is really daft. These days, when you buy budget games, the manual is frequently hidden on the CD, and I get quite panicky if I can't readily access it when I start to play. Honestly, the paper and ink I've wasted in the past on printing out the darned things, you just wouldn't believe! I also agree with your comments re Amazon. I discovered this site last year, and finally plucked up my courage to order a book - the first internet shopping I have ever done. I couldn't believe how quickly it came, and how beautifully packaged, with its bookmark and little pad of post-it notes. Since then I have had another couple of books. I'd like to go berserk and order loads. Maybe, like you, I'll eventually qualify for a mug! @~I haven't used my mug yet. Since giving up smoking about four @~years ago, I don't like my own coffee, though I can drink ones @~made for me. Weird or what?! -------------------------------------------------------------------- @~Bev also had some comments on the same RTFM article. From Bev Truter, Carnegie, Australia by email ...[I] have spent the last week plodding through the manual for Settlers 2. YES! I AM one of those people who reads all the manuals from cover to cover before touching any game for the first time! Re your article, with the bit from Adrian at the end, I'm also one of those people that lugs along maps on most bushwalks; but that's because of the remoteness and length of some of the walks in Australia - getting lost isn't a worry, it's the getting lost and dying because no-one will ever find you that bothers me! @~I think we'd both agree that's a very good reason for taking a @~map! -------------------------------------------------------------------- @~When I contacted readers about the email version, I asked if they @~had any suggestions for increasing the membership, especially @~online. Here are some of the suggestions and comments. From Nick Edmunds, Worcester by email With regard to increasing SynTax interest on the Net, I have recently had similar thoughts with regard to some of my web sites, in that you really need to offer something online, but not give too much away. Thus my immediate thought is a searchable SynDex database, where orders could be placed for back issues, this sort of thing may even work to some extent with the disk library. Otherwise anything you do online would have to be member- orientated, with limited access for guests and not tread too much on the usual SynTax content. -------------------------------------------------------------------- From Peter Smith, Waterbeach by email With respect to finding more people who would be interested in SynTax: get SynTax mentioned on as many websites as possible? Ensure SynTax's own web-site will be found by search engines? Some websites are effectively online magazines. "Quandary" http://members.iinet.net.au/~quandary/ which focuses on mainly graphic adventures is done as a magazine. But online magazines obviously can't charge subscriptions so if funding was required then you would need to look at adverts? @~Do you have anything to add? ------------------------------------------------------------------- @~And finally some suggestions from: Neil Currie, Clydebank, by email I'd be quite happy to receive Syntax by e-mail. The only worry would be the file size and downloading time - perhaps you could issue it at the weekend when call charges are cheaper, or you could email us first a few days before you send it to let us know it's coming (I've set Outlook up to refuse mail if the size is too big). @~SynTax is sent out zipped and will still fit onto a high density @~disk so it will always be under 1.44 meg. Officially it goes out @~at the middle of the month so I will aim for the following @~weekend (ie this issue will be mailed out over the weekend from @~Friday 17th to Sunday 19th.) Personally I must say that @~sometimes day time is so much quicker on the Net that it works @~out cheaper for me than evenings! - o -