King's Quest IV: The Real Perils

Sierra News Magazine, Autumn 1989

KING'S QUEST IV ^ THE REAL PERILS

By Marti McKenna

Do you find yourself wandering around in peasant clothing, carrying in your pock- ets (or wherever) such objects as worms and dead fish, ducking ogres (and ogres- ses), avoiding trolls, trees, sharks, and various creatures of the undead per- suasion? If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, you may be one of the many stricken with a chronic affliction which is sweeping the known world — THE PERILS OF ROSELLA!

The Perils can strike anyone, young or old, and without warning. But fear not, there is help! The research staff at Sierra On-Line has isolated some of the most common traits of this serious calamity. If you or someone you know is showing symptoms, the following case histories, along with our solutions may benefit you. (For more intensified treatment, 4 out of 5 doctors surveyed recommended the Kinf>'s Quest rVhm book).

CASE #9834.3

—MRS.L. AGE: 34

"They were wheeling my wife out of surgery, and she was mumhling, '...have to kill the troll...'" Mr L.

This subject was obviously obsessed by a desire to inflict bodily harm on a creature who, much like the common honey-bee, wants only to be left alone. When her hus- band contacted us, Mrs. L. was in a very agitated state. We instructed Mr. L. to assist

his wife in avoiding the troll by saving her game before entering each room in the troll's cave. As the troll's appearance is random, Mrs. L. was eventually successful in passing through the cave unmolested, and our friend the troll was spared his life.

CASE #3487.8

— ELLEN B. AGE: 47

"Thank heavens you answered, /' ve been stuck in a whale's mouth for nine hours and his breath is killing me!" Ellen

Ellen's case illustrates one of the most common symptoms of 'The Perils'. Sub-

jects feel compelled to swim back and forth through .shark infested waters until they are swallowed by a whale. Subsequently, they will spend long periods of time knee deep in what one can only imagine might exist in a whale's mouth, and much shorter in- tervals making any progress at all climbing the whale's tongue. When Ellen came to us she was a desperate woman — on the ragged edge. A Sierra representative worked with her until she was finally able to negotiate the climb, taking a diagonal path from the bottom right, to the top center of the tongue. She then tickled the whale's rather large uvula, causing the creature to sneeze, and was immediately expelled

"WELCOME TO SIERRA'S NEW AUTOMATED HINT LINET

hy Liz Jacobs

Customer Service Manager

I am so happy to be able to announce the opening of the long, long awaited arrival of our new phone system. I had mentioned in the last newsletter that AT&T was working on putting in place a new high tech phone system that could handle virtually unlimited phone lines. The system is in place and we are able to monitor through AT&T how many phone calls get through and how many receive a busy signal. By monitoring this information, we will be able to increase the number of phone lines that are needed to provide the caliber of service that Sierra believes its customers should receive. As many of you have already discovered, the "old" Customer Ser- vice/Hint Line (209) 683-6858 is no

longer in service. That number will now redirect your call to a variety of numbers depending on your need and where you are calling from. Our "new" Customer Service number is (209) 683-8989. This number is to be used by all customers who need technical or general customer service help. If you are having trouble getting the game to run or need to find out what status your order is in, or per- haps just need to find out about our upcoming releases, this is the number to call. THIS IS NO LONGER THE HINT LINE. During the time that we were conducting our study to find a solution to our phone troubles, we discovered a very interesting fact — those people who were calling Customer Service for a hint had a much more persistent redial finger!! People who needed technical support were giving up trying to get

Page 18

Sierra News Magazine

from the mouth. Reports say Ellen was found unhurt on a deserted island several miles away.

CASE #8749.9

— NANCY E. AGE: 12

"I'll let you talk to my daughter... she's stuck in the ogre's house with some stupid chicken." Mrs. E.

This case is a prime example of one manifestation of 'The Perils' which many readers may recognize. It preys on those who are so unfortunate as to find themsel- ves in possession of the 512k version of King's Quest IV, and a clock speed under 8mhz. Victims will spend countless hours trying to escape the ogre's house, all in vain. No amount of abuse will keep the hen from squawking, and the ogre in- variably awakes, but many are able to retreat to the woods and to safety. Alas, our Nancy E. was not among the.se, and poor Mrs. E. feared that she would have to institutionalize her daughter. Sierra's rescue team intervened not a moment too soon. We replaced Nancy's 512k version with a new set of 256k disks. We are pleased to report that Nancy is respond- ing very well to therapy.

CASE #7460.5

— Myron M. Age: 24

"WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME HOW TO SHUT THIS KID UP!!" Myron

A key indicator of 'The Perils' is the tendency for the victim to become irritated and impatient. When we received Myron's plea, his frustration was evident in his tone. He was immediately diagnosed as a 'Perils' casualty, and a rep was successful in calm- ing him so that treatment could be ad- ministered. The 'kid' in question was in- deed a baby ghost, and it was clear to the trained ear that he was crying for his rattle. Myron was instructed to search for this toy in the obvious place, the graveyard. He reluctantly took up his shovel and after locating the grave of a six month old infant, dug until the much sought after silver rattle was unearthed. Myron's fits were brought under control, and he is undergoing rehabilitation.

The Perils of Rosella cannot be cured, only treated and allowed to run its course. It is highly contagious, and in some cases whole families have been quarantined. The symptoms can continue for several months, during which those close to the victim report a nearly uncontrollable desire

to throttle him or her. According to our statistics however, no directly related fatalities have occurred. Thanks to the Sier- ra Team, most patients recover and go on to lead normal, healthy lives. If someone you love is afflicted, call Sierra.

We care! Q

King's Guest III BBS

Contacts Lead To Weddings

Timothy Hobbs, browsing a BBS one day last Fall, responded to a user's plea for help about King's Quest HI. A friendship developed on the BBS even though Chris- tine Bodnar lived 2600 miles away, and on May 25, 1989, Timothy and Christine were married.

Last September two other BBS users — their on-line ID's are Debbie and Alarm — also "met" through trading hints on Sierra games. April 1 5, 1 989 was the wedding day for Ron and Debbie Wood.

Congratulations to both couples.

through to Customer Service. In other words, they weren't getting serviced at all! It was this fact that finalized our decision to separate the hint line from Customer Service. For those of you who have not tried our NEW automated hint line....please do!!! I think you will find that it's easy to use, it's fun to use, AND best of all, it will probably cost you LESS to use! You must have a touch tone phone to use this service, and it can only be accessed within the United States, at this time.The system consists of listening to a series of menu selections and making your choice of which game and which hints you would like to hear. You can RELISTEN to the menus and the hints as many times as you care to. You may want to listen to two or three hints in the same area of the game to make sure you get ALL the information that you need to progress in the game! By listening to the hint a second time, you will have the information solidly in your mind. You can slay on the hint line as long as you want, moving from game to game if you choose. So often 1 have heard a customer say "I listened to the hint on the

hint line and I did what it said, but it did not work." I would say that there are two major reasons for this: 1 ) you have done all of the things that you THINK you are suppose to, but you are playing from a "saved game" that does not include all of your actions, or 2) you are simply using the wrong words in your commands. If the command that you type is not the response that the game is looking for, just reword your command several different ways. Many times if you keep " playing" with the verbiage, you will find the right com- mand.This hint line is fun!! Wait until you call for a Gold Rush hint and hear our "ole" miner answer your questions, or let our "English knight" help you find your King's Quest hint. I feel confident that these new "Sierra friends" will bring a smile to your face! Since most of you have already experienced our "old" phone sys- tem that included sitting "on hold" for five to twenty minutes, I am sure you can believe that the new system could cost you less on your phone bill! The new Hint Line is a "900" number. There is a $0.75 charge for the 1st minute and a $0.50

charge for every additional minute. This fee INCLUDES all charges. There will be NO additional long distance charges. Since our records indicate that most calls are averaging 3 minutes, then the average bill per call is $1.75. Check your old phone bills. I'm sure this is cheaper! The phone number is 1-900-370-KLUE. For California residents only, the phone num- ber is 1-900-370-51 13. (Anyone UNDER the age of 18 must have parental permis- sion to call these numbers.) At Sierra, providing all of the tools necessary for our customers to enjoy our software is of primary concern. We feel that we now can service those customers with a technical need and we are still providing hints for everyone. For those customers who do not have a touch tone phone and can not use the new hint line, we still provide hints on our Bulletin Board Service, we do .sell the hint books for $7.95, and we still accept your hint questions by mail. We will make every effort to address this mail quickly.

Happy Adventuring! G