I understood what you mean, Rob. Indeed, I think text adventures are the best type of game for someone with strong writing skills. Especially now with tools like Inform 7 and TADS, you really don't have to have a big understanding of programming (though it helps to at least understand the concepts). And I think the key to making a really great adventure game is knowing how to write really good descriptions and scenes. If it's done right, an adventure game, like a novel, is full of "imagery" instead of "images." Yeah, you don't have graphics or illustrations, but you have such descriptive prose that you don't have any problem "seeing" the action in your imagination.

I find it sad that people can even try to read Tolkien and be unable to visualize any of what he's writing about. His descriptions of Frodo and Sam at Mt. Doom were downright painful to read--not because of bad writing, but because he was so descriptive of the wretched conditions there. It made you feel that you were there with them!

I also noticed this recently when I read Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. That's another good adventure story with great detail. Heck, I can still remember what the Nautilus "looked like" now, months after finishing the story.