Going back a few pages ('cos I've been away and have only just caught up)...
Quote:
Originally Posted by noelbruton
Take two doors. Door One is just locked. You have to find the key, which is not a key as such but a means of opening the door. You saw it somewhere, but at the time, you didn't know you needed it. Now you have to remember where you saw this, and put the door and it together conceptually first, physically second. That's a puzzle.
Door Two is also locked. But this time you are being kept out by the antagonist who refuses to open up. The antagonist has reason and motive for doing so and only when you overcome his reasoning, will he have no choice but to release the door. That's a plot, part of the story.
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Now, you see, I would call these both puzzles. One involves inventory and the other involves a dialogue, but in both cases you're trying to figure out what you have to do to get through the door. "Think of correct object to use" is essentially the same as "Think of correct thing to say". The only difference is in the atmosphere, mechanical vs interpersonal.
They both advance the plot, in that you've now got through the door and can proceed. The second one has more possibilities to advance the plot in other directions as well -- for instance, the doorkeeper might join you as an ally or assist you in other ways (or come to dislike you more if he realises you've fast-talked him). But none of these necessarily follow from the puzzle; you could just as easily go through the door and never see the doorkeeper again.
