Alter Aeon Online Help

Keywords are:  'catrub puzzles'

A 'rub the cat' puzzle is a class of puzzle for which there is no
reasonable way to derive the answer based on the clues.  It is named
after a famous game which had a remarkably bad puzzle in it.

For that puzzle, your character was locked in a room with an electric
sliding door that would not open.  There were a large number of tools
and things you could click on, giving the player a ridiculous number
of options to choose from - going through every combination by brute
force to find the solution could literally take weeks.

The solution was approximately as follows:

- get the hammer from the tool box
- break a small glass window with it
- capture the cat
- rub the glass on the cat to generate static electricity
- use the cat on the door to zap the door, opening it

These kinds of puzzles are stupid, and they are generally not allowed
on Alter Aeon.  All quests should have enough information to complete,
without having to simply guess your way through hundreds of combinations
or ask other players.

If you are having trouble with a quest or puzzle, keep in mind that
clues may be found in books or tomes, as well as object, room and mob
long descriptions.  You may also get information by talking to mobs and
or exploring nearby areas.

If you are certain that you've found a 'rub the cat' puzzle on the game,
please report it as a bug with the 'bug' or 'typo' commands.

Please make sure you thoroughly explore a puzzle before reporting it.