Witch Door

Frequently Asked Questions

This site is still under development, but we expect a demo version of the story to be online by Christmas.

Frequently Asked Questions

1) The site is broken. Something went wrong. What are you going to do about it?

We have tested this website and the interactive flow of the story across multiple browsers and through all the options we can think of. However, there are many things that can go wrong, and we are sincerely sorry if witchdoor.com has given you grief. The main purpose we put the site and story together was so that people could enjoy it, and if you've had problems, then that really does make us feel bad. Please remember that we are not a big organisation, and we don't have departments full of people writing bullet proof code and spending weeks undertaking user testing. Sometimes we get it wrong, sometimes things just don't work because it is the nature of the internet. The big players on the web generally have multiple redundancy with backup sites ready to take over in the event of problems, but unfortunately we don't have that luxury. We would really appreciate it if you could use the contact us page to send us a description of the problem you had. It would be particularly helpful if you could describe exactly where you were in the story when it happened, what the page was before the problem happened, what the problem was, and if possible could cut and paste the full URL address from your browser. You can send this report anonymously, or if you want to include your email address, we will give you an update within 48 hours.

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2) How can I save my location in the story, so that I can come back to it later?

We use cookies to save your position in the story. This means that if you return to the game within 30 days, our computer will check the cookie on your computer, and figure out where you are up to. This is the simplest method for all concerned, and while cookies have a bad reputation (see the next FAQ), the ones used to save your location in the story serve no other purpose than that. If you have disabled cookies on your computer, or you wish to continue the game on a different device (or a different browser on the same device), then you will need to copy the site address (the URL) and take it to your other computer. The easiest way to do this is probably to right-click-copy the address, and then paste it into an email, which you send to yourself. You should then be able to click on the link when you view the email on the other device.

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3) I've heard cookies are bad. Why do you use them?

Cookies have a bad reputation because advertisers and large organisations can use them to follow your internet browsing behaviour across multiple websites. For example, if you looked at a site relating to hedgehogs, and that site included advertisements from a particular online bookshop, you may find that for the next few weeks, every time you view a site with advertisements from the same bookshop (or their affiliates or partners), you are plagued with advertisements for books about hedgehogs. For witchdoor.com you may find our third party advertisers doing precisely that (as they would on the myriad of other sites that host their ads), but that is entirely different to the cookies we use to enhance the running of the interactive story. We use them for the purpose for which they were originally intended, which is to save information so that you don't have to start fresh every time you visit the site. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information.

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4) Why isn't there a logon option, so that I can save where I'm up to in the story?

Including facilities to register an account means that we would need you to supply an email address and password. That creates all sorts of complexities and expectations, and we just don't have the resources required to do it right for this non-commercially viable site.

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5) So what's the problem with passwords and email addresses?

While most people on the Internet are reasonable, well meaning, intelligent people, there are a vocal minority who are quite definitely not. Such people may receive spam soon after they've given us their email address, and decide to hurl a whole lot of abuse and grief our way, based on what would actually be a coincidence. It's happened before, it's not pleasant, and we'd rather keep this site simple and concern free for all involved. Likewise, if we need to store email addresses and passwords, then the risk (small though it is) of our system getting hacked puts a lot of responsibility on us. We think it unlikely that anyone would be silly enough to use the same password on our site that they use for their banking or other important data, but no matter how small the risk, we'd prefer not to be responsible for it.

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6) Why don't you have a newsletter or other method for emailing me updates about the witchdoor.com?

We maintain a social media presence that will list any new features or stories as they become available. We have no desire to email you anything that could be construed as spam and would prefer not to have a list of email addresses that we would need to keep secure (as noted above).

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7) Is witchdoor.com an original story? What was the inspiration?

Yes, it is an original story, following the standard format of the many role playing games that were popular during the 80's. The restrictive requirements for the interactive progression both limit and simplify the writing style. It's definitely no work of high literature, but hopefully it provides the reader with some enjoyment.

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8) Is witchdoor.com complete, or will it get bigger?

Currently the site is still under development. We intend to add further chapters to the story and may revise the other content as we progress. Keep a watch of any of our social media accounts for updates.

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9) Are you going to create any more stories like witchdoor.com?

witchdoor.com is still underdevelopment, but once that is done, we would like to have a go at putting together another story. Watch our social media accounts for updates.

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10) Do you intend to publish any more interactive stories?

Yes, provided we get at least a few appreciative readers of this story, we intend to have a go at another one sometime.

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11) I would like to publish an interactive story. Can you help me?

Yes... maybe. There's a lot of work that goes into creating a site like this, but we'd certainly be willing to consider any proposals that you may like to pitch. Contact us.

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12) I've enjoyed reading witchdoor.com. Is there anything I can do to say thanks for providing this site for free?

If you have enjoyed using this site, we'd appreciate it if you would give us a plug, a plus one, a like, or some other virtual endorsement on the greater world wide web.

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This site is still under development, but we expect a demo version of the story to be online by Christmas.