Did anybody, when you played this game for the first time (and if you got this message), actually get the hint that this was supposed to hint at? I know now this is supposed to be a hint that you didn't get something important and now you're screwed, but it's a vague hint to me. I got this message over and over and over again when I first played this game, and I thought it was because I took too long to escape from the dark forest. Without the hint book, I never would have guessed that I hadn't retrieved something I needed before entering the forest (in my case, it was the honeycomb that I didn't get).

"Well, it looks like Graham will be hanging around here for a while." How is anybody supposed to infer from that you were supposed retrieve a honeycomb or a bottle before you entered the dark forest?

But then, KQ5 has several odd puzzles and few in-game hints.

The KQ games do not hold your hand and guide you in any obvious way. Clues and hints are often subtle if they are given at all. If you lack something necessary for an area they'll let you enter and get eaten or otherwise dispatched, usually, leaving it up to you to figure out that you missed something somewhere along the way. That's the fun of such games--figuring them out, basically. I've noticed that today many people don't bother to read the text that appears on the screen because they've played other games in which the text is of little importance...have to pay attention in these games and try lots of different approaches. For instance, you check 10 boles in trees and find nothing and skip the eleventh--which hides the object needed to complete a section of the game. Basically, it's read everything, try everything, click everywhere, & save often...;)

The first games that forced you to guess a particular word and enter it were the most fun and the most rewarding when you solved them--but they also get old, quickly, too...;) The mouse interface that came later is better, but still lacks some of the challenge of the originals.

I agree with what waltc said. And, to be honest, yes that was a pretty obvious clue to me when I played the game. But I had played almost every sierra adventure game leading up to it. So you learned what to look for and what "clues" the game would give you. It stating that you'll be hanging around here for a while was a pretty obvious clue that you messed up if you were used to playing adventure games. These aren't games you can blow through quickly. It takes a lot of thinking things through, reading everything that's said in the game and a lot of hard puzzle solving. I wouldn't use hint books because I thought that was cheating and I wouldn't have any satisfaction in completing the game knowing that I needed help. These games can take a long time to finish. So if you want a game you can get through in a week, you're going to be disappointed. Honestly, try not to use any walkthroughs, otherwise you miss out on the excitement of beating the game.

I agree with this.

I played this game as a child. In fact it probably was my second CD-ROM game. I upgraded my floppy version through Sierra and they sent me the CD-ROM via snail-mail back then. It was amazing.

Anyway, I beat it as child without any hintbooks. I think it took quite a while, but it was a great experience.
It was pretty obvious that you weren't meant to get there at first. And as always for Sierra games - save early, save often.

You guys make good points. I guess since "King's Quest 5" was the 2nd Adventure game I ever played after "King's Quest 1," I wasn't as well-versed in these kinds of games and didn't pick up on these kinds of hints.