I've noticed a trend, with games, to replace progress bars with silly phrases, such as 'loading doohicky' or 'polishing silver spoons', changed at regular intervals.<br>This a) lets you know something's still happening and b) entertains you (slightly) as you wait.<br>But it's only appropriate if the wait is less than, say, a minute, because any longer and I would want to know if I should go do something else in the meantime.