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Chuck Jordan's left Telltale

KromsKroms
edited June 2010 in Sam & Max
Or is about to. Either way, read about it here. If you don't know who Chuck is, I gave a quick summary of his adventure game career on Mixnmojo.

My reaction: :eek: + :( + sincere hopes for success.

Good luck, Mr. J. Umm, good luck Chuck. Blah. I'll stop.

Seriously, good luck Chuck Jordan.

Comments

  • SHODANFreemanSHODANFreeman
    edited June 2010
    Consider the Telltale Pilot program for whatever you come up with, Chuck. :p
  • splash1splash1
    edited June 2010
    What?! No, not Chuck! He's my third favorite Telltale employee who hasn't quit yet! Don't do it chuck, you have so much to work for, you bring Telltale Episodes to bigger and better light!
  • Bloody EugeneBloody Eugene
    edited June 2010
    Damn....
    We'll miss your great work... you designed the best TT episodes!
    It will be too-difficult-almost-impossible to replace you. :(
  • HaydenHayden
    edited June 2010
    I'm not actually all that worried. Telltale is filled with other brilliant and very capable writers and designers. If Chuck is successful in starting up another company, then great! It only means more great games.

    We'll still experience Chuck's great writing and designing, it will just be coming from a different company.
  • Bloody EugeneBloody Eugene
    edited June 2010
    In his blog post he seems bothered by the hurry of Telltale development schedule.
    It's something that affected TT for too long now..... I even remember some user thread about the rush developing games that make them full of bugs (quality control is surely improved from Wallace&Gromit:The BUGey Man, but The Tomb of Sammunmak is far from perfect either).
    I hope that's not the reason for why he left, because it's a pity that an artist like him leaves a company full of talented people just for time pressures.
  • roumeazroumeaz
    edited June 2010
    testdrive.jpg
  • The GentlemanThe Gentleman
    edited June 2010
    He did a great job with the Penal Zone, I hope he does well in his future jobs.
  • lombrelombre
    edited June 2010
    Seems like just yesterday we were hounding him with Penal Zone questions on the preorder forum (dang, that sounded wrong). :(

    Well, I wish him good luck on whatever he ends up working on next.
  • ChuckChuck
    edited June 2010
    Hmm, I guess two paragraphs of "this is not an announcement" weren't enough? I'm gonna have to get a private journal or day planner or something. :)

    Thanks for the good wishes and the boss painting of a corvette that I didn't design. I think Hayden has the right idea -- this isn't that big a deal. Telltale is packed with people who are really really good at what they do, but don't talk about it as much on the internet as much as I do. The best parts of an episode always come in during the time between script and release. And the best people in the company are on the game now.

    Plus I'd be an idiot not to keep working with Telltale in some form or another. This place makes great stuff and it keeps getting better. Everybody remain calm and go about your business.
  • ChuckChuck
    edited June 2010
    Oh yeah, and since I don't have an account on the Mojo:
    I know it wasn't meant as an insult, but the "it's all grunt work now" comment was so off-base that it went past insulting to comical. You couldn't say a movie was done when the screenplay was finished, and you take that x 1000 for a videogame. I can guarantee you that if you went around the TTG forums and asked people what their favorite moments of the games are, at least 90% of them happened after the script was "finished."

    Don't want to come across as scolding, just a reminder: the internet always makes it sound like one person is entirely responsible for a game, but once you see an actual game in production, you realize how completely false that is. (Except I guess for "World of Goo" or the Blendo games).
  • KromsKroms
    edited June 2010
    Yeah, sorry about the "grunt work" comment. It was baseless. It only occurred to me after typing it that Episode 5 had just gone past the planning stage. So I hereby apologise to TTG's employees. You all do great work, and it can be pretty thankless. It was why I started this thread.

    What I'd meant to say was that design/writing-wise, the episode was done, meaning that the blueprints - it seemed to me, so this isn't even fact - were finalized. Of course, a lot of very important work goes into the games afterwards. I didn't mean to dismiss it.

    So again, sorry everyone. My comment was stupid. You all rock.
  • puzzleboxpuzzlebox Telltale Alumni
    edited June 2010
    Leaving the safety of a successful company to pursue your own thing is a pretty brave decision, so congratulations on taking that step. I'd say "good luck", but you're probably talented enough not to need much of that. :p

    Looking forward to playing your Telltale swan song in a couple of months. Let us know what you work on next!
  • UdvarnokyUdvarnoky
    edited June 2010
    Even though I'd heard it before, and even though the quality of Telltale's games tends to be such that you don't really need to be told that the people behind them are uber passionate about what they do, I was tickled pink by Chuck's story about having wanted to work on a Sam & Max game ever since college, and then it coming to pass that twenty years later the amount of Sam & Max games with his name on them is in the double-digits. It reads like the screenplay for some mawkishly inspirational rags-to-riches movie, except it's about people who like story games instead of something that doesn't matter.
  • AvistewAvistew
    edited June 2010
    Good luck with whatever you do next, Chuck. I'm not too worried either, just curious about what you'll do next.
  • Secret FawfulSecret Fawful
    edited June 2010
    GoodLuckChuckMoviePoster325.jpg

    (Just this once in my life, my wish that I could speak using movie posters has come true.)
  • SHODANFreemanSHODANFreeman
    edited June 2010
    Secret Fawful wrote: »
    (Just this once in my life, my wish that I could speak using movie posters has come true.)

    Unfortunately, you weren't able to do it with a good movie poster.
  • KromsKroms
    edited June 2010
    Plus I beat him to it.

    I should go sleep.
  • Secret FawfulSecret Fawful
    edited June 2010
    Pale Man wrote: »
    Unfortunately, you weren't able to do it with a good movie poster.

    Criticize. Criticize. Criticize.

    The relevance. I just don't see it.
  • SHODANFreemanSHODANFreeman
    edited June 2010
    Secret Fawful wrote: »
    Criticize. Criticize. Criticize.

    The relevance. I just don't see it.

    You posted a movie poster of an awful movie, I said that it wasn't a good movie. How is that not relevant in reply to your post?
  • splash1splash1
    edited June 2010
    Pale Man wrote: »
    You posted a movie poster of an awful movie, I said that it wasn't a good movie. How is that not relevant in reply to your post?

    Maybe he's one of those people who liked that movie.
  • Secret FawfulSecret Fawful
    edited June 2010
    Pale Man wrote: »
    You posted a movie poster of an awful movie, I said that it wasn't a good movie. How is that not relevant in reply to your post?

    I guess it's relevant in the same way that I frequently derail good topics. If you want to be relevant in that way, be my guest.
  • Ash735Ash735
    edited June 2010
    It's sad when a talented person leaves a company, especially one like TTG where it feels more like some insane family. :( Currently replaying Season 2 of Sam & Max as well!
  • SHODANFreemanSHODANFreeman
    edited June 2010
    Secret Fawful wrote: »
    I guess it's relevant in the same way that I frequently derail good topics. If you want to be relevant in that way, be my guest.

    Allowing a thread to go one full page before being derailed? That's blasphemy. That's madness.
  • Secret FawfulSecret Fawful
    edited June 2010
    Pale Man wrote: »
    Allowing a thread to go one full page before being derailed? That's blasphemy. That's madness.

    Madness?

    THIS.

    IS.

    SPARTA!

    :guybrush:
  • RemolayRemolay
    edited June 2010
    and at that point the thread has officially been derailed! yayy!
  • splash1splash1
    edited June 2010
    But it will not change his mind, he's still going to leave, and all of his greatness in the Episodes will not be there in the future. I'm talking about Chuck, just so you all know.
  • Hero1Hero1
    edited June 2010
    You guys derailing this thread are absolute idiots..but anyway back on topic..

    I loved the episodes Chuck did for Telltale. They were consistently funny, well written, and a joy to play. All the best for future endeavours!

    On a broader scale it's sad to see so many talented folks leaving Telltale. Clearly the episodic model and multiple releases in a year must put a lot of pressure on people working there. A publisher will normally only let a studio do 2 games in a franchise in a row because of that burnout factor.. The videogame industry sure is a strange place to work. Hopefully this model of releases can evolve so that you can switch people on and off projects so you don't lose so many talented folks. Thanks to all the telltale employees I don't think people realize what a great job you do..they are too busy complaining about control schemes, and release times and other such nonsense.
  • YohmiYohmi
    edited June 2010
    In fact, Hero1, I presume a lot of people, like me for example, do realize but prefer not to think too much about that, and for one reason : it’s hard to believe how things can positively evolve when the best leaves. And I want TellTale Games to evolve. I want them to deliver us something wonderful. I want them to have enough money to do a full-scale game (Yes, I’m done with sex-only related Pendulo’s jokes). And I hoped that they could gather experiences from the past to evolve. But if the one who knew this past are gone, what’s the benefit of all these years of hard work ?
    And that is, for me, sad, really really sad.

    So I prefer to remember TellTale is a team, and a hard-working and passionate one, than crying on some important people’s departure… it’d spoil the taste of future games in my mind. Because when I look at Rareware, come on… each time I hear news about Rareware, I just feel like someone shaking a dead’s corpse and saying "I assure you, he can talk !". It’s so, so sad.


    So long, Chuck, anyway ^^ I hope you’ll do great things for you, becoming great things for us :) Do you still plan to go for adventure games ?
  • EznyEzny
    edited June 2010
    Aww man...
  • PariahKingPariahKing
    edited June 2010
    Yeah I always thought about the time schedule thing - that it must be one of the most stressful work environments possible (outside of a sweatshop or something). It's sort of like a humane, time intensive video game sweatshop to work a Telltale - everything is endlessly being done at a hyper pitch.

    Partly why I appreciate why this stuff is done.

    Thanks for everything, good luck with whatever is your fancy.
  • The HighwayThe Highway
    edited June 2010
    So long, Cajun Zombie!
  • Secret FawfulSecret Fawful
    edited June 2010
    Hero1 wrote: »
    You guys derailing this thread are absolute idiots..but anyway back on topic..

    And? I like being an idiot. Was that supposed to be an insult?
  • RandulfRandulf
    edited June 2010
    Wish you the best of luck Chuck! Don't forget to drop by these boards from time to time!
  • FuryFury
    edited June 2010
    I guess Jake was right when they said they had a high staff turnover at the moment.
  • ChuckChuck
    edited June 2010
    Hero1 wrote: »
    Clearly the episodic model and multiple releases in a year must put a lot of pressure on people working there. A publisher will normally only let a studio do 2 games in a franchise in a row because of that burnout factor.. The videogame industry sure is a strange place to work.
    Every studio has its own stress factor because videogames are inherently a ton of work to make. The episodic model does bring its own challenges to the mix, but it's a long, long way from being the most hours I've put in on a game, or the most stress I've had at a game company. And there's a reason the episodes have different writers/designers/directors on them, just like American TV series do: to strike a balance between the best game possible and making sure the work is evenly spread out.

    Please don't read too much into what was a personal decision.

    I appreciate the good wishes, but I'm regretting its turning into an announcement now, because as I said: it's ultimately not that big a deal. I just wanted to take the opportunity to say that Telltale is a cool company and working there has been one of the best things I've done, and it's been great to get to work on Sam & Max.
  • KromsKroms
    edited June 2010
    I think people are taking the opportunity, in return, to compliment you. Think of it as a little "Cya later" moment. That was sort of my point, anyways.

    I'd have done the same to Brendan Ferguson had I not been in the middle of exam week at the time.
  • Hero1Hero1
    edited June 2010
    Fair enough. Best of luck then!
  • AvistewAvistew
    edited June 2010
    Hero1 wrote: »
    I don't think people realize what a great job you do..they are too busy complaining about control schemes, and release times and other such nonsense.

    Hey! That's not incompatible.
  • akaimizuakaimizu
    edited June 2010
    Well. Good developers moving around and pursuing opportunities is just life. I mean, it's amazing what happens to them as they move around. I've seen a lot of stuff happen that way. It's a brave and exciting new venture. I've seen it with various developers, and often they come back, with the magic, with something brand new. This is also one of the *best case* scenarios, when a developer moves on, yet still leaves behind a talented team. Just means that we have more chances to see this kind of work come from more companies. Good adventures, like these, are in a very unsaturated market, right now. Telltale is good, and faster than anybody, at releasing titles, but even they can't pump out the titles as fast as we take of them. We spend much of the year waiting, as we did the rest. I know I have. And I pretty much own the entire Telltale collection released to date. I don't mind adding yet another company's works to what I already get from the likes of Telltale and Double Fine.
  • Dead ManDead Man
    edited June 2010
    NOOOOO !

    I always love the penal zone and all chuck episodes,so it's sad to see you leaving ..

    Good bye chuck and good luck ..
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