Please stop episodic gaming!

I want to buy the entire game and play through it all without 6 individual folders and exe files. I don't want to have to wait for the next part of the game. And I just find the whole thing insulting.

So with this new monkey island ness, it ain't a real monkey island game. There are only four games, and a soon to be released remake of the Secret. Which erects my nipples more than any Tell Tale game has done so far.
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Comments

  • edited July 2009
    Tyranin wrote: »
    I want to buy the entire game and play through it all without 6 individual folders and exe files. I don't want to have to wait for the next part of the game. And I just find the whole thing insulting.

    So with this new monkey island ness, it ain't a real monkey island game. There are only four games, and a soon to be released remake of the Secret. Which erects my nipples more than any Tell Tale game has done so far.

    Hahaha! Oh you jokster!
    How did you get out again :D
  • edited July 2009
    I don't want to have to wait for the next part of the game. And I just find the whole thing insulting.
    Then wait until they're all out and play the game then. And what's insulting about episodes?
  • edited July 2009
    There's 5 games.

    And episodes rock! Means better sales too cos you can sell part of the game, so people that get bored halfway have still generated some income.
  • edited July 2009
    Tyranin wrote: »
    . And I just find the whole thing insulting.

    How appropriate, you post like a cow.
  • edited July 2009
    I'll be honest I prefer to have the whole game as this means I can play it and not have to wait until the next episode release before moving on.

    BUT
    I can understand TT's way of doing business and having played Strong Bad and the Sam N Max series - it didn't bother me that much.

    My way of looking at it is - Telltale make the type of adventure games I want to play. Episodic is not ideal but the gameplay of the games is ideal to me and THAT is what's important.
  • edited July 2009
    jp-30 wrote: »
    How appropriate, you post like a cow.

    No, he posts like a dairy farmer :-)
  • edited July 2009
    Episodic releases are great. This way I get a really good, focused adventure game night a month and between episodes I always try to figure out what's going to happen with the characters and I long for the next time I get to visit them. Compare that to approximately a week worth of playing a "regular" release and after I'm done with that I usually forget about it. ;)
  • edited July 2009
    Episodic releases (and downloadable releases) are giving small companies the opportunity to release great, fan-serving games. They cost less and therefore the company can survive.
    If it weren't for that relatively new platform for releasing games, we probably would have never gotten a new Monkey Island. Or we would have gotten a huge bloated up Monkey Island project with a company cooperating with a huge publisher and we all know how that might very well end up - the publisher telling the developers "No we can't do this, we can't do that", all eyes set on profit and not on the fans. Would you have wanted that?
  • edited July 2009
    the episodes is a good way to create suspension. but five different executables is PAIN. it should definitely be a patch that sews it all together once you've gotten all five episodes.
  • edited July 2009
    You can't take 15 seconds to close down a finished game and start the next one up?

    What the heck do you people do watching a TV Series DVD box set when the first one finishes and you have to get up to insert the 2nd disc? Go moan on the TV show's website about why they don't include a free robot arm to swap discs for you?

    Of all the trivial stuff to moan about, I think this one takes the cake (and I've read taumel's posts).
  • edited July 2009
    I want to buy the entire game and play through it all without 6 individual folders and exe files. [...] So with this new monkey island ness, it ain't a real monkey island game.

    So basically, it's not a true Monkey Island game because... you have to install it in 5 parts? That must really kill the game experience...

    It's not like Monkey Island games have ever been segmented into parts before, absolutely not. And it really hurts the game quality because we get to start playing it now, rather than waiting and playing all 5 parts in a few months? Which you can still do, by the way.
  • edited July 2009
    Whilst i also still love full size games, i also enjoy the episodic format. It can be hard to dig in the beginning but once you got used to it, it for sure has it's advantages as well.

    Actually i found it to be the better solution for StrongBad and Wallace&Grommit whilst for Sam&Max i would have enjoyed one more complex story instead, which obviously also could have been done if it would be designed this way.
  • edited July 2009
    jp-30 wrote: »
    You can't take 15 seconds to close down a finished game and start the next one up?

    What the heck do you people do watching a TV Series DVD box set when the first one finishes and you have to get up to insert the 2nd disc?


    we are in 2009. we shouldn't have to waste time like that.

    rip it and put it on the computer so I don't have to swap discs.
  • edited July 2009
    A true MI fan must appreciate the episodic format because MI has always been episodic.
    SMI and MI2 had 4 episodes, CMI had 6 and EMI had 5 iirc.
    Just that in the cases of the first four games, you had to wait until all episodes were finished while in TMI you can start playing the first episode before the full game is done. What is so bad about that again?
  • edited July 2009
    we are in 2009. we shouldn't have to waste time like that.

    rip it and put it on the computer so I don't have to swap discs.

    Remind me. How long does ripping a box set of DVDs take?
  • edited July 2009
    jp-30 wrote: »
    Remind me. How long does ripping a box set of DVDs take?

    Oh but it's not the wait, it's the wait in between. Try to understand the difference. :)
  • edited July 2009
    I want to buy the whole season and have the pleasure and excitement to play each episode as it is ready, with all the fun to talk on the forums and with the friends and await in excitement and speculate and see our feedback taken into account. I don't want to have to be shoven an entire season as sole game, and lose all the wonderful benefit of episodes. And I just find to have a whole game insulting.

    So with this new monkey island ness, it is more than a real monkey island game. There are five new episodes, each with its own director and choke full of monkey island flavourness, which is ten times more promising than the soon to be released remake of the Secret. Which erects my nipples and narwhal just as when Tell Tale games' Sam & Max Season One came out, if not more.
  • edited July 2009
    Linque wrote: »
    Oh but it's not the wait, it's the wait in between. Try to understand the difference. :)

    yes. whilst ripping the DVDs I can play Football Manager. but when I'm forced to swap discs I have to focus all my attention on the swapping.
  • edited July 2009
    I'm not seeing much downside to the MI episodic format Telltale is employing. I just spent 4 1/2 hours puzzling through Episode 1; and if it takes me a similar amount of time to finish each of the upcoming chapters, then that's 20- to 25-hours of Monkey Island Goodness(tm) for the miserly sum of $35. It certainly didn't take near that amount of time to finish any of the previous Monkey Island games. It's a Damn Good Deal(tm)! If it were produced as a single, long adventure, do you honestly believe they would create anything with 25-hours worth of gameplay?

    Enjoyed the heck out of Episode 1, and please-please-please make a plushie of the "Worst. Air-freshener. Ever." available in the Telltale store.
  • edited July 2009
    GozzoMan, Exactly!

    (I think)
  • edited July 2009
    it is great that the length of the 1st episode seems to be bigger than previous telltale games.. you are looking at about 20-25 hours of gameplay if you play through all episodes (thats presuming the other chapters are of equal size)..not only is that much larger than any monkey island game but also bigger than any other telltale game. There is nothing wrong with the episodic format.. it adds suspense and gives us something to talk about for the next 5 months..
  • edited July 2009
    jp-30 wrote: »

    (I think)

    ... therefore you are!


    Sorry, couldn't resist. Bad boy, I crack jokes like a cow. :p :p
  • edited July 2009
    quickfics wrote: »
    ...if it takes me a similar amount of time to finish each of the upcoming chapters, then that's 20- to 25-hours of Monkey Island Goodness(tm) for the miserly sum of $35. It certainly didn't take near that amount of time to finish any of the previous Monkey Island games.

    Sweet Zombie Jesus! It took me 3 months to finish Monkey Island 2, even if most of that was being stuck on that damn monkey wrench puzzle.

    But yeah, in terms of content this seems very good. I really liked the episodic nature of Sam and Max, my only problem here is I can't stand hanging on cliffhangars. So maybe I should just wait a few months and play them all together.
  • edited July 2009
    Episodic gaming is awesome.

    Unless you're Valve and it takes you as long to make a single episode as it takes other companies to make a game from scratch.
  • edited July 2009
    Rubarack wrote: »
    But yeah, in terms of content this seems very good. I really liked the episodic nature of Sam and Max, my only problem here is I can't stand hanging on cliffhangars.


    Cliffhangars? Could be useful for gliders...


    Sorry for the cheap jokes, I can't stand to be in the office instead at home playing it!! My mind is shattering! :D


    Anyhow, yes, it seems very good in terms of content quantity.
  • edited July 2009
    Rubarack, no! This here discussion is 1/2 the fun. In 2 weeks. TWO WEEKS* we will start getting info and screenshots from episode 2, and we will pore over them.

    THIS is a gaming community, be part of it and revel in the 'between- episode' discussion!



    * I assume.
  • edited July 2009
    I don't get the point, what's wrong with episodic gaming?
  • edited July 2009
    If you don't like episodic gaming, wait until the season is released then play it all through at once.

    Unless your dig isn't with episodic gaming at all, and rather the fact that you're impatient! I don't think Telltale will stop doing what has been a tremendously successful business model for them, just because you can't wait a month between games (or 6 months if you really can't wait until they are all released)
  • edited July 2009
    Monkey Island has always been episodic. Think about it.
  • edited July 2009
    Just don't feed the troll :D
  • edited July 2009
    Tyranin wrote: »
    I want to buy the entire game and play through it all without 6 individual folders and exe files. I don't want to have to wait for the next part of the game. And I just find the whole thing insulting.

    So with this new monkey island ness, it ain't a real monkey island game. There are only four games, and a soon to be released remake of the Secret. Which erects my nipples more than any Tell Tale game has done so far.

    I've never understood this complaint. The Monkey Island games have always been episodic in nature anyway. All of the old games have very clearly defined chapters to them. I have no problem with the chapters being separated by a month.
  • edited July 2009
    quickfics wrote: »
    I'm not seeing much downside to the MI episodic format Telltale is employing. I just spent 4 1/2 hours puzzling through Episode 1; and if it takes me a similar amount of time to finish each of the upcoming chapters, then that's 20- to 25-hours of Monkey Island Goodness(tm) for the miserly sum of $35. It certainly didn't take near that amount of time to finish any of the previous Monkey Island games. It's a Damn Good Deal(tm)! If it were produced as a single, long adventure, do you honestly believe they would create anything with 25-hours worth of gameplay?

    This +1!
  • edited July 2009
    i completely agree with quickfics. except for the 'it certainly didnt take near that amount of time to finish any previous monkey island'... are you serious? were you playing with a walkthrough? cause number 2 took me at least a couple of weeks, and i was 16 so had a whole heap of time on my hands!
  • edited July 2009
    The biggest concern I had with episodic content was the lack of an overarching storyline... which ToMI has, so no problems there. The episodic format has several benefits, for instance:

    1. Unlike full releases, you won't be burning through the entire game within 1 day. This generates some excitement about what will happen next and makes the experience last much longer. Luckily, the wait time between episodes is generally only a month.

    2. We get access to the game faster. If they waited and released it all at once, we would've had to wait several more months until all of the episodes were completed.

    Granted, I really wish they would combine all the games into 1 when they're all released and they send us the DVD. I know they normally just slap them together on a DVD and consider it a day, but maybe if they could spend a bit more time bridging the episodes into 1 cohesive game? That would be perfect
  • edited July 2009
    I don't like episodic gaming that much. I feel it takes away from the big-picture aspect of the story. I don't mind waiting the month, but I'd much rather have the game all at one time. Monkey Island, however, was just too great to pass up for 5 months so I got it anyway.
  • edited July 2009
    jp-30 wrote: »
    What the heck do you people do watching a TV Series DVD box set when the first one finishes and you have to get up to insert the 2nd disc? Go moan on the TV show's website about why they don't include a free robot arm to swap discs for you?

    Actually, if starting up a new executable is a nuisance, then switching DVDs is a chore.

    The thing is, episodic gaming has two sides. On one hand they're cheaper to produce, especially for small-time companies like Telltale Games, because, that's what Telltale Games is. It's not a big company like Capcom or even LucasArts. See it like the old games, old games were in itself pretty much episodic as well, for example, the Commander Keen series. While those were completely different genres, they were still somewhat episodic.

    A great example was the short-lived LOOM, part of a trilogy. It had around the same size as the current Telltale Games games, pretty short, but long enough to not get suddenly dragged out.

    So, from Telltale's point of view, episodic gaming could actually help in releasing games fast. But that's not all of it.

    With episodic gaming, people can have a choice in whether to buy the games or not. If they don't like the first episode, they at least didn't have to spend the full $35, unless you already decided to buy the full season. This is the reason some companies decide to release episodic games, like the Blood series on PS3, or the short-lived SiN episodic game (yes, game, there was only one episode released).

    Further more, in order to appeal to a bigger audience, Telltale decided to release this game on WiiWare. Now while this didn't account in their decision of releasing their games in episodes, it did help them decide to release their games over download services, like WiiWare and XBox Live Arcade. Without episodic gaming, games like Wallace and Grommit, SBCG4AP or Tales of Monkey Island were never possible on such services.

    I'm not an expert at these things, but a little logic thinking would have gotten you to this conclusion.
  • edited July 2009
    I really really honestly like the episodic feel of the game.

    I remember getting CMI for christmas the year it came out, and most of you veteran players will know what I mean when I say I was in the adventure game mindset. The puzzles were good and fun, but to some extent you could quickly piece together what was generally expected and just had to find the means to do it, because Monkey Island has never gotten to the convoluted point that was the pitfall of the adventure gaming industry (Gabriel Knight 3 anyone?). It took me two days to get through, and while I loved the game, every minute of it, there was a part of my little teenage brain that was deeply saddened by the fact that I had raced through the game and that there wasn't any more of it coming any time soon.

    With episodic gaming, I get my adventure game fix, but still have something to look forward to.
  • edited July 2009
    Episodic gaming is ok, but I would like to be able to buy each individual episode on it's own. Even if it is at a higher price than the package. There are several reasons for this. The most obvious is that we are in the middle of financial turmoil. I honestly do not know if they will be able to deliver all the episiodes, and what if I play episode one and was bored out of my skull? would it not be nice to be able to skip the next ones at no cost? I like periodic games, but I dont like to have to pay 5 months upfront.

    It is practically unheard of, that to get to a game, you have to pre order the 4 follow ups. It is poor. It is poor business ethics, it is poor from a relations perspective, if you want new costumers on board (pun). Such a package deal is what you offer the fans you allready have, and they will rejoice, and clap their little loafers untill the cows come home. For those of us who are not fans yet....try harder!
  • edited July 2009
    lhnz wrote: »
    Monkey Island has always been episodic. Think about it.

    lol did you drink too much grog??? mi was never episodic, your right there were always chapters, but you were able to play them one after the other, now i finished the first episode and again i have to wait one full month, its like the time where my parents asked me not to play more then one hour a day, it was really awfull!

    i dont like episodic gaming, i really hope the next monkey island will not be episodic but a real full game like the previous ones.
  • edited July 2009
    "oh no, we have to take 10 - 20 seconds out of our time to switch to a new episode of a series, or a ned chapter of a game" boohoo to you.
    Seriously, its not hard to do at all.
    its probably the most exersize some of you (yes you in the back there! ) get all day anyways :P

    I agree that waiting a month might seem long between, but its worth it because to me, it builds up the suspence so im really looking forward to the new part!

    I am rubber, you are glue.
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