How To Have A Better Experience Playing The Walking Dead Season 2
Ever since The Walking Dead Season 2's first episode was released (All That Remains) there has been lots of controversy over the game as a whole; im not going to directly get into that. No matter how much we complain and try to get telltale to change it in the end, it's they're choice. Which sucks because everyone here has things they would love to put in the game, as do i. We can't change the game, but we can change are experience with the game and overall we can like it more. Here's 5 ways made by me on how to have a better experience playing the walking dead season 2.
1) Lower your expectations/hype
If you've ever been on the release date thread you'd know that it takes one screenshot from telltale to turn the whole thread into a giant gif orgy. Sadly as proven with Episode 3 that isn't always a good thing. When the trailer for In Harms Way came out and it looked like it was going to be the next Game Of The Year everyone started freaking out. Expectations went through the roof and everyone was super thrilled. This all changed when Episode 3 came out almost everyone was expecting more than they got out of it. It did not meet they're expectations. Instead of getting super excited really easily when the trailer comes out think realistically, ask yourself "Will it actually be like this when it comes out?" and remind yourself trailers are meant to be tailored so usually the game looks better than it actually is.
2) Don't Spend All Your Time Waiting
Right now where I live it is Summer and school is out for me and I know many other users have summer off as well but I do know that some users are pretty much spending there days inside waiting for the episode to release. This also links to the whole lowering your expectations. Call up a friend, go to a party, go to the mall, beach, hiking, river rafting. The possibilities are pretty much endless; find a way to get The Walking Dead out of your mind and focus on other things that are happening right now. When you have an action packed summer and do lots of cool stuff; time will fly by and before you know it episode 4 and maybe even episode 5 will be released. But when you stay home all day and just refresh Telltales twitter over and over time will drag on and the wait feel longer. Also if you are still in school than that's good, you have school to occupy your time while you wait.
3) Don't Watch The Trailer (Right away)
When episode 3 was coming out and the trailer was released I was so busy with exams I just blew it off, I never even watched it. Then when I played episode 3 I was in love with it. Later after the release I was going onto the forums to express my utter love for the episode when all I saw was negative threads and I was pretty surprised. I went onto one and it said something like "It did NOT live up to the trailer" I then decided to click on the trailer thinking there was no way the trailer was that good. After watching it I understood; it was a trailer that was so awesome it just didn't live up to the actual game. I had a better experience playing episode 3 because I never watched the trailer so I had little idea what I was getting into. I'm not saying you shouldn't watch the trailer because that's too difficult to not do. I'd suggest watching the trailer a day before of the day The Walking Dead comes out. Since over time your expectations will just grow and grow if you play it after watching the trailer you will have a better experience.
4) Don't Be Nit Picky
When it comes to actually playing The Walking Dead you should already know the game is going to have its cons. The floating oatmeal, Really dumb people like Tavia who can't see you if you're right in right of them. but don't go into playing it ready to exploit every little problem Telltale makes because I can promise you it will destroy the entire game for you, it might actually make you dislike it. When you start to be nit picky it will lead to you being negative about the game and when you are negative it will make your forget about all the positives and good things in an episode. I know Telltale needs to fix some big issues within the game but don't TRY and find bad things in an episode. If they are that bad you should find them naturally. Whenever i play I usually only focus on good things like "Wow, I love the environment" instead of "That windmill would not attract walkers; it just sounds like wind!".
5) Don't go on super negative threads
It doesn't matter if the episode is 10/10 perfect, trolls or haters will find a way to annoy fans and complain about the littlest things. I'm NOT saying every user who points out a bad thing is a troll because it's obviously not a true. Friendly criticism is great for Telltale; in fact it's one of the reasons Episodic gaming is so good. But after every episode (Especially All That Remains) there's been trolls and haters of the game giving the most pointless and untrue criticism, and users will fall for it and it can ruin the fun of the episode. When episode 1 came out there was a entire thread complaining about how all fish would be dead in the ZA and Telltale was stupid for not realizing it. In fact I recommend not even going on the forum a couple hours after it comes out because the threads will pop up. They usually will die down after a day though. If threads like those dont ruin the experience for you then that's really good, I wish I could be like that.
I hope you enjoyed my list and I hope it helps. If you have more awesome tips please leave them in the comments, and if you have any questions feel free to ask me. 
Comments
EDIT: Ignore this comment.
I always have a good experience with the game but but brings it down is the threads.
1) Lower your expectations/hype - Already did this.
2) Don't Spend All Your Time Waiting - Already doing this.
3) Don't Watch The Trailer (Right away) - Sorry, can't do this. Whenever there's news or spoilers, I want to know.
4) Don't Be Nit Picky - I only point out what I don't like about the Episode, and those things often ruin my overall experience. It's hard to ignore.
5) Don't go on super negative threads - I go on all kinds of threads. No promises here.
Bugs and issues usually shouldn't ruin the experience if you go in with low expectations. but yes some bugs are un avoidable and should be reported to telltale.
The reason why people love spoilers still escapes me.
6) Don't look at the reviews of the episode before playing the episode.
If you go on critic websites such as Gamespot or Metacritic, it will change your perception on the episode before even playing it. Judge it yourself.
LOL! this is so true. That floating oatmeal was amazing.
my wife likes to sit with me and watch, its the only scarey anything she actually enjoys. when a new episode comes up we pretty much treat it like a movie night with snacks and beer.
That's the way to do it..
Great post, agree with most of your points. The trailer one though might be pushing it a bit. I normally watch the trailer once when it first comes out but never watch it again until I finish the episode. I also don't go near the forums at all until I finish the episode during that time (since people will catch small details and the like in trailers).
that's very surprising. i hope I'm not being sexist but i can't imagine a lot of women being interested in a video game
That's becoming less and less true by the day. I know many women who play video games now.
Heck this forum even has quite the large female fanbase. It's not that surprising.
Yeah I don't recall seeing that lol
That's a truth that I'm liking to hear. I also know that there are a lot of female members on the forum. I don't mean any offense. I remember when my mom always use to tell me that video games are just a "boys thing." I wouldn't be surprised that someday she would open up to TWDG.
Those chocolate chips are moving. Why are they moving. Are those even chocolate chips. I don't think anybody wants to eat that. They're alive.
the floating oatmeal is a glitch when Clementine is eating the oatmeal in all that remains and the bowl floats in the air.
Ok, I'll change it.
Nice Cookie!
Hmmm odd. I must not have noticed it.
Cookies!!!! Chocolate Chip is my favourite, how did you know?
MMmmm better
I thought you were dead!
Yeah, I think this has ruined my expectations of some of the episodes. I mean, when I played episode 3, I was like "Wow, that was awesome!" then went on the forums and saw all the negative stuff and thought less of the episode. I don't think that's a good thing, unless you have to review it yourself for some reason.
Lol, well there's always been tom-boys who like video games as well. xD Like myself.
Well, the idea that video games are just a "boys thing" is the reason why most people don't think many girls play video games, when in fact about 40% of gamers are female, which makes sense considering women make up half the population. Video games are just marketed more towards a male audience, so people don't normally attribute girls to playing them much, when it's actually false. And you weren't being offensive, so don't worry.
Ever heard of the saying "everything is good to an extent?" This is that, and it is great advice. This applies to all games, not just The Walking Dead. Spending your time hoping and praying to hear news for the next episode of a game (TWD), release date for an upcoming game (TFTB), or waiting for an announcement for a sequel (which I am doing right now - TWAU,), when the actual thing arrives/is released, its not going to be as fun as you thought. Definitely going to be taking this into deeper consideration - nice job!
thank you so much! going in with low expectations is good in the long run.
I'm psychic lol
not everyone got the glitch, it was mostly for PC.
well that explains it. i play it on iPhone and PS3
I agree with you especially with the expectations... the less you expect and the less you know, the better the experience will be! I know this because there have been times where I had high expectations for games and movies and kept watching videos about them, which ended up ruining the experience for me!
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Carley123 and what for the playthroughs?
I mean, it's better to play with your first playthrough, or game experience don't change playing the game with another playthrough?
This happened to me back in Season 1 towards the end of the season because
I remember seeing a youtuber do a 10 minute intro of the first episode and i didn't know what it was, i thought it was an online game. I downloaded the first episode and then i realized it was a series. So i got the season pass and from episode 2-4 i was obsessed with the game and then when the the ending of episode 4 came out i just lost interest because i was hoping they wouldn't do something like that. This season has been ok actually because while i want to play the new episodes, im not as connected to season 2 as i was with season 1 which is a good thing. Because when you want something bad, it seems to take more time when you aren't so keen. I would say take it how it is. Don't expect an episode to out of this world because if it isn't in your mind then you will feel let down. Play the episodes, take each moment as it is and then if it's good, it's good, if it's not then it's not.
I play on PS3 and it happens for me.
Studies show that half of all gamers are women
What I've learned over the years is that every game has it's far share of problems no matter how good it is just like movies
I think part of the problem is that most people went into season 1 with that attitude, now they have all these expectations and as such a difference mindset. In my theory this is why nearly all sequels are never enjoyed as much.
Here, have some oatmeal instead.