Telltale should have a rival
Don't get me wrong, I love Telltale and think all of their games so far have been quality. I just think some healthy competition is always a good thing.
Plus, in the end it could only benefit us. Not only would we get this rival's games in addition to Telltale's, but it might give Telltale the push to make even better games and possibly fix the glitches their games usually have.
I would say Dontnod could be their rival, but they don't really specialize in episodic adventure games. I'm almost positive Life is Strange will have a season 2 sometime soon, but they seem to make games from all different genres, and one of them just happened to be episodic.
What do you guys think?
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I would much rather they concentrate on their own projects instead of trying to compete with another company.
Competition is what they need...they will have to maintain a high level skill.
You dont think that would distract them from their focus?
Well when life is strange was still going on I thought there was kind of a rivalry because it the same type of gameplay.
Exactly. I'm not saying another company needs to go to war with Telltale lol just provide some healthy competition to keep Telltale in shape.
I feel like some of Telltale's problems, such as still having technical problems, albeit less frequent, even on the new engine and the recent trend of episodes shorter than 90 minutes, including what could've easily been a 2 hour episode cut down into two 1 hour episodes, are a result of them not having to try to stay #1, because they're the only one.
I just think it'd be beneficial to both Telltale and us.
No...it would make them more determined to bring their A game
If there was a rivalry, I'd honestly be against TTG.
If another company like Dontnod start doing better than them then they have to stop being lazy with things like determinant characters and their engine which is what holds most of their games back.
I agree with you. Telltale is already being lazy, they know that they have nothing to worry about because they have no real competition. A rival company could possibly bring out the best of Telltale.
I don't think you get how competition works. Competition works to benefit the consumer, when one company has an almost monopoly in a certain field (Telltale with episodic, choice based, story driven video games) they can do whatever they want and not have any sort of consequences. Their quality can begin to wane, but since there is no close competitor, they can get away with it, and much more (raising prices, shorter episodes, corners being cut, all of which we've been seeing lately). With a competitor to possibly take customers away, it requires Telltale to put more effort into their games in order to maintain the customers they have and prove that they are the better product.
And guess what game was being released around the same time LiS was out...Tales From the Borderlands. Tales is considered one of Telltale's best games, and you can tell there was a lot of effort put in, not only because the people working on it were passionate about it, but more than likely, it had a close competitor with LiS. Telltale most likely saw how people praised LiS for its choices, story, and episode lengths, and did the same thing with Tales. As of now, Tales was the last series to have a consistent episode length throughout the series (110-120 minutes), had great choices with long lasting impacts, and one of the best stories ever put in a Telltale game. Game of Thrones, which was also released around the same time, also had (for the most part) lengthy episodes, a great narrative, and impactful choices. Hell, Episode 6 is drastically different depending on who you saved at the end of Episode 5, and I can guarantee you that the competition with LiS played a role in how much work the writers for both of those series put in.
But ever since LiS ended, there has been a decline in many of these aspects. Michonne was only an hour long each episode. Batman had great choices for the most part and a great story, but varying episode lengths. And A New Frontier, while I enjoy it, is struggling with its choices, both past and current ones, a sense of no direction, and incredibly short episodes...too big for one my ass. And that's another thing, the blatant lies from Telltale, they say this stuff because they know they can get away with it, people will still buy it because there is no one else to compare it to, and competition prevents that from happening.
I do think they seriously need a rival. Right now they're filling a niche and with no other rival, people who like the type of games Telltale have, just have to take it and accept it because it's quite clear that Telltale aren't going to be losing any sales anytime soon. Life is Strange was a good rival, however it had its own flaws in terms of narrative (and that god-awful dialogue), and theme. But Dontnod Entertainment are now working on an action game (because that worked so well for them last time), and other triple AAA games that blow Telltale out of the water like 'Until Dawn' take too long to make.
We do have Campo Santo but Firewatch is their only title and still too different to really compete/compare with any of Telltale's work. I hope a company rises up, and what would be more terrifying is if they followed Telltale's model of adapting existing titles and series to create games, though with Telltale dominating that market (they've worked with Marvel, DC, Skybound, got Borderlands, Jurassic Park, Game of Thrones, Minecraft, and far more coming out), I imagine having to create a new IP would be best.
I get it. I didnt appreciate the tone.
What comes to mind for me is them going, "Oh, what is X-company doing? Let's top that!" Being more focused on the other company than their own games. To me, it sounds a bit panicky. Im not convinced having a direct rival would solve much but maybe they could learn a thing or two from other companies that could be beneficial.
If they had a "rival", they would have to get even more creative. Competition always keeps you awake.
It doesn't mean they'd forget about their game, the opposite actually. They'd want to top them in their game.
That's what most companies generally do.
I disagree. It already annoys me that so many other games have borrowed the episodic games system. Yes, Telltale didn't invent episodic games, but they made it popular.
So to get back on track, I understand what people are saying about a rival company forcing Telltale to do better, but I honestly think that's the wrong way to think about making your games. You should focus on what you want to do, not distract yourself by thinking "Oh I've gotta beat those guys!" So I'm 100% with KCohere on this one.
Thanks. You get me, lol.
Life is Strange was really good. Hopefully we would get a sequel to that or a similar type of game.
Just as well, if Telltale bellies up due to trying to compete with a good rival in all the wrong ways, we'll just have the better company in the end. Maybe Skybound would even take TWD to the competitor since a better episodic game would mean more $$$.
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Im not "mentally retarded" and I dont appreciate this label. I have a different perspective on it, but it figures some people cant be respectful and have to resort to name calling.
It's only a matter of time before someone comes along and does it much better and actually listens to their consumers.
Until Dawn almost did this but they were their project was too expensive and time consuming for them to truly be considered a competitor to Telltale.
I actually believe, that TftBL only turned out to be THIS good, because Telltale had a real competitor that year. That would also explain the extremely long wait, between the episodes.
Competition is the best thing, that can happen for consumers.
I don't think it is a bad thing for Telltale to have a competitor. Having a competitor can give the developers a goal and aim to make their games better. Also they can learn something as well. Sure, when that is said, I don't want Telltale to become extremely competitive to the point of obsession in order to beat their rival.
I also don't think it is a coincidence that 2014-2015 happened to be the year where they made their best games Tales from the Borderlands and Game of Thrones when Life is Strange was around.
But wouldn't that benefit Telltale since they actually need to put effort into the story?
But wouldn't that benefit Telltale since they actually need to put effort into the story?
I doubt that a rival would influence Telltale to improve their games. Even after the success of LIS, Telltale still sticks to their formula. The only way I can see Telltale making changes/improvements if their business goes into a real decline, if they start getting less and less work/IPs to make games on.
I think thats unlikely, but if there is to be a season 2, I hope it turns out to be a good game...unlike the first season.
I agree, we get more games with higher quality and genre will evolve in a better state which will benefit everyone in the long run.
Competition => Quality => Bigger Fanbase => Profit
When a company focuses on competition, they focus on giving you the better product.
That's how Battlefront 1 beat out Infinite Warfare. Competition.
I think it would be interesting to see a rival although the problem with that is having a company that is able to effectively utilize and execute the cinematic story tailored gameplay formula telltale uses. And as far the glitches go they'll always be around.