I agree. Well I'm still not ready to say that season 3 is horrible since we still have more episodes left (but I'm slowly starting to see that it was actually a bit disappointing start) anyway I think that even tho we should be respectful towards Job and other staff members it still doesn't mean we can't criticize their work or a way of handling things. Job could be more straightforward with his replies here. Tell us when he's gonna make it and when he's not gonna be able to be around. I'm not expecting him to be here 24/7 (duh) but radio silence isn't the way of handling it either. He made a choice to come here and answer to some questions and that's a wonderful thing..but he just shouldn't have promised something he can't keep.
I'm sorry but if Season 3 wasn't so half-assed this wouldn't have happened in the first place. I understand what you said about the Season 2… more-"era" and it can't be changed, but people are annoyed at how Season 3 (shouldn't even be called Season 3 due to how bad it is compared to previous seasons) turned out. I understand that we sometimes go... too far - but Job could've at least told us that he wasn't able to make it (literally takes like, what, a minute?) but instead he made us wait days/weeks before he let us know. Him staying quiet during all this won't help anything (and I probably don't help either with this reply but I'm trying to justify what's happening).
I can't say we're 100% on the same page with those examples, but can 1000% say that we are always very careful about the correlation between the display text and the actual lines. It's pretty paramount that the player knows what kind of emotional direction they are going to take their character, and when that feels off, it doesn't quite feel right. A lot of narrative designers and writers tend to this regularly, and there's a LOT more attention but into this process than you might know about! I'll make sure the team sees this post and hears your feedback. Great question, and thanks for taking the time to ask!
Hey Job!
In ANF, there were a number of dialogue options that were often misleading to the players... Most notably, the infamous [Tell hi… morem off] option which has become a meme on par with or greater than [Glass him]. There were likewise a number of options throughout the two episodes that were provided which ended up producing a response that largely opposed what players expected would be said and lead to a lot of frustration: [I'm old enough.] "I'm old enough to put a bullet in you."
I understand that for reasons, some dialogue options need to be shortened/rewritten, so of course I'm not expecting the entire conversation to be pasted out in front of me. My question is, has this been taken into account to prevent future misinterpretations on the part of the player? If this kind of thing persisted into more intense parts of the game where you have less time to think about what to choose, it could easily cause a lot of errors and irritation.
I may be super slow to respond, and am USUALLY busy travelling the world for some reason I can't talk about that is Telltale related....
But I'm always happy to pop in and see what you guys are up to.
I'd honestly love to have a more regular Google Hangout or Twitch stream where we can answer questions more efficiently and quickly. I'd be cool with AMA like this every week, so long as I didn't have to type it all out one by one.
That said, I will be attempting to finish what I started, and here's hoping we can keep the fun-love goin!
Well, it did go a bit out of hand in some places, yes. People were asking multiple questions at once. People were asking questions that couldn't be answered due to confidentiality and Telltale's own well being (by this I mean that as a company, they can't answer or reveal "everything" about their products, sometimes the truth hurts). People also went a bit stir-crazy with their comments after Job mysteriously disappeared from the AMA without a word. The thread was a bit too crowded so it needed a reboot.
Though, I guess the same things can now be said about this thread as well; It is understandable and expected, unfortunately.
I've been away from forums for a few days now and I was eager to check back on Job's AMA and now I see this. Did it actually go "way out of … morehand"? Why those people weren't banned if it was out of hand or is that a hyperbole? It's hard to recognise such things in non-verbal way tbf.
Anyway, Job I hope you and your cat feel well. VR makes wonders I suppose. My question is:
Could you describe the way Telltale receives and analyses feedback that they receive from the fans? By "TellTale" I mean everyone who works on the game itself like Story writers, level designers, engineers, artists and such.
Will we want to spoil any surprises if she was? Will it give you certain expectations if I give you a vague response? Would you be okay if this wasn't our creative decison?
We are always listening to feedback and we THRIVE on criticism, be it positive or negative. The door is open!
All feedback is taken into consideration, and in the end, users become an active part of our live development process.
We've definitely heard a lot of feedback so far, but if it will live to your expectations or not... you'll have to tell us after you play it!
As you know, many people including me aren't happy with the way Season 3 turned out (reinforced by sales and most helpful reviews on Steam b… moreeing ALL negative).
My question is, will we be seeing an improvement to Season 3 Episode 3 in any way (such as more Clem playtime, longer episodes, more character development, etc) - in other words, are you listening to all the criticism you're getting (and no Job, we're not the minority shown by sales and Steam reviews)?
I love the final product of season two. The rich complexity of the blurry relationship dynamic between Clem, Kenny, Jane, and AJ became one of my favorite aspects of the narrative. There was a LOT beneath the surface to that story that we didn't talk about. Mainly because it's all subjective in the end to the user. Even among the team at the time, there was debate and perspective on how everyone viewed each of these characters motivations.
Years later, we saw this surface on reddit:
While I don't agree with his perspective on the company and the events that lead to Season Two, Innuendo Studios probably provided one of the most carefully dissected essays on what may have really been going on in that season itself. It's not something we ever talked about openly, but I can say that his perspective is in line with mine, as well as the intention of some of the creative team. That said, it was also our intention to have users have a completely different perspective on what they thought was right and wrong, and view the characters through their own lenses.
This video is most in line with mine, and accurately summarizes my own perspective on what was really going on...
Glad to see you're alright! I guess I'll ask the same question as before. Now that Season 2 has been long over with and it's faced so much h… morearsh criticism (admittedly some of the time from me), how do you feel about the final product that is season 2? Do you like it, do you feel it could have been done better, are there things you loved, things you hated? Just wondering. Thanks if you answer!
Can we ever expect an iTunes or Spotify release of the soundtracks to any of your games? I always really enjoy the soundtrack but it would be great if we could have the music elsewhere other than from YouTube rips.
I think we all hear the desire from some fans to have playable Clem... but I also think we're still on a certain course that we are excited about that we wouldn't to share ahead of time lest we spoil the story. It's too soon to talk about content that might come AFTER ANF, but let's revisit this question after the finale. :P
I am probably in a minority, but I really enjoyed the different view playing Clementine gave on the apocalypse in TWD season 2, is there the… more possibility of a sequel to A New Frontier some time in the distant/not so distant future, where we get to play as Clementine for the majority again? now that she is older I think it could be very interesting to revisit her
Sorry Harian96! We appreciate the question and LOVE that you are so passionate about the series --- but we just can't answer this question just yet. :P
Hi Job, so I'm not asking for details you're not allowed to give away, rather I'm hoping for a simple Yes or No:
1.Will the events of Gam… moree of Thrones Season 6 (Starks reclaiming Winterfell) affect the Forresters in TTGoT S2?
(it was thanks to the Boltons that the Whitehills caused trouble for the Forresters in S1, but now in the most current timeline of events House Bolton is extinct and Gared Tuttle's former black brother Jon Snow is King in the North and considered a Stark, this does seem quite favorable to Stark loyalists like the Forresters, thus I'm really anxious over whether Season q2 of the game will address these events).
P.S. I have a special fondness for House Forrester as it was their game that got me into Game of Thrones in the first place.
Question: Would you consider releasing downloadable soundtracks for your games?
Of course, the one I really want is Sam & Max Season … more3 (The Devil's Playhouse). I have the CD sets for Seasons 1 and 2, but I realize a CD set for season 3 probably isn't commercially viable at this point. And I know much of the soundtrack is playable on Jared's blog. I'd still like a real downloadable copy.
It's more than just Sam & Max, though. Many of your games, even the small ones, have distinctive soundtracks, and it can be fun playing them while driving around.
Thanks!
This might be a weird question, but hopefully you or someone from the art department (as IIRC another TTG staffer said they are usually the … moreones with this kind of info) could answer this for artistic purposes. Pick any TWD game character (that is human and not a baby): how tall (in feet, cm or meters) is that character?
Job I don't even have a question but your answer on the episode length is straight bullshit. Feature length films are over 2 hours most of … morethe time. Also people won't complain if the quality is better. Not sure what "data" you guys look at but everyone wants longer episodes, bigger explorable environments, and more optional conversations but we continue to get short episodes and hardly any optional conversations. I think it's time you guys get back to what made Season One the best game of the year.
Alright, here's my question: How do you choose songs for game soundtracks? Not talking about the awesome work of Jared Emerson-Johnson, but rather about featured songs such as Take Us Back (TwD Season 1) or Busy Earnin' (TftB Episode 1).
They were originally going to politely ask if they could come in, hang out, eat some Handisnacks, and maybe play Parcheesi with Doug or Carley.
We thought that was silly and took it in a slightly different direction. ;P
I swear some of people on this forum have never worked a customer service based job before. All you need to do is work at a busy restaurant… more or retail store for a few months to understand how crazy customers can get. I really wanted to ask Job a question, but that opportunity was once again ruined by a select group of people on this forum.
As someone who works over 50 hours a week as a civil engineer and does other things outside of work, I completely understand what Job means by the TellTale team are real people with real lives. I have several "customers" with my job (one being the general public), but I also have personal things like family and my own well being. While I'm willing sacrifice 2 extra hours of my day to better my company and out "customers," it would be foolish, inefficient, and detrimental to myself, the company, and our customers if I slave myself to work.
Job can't be a slave to the forum because he has more than j… [view original content]
Ah. That teaser, again... totally more about vibe and not at all representative of the final narrative. Definitely taking note to your lefty power feedback, though! We've got quite a few lefties at Telltale....
Nu! I have to abandon my merman question! I'm sorry Luke!
Do you know why Javier being left handed as we saw in the beginning teaser trai… moreler and earlier screencaps was dropped in the final game? I thought it was a neat character thingy that not many game companies think of, that and Javi's gun holster looked really trendy. More lefty power please!
Are the writing team and game designers aware of the disconnect that most players feel with this season?
No. We hear a lot of feedback, and we know that a lot of players on these boards are tense right now with very high expectations in multiple directions, but we wouldn't say at all that 'most players' are disconnected. We DEFINITELY DO hear your feedback, as well as the very particular kinds of feedback we get here on these boards, but we can't say that our perspective is in line. We CAN say that we hear you... and we definitely encourage you to keep playing until the season is over... and revisit this type of feedback once the story is complete.
Hi Job, glad to see you're doing good and sorry to hear about your kitty.
One question per user? Alright.
Are the writing team and gam… moree designers aware of the disconnect that most players feel with this season? What I'm saying is that because we're playing as someone we didn't want to be playing as in the first place it's hard to concentrate on the game and this ends up hurting parts of the game such as Clementine's flashbacks, which so far they have failed at making anyone feel emotional for Clementine.
Thanks Job, really wish I could hang out with you in London!
I'll ask my question as it returned to the second page and I'm not sure you'll see it (and, after reading it agin, I thought it wasn't that … moreclear).
Question : When Telltale is making a cliffhanger at the end (like GoT or Batman) does it necessary mean that a second season is planned ?
If not, isn't it risky to let a story "unfinished" ?
(Example, in my opinion, The Wolf Among us story's was finish. No season 2 seems necessary for the story other than have the pleasure to replay lovable characters.
Game of Thrones, on the other hand, seems to be unfinished at the end of the season, and let the consumer think/know that there will be a second season)
My question is, which was your criteria as a company to discard these content at that moment, if, for that time and for obvious reasons, you didn't have any fan feedback?
Answer: I can't say that Melissa's interview gives a 100% accurate window into what we do in the creative process vs. what she sees when working with us on the character. She's THE BEST IN THE WORLD TO WORK WITH and SUPER TALENTED... but trust us.. there's even more that Melissa doesn't get to see.
Ultimately, the creative process is a fickle thing to explain. But in short, not everything we ever think of using is used upon release because it was simply the creative decision we made with the story in the end.
I've seen with the Melissa Hutchinson interview that in some way is there cut content for the plot or the development of ANF, more precisely… more about the Carver-esque character, this kind of backstory of Clem and AJ getting separated, and these awesome and emotional scenes. I know that the season isn't over yet and hence we can see it in some way in the next episodes.
My question is, which was your criteria as a company to discard these content at that moment, if, for that time and for obvious reasons, you didn't have any fan feedback?
Fun question, in Season 1 you can give clem an apple and she mentions she loves apples. In Season 3 she eats an apple when she meets javi, was this an intentional callback or just a coincidence?
Good question!
I love the final product of season two. The rich complexity of the blurry relationship dynamic between Clem, Kenny, Jane, … moreand AJ became one of my favorite aspects of the narrative. There was a LOT beneath the surface to that story that we didn't talk about. Mainly because it's all subjective in the end to the user. Even among the team at the time, there was debate and perspective on how everyone viewed each of these characters motivations.
Years later, we saw this surface on reddit:
While I don't agree with his perspective on the company and the events that lead to Season Two, Innuendo Studios probably provided one of the most carefully dissected essays on what may have really been going on in that season itself. It's not something we ever talked about openly, but I can say that his perspective is in line with mine, as well as the intention of some of the creative team. That said, it was also our intention to have u… [view original content]
Do you feel like the pacing and execution of A New Frontier was good?
Answer: You ask if it "was" good. That puts it in the past tense. I thought the first two episodes were paced briskly and tensely, and ultimately, once all five are played back to back, we think there might be a different feeling as a whole. Worth revisiting this later once the series concludes!
Hey Job I got a question!
Do you feel like the pacing and execution of A New Frontier was good? Many fans feel that the pacing and execut… moreion was not up to expectations but the TellTale staff believe it was satisfactory(which is why some fans are angry).
question: Doesn't an animated series of comic book series that are a 100% direct adaptation sound like an incredibly good idea?
answer: It sounds cool. It sounds WAY COOLER to me if that animated content that looked like a comic book was also interactive and I could role play within it and converse with all of the characters and drive the story myself....
Doesn't an animated series of comic book series that are a 100% direct adaptation sound like an incredibly good idea? It would be a win-win … morefor you guys. I'd love to see the beautiful art of The Walking Dead come to life, figuratively and It'd be a great alternative for the fans, and newcomers alike. An episodic animated series that mirrors the comics much more closer than AMC's The Walking Dead could be a great way to get newcomers of the series up to speed with the comic book readers, and quite frankly you could arguably get away with so much more with an animated series.
Comments
I would love that.
I agree. Well I'm still not ready to say that season 3 is horrible since we still have more episodes left (but I'm slowly starting to see that it was actually a bit disappointing start) anyway I think that even tho we should be respectful towards Job and other staff members it still doesn't mean we can't criticize their work or a way of handling things. Job could be more straightforward with his replies here. Tell us when he's gonna make it and when he's not gonna be able to be around. I'm not expecting him to be here 24/7 (duh) but radio silence isn't the way of handling it either. He made a choice to come here and answer to some questions and that's a wonderful thing..but he just shouldn't have promised something he can't keep.
That's actually not far from the truth!
Excited for you to play it, El chapo!
Hey Davissons,
I can't say we're 100% on the same page with those examples, but can 1000% say that we are always very careful about the correlation between the display text and the actual lines. It's pretty paramount that the player knows what kind of emotional direction they are going to take their character, and when that feels off, it doesn't quite feel right. A lot of narrative designers and writers tend to this regularly, and there's a LOT more attention but into this process than you might know about! I'll make sure the team sees this post and hears your feedback. Great question, and thanks for taking the time to ask!
Thanks Adam Roberts!
I may be super slow to respond, and am USUALLY busy travelling the world for some reason I can't talk about that is Telltale related....
But I'm always happy to pop in and see what you guys are up to.
I'd honestly love to have a more regular Google Hangout or Twitch stream where we can answer questions more efficiently and quickly. I'd be cool with AMA like this every week, so long as I didn't have to type it all out one by one.
That said, I will be attempting to finish what I started, and here's hoping we can keep the fun-love goin!
Thanks for being awesome!
That's simply the direction we've taken the story so far. More to come!
Well, it did go a bit out of hand in some places, yes. People were asking multiple questions at once. People were asking questions that couldn't be answered due to confidentiality and Telltale's own well being (by this I mean that as a company, they can't answer or reveal "everything" about their products, sometimes the truth hurts). People also went a bit stir-crazy with their comments after Job mysteriously disappeared from the AMA without a word. The thread was a bit too crowded so it needed a reboot.
Though, I guess the same things can now be said about this thread as well; It is understandable and expected, unfortunately.
(?) Caroline is still here.
And we love you for it.
(Well, maybe not everyone, but at least I do.)
HIGH FIVE
Will we want to spoil any surprises if she was? Will it give you certain expectations if I give you a vague response? Would you be okay if this wasn't our creative decison?
We are always listening to feedback and we THRIVE on criticism, be it positive or negative. The door is open!
All feedback is taken into consideration, and in the end, users become an active part of our live development process.
We've definitely heard a lot of feedback so far, but if it will live to your expectations or not... you'll have to tell us after you play it!
Good question!
I love the final product of season two. The rich complexity of the blurry relationship dynamic between Clem, Kenny, Jane, and AJ became one of my favorite aspects of the narrative. There was a LOT beneath the surface to that story that we didn't talk about. Mainly because it's all subjective in the end to the user. Even among the team at the time, there was debate and perspective on how everyone viewed each of these characters motivations.
Years later, we saw this surface on reddit:
While I don't agree with his perspective on the company and the events that lead to Season Two, Innuendo Studios probably provided one of the most carefully dissected essays on what may have really been going on in that season itself. It's not something we ever talked about openly, but I can say that his perspective is in line with mine, as well as the intention of some of the creative team. That said, it was also our intention to have users have a completely different perspective on what they thought was right and wrong, and view the characters through their own lenses.
This video is most in line with mine, and accurately summarizes my own perspective on what was really going on...
Have a look if you haven't seen it already!
Can we ever expect an iTunes or Spotify release of the soundtracks to any of your games? I always really enjoy the soundtrack but it would be great if we could have the music elsewhere other than from YouTube rips.
I think we all hear the desire from some fans to have playable Clem... but I also think we're still on a certain course that we are excited about that we wouldn't to share ahead of time lest we spoil the story. It's too soon to talk about content that might come AFTER ANF, but let's revisit this question after the finale. :P
11 meters per second
Sorry Harian96! We appreciate the question and LOVE that you are so passionate about the series --- but we just can't answer this question just yet. :P
Definitely considering upping our soundtrack game. DEFINITELY some cool stuff in the works. Stay tuned!
Pick any TWD game character (that is human and not a baby): how tall (in feet, cm or meters) is that character?
FRS Jacket zombie. 6 feet, zero inches tall.
DING DING DING DING!
"Job I don't even have a question"
....Okay then. :P
We listen to music. We find music we love. We incorporate that music we love into the stories we love telling. It's that simple!
They were originally going to politely ask if they could come in, hang out, eat some Handisnacks, and maybe play Parcheesi with Doug or Carley.
We thought that was silly and took it in a slightly different direction. ;P
PREACH!!
Ah. That teaser, again... totally more about vibe and not at all representative of the final narrative. Definitely taking note to your lefty power feedback, though! We've got quite a few lefties at Telltale....
I have no....
throws on shades
...OBJECTION!
I really dig Wyatt and Eddie's story the most. Either of those two guys!
Are the writing team and game designers aware of the disconnect that most players feel with this season?
No. We hear a lot of feedback, and we know that a lot of players on these boards are tense right now with very high expectations in multiple directions, but we wouldn't say at all that 'most players' are disconnected. We DEFINITELY DO hear your feedback, as well as the very particular kinds of feedback we get here on these boards, but we can't say that our perspective is in line. We CAN say that we hear you... and we definitely encourage you to keep playing until the season is over... and revisit this type of feedback once the story is complete.
I thought it was gold?! ;P
(It's blue though.)
When Telltale is making a cliffhanger at the end (like GoT or Batman) does it necessary mean that a second season is planned ?
No. It doesn't always mean that one is planned, but it certainly helps serve the purpose of continuing it should we choose to do so.
"Why did all the members of the Cabin Group have to die in Season 2?"
They didn't have to... but they most certainly did.
YEEEEEESS I KNEW IT
My question is, which was your criteria as a company to discard these content at that moment, if, for that time and for obvious reasons, you didn't have any fan feedback?
Answer: I can't say that Melissa's interview gives a 100% accurate window into what we do in the creative process vs. what she sees when working with us on the character. She's THE BEST IN THE WORLD TO WORK WITH and SUPER TALENTED... but trust us.. there's even more that Melissa doesn't get to see.
Ultimately, the creative process is a fickle thing to explain. But in short, not everything we ever think of using is used upon release because it was simply the creative decision we made with the story in the end.
Cool story, bro!
It's a callback. Everyone here has either been a part of creating or has played Season One and Two... and we love calling back to cool things we love.
I'll definitely take a look at that video when I get a chance, thanks for the response.
Do you feel like the pacing and execution of A New Frontier was good?
Answer: You ask if it "was" good. That puts it in the past tense. I thought the first two episodes were paced briskly and tensely, and ultimately, once all five are played back to back, we think there might be a different feeling as a whole. Worth revisiting this later once the series concludes!
question: Doesn't an animated series of comic book series that are a 100% direct adaptation sound like an incredibly good idea?
answer: It sounds cool. It sounds WAY COOLER to me if that animated content that looked like a comic book was also interactive and I could role play within it and converse with all of the characters and drive the story myself....
....but that's just me. ;P