Episodic vs Full Game
I like that this game is episodic as it gives us an enormous amount of time to build up theories and anxiety, but I wonder what it would be like if telltale released the full game at once. I have to believe that it would somewhat diminish the originality and greatness of the game- but I can't help myself from wanting the full game at once as well. By the time the last episode of this game comes out, it will be nearly 2 years since the release of Season 1. But the problem with a full game is that we'd have to wait longer for a reveal. I know people who are just waiting for all episodes to be released before playing it just to get through it as if it were full.
And so this discussion has been revisited and revised for new reasons.
Pros and cons are as follow:
Episodic:
Pros
- Gives the game time to sink in
- Offers a greater demand for future games/episodes
- Cheaper and more manageable for the producer
- Cheaper for the consumer because of #3
- Allows community input
- Get's a release out faster than a full game
Cons
- Takes a long time, forcing some people to replay previous episodes
- Some people may lose interest
Full game
Pros
- Less wait time between gameplay
- Easier to manage bugs within the game at a faster rate
- The game sinks in all at once for a potentially greater experience
- The developers can take their time to produce a story more fit for their ideas and goals
- Less people will lose interest
Cons
- Will take an extra year for the release than an episodic release
- No individual trailers or build-ups
- No community input, theories or ideas
- More expensive for developers
- More expensive for us
What are your preferences when it comes to this?
Also, feel free to add pros or cons to the list. I'll add them if they're valid input.
Comments
Yep, episodic games are actually effective considering in Telltale's part. But of course this gives them higher expectations to nail every episode so the fans won't lose interest or lose faith in the developers as well. If the TWD was a full game, I wonder what would've happened in S1?
Anything could have happened in retrospect. Without the consideration of the fans, telltale would have done exactly what they wanted (which they still did). but they also gave the fans something to hang onto.
Yeah, as you can see the list greatly favors episodic but only when it's managed properly.
if the time gap between episodes is no more than 2 months then the episodic choice is great , but when its 3-4 months like TWAU then it ruins the experience
Ideally, I'd like some sort of compromise in which episodes are mostly or even fully made before the season/series begins and then distributed once every two to three weeks or so, giving us enough time to pick apart the episodes but not so much time that the story loses its momentum [cough]wolfamongus[cough]. It would probably even be possible to tweak little things here or there according to fan input in that amount of time so long as the bulk of the episode has already been made.
I'd like that they finish most if the episodes before releasing, but give them episodically but actually release them every week, so they're done by the end of the month, this makes it cheaper, creates more hype and demand and makes it more like a tv show
without us having to wait super long and lose interest
Yeah, I do hope they make us feel more "involved" in this season though
This would essentially be a full game release with the cons of an episodic game. It couldn't be cheaper because they'd still have to shell out the work to get them all done as a full game, we'd also lose community input if they're on a months deadline-- and it would basically be more work than a full game, with less availability than a episodic game.
At least in my opinion. What are your thoughts on that?
Yes. This is ideal.
Every week huh? Sounds kinda great actually so we wouldn't lose interest and hype for the game. But don't you think that we won't be able to suggest or provide ideas for Telltale since then? Most of the episodes would be finished just as you said, that means they won't be able to change much on the game if it were already an almost finished product no matter how much we urge them to do so.
Well I never lost interest during the waits for each episode for Walking Dead S1 but it was annoying
I'm still riding on my involvement from season 1. If telltale did absolutely nothing this season that made me feel involved; season 1 would still be enough to keep my interest up even for a 3rd season. That's how powerful it was to me.
Well that's good for you that makes you their loyal fan XD. But not for me though (sorry), but I know TT is gonna step up this season
I waited forever to get S1 so when I did it was the full game, I'm sure I won't lose interest-- I'm more concerned about losing my mind, haha.
I prefer episodic because of the hype that goes into it between episodes. And then once its all out you look back at it as a whole and say "This game was AWESOME!" or "This game SUCKS" (but with telltale i dont think it will ever be the second option)
Maybe every couple weeks or so. If Telltale can stay faithful to their released dates of course
Haha. Well said.
Yeah, definitely not the latter. But I agree, episodic does offer a broader experienence for the game and honestly I love it. There are just so many different angles that it could have gone, it's crazy.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Skullzz, I was basically trying to say what Domewing was saying, it just came out wrong I guess haha
Lol it's alright I just didn't know how to say it haha you know Omid
I'm for the Episodic Experience. Like its already said there's that Time between the Episodes filled with Theories and Discussions. The Cliffhangers though are on the minus side. And when TT is delaying its former prediction..
But all in all, you have a longer Experience with the Episodes.
Indeed, I feel the episodic system does wonders for this game.
I think the Episodic style is probably the best thing for these type of games. Other games it may not suit, but because TTG has focused more on the narrative of these games, it works perfectly to keep players interested in the story and get people intrigued on what could happen next. A full release on the other hand would not be as effective. Although the quality of the game and it's story is outstanding, the anticipation and the interest in the story wont be as high. The story at the time will be great, but the after effect won't as large. It's the same as a movie and a tv show. A movie is good for the moment of watching it, and it may last a little bit, but it wears off after a short while. But with a tv show, if it's good you will be earnestly waiting for the next episode to arrive, builds tension, and when the season ends, you want more, but you know you cant have any more til next year. And although you dont always think about it, it can be on your mind a lot, anticipating what could happen next. I'm not saying one is better than the other, but with games like the walking dead, this style is exactly what it needs.
Honestly this only came to my mind only a few minutes ago, but although it may seem that they only change little bits from player feedback, but it depends on whether or not how much that actually change. For example, if a certain area was disliked, and they wanted to improve that area in the next episode/s, it could results in "adjusting" other parts of the game that are related to that improvement, thus taking longer time than anticipated, and could e "part" of the reason a lot of episodes from both TWD and TWAU are delayed a bit. This obviously isn't the entire reason, but I wouldn't be surprised if it contributed to it.
You know what we need? With Telltale taking on so many projects at once, imagine this release scheme:
Week 1: Tales from the Borderlands
Week 2: Game of Thrones
Week 3: The Wolf Among Us
Week 4: The Walking Dead
Imagine this cycle repeating until all episodes were released, then Telltale works on 4 projects at once again.
(Edit: Man, the comment broke, that was supposed to be in list format).
I'm all for episodic when its done in a timely manner, the wait time for twau has been terrible though and has hurt my interest in the game.
Usually when a game sucks me in like TWD does I get really obsessed with it and keep playing it over and over until I get it out of my system.
That doesn't really work that well with short episodes.
But that's my problem, I should have just waited til all the episodes were released.