Not a fan of (Telltales) Episodic Gaming
Its different and unique but when you leave 6 weeks in between episodes for an hour of game play it is a complete waste. I love the game and telltale has done a great job at every aspect with the quality of the game but as they proved last year and I am almost positive they will prove this year they don't stay true to deadlines.
Im sure some of you like it, but I want to believe most of us are like me and after 2 weeks of sitting on a forum where every other thread is "OMG ITS KENNY" starts to get boring.
I love that the game is pretty cheap by money standards. I mean 25 bucks for 4 hours of a great "campaign mode" is a GREAT if not the best rate in video games. I mean I don't think anyone is complaining about 5 bucks an episode but telltale is leaving A LOT of money on the table with the episodic gaming.
I am willing to bet that almost everyone on this forum would be willing to pay 40+ (or even 60 like a regular xbox 360 game) to get the whole season in one go. You may think you would be able to not pull the trigger but once you see everyone else playing it and once you get hooked you will most certainly fork over the extra bucks.
I just don't understand the concept of episodic gaming. Sure, it gives time on the forums for everyone to complain and make assumptions for the next episode but I feel like its a lose/lose for everyone . . . and that is directed at telltale and the players. There losing money, and aggravating fans by not staying true to their deadlines, and we are forced to wait two months for an hour of gameplay. It just doesn't make sense.
Before you comment and say "then don't play" or "then don't come on the forums" don't get me wrong I love the game and the forums are. . . entertaining to an extent, but it just kills the mood in my opinion. It would work if telltale either offered the whole 5 episode season for a higher price, or if they made the wait between episodes significantly shorter (like a week or 2 tops.) A month and MORE in between episodes just seems ridiculous.
Telltale hasn't said anything about the release date, or even release trailer about episode 2 . . .doesnt that hint to anyone that we might be on the same path as Season 1 ? I hope I am wrong of course but I would be shocked if next episode comes out in January. Based off Season 1 I would expect a release some time around Valentines Day.
Comments
It seams you haven't played half life 2 and the episodic unlike this game ,half life eps were longer.
But actually you don't know they might surprise us and make the game longer.I really hope so and they said they will make it better
Episode 1 was really short. Not sure how much shorter it was, but it was noticeable more short. I mean think about it there were essentially four scenes in the game: campfire, dog, getting the supplies, and the river incident. I feel like there was just more content in other episodes. I didn't like that you really didn't get to talk to anyone either. Like when you were in the gas station in episode 3 last season where you could talk to everyone and have a full conversation with them. . . even if its more "movie scenes" I would like to see a much longer episode next time around (at least a half hr longer would suffice for me)
and your right never played any other episodic games before.
I think future episodes will be longer. Most of the episodes in season 1 were about 2 hours long.
I was surprise when the game ended it was shorter compared to the first one.I really really REALLY hope they make changes ,well other than the art.
I might be wrong here as I'm just speaking my thoughts and speculations, but I think Telltale has a lot of fine tuning to do as far as the inside of their company goes. A lot of people had never even heard of TTG before TWD, that game was definitely their breakthrough and their way into the spotlight. They were a much smaller company and are seemingly trying to progress and expand, and I think that were all watching them go through the awkward transition phase. I definitely agree with your post, I love their games and everything else but the way they go about PR and the episodic content could use some tweaking. I think in the future they'll find a balance to please to fans and carry on as they see fit.
I love the concept of it. I'd rather they complete either the first two or three first and then release them say one a month or so while they prep the others with fan feedback and such OR just use fan feedback from S1 and complete all of S2 before releasing it one ep a month. This way it's more like the way TV shows do things so the wait keeps you hyped yet isn't a complete drag.
Completely agree. TWD is there "cash cow." Just feel like they could be making so much more money off it.
I like the hype too but the in between shows is only 7 days. 7 days is an accurate amount of time to discuss and speculate as to what it is going to happen. 30 days if not 50 days is a little too much. Heck the actual tv episode is an hour and so is the game! by that logic we should be getting episodes weekly!
Agreed. Either ep a month or ep a week would be great (I'd love ep a week but I suppose it'd be asking for too much), part of the fun is the speculating here and elsewhere but when we need to wait this long for eps or trailers or any info, it becomes kind of stale sometimes. Discussion just kind of evaporates because we've discussed almost every possible idea for the part of the story we're waiting for. I won' complain or anything because I love Telltale and their games but I think waiting a bit longer for theSeason to be complete would be worth it for more frequent eps
"Absence makes the heart grow fonder." The level of eagerness and anticipation that a Telltale episodic game generates via its periodic releases makes people more invested in the game and in the company than if they just release the whole season all at once.
That being said, yeah, they need to speed up the releases. A month is fine by me. Any more than that is pushing it.
The time in between episodes also gives them very important information on how to make the next episode. What people want to see, what they don't, what they expect, and what would shock them (us).
The thing is they don't make the episodes in between. . . they may make adjustments but each episode and there plot is already made. I may be wrong but making an animation game like this takes a lot of time. They probably started right after season 1 ended.
25 bucks for 4 hours? im confused its more 20 bucks for 8 hours.
i love it way more than the game coming out all at once. its just something i enjoy. i dont feel like a have to play 8 hours of gameplay in two days. i can play little bit and finish in a day or two. then a month or two later i can do the same thing. though i agree with you when it comes to releasing the episodes every 4 weeks is perfect for me not every 10 weeks.
Good writers take their time, that includes a games story.
You can always wait for the full game to come out if you want to play it all in one go. Most people who buy the game don't even discuss it on forums or message boards anyway. They simply play it, and then do other things until the next episode comes out.
No they implement ideas throughout the season.
I don't want to wait till next September so i can play the game straight through. I really enjoy playing and I am free this time of the year so I would love to just sit through it now. By putting it out in episodes, it also severely diminishes replay value. For me I play through the story mode of the game then play through it again in a few months when I am bored. I can't play episode 1 again . . .
actually for me, each episode lasts 2-3 hours (the game I mean)
TV is about 44 minutes
Really? Last season of the game each episode tops took an hour and a half to 2 hours. I don't think its possible unless you just stand around for it to take 2 hours. Im not rushing through the game either. I talk to and interact with any possible piece i find.
$25 for 4 hours is terrible. I bought TWD S1 for like.. $7, and I have 24 hours on it.
Well, they're not done with the whole thing yet. If you wanted the 'full game' format, the game would be released around the same time as when all the episodes release.
Yup, me too. 2-3 hours pretty much each episode except the first,
and 400 days. 400 days was the shortest, only took an hour.
S2 E1 took me about 2 hours.
I don't want to have to wait but I guess we'll have to suck it up and hope it gets a lot of attention from TTG so it's released quicker.
The reason the episode is short us because they made the Nick/Pete choice occur after about an hour and a half. In an interview, one of the developers said that choice's effects are going to have such a major role in the story that going into them would be too much for episode 1. I have a feeling that the next episode will be slightly longer.
I agree that all this waiting for episodes is extremely annoying. There is just no way you can get into a game like this when you have to wait months to play the next installment. I would be perfectly happy to pay out extra pounds if it meant I could play the whole thing. As you say, if Telltale were to keep to a release every two weeks, then that wouldn't be so bad. It would give people plenty of time to speculate as to what happens next, without things getting repetitive and boring. Not to mention the abuse, bad language and bullying that inevitably happens when tempers fray and frustration levels are at maximum.
Perhaps though this is Telltales plan. Maybe they like seeing people at eachothers throats over a game. I can't see any other reason why it's done in this fashion.
Game development takes time and it's not like Telltale make all the episodes in advance. Telltale's current model allows them to take into account all the feedback they get from an episode and made the next episodes better for it.
I'm very much of the opinion that it doesn't matter how long it takes so long as the episodes are consistently good.
geez 24 hours? S1 took me maybe 5-6 hrs to complete. E1S2 took me maybe an hour
what ideas have they implemented?
seeing as how every episode already has a name and thumbnail out, im pretty sure theyre not writing in between releases
Although they may, like I said, make small adjustments they have the entire story board up and that will not change. If you think telltale is just writing the story by episode you are wrong. No video game does that. The writers know exactly how episode 5 will end.
The thing is do we always want certain thingsto happen even if we'd like them to? I'd kind of rather they write the story the best way possible than the way want or don't want.
I agree, I hate episodic gaming. Waiting 2 months or more in between each episode really kills my interest in the game. It would be slightly more tolerable if episodes lasted longer than 1.5 hours, last season each episode other than the last took me at least 2.5 hours... When I play these episodes, I am more worried about how long they are going to last than what is going on in the story...
I bought all of Season 1 at once, and after I finished it I felt like I could pay $200 for Season 2 and be satisfied. Now I am wondering if I will still be interested in the game in the 2 months (or probably more) that it will take for the next ultra-short episode to be released. I think that 1 month would be more tolerable, but still excessive.
If a 1 hour episode is the cost of having choices that matter, I would much rather have the faux-choices that we were given last season.
Telltale is also working on way too many projects at once. They should just focus on TWD and TWAU (AKA their main sources of income), especially considering how long it has been since the last episode of TWAU without any announcements... In a perfect world, Telltale could focus on as many projects at once as they wanted with no impact on the quality or development of any of them. This is not a perfect world.
I don't know if you were here for Season 1 but there was absolute anarchy when Telltale postponed the deadline for I believe episode 3 or 4. They announced it was going to be out a certain week and it didn't come out for another 2 weeks. They did the same thing for a reveal trailer. Its worse enough they don't announce dates in advance but to leave it up in the air just seems really unprofessional and unfair. The fact they haven announced anything for season 2 yet scares me that we are on a similar path.
took me about 13-15 hours. The rest is replaying some stuff.
You must play your games at a fast pace if S2E1 didn't take you at least an hour and a half.
Don't think so. I interact with everything and double check some spaces just to make sure I don't miss anything. Not sure how long it took me but if you look at the play throughs on youtube, most take about an hour and a few minutes and these are people commentating too.
with the exception of episode 5 all of the walking dead episodes are 2 hours.
I may be the only one who doesnt want to pay $60 for a $25 game. I need my money. Im more than happy to wait for the episodes as they come out.