If you haven't bought it yet... why not? [Archive]

anonima

06/01/2006, 06:44 am

I want to buy both bone games but I haven't got the money to spare right now. I'm getting married in less then a month and it's been tight. I want to buy the packaged versions together since I'm a sucker for any packaged goods.

I've read Bone since I was around 14 years old in the late 90's and first played Sam and Max even earlier then that so having one company making games for 2 of my most beloved "franchises" (I guess you could call them) is pretty awesome.

My fiance wants to play the bone games too. I made her play Curse of Monkey Island and she loved it and since then she's played MI1, MI2, Day of the Tentacle and tried Hit the Road but sadly she couldn't get into it..... it broke my heart. :(

Emily

06/01/2006, 02:41 pm

Do you take paypal?

I don't have a credit card

Sure do. :)

xChri5x, sounds like the Bone games would make a good wedding present! You should add them to your registry. :))

Also, CitizenMarvel, you're not the only person who'd like a Mac port. A lot of Telltale employees are Mac users.

anonima

06/01/2006, 07:50 pm

I've tried both demo's and they've run a little slow too. I need more RAM.

anonima

06/07/2006, 09:00 pm

Is there something holding you back?

Yes, indeed. I don't want to see other AG companies going the way of TellTale with episodic approaches. This is the business model of the TV industry - break a story into a million episodes, make it popcorn-addictive, squeeze every penny out of the viewers [who pay delivery fees (i.e. monthly cable fees) and also pay for each episode by sitting through a ton of commercials]. I'd much rather pay $xx to buy a 2h movie on DVD and own it with (arguably) no string attached. Life is too short for sitting though endless sitcoms and such.

Second, I refuse to accept DRM as implemented by Steam and TellTale. It simply kills the whole experience (call it illusion, if you will) of owning a game product. By having a product which enforces activation, one becomes dependent on the publisher who may at his discretion pull the plug on your game at any point in the future. I don't want to be contemplating scenarios about my internet connection going down at the worst moment or TellTale going out of business and taking their DRM servers with them. Not that I can't take care of any DRM protection by finding an appropriate crack, but it's a hoop I don't have time to deal with. While I understand the need of encapsulating the games with DRM protection for online delivery, I don't see why activation would be required for CD/DVD distributions which already have copy protection in place (StarForce, etc).

Also, such activation schemes are a way of empowering the publisher to play price-fixing games. This is, because the consumers are not free to trade their copies of the games and sell them on E-bay. This goes against the principles of free market economy. Pirate-warding is a pointless argument - these folks can go around any protection and have ways of distributing their hacks around. It's the regular AG fan, who is happy to pay for his games, who gets punished here.

So, while I've bought and own almost every AG there is (DOTT, S&M, FT, GF, TLJ, Syberia 12, IP, BS 123, GK 123, MI 1234, MoS, TT, you name it...), I haven't purchased Bone 12 because I find TellTale's business model unhealthy for the AG community. You guys openly admit that you are trying hard to turn your products into a franchise much like a TV series. I don't agree that this is how Adventure Games should be. A good adventure game should be like a first class movie rather than a lengthy TV Series spanning multiple seasons. My thoughts are with the AVS folks, who are all about releasing a full-featured game the traditional way (albeit it may take some time and incur financial risk).

So, TellTale - want to get me and my $$ on your side? Well, here is the magic formula:

Package the Bone series on a DVD, apply any copy-protection you like (but not online activation), and put it out there priced competitively against other adventure games. Then I won't feel like I am getting something incomplete and leased out, but something I will actually own. Call me traditional, but it's the only way I'd invest in a game (even if it is S&M). :-)

All this criticism aside, I applaud you for getting rid of the middle man in the game distribution chain. Self-publishing game products is the way to go. I'd rather buy directly from the game studio than Amazon.com. You seem like a talented team which holds a lot of promise once you find the right business model.

anonima

06/09/2006, 02:09 am

I didn't buy it 'cause I got a free copy for working at Telltale. So, Telltale - want to get me and my $$ on your side? Well, here is the magic formula: Stop hiring me.

Emily

06/09/2006, 02:46 am

I didn't buy it 'cause I got a free copy for working at Telltale. So, Telltale - want to get me and my $$ on your side? Well, here is the magic formula: Stop hiring me.

Jeez. Next thing you know, you'll be demanding free copies of Sam & Max... ;)

anonima

06/09/2006, 11:58 am

I didn't buy it 'cause I got a free copy for working at Telltale. So, Telltale - want to get me and my $$ on your side? Well, here is the magic formula: Stop hiring me.

Hey even when I was offered free versions of the games I still bought them to support..support your own games..yes buy multiple copies to give you a false sense of achievement when you see those sales numbers B-)

anonima

06/15/2006, 09:56 am

-= Dear God - I hope the developers will be reading this post [[-o<] =-
(maybe I should be swearing to make sure I get their attention :D - anyway...

I don't like the look of Bone, I didn't like the look of Grim Fandango or MI4 (not to mention the controls in MI4 - my god!) :( That's the sole reason why I haven't bought any of telltale games' titles.

I simply do not like the plastic coated look that has been dominating 3D AGs to date - and I really think it is too bad, because it really keeps me from seeing the charm and personality of the characters.
I think that even in the old days, which I know will never return, the very pixellized characters had more charm than now, because back then, the graphical representation of most AGs far exeeded the overall "realism" (or whatever) of other types of games (shoot-em-ups, sims, action, etc.).

Nowadays, the developers of AGs often have to slim down the game requirements (probably based on extensive market research - I hope). This means that they have to use basic shaders and that sort of stuff - Only, IMHO, maybe they shouldn't.

Many of you may not know the game "Sheep Dog 'n Wolf". When I tried this game back in 2001, I thought to myself: "Now there is a successful comic adaptation! Best ever, to be completely honest."
I think the engine concept (perhaps strongly updated and modified for the specific task) would be great for many of the future AGs of these times as it would allow the designers to REALLY bring back the charm to comic based AGs (non-human characters). The character animations are really funny and it is simply a great game! (although, by now maybe a bit out of date)
Take a look at this link (http://www.hardwaretidende.dk/hard/artikel/01/09/21/4625949) (the actual game looks better than the screenshots) and this link (http://www.gamershell.com/pc/sheep_dog_n_wolf/screenshots.html).

If you are interrested in seeing the game in action, you can download it here (http://www.gpdownloads.co.nz/dl.dyn/Files/2822.html) .

I will never give up hoping.

anonima

06/15/2006, 01:29 pm

I really like the general look Telltale are going for in the Bone episodes and have a very reticent attitude toward the idea of using cell shading (which the game you mentioned as an example appears to employ.)

For one, cell shading wouldn't even really reproduce the look of the comics; there's a lot more 3 dimensional looking shading in the coloured versions than in, for instance, traditional animation, and a major feature (to my eyes at least) of the comic's look is the careful use of differently weighted lines, something which cell shading's automatic outlining couldn't hope to replicate. The sort of "wriggliness" and squishiness of the characters (I can't think of a better way to describe it) is also something I can't imagine being translated effectively to 3D graphics, regardless of any shading effects. It's much better, I think, to try to adapt the general look of the comic, as Telltale seem to be doing, than get hung up on the specifics.

Your apparent belief that non-cell shaded 3D graphics can't posess charm is something I just can't understand. It's true of most, but you shouldn't let that blind you. If you play the demo of The Great Cow Race and still find the visuals charmless, I have sincere pity for you.

Hey even when I was offered free versions of the games I still bought them to support
You're making me feel like some sort of shirker for not having bought The Great Cow Race (and the books) after I won it (them).

anonima

06/18/2006, 06:54 pm

Totally love this game. Yes the first one did cost too much for how long it was (luckly for me though I bought it when it was $15 seeing the older posts) and was too easy. Great game though and loved it so much I had to buy the next one right away. But the cow race was a nice increase in diffuculty/time and hope it continues to get a bit longer/challenging. Just a little bit. I just don't want a complete walk in the park.

Can not wait for the next one!! Good work! Keep it up

Udvarnoky

06/18/2006, 09:14 pm

Speaking of the next one, is that still going to come out in the 5-6 months after Cow Race timeframe or is Sam & Max stalling it a bit?

Emily

06/19/2006, 03:43 am

Can't say anything about that just yet, I'm afraid.

Hey, look over there! A three-headed monkey! ;)

EDIT: Oh, and welcome to the forum, Netrat! Thanks for sharing your thoughts about Cow Race.

anonima

06/22/2006, 01:43 pm

The reason I haven't bought it yet is a $170 copy of Loom, two Amiga USB joysticks, two expensive doctors bills and some old Gameboy Final Fantasy games :)

I will get around to buying it soon enough though :)

The Amiga had USB ports?

anonima

06/22/2006, 08:44 pm

The reason i didn't buy bone: out from boneville? well... for some reason when i downloaded the demo i got the full game... despite not being able to save i was able to play the full game... no, i didn't crack it or anything... i still got the "buy bone online etc." message when i run it but then i could play the whole game... weird...

Matt

Alucard

06/23/2006, 01:30 am

It seemed too easy to me. I've got my hopes up for Sam&max to be more challenging

Dave Grossman

06/24/2006, 12:50 am

Alucard

06/24/2006, 05:49 am

Loom was a really fun game though. Speaking of old adventure games, one game I never ended up playing was simon the sorcerer. By the time I heard of the game it was really old but not quite abandonware... Even a few years back I checked and the company was still preventing it from being deemed "abandoned".... I don't think it would even work on xp without some helper programs.

Maybe telltale could make a new loom...

anonima

06/25/2006, 04:02 am

A lot of the people who visit this forum have probably already bought The Great Cow Race. (If you did, thanks! :)) Now, I'm curious to hear from those who haven't bought it yet. Why not? Do you have plans to buy it sometime in the future but haven't gotten around to it yet? Is there something holding you back?

There's no right or wrong answer to this question... we just want to understand who our customers are and what's on your minds. So it'll be interesting (and useful!) to hear what people have to say about this.
I know that this was asked a while ago, but I thought I'd finally throw my two cents in. You at least deserve to know my thoughts on it, whether you'll agree with them or not.

The reason why I have not bought it yet is because of exactly what TellTale is pushing through: the episodic nature of the games.

I expect TellTale to do exactly what is done very frequently with media such as this. When the game is considered to be complete, there will probably be some Ã¼ber-deluxe package that will include all of the episodes, all of the comics, plus a ton of extras bundled into a "Collector's Edition" at a cost that is a much better value than the individual pieces. Additionally, unless it's something that I really, really must have now, I'm not a download guy. I want the media. So, if I buy each disc as it comes out and TTG does finally release some Ã¼ber-deluxe package, chances are it will include the game, which I would otherwise already own.

Look at what our good friend (*cough*) Lucas has done to milk the Star Wars franchise. Now that all of the episodes are on DVD, here comes yet another set that now has extras like the original, theatrical versions of 4, 5, and 6. So, anyone who buys that and already bought the "As I Still Claim I Meant Them To Be" DVD releases will now have two copies of the Special Editions just to gain access to the theatrical edition.

Now, I'm not saying that this is what TTG is going to do. I don't know. I don't work for them. (I'd love to, but being on the opposite coast sort of creates a commuting problem.) But since there are multiple comics and multiple episodes, I would not be surprised at all to hear that TTG plans on doing that in the future. Going on that assumption, I'd rather wait and buy the whole thing later.

Now, I know the whole "But you'll be supporting them NOW when they certainly could use sales and the capital to keep them going!" that I'm sure some of you are ready to throw at me. I understand that. But unless it's something that I really have to have NOW (like when The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy was being released), I can wait. And frankly Bone does not have enough of my interest to warrant me purchasing it as this moment. Put out a Collector's Edition if/when the series ends, and it's mine ... unless The Great Cow Race actually is the end and I missed that somewhere.

That being said, I put Sam and Max in the same "Must Have" category as The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Each episode will be mine as they're released. Bone just isn't in that category.

Anyway, Emily asked, I answered. Let the criticism begin.

anonima

06/25/2006, 04:15 am

The Amiga had USB ports?
The Amiga had the standard 9-pin serial joysticks that the C64 had. USB was not released until January 1996, two years after Commodore was driven into the ground.

Most likely, he's referring to Amiga-style joysticks that have a USB adapter or actual, Amiga joysticks that were retro-fitted or have a USB adapter to be used primarily with an Amiga emulator on a PC or a Mac. I see lots of those adapters on the Intar-web to let you attach Nintendo, Commodore/Atari, Colecovision, Intellivision, and other types of joysticks to your PC, which then work with an emulator.

anonima

07/04/2006, 06:49 pm

Hear? Hear?

Episodes suck. Complete full-length games rocks :)

Activation sucks. Nobody wants any umbilical cords with TellTale. :(

Until tese issues are addressed - I don't need no bones or cows :))

anonima

07/05/2006, 04:01 pm

Most likely, he's referring to Amiga-style joysticks that have a USB adapter or actual, Amiga joysticks that were retro-fitted or have a USB adapter to be used primarily with an Amiga emulator on a PC or a Mac. I see lots of those adapters on the Intar-web to let you attach Nintendo, Commodore/Atari, Colecovision, Intellivision, and other types of joysticks to your PC, which then work with an emulator.

Amigas had specific joysticks?!?!
What the hell was I playing on from 88-93?!?!?

It had better not have been the Kelloggs variety packs!
Tricked again!

anonima

07/10/2006, 04:53 pm

If you haven't bought it yet... why not?

Though question... and it's not because I don't know why I haven't bought it yet, it's because I just don't know where to start. So many reasons.

I'll start with the game itself then. Let's talk without euphemisms: it's mediocre. I enjoyed combining rubber duckies with clotheslines and clamps in other games, but what am I doing in the demo of the episodes? Good question actually, is there even a puzzle? Well, I clicked to unfold a map from under a rock.

I won't complain about the graphics, since I enjoy even the oldest games. Also, now people with old computers have something as well.

As for the story, the demo doesn't give me a good enough impression of how the full game will be. Maybe that's a sign of the full game having not much to offer? I don't want my money wasted. And even if the full game had something to offer, my money would still be wasted, since there is a timebomb on the game, which leads me to the next point:

I don't want the games I bought to be on the servers of someone else, I want to own the game MYSELF. Not only will I be unable to play your game in the future when your company quits, but also when my, or even worse, YOUR internet is temporarily down.
And don't give me the tired old "piracy" reason either, Oblivion sold millions of copies and doesn't have a single piece of copy protection! nothing! Not even CD checks or so! sure it does get pirated, but so does your game!

Bottom line, if you want your game, you don't do that with intimidating copy protection schemes that pirates will get around with anyway, you do it by creating a good game!

anonima

07/10/2006, 05:44 pm

The reason I haven't bought it yet is a $170 copy of Loom, two Amiga USB joysticks, two expensive doctors bills and some old Gameboy Final Fantasy games :)

Loom costs $170? It's only about three hours long. Clearly we are not charging enough for our products....
Well to be brutally honest, Loom is a lot better than any of your products so far :)

But Lucasarts games are REALLY good so don't take offense :)

anonima

07/10/2006, 06:44 pm

I haven't bought it yet because I don't have a fancy Macintel machine that can run Windows :)

anonima

07/10/2006, 10:01 pm

:)) Sounds to me like TT is is not doing well by selling bones-on-a-string. I bet that Bones didn't sell nearly as expected. Not even S&M can cure a rotten business model.

Speaking of S&M - I most sincerely hope that the product will stand up to the hype. Just look at Pirates of the Caribbean 2 for a case-in-point of how bad remakes/follow-ups can be. The offspring may be breaking the all-time opening weekend records (mostly due to the pop's legacy), but the series will crash and burn soon once the negative reviews start pouring in and people realize that it's a bore.

Udvarnoky

07/10/2006, 10:30 pm

:)) Sounds to me like TT is is not doing well by selling bones-on-a-string. I bet that Bones didn't sell nearly as expected.

Though I hate to disappoint you, various interviews indicate otherwise.

anonima

07/12/2006, 01:13 pm

Just look at Pirates of the Caribbean 2 for a case-in-point of how bad remakes/follow-ups can be.

Actually, I really enjoyed it :)

anonima

07/12/2006, 11:01 pm

jp-30

07/13/2006, 01:34 am

Bring back Sinclair Spectums and Vic 20s. Down with anything "new". It scares me so.

(etc)

anonima

07/13/2006, 12:47 pm

:)) Sounds to me like TT is is not doing well by selling bones-on-a-string. I bet that Bones didn't sell nearly as expected.

Dude, how do you figure that - This is a thread where people where specifically asked why they didnt buy one of the Bone games - Most people just seem to want a Mac port? B-)

anonima

07/14/2006, 12:06 am

Though I hate to disappoint you, various interviews indicate otherwise.

:)) Interviews schminterviews - take them with a grain of salt. The sales figures are all that matters. People vote with their wallets, you know. And I don't see why they'd want to put up with any of this *beep*. Root the weed before it spreads. Say NO to Valve/TellTale. [This message was brought to you by *censored* ]

Don't forget 3D Realms, they are fond of including on line authentication in their games as well. They tried to do it in Prey, but had no time anymore before the release, fortunately.
It's safe to bet Duke Nukem Forever will have on line authentication :(

Haggis

07/14/2006, 11:35 am

Down with the Internet! Back to telegraphy!

anonima

07/14/2006, 02:10 pm

It's safe to bet Duke Nukem Forever will have on line authentication :(

Bah! The internet will be long gone by the time Duke Nukem Forever is released ;)

anonima

07/14/2006, 10:00 pm

Well the reason I didnâ€™t buy it is because they wouldn't ship to a P.O Box address. I know it is downloadable but I wanted it as a gift for my little sister who loved the first one. Is there any other place I can have this shipped to me? Or is this the only place I can get the game?

Emily

07/14/2006, 11:37 pm

Hi Cheb,

Did you try selecting different carriers from the drop-down menu? Sometimes a carrier like UPS or FedEx won't deliver to a PO Box, but USPS usually will....

anonima

07/15/2006, 06:23 pm

Hello Emily,

Well I am located in the Middle East so the only 2 options I get with the drop-down when it comes to shipping is UPS Express and International Post. I don't get a USPS option.

Emily

07/15/2006, 06:54 pm

Yeah, it's probably because those carriers don't deliver to a PO Box. Of course that doesn't help you if those are the only options for where you live. :(

I just sent you a PM.

anonima

08/06/2006, 07:45 pm

Hi,
I registered on the Telltale forums for the sole purpose of replying to this thread! The reason I still haven't bought any of the Bone games is because of the DRM system Telltale uses, even in the boxed versions of the games. I don't want to rely on your servers to be able to play my games. Please, please do release a version without the fingerprinting system. Anyway, is it really safer than a system like Starforce?
Thanks for reading.

anonima

08/24/2006, 09:30 pm

It looks like TellTale is hiding in a dark alley and entirely avoiding the DRM questions here. LOL

All this effort to take people's basic freedom of product ownership for what? What are they trying to achive by siding with the evil DRM alliance?

When it comes to adventure games DRM has zero pozitive effect on the sales (says me). Only dedicated adventure gamers buy advneture games anyways and only beacuse they want to, not because they have to! :p

Personally, I see purchasing my adventure games as a way to support this genre and to say thanks to the people who keep designing adventures. Centralized DRM is bad joke which breaches the gamer-developer trust relation. Wouldn't you agree?

And one final thought... what would happen if my new car comes with DRM? How fun would it be if your car dials in to see if you are on the dealer's White List every time you want to turn the key. Jeez!

Emily

08/25/2006, 01:59 am

It looks like TellTale is hiding in a dark alley and entirely avoiding the DRM questions here. LOL

No, not really. It's just that we've spoken to that issue in many other places (including on this very forum!) and the answer hasn't changed. Gets to the point where it's more productive to work on the next game than to repeat the answer. ;)

Believe me when I say that everyone's feedback is taken into account. Just because we don't respond to something directly doesn't mean we haven't read it and thought about it.

So, thanks to everyone who's responded so far!

anonima

08/28/2006, 09:47 pm

It's just that we've spoken to that issue in many other places (including on this very forum!)

Ok, cool. Can you please post the links to the posts/threads/forums you are referring to?

Udvarnoky

08/28/2006, 10:18 pm

A simple search here will turn up some. There's also this thread (http://forums.adventuregamers.com/showthread.php?t=14357) from the AG Forums Developer chat.

Emily

08/28/2006, 10:44 pm

Sorry if my response above was snarky. I guess I should be grateful we're back on this topic, and everyone's done discussing Sam & Max's voices. :D

Unfortunately the search function on this forum leaves a lot to be desired, and I can't find the thread I was referring to. It was back when the first Bone game came out, and Troy responded several times about Telltale's rationale behind using a DRM system. The thread on AG is essentially the same question and the same answer, anyway.

It would not make sense from a business perspective for Telltale to sell games without any form of copy protection. We might as well leave our office doors wide open and invite people to come in off the street and steal our equipment and IP. ;) The decision to go with the DRM we use was made with a number of considerations in mind, and really the only complaint I've consistently heard about it is "What if you go out of business in ten years?" As Troy said in the thread I can't find, if that happens, Telltale will unlock the games so anyone who owns a copy can play them forever (or, at least, as long as your hardware permits!)

anonima

08/28/2006, 11:14 pm

Well, that was all I wanted to read ! That eventually, a patch will be released to unlock the games. I had browsed the Telltale forums but had never read that. I think it would be a nice to write this in a F.A.Q. or sticky thread.

Concerning the BONE games, I will buy boxed copies tomorrow from your online store!

Concerning Sam & Max, let me tell you that I am dying to play it but I will wait for the complete season to come out in a boxed version. Two reasons:
- I want a box. Because hard drives are not reliable! And because I enjoy owning the physical item.
- I don't want to play a few hours every month. I prefer to get 15 hours in one chunk.

Not that I am complaining about the episodic system; I just wanted to tell you why I will wait to buy S&M:E1.

Cheers

Emily

08/28/2006, 11:50 pm

Concerning the BONE games, I will buy boxed copies tomorrow from your online store!

Woo! Glad to hear it. :D

Be sure to buy the combo pack (http://www.telltalegames.com/products/bd_bone_cd12) - you save a few dollars that way.

anonima

08/30/2006, 12:03 am

Hi Emily,

I haven't purchased the game yet, but I will...someday. I loved the demo, and am simply waiting for another episode to be finished. I like the idea of an episodic game, but I've heard some chatter that the next Bone won't be released for a while, with Sam & Max coming. So I just want to make sure I don't obsess over the game this weekend and then have to wait eight months for a new version.

And I'll purchase Sam & Max, too, but won't subscribe to the gaming network thing it's being released on exclusively first, mainly because I don't play many games, and only play adventure games.

anonima

08/30/2006, 12:31 pm

Why not?

No Mac version.

anonima

08/30/2006, 03:41 pm

anonima

09/01/2006, 08:13 am

I'm looking for games to play on my pocketpc right now. Too much time on the road and too many meetings leave too little time to break out the laptop for game play. I really like point-click games like Gilbert Goodmate for the pocket pc and hope that telltale games will supply playable games in that format.

My magic 8-Ball says - You should be so f**king lucky B-)

Though there is a PocketPC version of the ScummVM - so you can play all your old LucasArts games from your PocketPC?

http://www.freewareppc.com/utilities/pocketscumm.shtml

Guybrush_Threepwood

09/03/2006, 01:22 pm

I didn't buy it 'cause I got a free copy for working at Telltale. So, Telltale - want to get me and my $$ on your side? Well, here is the magic formula: Stop hiring me.
Don't say it too loud, Brendan! I could try to replace you! B-)
Jokes apart, I wish I could work for Telltale to help winning the graphic adventure battle!
This is my dream, and once it's gonna come true!!!
Let me graduate first, then expect to hire me, guys!!! :D

anonima

10/04/2006, 11:35 pm

I doubt you'll see this since the thread already has so many replies, but let me give a bit of background before I answer.

I started out on a commodore 64, my first adventure game was Maniac Mansion by Lucas Arts. Since then I played the Monkey Island Series, Zak Mckracken & The Alien Mindbenders. All the Indy (Adventure) games. etc.

The biggest problem I have with Bone is the cost vs. the Short episode nature of the game.

I'm not some kid with a short attention span. "I" like to decide when I am done playing a game for the evening. I don't need you to decide for me when enough is enough.

I'd rather spend $50.00 on a full length game that I can play over the course of 3-4 weeks, (or in one weekend, as I played the Monkey Island Games. hehe.) than $13.00 for an hour's enjoyment. It costs less to go to a Movie, and lasts longer. See the problem?

I'm an Adventure Game Fanatic who doesn't play adventure games anymore basically because none of the new stuff can compete with the Humor, Wit, and gameplay of the old Lucas Arts stuff (quite honestly, if they could have competed, they would be very well known companies right now.)

And I don't see Boneville or Sam & Max doing that for me with this new Episode-type-of-delivery-system. Over the course of 4 episodes, we're talking about $50.00, for about 4-5 hours of game play. To me that seems a bit of a ripoff.

And quite frankly, Most game designers have no clue how to write a good story. It's a rare thing when a game actually has a really good story line to go along with the game design, and that is usually lacking in 90% of the adventure games made today, and this is why they fail.

An Adventure Game with a good story line and multiple paths can be a game that is fun to play over and over and over again. I just don't see that with the products you are offering right now. So I don't buy them.

Adventure games could be good again, but this isn't the way to do it. People need to look back to go forward in this Genre. They need good stories, funny/flawed characters who have some real humanistic qualities to them. We need games that will keep us entertained for more than an hour or two at a time. And we need characters that continue to return.

There's a reason why Americans spent 11 years watching Friends. And if ever an Adventure Gaming company could figure it out again (which seems hopeless to me.) They'd have a hit on their hands.... At it's height, The Monkey Island games would have made a fantastic movie. If you don't believe me, Check out Pirates of the Caribbean. That movie had many, many, MANY elements of the Monkey Island series in it.

P.S. It really amazes me that Lucas Arts or some other company hasn't done an Adventure MMORPG yet. It seems to me the multiplayer format would be a fantastic way to deliver an Adventure game, with more profit, and a better, more sustainable customer base (as long as you don't piss off the customers like Sony Online Entertainment)

Emily

10/05/2006, 03:54 am

Thanks for the response. (Of course I saw it - you bumped the thread back to the top!)

Just a few things I want to clarify:

I'd rather spend $50.00 on a full length game that I can play over the course of 3-4 weeks, (or in one weekend, as I played the Monkey Island Games. hehe.) than $13.00 for an hour's enjoyment. It costs less to go to a Movie, and lasts longer. See the problem?

I totally hear you on liking to play at your leisure, although I've found a lot of those older games really aren't as long as I used to think they were. The internet and easy availability of hints shaves off an amazing amount of time.

That said - The Great Cow Race is not a 1 hour game. It's more like 4-6 for most people. So the movie analogy doesn't really hold true in this case. (Boneville is shorter, which really isn't something we can change at this point... but it is something that was taken into account with Cow Race, which is why Cow Race ended up with so much more meat on it. We do what we can. ;))

And I don't see Boneville or Sam & Max doing that for me with this new Episode-type-of-delivery-system. Over the course of 4 episodes, we're talking about $50.00, for about 4-5 hours of game play. To me that seems a bit of a ripoff.

Again - Cow Race is 4-6 hours by itself, for $13, so we're really not talking $50 for 4-5 hours of gameplay.

Out of curiosity, did you see our announcement of the Sam & Max prices today? Episodes will be $8.95, or you can get the whole season for $34.95 (and if you want, a CD version for only the price of shipping). There are six episodes, and the first one is clocking in at 3-4 hours for a lot of people. You can do the math. :D I'm wondering, since you seem to feel strongly about the $50/4-5 hour model, if $35 for something like 15-20 hours seems more reasonable?

Adventure games could be good again, but this isn't the way to do it. People need to look back to go forward in this Genre. They need good stories, funny/flawed characters who have some real humanistic qualities to them. We need games that will keep us entertained for more than an hour or two at a time. And we need characters that continue to return.

There's a reason why Americans spent 11 years watching Friends. And if ever an Adventure Gaming company could figure it out again (which seems hopeless to me.)

This is exactly what we're trying to do with Sam & Max! Let's forget about length for a minute - the format, with recurring characters and a sit-com like feel is exactly what we're trying to do. I think you're right that it's something gamers need right now, and I'm really excited to see the reaction to the Sam & Max episodes. :)

P.S. It really amazes me that Lucas Arts or some other company hasn't done an Adventure MMORPG yet. It seems to me the multiplayer format would be a fantastic way to deliver an Adventure game, with more profit, and a better, more sustainable customer base (as long as you don't piss off the customers like Sony Online Entertainment)

Cyan's doing it with URU Live starting this winter. :D (Another great reason to check out GameTap (http://www.gametap.com/telltale)!)

anonima

10/05/2006, 03:56 am

Look, a three-headed monkey!

Just today our friends at TellTale announced the pricing plan for S&M. Good work, Emily et al! The new pricing plan hit the spot. Me happy! :D

Individual episodes: $8.95
The entire season (6 episodes): $34.95

If the first episode is as sweet as we all hope, you can count me in for the entire season deal. It will be sweet to be able to play the episodes as they come out and then get the stand-alone DVD with the "complete game" for the permanent collection. Hopefully the DVD/CD won't require activation (what would be the point of getting it if this is the case?).

Thank you for listening and best wishes for a great S&M launch!

Emily

10/05/2006, 03:59 am

The new pricing plan hit the spot. Me happy! :D

Glad to hear it. :D

anonima

10/05/2006, 04:32 am

...a full length game that I can play over the course of 3-4 weeks...

I don't know about this. To me the average game completion time is not a good metric at all for my enjoyment of the game. It's mostly the story, the characters, the humor, the variety and cleverness of locations, etc.

Take Full Throttle and Grim Fandango, for example. The first time I played both it took me hours to get to the end (maybe 4-5). I had a blast. Since then I've replayed these games multiple time - they both take a little over an hour when you know your way through. And that's great - I enjoy being able to quickly visit the familiar locations, meet the characters, see the cinematics, etc, but I don't have hours to spend on each replay. These games strike the perfect balance in my mind - plenty challenging at first yet breezy on replays.

The other end of the spectrum are The Longest Journey-type games (Syberia, etc). The first time I played TLJ, it took me maybe 20 hours! But I didn't get borded - the story and the plot twists were brillian. However, on a consequent replay, I found out that it's hard to zoom through the game in less than 5h or so. The locations are quite large and April is a lousy runner. The game is sprinkled with a lot of silly back-and-forth puzzles with no shortcut around. The dalogues are too long and so forth... Now that's a complete waste of my time. I don't think I will replay it any time soon.

So, to put it all together - to me the perfect adventure is challenging enough the first time (with clever rewarding puzzles - about 4-8h) and breezy (under 2h) on consequent replays. This is where the real art of game-making is.

As for walkthroughs - It's best to use them sparingly. In the old days of Lucas Arts I used to finish the games without having to look at the walkthrough. These days, almost all adventures contain unreasonable puzzles which demand a walkthrough, so I don't have a choice. Well... actually I managed to finish Still Life without peaking at the w-tru, but then again, the puzzles there are linear, simplistic, and predictable. Yet, it was an enjoyable experience until the cliff-hanger ending (pshaw).

Cheers.

anonima

10/14/2006, 03:27 am

Emily, I just love TTG and what they're doing with AGs! Simple adore the idea- and the episodic downloading with the pricepoints is perfect! Really come a long way since I last checked in (not sure you were even employed back in '04?), and all TTG had was a few basic images (secrets!) of Bones, and that poker game I couldn't get into (hate poker, lol).

Anyway, I want to buy the act1/act2 cd download thing where you get both for a cheaper price, but cannot since there is no Mac version :(

Just bought a shiny iMac 24" the other week, and I'd rather run these 2 games natively (demo of Bone Act 1 I enjoyed), rather than boot into XP in Boot Camp every time I wish to play (having to close all my work and uni documents, etc.)...

Any ETA on a Mac version of this package, or at least of Bone Cow Race so I can go ahead and order the first? Thanks!

Emily

10/14/2006, 06:44 pm

I was employed in '04, but not here! :D I started working at Telltale in April (although I was a fan from the day they opened their doors...)

We just announced a Mac version of Out from Boneville (http://www.telltalegames.com/blogs/telltale/?permalink=6F934CD8B1A3C874FBB0C9F47FAAEF4E.txt&smm=y) yesterday. I don't have any news about a Cow Race port right now, so this doesn't fix your dilemma. I've heard that the games run pretty well under Boot Camp, if that is an option for you.

anonima

10/15/2006, 04:33 am

Haha, yeah sorry- I meant employed at TTG :P

Boot Camp is certainly an option, I have it for HL2 and the likes, but there's nothing more satisfying than running it from within Tiger :P

For the record, Bone: Out from Boneville worked great in OSX (bought the Mac version yesterday, finished it roughly 2 hrs after)- although short, it was highly enjoyable, albeit a little simple- be cool if you could choose a difficulty level, like CMI, or even Runaway....

I guess I'll just buy Act 2 for PC now, because I am so keen to play it, haha. IT's really encouraging to see developers like TTG care about the Mac gaming community though :) Warms my heart, it does!

anonima

10/25/2006, 01:23 pm

Now, I'm curious to hear from those who haven't bought it yet. Why not? Do you have plans to buy it sometime in the future but haven't gotten around to it yet? Is there something holding you back?

The answer is simple. It seems like the Telltale team has taken the decision to aim the games to one target group: People who only play the game because of the story and the jokes, and therefore want it to be as easy as possible.

I am a huge adventure game fan, and I refuse to buy a game that I could finish in one sitting. I want to get stuck, saying "I really have no idea what I'm supposed to do now". -That's when you start to activate your creativity!

So, You've decided to aim your games toward non-hardcore adventure gamers, and by doing so you lost me as a customer (as a matter of fact, this doesn't only apply to the Bone games. -It's the same with your S&M games; sadly).

anonima

10/28/2006, 04:02 am

Whooo. Let's stop beating the dead horse, boys. :))

I think Emimly and Co got the point and are working on improving their products. S&M looks pretty good with a few things (spike the voice actors' eggnog, for instance [>:)]) to be worked out for the next episodes. The pricing is right.

Believe me, I'd be the first to start throwing Molotov cocktails at TTG if they disappoint the AG crowd. But heck, I can't contest the sale plan for S&M and the work they've put in Episode 1. The only thing that can potentially upset me (other than them nuking Sam and Max) would be if my S&M Season 1 CD comes with an annoying activation scheme - but it's too far to tell.

So, I'd say, let's give our friends at TTG bananas (uhhh.... I mean "credit" :)) ) for all the hard work and try S&M :D

numble

10/29/2006, 10:46 am

Is the buy both Bone games for a cheaper price package gone, or am I just imagining that such a package existed before?

numble

10/29/2006, 12:56 pm

To make my previous post more appropriate for the thread topic... I'm looking to buy them, but wonder if they come together or if I should be buying them individually.

Jake

10/29/2006, 01:33 pm

They were available as a bundle for a couple dollars less using the old store, but we ran into a few snags bundling games together in the new store, and will be fixing it soon. If the couple dollars isn't much of a difference to you, by all means pick them up today! If you don't mind waiting, the combo deal system should be back up and running in the near future.

XMunkki

11/03/2006, 09:26 am

Personally I haven't even tried the Bone demos yet. Though when S&M came, I bought the whole season and now having finished ep1, I'm looking for more to play. So Bone is under consideration. What would make me buy it, would probably be something like the season 1 pack with S&M. As prices go, I find Bone to be quite a lot more expensive (if ti really is, cannot say .. only a feeling).. So make a generous offer and I'll bite.. :)

numble

11/03/2006, 11:11 am

Yes, interesting thing about Telltale's model... I remember an interview where Dan Connors said that each successive episode release pushes up sales of previous episodes, using Bone as an example. A corollary effect, at least to me, is that even other product releases pushes up interest in the other products--I'm mostly interested in Bone (definitely will pick it up eventually) due to Sam and Max.

Justin_Toronto

11/04/2006, 11:39 pm

would be nice if it was on gametap. *hint, hint*

typo

11/08/2006, 08:03 am

because "this game is being updated", and there's no download link.. i've been waiting for half a week now.

tabacco

11/08/2006, 06:41 pm

There will be a new and improved version up real soon now.

Emily

11/08/2006, 08:05 pm

People who want to play the game can still download the demos from a variety of mirror sites, and you should still be able to purchase the full version through those demos. Once the new versions are available here, you can upgrade for free.

Reno

11/14/2006, 01:34 pm

I tried the demo of the Cow Race and I thought it was pretty good.
I will probably buy the whole "season/game" as soon as it's completed, because I prefer having the full story instead a one chapter of it.
I have nothing against the episodic model of distribution, actually I think it's a great way to maintain and improve the quality of the product. Keep up the good work! ;)

josejx

11/16/2006, 07:51 am

I just wanted to add some support for a boxed set or pre-order like Sam & Max. I've paid for all 6 episodes of Sam & Max and I'd love to do the same for Bone, just to help ensure that it'll get finished. :)

If you offered a season package for Bone like Sam & Max, I'd buy it right now, otherwise I'll keep waiting until something like that does show up. The option to purchase a CD/DVD at the end would be nice too. :)

Thanks for everything!

balloftwine

12/11/2006, 08:33 am

I bought the directors cut set and finished the great cow race just now I really liked it great improvement on the first game I just want to know how many bone games are there going to be? and is it going to be at least March before the next one?

juanfran

12/12/2006, 09:44 am

when you decide to include an option to choose a language (spanish please), i'm going to buy your games. I'm not asking the voices offcourse, i'm asking at least a cheap text.

Thanks.

Kunkku-Antti

12/13/2006, 05:50 am

- I want a box. Because hard drives are not reliable! And because I enjoy owning the physical item.

Why people want so badly to destroy the world? "I want a box, I want a car, I want a pile of paper with my burger..."

Why couldn´t you just get the freaking game by downloading it and be one of the good guys?

turok64

12/31/2006, 11:10 pm

I was waiting till i got the bundled version download, and now i did. and what i want now is an upgrade version to buy the box sets!
bone was such an awesome game

TextureGlitch

01/27/2007, 02:38 am

I've tried the demos and the reason I haven't bought the Bone games yet is the open-ended, confusing sort of distribution form they have.

I had never heard about Bone until TTG picked up the license and the reason I'd buy it would be to fill in some time between S&M episodes with more of Telltale's zany storytelling ;)

They're already pricier than S&M episodes and the bundle is a very good deal, would save me $6. It's actually too good a deal, because it makes me realize I'd have to pay full price for the next episode, right?

When episode 3 comes out the new bundle deal would be for all three, so unless that episode had some sort of discount for people who already own the first two episodes, I'll be better off just waiting until the Bone series is done in a year or two and then buy the whole thing.

A few other people have mentioned the same thing on this thread, which makes us all ghost-customers hovering around and waiting for the Bone game to become 'complete'. Sort of goes against the very idea of episodic gaming.

I like the S&M distribution a lot better, I can just pay for the whole season and be done with it. You guys get all the money up front and you can pay your bills while working on the games, instead of having to first finish an entire series and then wait to see how many people have been holding off on buying until they could get what in their view is a complete product.

Emily mentioned that the license is different for the two games, and I imagine TTG might not even know at this point how many Bone episodes they are going to make, so I can see the dilemma.
I don't really know what the solution is, but hopefully one of your marketing geniuses can come up with something :)

Oilers99

01/27/2007, 01:48 pm

First of all, it's a great inconvenience for me to buy anything online. It took me over a month and a half from when I first intended to buy Sam and Max to the time when I actually was able to use a credit card. I'd rather not go through that kind of hassle again. But that's not the major thing stopping me.

What's stopping me is that I've got the entire Bone story sitting six feet away from me, and a general apathy towards the concept of Bone made interactive. Point and click is the right style for a Bone game, I just... don't really want to play it. I want content that is going to surprise me, and there can't be any major surprises with a story like Bone, given that I've read the whole thing. Sam and Max may be familiar characters, but at least I don't know what they'll be up to next.

I'm also not convinced that the series will be concluded. I'd hate to buy two Bone games only to discover that I won't be able to finish the entire story.

What it would take for me to buy Bone would be for the entire series to come out, and most importantly, for the interactive version of Bone to be the "director's cut" of the story. I felt there were a few themes and characters that could have been more fully developed, and if the interactive version of Bone actually addresses those issues with the Bone story, I'd be perfectly happy to pay whatever the cost for the full season.

Jake

01/27/2007, 07:47 pm

I imagine at this point, we'd be up for considering other pricing models for the Bone games, but really Bone isn't something we're thinking about at the moment so it hasn't come up.

Oilers99

01/28/2007, 12:14 am

I imagine at this point, we'd be up for considering other pricing models for the Bone games, but really Bone isn't something we're thinking about at the moment so it hasn't come up.

Gee, if only your games could come out on a platform where you can buy pre-paid cards from retail stores in order to purchase digitally distributed content online. But that'd be just plain crazy. ;)

I love digitally distributed content, but mostly in console form. But don't worry, you'll still have my dollar whenever Telltale creates something I truly want. It's just a hassle on my end is all...

Waterbottle

01/28/2007, 05:49 am

I want to purchase the bundle pack however I'm having some trouble doing so.

I can see it in my shopping cart but when I press proceed to checkout it tells me that my shopping cart is currently empty... Got any idea how I might resolve this? I would love to have the games.

SagaciousPenguin

02/05/2007, 08:25 am

I imagine at this point, we'd be up for considering other pricing models for the Bone games, but really Bone isn't something we're thinking about at the moment so it hasn't come up.

I'm taking it then that an S&M style pay-plan is inadvisable since you're not pumping out Bone games at the same pace. (Though I admit I wish you were!)

I think the way you ARE pricing them probably works then since the die-hard Bone fans (like myself) will by them at the bit more pricey price and not mind b/c we know we are paying to get them 'now' and not waiting five years.

That said, I think episodic story-telling does indeed have its merits. Specifically in retelling a large story like Bone. Put it into a two hour movie, or a single-game-length and I'm sure corners would be cut like crazy. Here we can let the story-telling unfold at a luxurious pace.

Second, the creaters can learn from their mistakes and grow and better the formula based on user response. I like the idea of the "Director's Cut" for the games. Some people might complain that you are retooling, never-ending, etc. But we who are sticking with the series as it unfolds have the power to help shape the final 9-part game that is sold one day be the best game it can be by continuously giving our input and feedback on how Telltale's doing.

So, if you're not a gargantuan Bone fan, then maybe it isn't worth it to be a part of this unfolding process. As such, Tell Tale, I wouldn't worry too much about getting such persons's downloads now... they'll hit the thing up after it's a 9-part huge game they can buy all at once. But for the rest of us, Bone-lovers who are anticipating Eyes of the Storm far more than the next S&M episode, we're happy to be a part of the creation process, experiencing the games as you create them and better them through the Director's cut.

I look forward to that day down the road when you can sell us one huge file of 'BONE' the game in its totality, but for now I think this is definitely a good way to release the series. I hope it has been profitable enough to pay it off as it goes, but I feel confident that when it ends the profits will be even greater. Just keep upping the quality (as you did from Boneville to Cow Race), and bettering the past (as you did with the Director's Cut), and the final 9-game product will be so well-polished and well-talked about online that it's sure to sell!