Roberta Williams/Josh Mandel discussion
 

Congrats to the Telltale team for announcing the return of mid-30 year old males (and anyone else old enough to remember this series) to the world of computer gaming!

Can anyone from TT comment on Roberta Williams's involvement in terms of story & design, if such plans even exist?

She won't want to get involved. She's too busy being retired.

Hmmmm...
 

Would that be considered a contradiction in terms?

She retired from the gaming industry, but this series remains her own personal creation as well as a monumental section in her entire body of work. The approach to her with respects to all of that, whether as an advisor or active participant, is as important as adopting it.

She won't. She certainly didn't miss a single occasion to state her opinion of the gaming industry over the years. What I gather is that she enjoys her retirement immensely and is glad to be out of this crazy business.

It may sound harsh but we have to understand she and her husband truly got screwed over many, many things. Their nerve-wracking departure, and the eventual downfall of Sierra, was profoundly unpleasant.

I'm in my mid 20's and remember the series :) We had them them I was a kid, along with Space Quest, Police Quest and Quest for Glory. It would be cool if any of the original team were involved in the new King's Quest, but I don't think it is needed in order for Telltale to make a good game.

While it's highly unlikely she'd want to be involved, I'm sure Telltale has at least tried to approach her to act as an advisor, like Ron Gilbert was for Tales.

One thing's for sure, she must have something to say about the first new King's Quest game in over a decade.

Roberta is the original creative wellspring of the entire King's Quest saga and I would love to hear of her involvement in any capacity. It saddens me to often see her storytelling genius deprecated by people who may not realise the mythic value of archetypal stories and characters.

If we don't get her involvement, I'm sure we'll at least get a vague statement of blessing and well-wishing.

More or less. They're both still very bitter about what happened after Ken Williams agreed to sell Sierra to CUC in '96ish.

They've had enough people ask for their involvement in "fan" projects that Ken eventually put up a post on his site essentially saying the only way Roberta would be involved with King's Quest again is if she had creative control of the project.

To be fair, that statement isn't entirely about Roberta being a control freak so much as her having been burned by her name being tacked on to KQ 7 and especially KQ8.

Coming on to give an opinion on the story or character development would not be a return to the gaming industry... I could see that happening

I don't know about the IA or AGDI remakes, but Ken at least did make comment on The Silver Lining's forums at least once.

My dad only had KQ 7 while I was growing up and I never got the hang of it. I didn't fall head over heels for adventure games until I was in middle school and now in my early 20s I'm just getting to the King's Quest games for the first time (and loving the hell out of each one)

I feel that it is best to let them go. When visionaries become tired of their work or lose their way, they usually don't recover their magic, in my opinion.

Josh Mandel
 

Hey!

I remember reading a quote from Roberta Williams in which she said in essence that the only person who truly understands KQ besides her is Josh. Does anyone have the exact quote, or know where it came from?

Dude. Are you KQ1995 from the IA boards?

Yeah meng.

Heh...thought so. ;) You should ask Baggins over on the POS boards (or at IA.) If anyone would know, it would be him.

Josh Mandel for King Graham!
 

Assuming that King Graham will be in the game, I would really love to see Josh Mandel reprise his role for the character.

Josh was the official voice of Graham for KQV and KQVI. He also lent his voice for the fan remakes (AGDI's KQI, KQII; IA's KQIII). Plus he was the designer of Sierra's own KQI Remake (1990).

Aside from the fact that he makes an excellent King Graham, I think bringing Josh back could only help in making Telltale's game feel (or more appropriately, sound) like a King's Quest. I've spoken previously on my hope for Roberta Williams and Mark Seibert's involvement; I thought I should also show my support for Josh Mandel's excellent voice.

I think Josh could do a great job as King Graham, despite not being a professional voice actor. I think with a little coaching and some good direction (which he pretty much didn't have at all when doing KQ5) he could overcome some of the awkwardness of his performance in that game. I'd love to hear of his involvement in that or any respect with the project.