Console-exclusive bonuses: an open letter

[Bunnyman]

Aside from the big hints the TTG team is dropping, I'm guessing this episode might have what the Launch of the Screaming Narwal had, a treasue hunting game. This was add after the inital release to add replayablity. The PS3 has an extra feature already because console versions are more difficult to update compared to a direct connection to the game on PC.

[Zonino]

First the TF2 items, now this... I'm detecting a rather large feeling of entitlement from this forum.

Still at least this one appears to be a false alarm. After all, with a month between updates, it actually makes a lot of sense that they may unlock extra options in the episodes to keep people interested.

[Rather Dashing]

Originally Posted by Zonino

First the TF2 items, now this... I'm detecting a rather large feeling of entitlement from this forum.

Agreed. I wouldn't mind if the TF2 items and the Nutrition Vision were exlusive. It's nice to have them, but they're ancillary to the reasons I bought the game from Telltale. I didn't buy from them because it would give me a free pass to anything and everything, I bought it from them because I like getting a DVD at the end, I like Telltale's direct DRM more than Steam, I like buying direct from the developer when it's a smaller production, and Telltale users got the best pre-order deal. Everything else is extra, though nice to have.

[OMA]

You guys are a complaining bunch...

- Waaah! Some people get to play early in the iPad!
- Waaah! Some people are getting silly items for a totally unrelated game!
- Waaah! Some people are getting a bonus item!

Luckily, Telltale quickly addressed the latter two. But even if they didn't, all these are just small potatoes. Nothing like Ubisoft's draconian DRM that requires constant Internet access for a single player game, or not releasing "Prince of Persia: Epilogue" for the PC at all (it ended being really console-exclusive).

[Chuck]

Hey, don't let that stop anybody from pitching a big fit and immediately going onto the Internet and complaining about platform exclusives and how they and they alone are getting shafted and cheated by an evil money grubbing company, though.

Cause that never gets old.

[Falanca]

It's like bickering to my family! I get all BLEHBLEHBLEHBLEHBLEH and they only respond to me after I annoy them for enough time.

[Irishmile]

Isn't this right about when the tags start showing up?

[ATMachine]

Originally Posted by Chuck

Hey, don't let that stop anybody from pitching a big fit and immediately going onto the Internet and complaining about platform exclusives and how they and they alone are getting shafted and cheated by an evil money grubbing company, though.

Cause that never gets old.

Before I started this thread, how much did PC gamers know about potential future PC Penal Zone bonus content? That's right, absolutely zilch. Whereas the PS3 bonus content was immediately evident upon release.

In this case I wouldn't have gotten nearly so annoyed if Telltale had clearly communicated in advance that any PS3 special bonus content was forthcoming for the PC as well. Instead we got total silence on the matter. So when PS3 owners start showing up out of the blue and talking about their special NutriSpecs I fancy myself quite justified to ask what is going on.

I can understand the perspective of other forum users who personally don't mind this sort of thing. But when Telltale employees begin mocking their own customers for speaking out, belittling people who have paid money for a game and thus feel they should receive the same gameplay as other customers get, an ugly line is crossed.

I never thought I'd see the day that one of my favorite game writers insulted me. Telltale formerly was regarded for the politeness of its employees on these forums. Obviously those days are long past.

Let me make it clear: I LOVE Telltale. It's my absolute favorite game company. But when I see it engaged in what might *even possibly* be construed as questionable practices, I feel obligated to speak out. If you don't want to hear my critique, you might as well close these forums.

[Rather Dashing]

Originally Posted by ATMachine

Before I started this thread, how much did PC gamers know about potential future PC Penal Zone bonus content? That's right, absolutely zilch. Whereas the PS3 bonus content was immediately evident upon release.

In this case I wouldn't have gotten nearly so annoyed if Telltale had clearly communicated in advance that any PS3 special bonus content was forthcoming for the PC as well. Instead we got total silence on the matter. So when PS3 owners start showing up out of the blue and talking about their special NutriSpecs I fancy myself quite justified to ask what is going on.

I can understand the perspective of other forum users who personally don't mind this sort of thing. But when Telltale employees begin mocking their own customers for speaking out, belittling people who have paid money for a game and thus feel they should receive the same gameplay as other customers get, an ugly line is crossed.

I never thought I'd see the day that one of my favorite game writers insulted me. Telltale formerly was regarded for the politeness of its employees on these forums. Obviously those days are long past.

Let me make it clear: I LOVE Telltale. It's my absolute favorite game company. But when I see it engaged in what might *even possibly* be construed as questionable practices, I feel obligated to speak out. If you don't want to hear my critique, you might as well close these forums.

I dunno. Personally, I like that the developers can speak freely, and I'm pretty sure they have spoken freely for years now. It means they're people with opinions and not PR tools with leashes around their necks(it's a lot less kinky than it sounds).

The issue is that you're very much over-reacting. Even if it was PS3-exclusive, so what? We get an exclusive DVD, exclusive bonus content, an exclusive forum, a free episode, TF2 items, exclusive downloads, and coupons. PS3 users got...five bucks off. And the ability to play on a PS3.

This scale does not look like one that is heavily balanced in the favor of anybody but the people who buy from Telltale's store. We have gotten everything we were promised and, well, more. I don't think an after-game distraction for PS3 users should not have been a big deal at all.

[Crrash]

Originally Posted by ATMachine

I never thought I'd see the day that one of my favorite game writers insulted me. Telltale formerly was regarded for the politeness of its employees on these forums. Obviously those days are long past.

i agree.
i think it's obvious that people would get slightly miffed (or a lot) when they (we) see someone else getting more content for the same money without explanation. Sure, we are getting the DVD, but some don't care about it and others have to pay an insanely high postage for it.

I didn't mind about the TF2 items though when i thought that they were steam exclusive, since i knew that that wasn't up to telltale.

[Wapcaplet]

Originally Posted by ATMachine

I never thought I'd see the day that one of my favorite game writers insulted me. Telltale formerly was regarded for the politeness of its employees on these forums. Obviously those days are long past.

Like Rather Dashing mentioned, I'm glad to see Telltale is not so corporate as to have its staff muzzled on these boards (except for that one time that Nikasaur slapped down Yare).

Hell, I'd love to be insulted by TTG if I crossed a line!

[ATMachine]

Originally Posted by Rather Dashing

I dunno. Personally, I like that the developers can speak freely, and I'm pretty sure they have spoken freely for years now. It means they're people with opinions and not PR tools with leashes around their necks(it's a lot less kinky than it sounds).

The issue is that you're very much over-reacting. Even if it was PS3-exclusive, so what? We get an exclusive DVD, exclusive bonus content, an exclusive forum, a free episode, TF2 items, exclusive downloads, and coupons. PS3 users got...five bucks off. And the ability to play on a PS3.

This scale does not look like one that is heavily balanced in the favor of anybody but the people who buy from Telltale's store. We have gotten everything we were promised and, well, more. I don't think an after-game distraction for PS3 users should not have been a big deal at all.

You may think I'm overreacting to this issue of exclusive platform content. I say it's my prerogative as a customer to react as I see fit.

Quite simply, I would have liked to know, before release, whether any special extra content existed on the console versions, and whether or not that content would eventually make its way to PC. I feel this information is my right, since it's my money and I'm choosing which platform I want to play this on.

Telltale began by not addressing this issue at all. Now we've gotten some vague statements alluding to PC bonus content to come at some unspecified future date. I am still not entirely satisfied, and am beginning to think the company's communication skills are sorely lacking. Oh for the days of Emily...

[Wapcaplet]

Originally Posted by ATMachine

Telltale began by not addressing this issue at all. Now we've gotten some vague statements alluding to PC bonus content to come at some unspecified future date. I am still not entirely satisfied, and am beginning to think the company's communication skills are sorely lacking. Oh for the days of Emily...

And in doing so, you have likely spoiled what Telltale was planning to do with the 516vision site. Congratulations!

[Rather Dashing]

Originally Posted by ATMachine

Quite simply, I would have liked to know, before release, whether any special extra content existed on the console versions, and whether or not that content would eventually make its way to PC. I feel this information is my right, since it's my money and I'm choosing which platform I want to play this on.

So, to get this completely straight, you would have switched to playing on the PS3 if Nutri-Specs was PS3-exclusive, and this was advertised ahead of time.

[Fury]

Remember the Treasure Hunt for TOMI? Don't worry, Telltale are pretty awesome at adding bonus stuff at later dates.

[Crrash]

Originally Posted by Fury

Remember the Treasure Hunt for TOMI? Don't worry, Telltale are pretty awesome at adding bonus stuff at later dates.

no, i don't

[Hassat Hunter]

Originally Posted by Rather Dashing

This scale does not look like one that is heavily balanced in the favor of anybody but the people who buy from Telltale's store.

Well, we DO give them the largest amount of money.
$35 here is $35 for TTG.
$35 on PSN is I don't know how much for TTG, since Sony takes a fair cut. Same with Steam...

So it would make sense for TTG to try and make the most people get it directly from them, unless they prefer making less cash themselves, and wealthying (is that a word?) Valve and Sony...
(Of course if Sony/Steam would pump 'em large amounts of money if they make them exclusive stuff, that becomes a different story I guess...)

[ATMachine]

Originally Posted by Rather Dashing

So, to get this completely straight, you would have switched to playing on the PS3 if Nutri-Specs was PS3-exclusive, and this was advertised ahead of time.

Why does it matter? What if I didn't? Customers deserve to be informed about things like this, so they can make informed choices. I'm not the only one who's dissatisfied here, if you haven't noticed.

[puzzlebox]

Originally Posted by ATMachine

I say it's my prerogative as a customer to react as I see fit.

That's true, but it comes across a little... oddly, if the immediate initial reaction is one of incandescent self-righteous outrage. A little patience goes a long way - it often helps to ask the question before making sweeping statements based on assumptions and conjecture.

As you said though, it's your prerogative to react as you please. Just understand that that may affect the way others react to you.

Originally Posted by ATMachine

Telltale began by not addressing this issue at all. Now we've gotten some vague statements alluding to PC bonus content to come at some unspecified future date. I am still not entirely satisfied [...]

Telltale do listen and respond to their customers - within 15 minutes of your original post you had a response here essentially saying "wait and see".

I prefer not to know everything upfront, it's nice to have little surprises and extras trickle through during the month-long wait between episodes. I understand that you feel differently though.

[ATMachine]

Originally Posted by puzzlebox

That's true, but it comes across a little... oddly, if the immediate initial reaction is one of incandescent self-righteous outrage. A little patience goes a long way - it often helps to ask the question before making sweeping statements based on assumptions and conjecture.

As you said though, it's your prerogative to react as you please. Just understand that that may affect the way others react to you.

You're right. I was pretty livid when I wrote the initial post, and it shows. I sound a lot angrier and more enraged than I intended to. In retrospect, I probably hurt several people's feelings, and I ought to have waited and calmed down a bit before posting. I apologize if I came off as rather.... unhinged.

I didn't mean to offend anybody, but I was sorely disappointed by what seemed to me at the time to be an unfair apportioning of bonus content. It appeared to me that I had been duped into paying for the PC version, a game that was in hindsight inferior to the PS3 version, which contained hitherto-unadvertised, and what I believed to be exclusive, bonus content. Again, to repeat, the lack of prior communication on Telltale's part is key here.

I do love Telltale--again, they're my absolute favorite games company--so the perception (however ill-founded) that they are taking my money for a PC game, while giving me less gameplay than console gamers get, is all the more wounding because of how much I like you guys. Call me a jilted lover.