Telltale Games

Saracenar · 07/02/2012, 09:53 pm

Listening to the Playstation Blogcast, the guests there talking about the game and specifically (at a point) Larry and the player reaction to him, mentioned that fans who hated Larry would really enjoy some "content" of episode 2.

My question is, is it possible Larry was meant to last longer, but because everyone disliked him they killed him off? I was sure that he was going to stick around, just because he was so vulgar. And even despite that, I was starting to warm up to him.

This is probably not the case, but it got me thinking. If a Telltale Employee could clarify this, it would be interesting to know. Then again, if we were told we have the power to kill characters we don't like, I'm not sure I'd like that.

Thoughts?

MakersWax · 07/02/2012, 10:13 pm

Based on the time it took to release episode 2, it's not inconceivable that they took fan interest into account. You're right that it would be nice to believe the entire story had been mapped out before they finished the first episode; less nice is to realize that if that were the case, they would have released a full game. Customer reaction may very well have had something to do with Larry's fantastically gory demise.

Dildor · 07/02/2012, 10:25 pm

Yeah, telltale definitely makes some decisions based on fan feedback. I think they planned to kill him off in episode 2 all along though. They aren't going to change their game just because of what people talk about on the forums. It's more adding things like, the Carly battery joke, they bring that back because so many people were talking about it.

Not everybody hated Larry, he didn't use the best choice of words but everything he did was focused on helping him and Lilly survive. Telltale did a good bait and switch with him, it was really sad if you search his left pocket and you find his wife's ring.

Gennadios · 07/02/2012, 10:51 pm

Larry was a heart attack waiting to happen, and considering that the town is already borderline dry and the preview for ep3 hinted that it'll be picked clean by then, he was bound to die off by the next episode without his medication.

I think what the devs meant by enjoying ep2 was more along the lines of how events would play out. So many people hated the guy yet still ended up siding with him, quite a reversal.

Farlander · 07/02/2012, 10:57 pm

Death of a character is something too important to be decided upon fan-feedback. It was planned from the get go. Not to mention that it was nicely foreshadowed with the heart attack in Ep1. The heart attack in Ep2 in a closed space with no medication and the knowledge that you don't have to be bitten to turn into a zombie? A very appropriate pay-off to the set-up.

Saracenar · 07/02/2012, 11:18 pm

Yeah, I figured it was like that, but I just wanted to see what others thought.

I did find the ring. Was sad. And so shocking (him dying/being killed, not the ring). Like I said, I was not expecting him to go this early. Thanks for the thoughts guys!

MakersWax · 07/02/2012, 11:31 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Farlander

Death of a character is something too important to be decided upon fan-feedback. It was planned from the get go. Not to mention that it was nicely foreshadowed with the heart attack in Ep1. The heart attack in Ep2 in a closed space with no medication and the knowledge that you don't have to be bitten to turn into a zombie? A very appropriate pay-off to the set-up.

It was a set-up, you're on target there. A set-up left in place for good reason. Had fans been clamoring for Larry to contribute to a plot development, he may have had a significant part to play. Unfortunately they wrote him so negatively he was either a goner from the get-go, or so unlikeable that he needed to go.

Saracenar · 07/02/2012, 11:39 pm

I actually thought that having such an unlikeable character was good. We can't love everyone. Larry helped fuel the fires for some pretty serious arguments that shaped important character interactions.

Farlander · 07/02/2012, 11:47 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by MakersWax

Had fans been clamoring for Larry to contribute to a plot development, he may have had a significant part to play.

I'm not too sure about that. Larry's death affects Lilly's character development big time, so postponing it could screw up everything TellTale has planned. And, even though episodes 3-5 are not done yet (actually, knowing TellTale's schedules, Episode 5 probably will enter it's pre-production stage this month), the general story structure has already been mapped out, and changing it drastically bears the danger of going all 'Lost' on the players.

07/02/2012, 09:53 pm	#1
Saracenar Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 131	Fan Reaction Determining Character Deaths? SPOILERS WITHIN Listening to the Playstation Blogcast, the guests there talking about the game and specifically (at a point) Larry and the player reaction to him, mentioned that fans who hated Larry would really enjoy some "content" of episode 2. My question is, is it possible Larry was meant to last longer, but because everyone disliked him they killed him off? I was sure that he was going to stick around, just because he was so vulgar. And even despite that, I was starting to warm up to him. This is probably not the case, but it got me thinking. If a Telltale Employee could clarify this, it would be interesting to know. Then again, if we were told we have the power to kill characters we don't like, I'm not sure I'd like that. Thoughts?

07/02/2012, 10:57 pm	#5
Farlander Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 1,179	Death of a character is something too important to be decided upon fan-feedback. It was planned from the get go. Not to mention that it was nicely foreshadowed with the heart attack in Ep1. The heart attack in Ep2 in a closed space with no medication and the knowledge that you don't have to be bitten to turn into a zombie? A very appropriate pay-off to the set-up. __________________ Personal Portfolio Site

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07/02/2012, 10:13 pm	#2
MakersWax Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 91	Based on the time it took to release episode 2, it's not inconceivable that they took fan interest into account. You're right that it would be nice to believe the entire story had been mapped out before they finished the first episode; less nice is to realize that if that were the case, they would have released a full game. Customer reaction may very well have had something to do with Larry's fantastically gory demise.

07/02/2012, 10:25 pm	#3
Dildor Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Macon Posts: 590	Yeah, telltale definitely makes some decisions based on fan feedback. I think they planned to kill him off in episode 2 all along though. They aren't going to change their game just because of what people talk about on the forums. It's more adding things like, the Carly battery joke, they bring that back because so many people were talking about it. Not everybody hated Larry, he didn't use the best choice of words but everything he did was focused on helping him and Lilly survive. Telltale did a good bait and switch with him, it was really sad if you search his left pocket and you find his wife's ring.

07/02/2012, 10:51 pm	#4
Gennadios Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 185	Larry was a heart attack waiting to happen, and considering that the town is already borderline dry and the preview for ep3 hinted that it'll be picked clean by then, he was bound to die off by the next episode without his medication. I think what the devs meant by enjoying ep2 was more along the lines of how events would play out. So many people hated the guy yet still ended up siding with him, quite a reversal.

07/02/2012, 11:18 pm	#6
Saracenar Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 131	Yeah, I figured it was like that, but I just wanted to see what others thought. I did find the ring. Was sad. And so shocking (him dying/being killed, not the ring). Like I said, I was not expecting him to go this early. Thanks for the thoughts guys!

07/02/2012, 11:39 pm	#8
Saracenar Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 131	I actually thought that having such an unlikeable character was good. We can't love everyone. Larry helped fuel the fires for some pretty serious arguments that shaped important character interactions.