Adventure Gamers Interview

[Irishmile]

hey thanks for posting that interview.

[doom saber]

i wasn't worried about TT pooling their resources by hiring ex sierra employees and bringing back certain game elements that made KQ popular since it seems that they have the capacity to do so. What I was worried about is the end product. I like the TT Sam and Max games, but they feel different than Hit the Road. It isn't nostalga, but I guess it is the direction they took the story in and how they handled episodic games at the time. I hope KQ feels like a KQ game even if all the previous KQ were inconsistent in direction if you know what I mean.

[chucklas]

They say that don't want to alienate one group of people (the ones who want games to be easy IMHO). This scares me because they in turn might alienate all of the other fans. If they give an option to turn on and off an automatic save/do over feature, they might actually find some success. This would allow old school sierra fans to play it their way, and those who want a more kq7 style without a chance of dead ends...etc. can have it. I don't know/think Telltale will go through the trouble of making the game work both ways like that, but it might be the only option to be successful.

[Radogol]

I wish there was an autosave feature on this forum. My relatively long post just went kaboom after clicking "Submit reply" took me to a blank page.

[JuntMonkey]

I don't understand why they have like 5 intricate levels of hints that you can get, and yet the puzzles are still cake. The way to go is pretty clear. Make the game reasonably difficult, and have the option for casual gamers to have a basically constant walkthrough provided, along with every notch in-between.

[MusicallyInspired]

Originally Posted by Emily

Actually, the point was to get answers to questions that tons of fans are curious about.

How is that different from what I said?

Not every King's Quest fan is enraged that Telltale has this license. A lot of people are actually excited about it.

I never said everyone was enraged. I never even said I was enraged. It was a great interview that did its job. People were wanting official answers and they were given. Whether it's just 'market-speak' or from-the-heart down-to-earth answers to the fans we'll just have to wait and see.

I didn't take his answer to mean that exploration only exists in LucasArts games, just that in those games you can explore without an element of danger.

That was my thought as well.

I personally am not a fan of death scenes and wouldn't mind if they went away completely... but I don't expect Telltale's KQ games to submit to my personal list of demands, no matter how big a fan I am. The most important takeaway here is that Telltale's listening to the audience's feedback (some of which is conflicting) and taking it into account during the design process.

That's a great sign indeed. We'll see how it all turns out.

[Emily]

I took the comment about the interview being "meant to calm raging fans for PR" as an implication that it was just lip service. Glad to hear that's not what you meant!

[Rather Dashing]

I'm personally not entirely sure that it's not. I get that they have nothing to show right now, but I honestly have trouble trusting comments that are right next to nebulously scary comments. It just leaves me wondering which one weighs more strongly, "We totally want to be cool to the license" or "But we don't want to alienate people who are frightened by video games and never want to play one in their entire lives".

[Simo Sakari Aaltonen]

I think self-confidence and not trying too hard to please everyone are admirable qualities in games as well as people. Not advocating arrogance or insensitivity - those are the mirror universe versions of the qualities I mean. Pretty much like Kirk and the mirror Kirk.

To continue the analogy between games and people, the (possibly unfortunate) fact is that desperation tends to be unappealing. So a game that seems desperate to please may be off-putting for that reason...

Throwing in psychology, meaningful relationships practically depend on requiring one to adjust something about oneself; they are forged when we willingly step out of our comfort zones into somewhat unknown territory in order to approach more closely something or someone that attracts us.

But this cannot happen if the person or game pre-empts that personal investment by being too "user-friendly". I know the intentions are good and I am not for user-unfriendliness. Again, that is the mirror universe exaggeration. But I think we all know (or can imagine) how oppressive it is if someone is constantly checking that your every need is met - including imagined ones.

"Are you sure you are perfectly comfortable even though you do not have a glass of water?" The chances are they would have been, had it not been for this question. Not making such offers is not inconsiderate - it is considerate because you are respecting the other individual's personal space and placing that before your own need to show overt consideration.

[doom saber]

Originally Posted by Simo Sakari Aaltonen

I think self-confidence and not trying too hard to please everyone are admirable qualities in games as well as people. Not advocating arrogance or insensitivity - those are the mirror universe versions of the qualities I mean. Pretty much like Kirk and the mirror Kirk.

To continue the analogy between games and people, the (possibly unfortunate) fact is that desperation tends to be unappealing. So a game that seems desperate to please may be off-putting for that reason...

Throwing in psychology, meaningful relationships practically depend on requiring one to adjust something about oneself; they are forged when we willingly step out of our comfort zones into somewhat unknown territory in order to approach more closely something or someone that attracts us.

But this cannot happen if the person or game pre-empts that personal investment by being too "user-friendly". I know the intentions are good and I am not for user-unfriendliness. Again, that is the mirror universe exaggeration. But I think we all know (or can imagine) how oppressive it is if someone is constantly checking that your every need is met - including imagined ones.

"Are you sure you are perfectly comfortable even though you do not have a glass of water?" The chances are they would have been, had it not been for this question. Not making such offers is not inconsiderate - it is considerate because you are respecting the other individual's personal space and placing that before your own need to show overt consideration.

Love your post man

[Simo Sakari Aaltonen]

Thanks, doom saber! Unfortunately I have personal experience of not getting this right myself. (I think I was mainly rephrasing what other posters have said, though.)

[Woodsyblue]

It's great to hear they plan to stay true to the source material. I'd like to think that being based on a classic adventure game licence they will aim to make it harder than the average Telltale fare to appease the old fans who are used to more of a challenge but I guess only time will tell.

[Lambonius]

Originally Posted by Woodsyblue

It's great to hear they plan to stay true to the source material.

I have to wonder though, are there really any circumstances where Telltale would say, "Oh yeah, we're totally planning to change it COMPLETELY. Source material and longtime fans can SUCK IT!"

[Woodsyblue]

Originally Posted by Lambonius

I have to wonder though, are there really any circumstances where Telltale would say, "Oh yeah, we're totally planning to change it COMPLETELY. Source material and longtime fans can SUCK IT!"

A lot of people have been questioning if Telltale will stay true to the Sierra model of Adventure games or follow the LucasArts model which they've used for pretty much all their games so far. I should have said I'm glad they confirmed that they are following the Sierra model. That's one less factor fans have to worry about for this upcoming project.

[Lambonius]

Originally Posted by Woodsyblue

A lot of people have been questioning if Telltale will stay true to the Sierra model of Adventure games or follow the LucasArts model which they've used for pretty much all their games so far. I should have said I'm glad they confirmed that they are following the Sierra model. That's one less factor fans have to worry about for this upcoming project.

I don't think they've confirmed anything. All they've said is they are going to try and be "true to the source material," which of course, is completely subjective and could mean any number of things.

[Rather Dashing]

Yeah. "True to the source material" could mean they just want to get the world and characters right(which nobody really is doubting them on), but they could diverge as much as they want from there. Seriously, this isn't really an answer, just a platitude. There's nothing concrete in it, nothing with actual weight. Saying "Nah it's okay, we won't screw up" is different than making a solid promise of any real value. Not that they can't or won't, but the answers in this interview simply don't say anything.

[Irishmile]

I am optimistic.. I KNOW there are going to be some things in this I am not going to like.. and there are going to be things that I really like... I imagine I will feel like I did when I played ToMI... mixed nostalgia and trepidation... but the overall experience will be something enjoyable and something I will play over and over as the years go by.

But I am a fan that is willing to accept some changes as long as they are not too great... I do not have a strict definition of what a KQ game HAS to be to be enjoyable and still a KQ game.

[MusicallyInspired]

The difference for me with TMI is that a lot of the original creators and developers of Monkey Island worked on TMI. It was a "getting the band back together" kind of thing. All the people that work at Telltale are KQ fans. Not actual former developers. Hopefully they managed to get Josh and/or Roberta in to help actually DESIGN it and not just something like a "Professor of Monkey-ology".