Episode 4 Trailer (inside)

[TomaO2]

As far as I am concerned, every moment not focused on relentless misery is to make you like the characters so that when the horror starts up again it shocks you even worse then it would have if they had just kept up the downers. I'm not getting sucked into that blatant emotional trickery anymore. Credibility got shot with me after Kat's suicide. The main cast, everyone I cared about, got killed off (or emotionally crippled beyond repair) and I'm not going to develop the same emotional attachment with this new group as I did with the old because I know now, to the bottom of my soul, that they are only there to BE MURDERED IN HORRIBLE WAYS.

In my mind, episode 3 put shock above story and all I hear now is that episode 4 and 5 will be "worse". Seeing Mark without his legs in episode 2 was the single most horrific moment as well. I doubt experimental patients will look much worse then he did. Although there would likely be more of them at once. Plus, the writers say it will be "worse" in a gleeful manner. Thinking about that bit in the interview sickens me a bit, frankly. The impression I get from these people is that putting shock over story is exactly what they want to do.

Sexual themes is listed now in the adult warning. That means rape in some form. On camera or off. It's pretty much a lock as to it happening. You can talk about how, maybe, we will be seeing science experiments gone wrong and that might be bad but your reactions show that what you are really afraid of is the rape. You shed away from it as if that is the worst thing that can happen.

I don't really get how rape is considered worse then torture anyway. When your fingers are cut off, one by one, that damage is freeking FOREVER. It's like, this girl has been captured and she is crying out, 'please don't rape me, anything but that' and the guy tells her to relax, because he's not going to do something like that. No, no, no, that would be sick and depraved. All he wants to do is skin her alive and the audience will feel relief because they were afraid she would be raped instead.

I certainly wouldn't be disappointed to find out this doesn't happen but I'm not TRUSTING the writers to not do it. I hate episode 3, I hate how it made me feel and I'm not going through that again. Best way to not be shocked by whatever sick ideas they have planned is to think of the absolute worst things they can do and to not get attached to anyone.

[FoxxyFox]

The mystery blonde woman could be also a experiment from the weird doctors and since she wear that medical mask she could have lost something in her face or cut off. Now she want revenge and kinda see Lee as someone that did something to her.

[KMatt]

Drip drip drip comes the hints about this episode.

Just found this online: http://www.examiner.com/article/the-...des-bad-things

With the official description from the developers.

Episode 4: Around Every Corner
In the wake of terrible loss, the group arrives in Savannah in search of a boat and escape from the horrors around them. Stalked by an unseen human threat and the constant menace of the undead, Lee must decide how to deal with an increasingly paranoid group and above all, how to protect Clementine.

Episode Highlights:
-See the devastation the apocalypse has wrought on a major city as the group arrives in Savannah
-Discover what happens when merciless survivors try to create their own utopia
-Embark on a harrowing mission to retrieve the things you need in order to make your escape to safety
-Deal with the biggest threat to Clementine yet -- can you keep her safe?

"merciless survivors try to create their own utopia" do you think it will be like Woodbury - a safe town ruled with a iron fist or maybe something darker?

[Rock114]

Originally Posted by KMatt

Drip drip drip comes the hints about this episode.

Just found this online: http://www.examiner.com/article/the-...des-bad-things

With the official description from the developers.

Episode 4: Around Every Corner
In the wake of terrible loss, the group arrives in Savannah in search of a boat and escape from the horrors around them. Stalked by an unseen human threat and the constant menace of the undead, Lee must decide how to deal with an increasingly paranoid group and above all, how to protect Clementine.

Episode Highlights:
-See the devastation the apocalypse has wrought on a major city as the group arrives in Savannah
-Discover what happens when merciless survivors try to create their own utopia
-Embark on a harrowing mission to retrieve the things you need in order to make your escape to safety
-Deal with the biggest threat to Clementine yet -- can you keep her safe?

"merciless survivors try to create their own utopia" do you think it will be like Woodbury - a safe town ruled with a iron fist or maybe something darker?

Maybe that's what Crawford was. Those walkers on spikes might have been an early warning system for the people there.

[Brohan]

Also there are tons of bodies near those spikes, but all of them look dark to me, have they either been burned or putted while being dead in bodybags?

And I see most of the zombies don't have eyes. So that means they have been walkers for a very long time? O.o

[KMatt]

Somewhere on the forums mentioned Crawford was militarised. So my best guess is that some members of the military holed up with civilian survivors. The military started to abuse their power, similar to what happened in Woodbury. But unlike Woodbury no Governor character showed up to take charge so instead everything decended into chaos.

As the comics have show, keeping walkers around you can help keep wild ones away so maybe your right.

The bodies do look pretty charred. Are we to assume that those bodies were walkers they have killed or maybe they could be survivors who wern't wanted. That would be pretty merciless.

[Gregory2012]

Originally Posted by Gary Whitta

If I could offer some advice in advance of Episode 4's release, it would be to not get too caught up in imagining the worst, most horrible things that could possibly happen because I think that's an overly simplistic way to look at it and you'll probably wind up disappointed.

I agree. One of the most debated decisions in the game was the meat locker dilemma. It was a tough decision, not a vomit-inducing one. The decision at the beginning of Episode 3 about whether to kill the screaming survivor was a similarly debatable decision. Weighing moral values on a timer builds tension more steadily than merely trying to shock the player.

Originally Posted by Gary Whitta

Once the episode is out and you've all had a chance to play it I'll be happy to do some kind of Q&A thread in here where I can answer your questions and listen to what you loved/hated about it.

I won’t be too hard on you. Writing a story is hard. Writing an interactive story where nearly every conversation has multiple choices is a time-consuming process, especially when one has to measure up to well-respected prior chapters/episodes.

Originally Posted by TomaO2

As far as I am concerned, every moment not focused on relentless misery is to make you like the characters so that when the horror starts up again it shocks you even worse then it would have if they had just kept up the downers. I'm not getting sucked into that blatant emotional trickery anymore. Credibility got shot with me after Kat's suicide. The main cast, everyone I cared about, got killed off (or emotionally crippled beyond repair) and I'm not going to develop the same emotional attachment with this new group as I did with the old because I know now, to the bottom of my soul, that they are only there to BE MURDERED IN HORRIBLE WAYS.

I speculate your emotional detachment is a typical response to ongoing trauma. When pain becomes too unbearable, like the nervous system, empathy can be maxed out. Compassion fatigue is the phrase used by relief workers.

Originally Posted by TomaO2

In my mind, episode 3 put shock above story

I disagree. The screaming woman outside the drug store dilemma, the Lilly-Kenny argument at the inn, the bandit raid, the argument on the road, Duck’s deteriorating health, operating a train, the Lee-Kenny argument to stop the train, Chuck’s advice to train Clementine, meeting Christa and Omid, and escaping walkers did not add up to a shock-driven story.

Originally Posted by KMatt

Drip drip drip comes the hints about this episode.

Just found this online: http://www.examiner.com/article/the-...des-bad-things

With the official description from the developers.
[. . .]-Discover what happens when merciless survivors try to create their own utopia

A historian may dispute this, but from my knowledge, revolutions led by utopians are dangerous. The idea a perfect society can be achieved is used to justify crushing the opposition by any means necessary. If the group encounters killer utopians (religious or secular), the group should evade or kill them. Fanatics are not to be trifled with.

Originally Posted by KMatt

Somewhere on the forums mentioned Crawford was militarised. So my best guess is that some members of the military holed up with civilian survivors. The military started to abuse their power, similar to what happened in Woodbury. But unlike Woodbury no Governor character showed up to take charge so instead everything decended into chaos.

As the comics have show, keeping walkers around you can help keep wild ones away so maybe your right.

The bodies do look pretty charred. Are we to assume that those bodies were walkers they have killed or maybe they could be survivors who wern't wanted. That would be pretty merciless.

I wonder if the utopians are former military officers. Maybe there was a civil war between survivors over Savannah.

[FoxxyFox]

It wouldn't wonder me when in the end Ben would join the other group because he is easy to brainwash. Just hope Christa get alot of screen & speaking time... can't wait for it Simply love Christa

[TomaO2]

Personally, Gregory, I don't recall decisions that I had a great deal of trouble with. My main difficulty was the timer because I prefer a few minutes to think through what each choice means. I really hate that timer. Once I get what each option means though, to me, many of the choices were so apparent that I find myself with actual disdain for people that pick other choices.

Like, with killing Larry, there was no way on earth I would be risking him zombify in that situation. Not killing him put everyones lives at risk. If the situation had been a little different, if I had a weapon, if I wasn't trapped in that room, if he wasn't so damn big... I might have picked otherwise but not like that. Whether or not I liked the guy isn't even a factor. I really don't respect the keeping him alive option, at all. Not in that situation.

Choices are never difficult for me. Saved Shawn because I owed him for getting me to the farm and could be useful against zombies. Was honest as I could be about past because these secrets never say secret. Defended Duck until we could be sure if he was bitten or not. Larry didn't need to be like that before we were sure. Gave the woman a gun because she deserved to die as herself. Saved Carley because she gave me a chance despite knowing my past and was a dead eye.

And so on and so on. The food one might have been the most difficult and even then the answers didn't take long in coming. The kids obviously get fed first. Then Mark cause he was a stand up guy and the food WAS his and then Larry was the last one, due to the likelyhood of him raising a fuss otherwise and to get in good with Lilly, as Carley suggested.

Some of the decisions I found to be morally hypocritical. I made a lengthy post on it in the walking dead discussion forum. One such choice was whether or not to shoot the women so you have time to gather food.

I find shooting her to be hypocritical because not once before in the game has anyone bothered to mercy kill a person that was being eaten by zombies. The bear trap teacher being the best example. If you don't free him, he gets eaten and yet, even though there was time to shoot him in the head, no one bothers. They could have added a scene where someone does. Since the game has created a standard that you forget about the person after zombies get them, doing so now would be playing against your character. So, I didn't shoot.

In the end, what I feel is the story choices don't really effect anything. The only real examples I found of change was being allowed to confess about being a murderer, teaching Clem "manure" and, I'm told, being able to hide your murder status IF you had a good relationship with Lilly.

Possible that episode 4 will do better in terms of making choice matter but I'm not sure. I never lied to Clem and yet she still deceives me about the walkie talkie. Would it have been so hard to an ending where she confesses to it if you taught her to be honest? Do my decisions really affect her at all?

No, in the end, what I remember is that TellTale killed every person Clem and I have met or broken them down so they are not reliable anymore. Then the writers say that they will be "worse" in the next two episodes (in a gleeful voice). Then I start reading in the forums and it turns out that the zombie series this is based on is much, MUCH grimmer then I am used to and that even scenarios where even Clem and Lee die are not unrealistic.

I am not getting attached to betrayers and cannon fodder. I'm not going to let myself be surprised if Lee and Clem die. Just like I don't let myself feel sad when I watch a movie who's sole purpose, I know, is to simply be a tearjerker. If I have foreknowledge of what is coming, then I can steel myself against the worst of the emotional pain. I didn't know how far this game would go until I hit episode 3, so, BRAVO TellTale, you got me. Now I do, so hopefully I won't.

[Rock114]

I actually LOVE that timer. It adds a sense of urgency, and gives the feels of the other characters acting around you without the entire world pausing while you weigh the outcomes. In Mass Effect, they give you all the time in the universe to do something but here, TTG gives us seconds to decide. Not being able to weigh the outcomes helps to add the sense of shock when I pick something. Like with the Larry situation. I saw the seconds counting down, and realized that siding with someone was better than standing there like a goof. So I picked Kenny because I thought what he wanted to do made the most sense. I was horrified after, and being forced to choose so quickly made me wonder if I had done the right thing.

I saw myself doing the same in Episode 3 after Carley died. I kept thinking to myself "This is my fault for killing Larry. I pushed Lilly to the brink and Carley paid the price". Later, yeah, I find out that Lilly shoots someone no matter what. But my first reaction to that, before knowing, was priceless. I was convinced that killing Larry had been the WRONG choice and Carley's death was a punishment for killing someone who could have been saved, a choice which I hadn't been able to think completely through at the time. I truly have to say bravo to TTG for making me second guess my choices in a past episode, and it's all because of that little timer at the bottom of the screen.

[Milosuperspesh]

the point to the timer is quite simple

if you where in that situation for reals you have to be quick OR YOU'RE DEAD.

or use the pause button if it really bloomin matters to you toma, or pick one and rewind...

[Viner16]

The timer simulates that 'heat of the moment' decision sorta thing, so I'm all for it

[TomaO2]

Oh, I absolutely do rewinds Milo. It's annoying though cause you can be sent back 20 minutes in the game when you take that option.

Eventually, I found a text walkthrough that lists all the decisions you come across, which gave me time to analyze each one beforehand. I understand the rationale for the timer. I really do. I'm not really against having it. However, for me, if there had been an option to turn it off, I'd have taken it.

[Yertos]

Rewinds are cheats IMO, I think whatever happens happens and you live with your choices to the end. Making different choices can be done on a different save slot. I personally regret killing Danny and not stealing the food, or fighting Kenny on the train but it's what happened my first time and will always be my "canon Lee" choices.

[Master of Aeons]

Wow. Heads up, Toma. My next three posts concerning you are:

1. Responses in advance? That's a little wimpy, isn't it?

2. But it ruins the entire purpose of the stress of choice! How can you play a game and then refuse to play it?

3. Oh. Then I just can't understand your stance and this is where we're going to have to agree to disagree.

[Kiel555]

Is it just me or do those look like Ben's arms. The sleeves seem to match that jacket he always wears.

[Yertos]

Originally Posted by Kiel555

Is it just me or do those look like Ben's arms. The sleeves seem to match that jacket he always wears.

It really does, plus Lee's face is more shocked then he would be by just some walker sneaking up on him. Although those hands look badly decomposed, maybe Ben goes missing for awhile and shows up a walker? Unlikely. Maybe some just turn faster then most?

[8Bit_System]

A standard high school jacket... nobody knows.

[Yertos]

We can only hope, I don't want a walker getting Ben, if he doesn't get his shit together I want to be the one to end him! Three strikes for Ben, first strike was not telling us about the deal with the bandits, we could have worked together to deal with them and find out if his friend truly was alive, second strike is leaving Clem behind when he easily could have grabbed her hand in the trailer, now this one might depend on your actions in the game so it doesn't really count yet but if it happens no matter what then he is not aloud to screw up once more haha.

[Rock114]

We analyze so many things on this forum, I bet they could give us the first word of the script for Episode5 and we'd have the plot figured out a week before release.