I wish you would have released the full game all at once. I thought the main benefit of doing episodic releasing was so the publisher could make more money. Well, TSL is free... so what are the benefits to releasing it in episodes? Is it to get feedback in case changes need to be made? Is it to give fans SOMETHING sooner rather than later? How much longer would we have had to have waited for the full game?
Are you going to release Corridor 9 in episodes? I hope you don't.
By the way, though I have been very critical of certain parts of the game, in many areas I think you guys did a great job on TSL so far!
Episodic release is not all about "making money". For one, you bring more attention to the project. 5 releases mean more media attention than just 1. You are also correct that you get something faster than just waiting for the full thing, and it also serves us in fixing things as we go along. I can't tell you exactly how much time it'd take right now, but basically, all the way down to the last finished episode, minus possible a month or two because of rework based on feedback, releases, etc.
We are adapting the episodic model for our games. We believe it's a model that works for us, and allows us to put commercial products out there while sustaining the company to be able to do so. So, yes, Corridor 9 is planned to be a 4 episodes game at the moment.
Cez
I actually prefer episodic content, even when money is involved. What I don't like is when you go down to a store, pay $60 for a game, and then DLC comes out that asks for you to pay $20 extra towards the "full" game. At least with episodic content (a la Telltale games) you are paying for a full game by the time the last episode comes out. It's not the same as being "nickeled and dimed" by the likes of some developers. Lionhead Studios did it for Fable 2, and Ubisoft had the nerve of removing 2 chapters from Assassin's Creed 2 to sell them as DLC later (still a good game though).
Also, the episodic content keeps the fans of the series dedicated in the long run. By having you play one portion of the full game, you can reflect on each piece of the game. At least that way, it'll allow the final episode to retain more meaning. I can't imagine what these boards are gonna be like before Episode 5 comes out. Speculations and theories galore!
Also, with each release the team will be able to see all the hard work they've put into the game given to the fans. I think that, after all this work POS have put into this, they deserve some morale-boosts now and then.
And anyway, no one is forcing you to play TSL in episodes. When it's completed, the devs have stated that you will be able to start with Chapter 1 and play straight through to the end of Chapter 5. So if you don't like episodic releases, then just wait until all of the episodes are released, download them, and play.
I am not such a big fan of episodic releases either, though I can understand the advantages.
kinda the same reason why I am not a fan of tv series (even if the serie itself is intresting), I don't want to wait till next week/month/year/etc, I wanna know how it goes on right now!
Atleast those Episodes are like an Hour long, the First Episode of TSL was like 20 minutes and we Need Episode 2 as Soon as possible, then i wont mind waiting Longer for Episode 3.
Cez said they are Reworking on the rest of the Episodes
Quoteminus possible a month or two because of rework based on feedback, releases, etc.
Are we gonna wait Longer now for Episode 2 because of Fan Feedback. (hence the Narrator Irritation)
Quote from: Enchantermon on July 24, 2010, 07:00:29 AM
And anyway, no one is forcing you to play TSL in episodes. When it's completed, the devs have stated that you will be able to start with Chapter 1 and play straight through to the end of Chapter 5. So if you don't like episodic releases, then just wait until all of the episodes are released, download them, and play.
You know that's not possible for many adventure game fans. ;) If I know that people are downloading and playing a new big game like TSL, I won't want to be left out. :P I wouldn't be able to resist the urge.
As for waiting from here on, I say you guys should take as long as you need to! Don't give any definitive dates because that will just lead to disappointment if the dates aren't kept.
I'll say that the episodic releasing is actually going to result in people getting all of the episodes more quickly than if we waited and didn't release anything until they were all finished. Getting all this attention and feedback on the first episode has really been a great motivator for us and has us putting tremendous effort into getting the next episode into tip-top shape as soon as we can.
So episodic format is good for both you (you get games sooner) and for us (we get feedback on each release and can make adjustments here and there based on that). It's not really particularly bad for anybody - except people who play Assassin's Creed 2 (which I also thought was great, but the DLC business was stupid).
Quote from: sahara on July 24, 2010, 08:20:41 AMYou know that's not possible for many adventure game fans. ;)
Don't be so sure. I got TSL two days before everyone else did, and I still didn't touch it until 11 days later (I was playing through all of the other games first). It's entirely possible to wait. You just have to decide to do so. And honestly, if playing the entire game at once is going to improve your experience as much as you indicate it would, then that should make it a little easier on you.