Telltale announces King's Quest reboot

[Baggins]

Still it sounds like even if isn't JP and turns out to be something else closer to the old games, he'd still find a reason to complain. I personally will wait and reserve judgement for when more concrete info is known!

In the meantime I can tell Telltale what and want to see, and what I don't want to see happen. Constructive support so to speak... But I'll make final decision on the final product, when that ship sets sail!

[kindofdoon]

I agree with Baggins; I am very doubtful that TT would just take a famous series like KQ and destroy its winning formula, especially after KQ8 already tried that.

[Rado]

You can't walk around in Zork either.

Obviously, I'm playing a devil's advocate here even though I know exactly what you mean. On the other hand, the defining features of adventure games as often cited by fans appear largely arbitrary. Is a game less of an adventure because the puzzles are easy and require little thought? Perhaps. Does the ability to "walk around" have anything to do with it? Doubtful, as proven time and again by titles like Gateway, Eric the Unready or even Gabriel Knight 2.

[Baggins]

I think there is a difference, I think constructive suggestions to Telltale is great thing... Tell them what we want to see in a game, and even bringing up, what we view as weakenesses in some of their other games (that we don't want to see happen with KQ).

But telling or wishing that Telltale, "cancel the game' before it even begins, because you have a personal belief that they can't 'adapt' to different styles, is not constructive at all!

[Sslaxx]

Lamb so nice that you can't appreciate that at least activision is trying to resuscitate a dead franchise, and want it to have it die again. With fans like hat their is no hope. What're is made will suck, and you'll find something to criticize it anyways even it is a total success!

The only reason a Activision is resurrecting King's Quest is because they feel they can make money out of it, nothing more. The fact that monetising and profiting from King's Quest is the sole reason they awarded the license to Telltale doesn't mean I think they can't do a good job though.

[Baggins]

The only reason a Activision is resurrecting King's Quest is because they feel they can make money out of it, nothing more. The fact that monetising and profiting from King's Quest is the sole reason they awarded the license to Telltale doesn't mean I think they can't do a good job though.

Call me old fashioned and conservative or even libertarian, but the whole point to making games is to make money! Its capitalism. That's actually a good thing.

If the original KQ didn't make money, we'd be not be talking about KQ now... Even Sierra when it was owned by the Williams was all about money!

The only way a company will successfully make money is if they can make a good games (this is relative and controlled by whatever is popular to audiences at any given time). So companies strive to make the games that the most people want, and are willing to pay for! Otherwise the franchises die and are forgotten!

What are you expecting free handouts? You won't be happy until there is 'redistribution of games'  Games are a human right?

[Sslaxx]

The only reason a Activision is resurrecting King's Quest is because they feel they can make money out of it, nothing more. The fact that monetising and profiting from King's Quest is the sole reason they awarded the license to Telltale doesn't mean I think they can't do a good job though.

Call me old fashioned and conservative or even libertarian, but the whole point to making games is to make money! Its capitalism. That's actually a good thing.

If the original KQ didn't make money, we'd be not be talking about KQ now... Even Sierra when it was owned by the Williams was all about money!

The only way a company will successfully make make money is if they can make a good games (this is relative and controlled by whatever is popular to audiences at any given time). So companies strive to make the games that the most people want! Otherwise the franchises die and are forgotten!

What are you expecting free handouts? You won't be happy until there is 'redistribution of games'  Games are a human right?

My point is somewhere over there.

[kindofdoon]

The only reason a Activision is resurrecting King's Quest is because they feel they can make money out of it, nothing more. The fact that monetising and profiting from King's Quest is the sole reason they awarded the license to Telltale doesn't mean I think they can't do a good job though.

Call me old fashioned and conservative or even libertarian, but the whole point to making games is to make money! Its capitalism. That's actually a good thing.

If the original KQ didn't make money, we'd be not be talking about KQ now... Even Sierra when it was owned by the Williams was all about money!

The only way a company will successfully make make money is if they can make a good games (this is relative and controlled by whatever is popular to audiences at any given time). So companies strive to make the games that the most people want, and are willing to pay for! Otherwise the franchises die and are forgotten!

What are you expecting free handouts? You won't be happy until there is 'redistribution of games'  Games are a human right?

Detecting strong political theory overtones here, LOL.

(And btw, I agree.)

[Lambonius]

Yeah.  I was also being facetious, though I suppose an obligatory winking smiley would have helped. 

[MusicallyInspired]

I was right. It is BTTF Ep3.

Lamb so nice that you can't appreciate that at least activision is trying to resuscitate a dead franchise, and want it to have it die again. With fans like hat their is no hope. What're is made will suck, and you'll find something to criticize it anyways even it is a total success!

It's all for nothing if the resuscitation sucks. I'd rather let the franchise stay dead! King's Quest was good for a reason not just because we say it is. Any resusitation isn't necessarily good resusitation and we shouldn't settle for garbage or at least something less than what the originals were just because we're so starved for King's Quest. The fans have that taken care of already!

And yeah, we don't know for sure whether it'll be great or not but I have my own reasons for holding my excitement on this one. Telltale have disappointed me time after time and I'm just not going to get sucked into the hype machine anymore. Especially with a game franchise that they have not proven they can handle properly. King's Quest requires a very specific approach to game design. One that I do not believe Telltale are capable (nor willing) to adapt to. They'll churn out episodes in the same worn formula they did with all their other games up to now. Jurassic Park may look very different but I guarantee you it's the same Telltale game underneath. And you'll notice it when you play it. But they've added even more reasons to worry for the future with each title. Telltale makes great stories but a great story does not a great game make, least of all in King's Quest's case. None of Telltale's games match the level of excellence that even LucasArts put out (TMI comes close). How can I expect that they'll make King's Quest (a Sierra game!) of any expected level of standard at all?

I have more reason to doubt Telltale on this one than I have to look forward to it based on evidence of their previous titles and their official statements based on their business model and opinions of King's Quest. Basically, they have a lot to measure up to and I just don't believe they'll do it at this point. Which is why I'm being extremely critical. In short, I'll believe it when I see it. But I'm not going to expect the best out of it. That's what I call "blind Telltale faith."

[Baggins]

Well if it turned out to be something that it is critically loved, and but ends up something you hate, it doesn't really matter in the end! If it turns out be uber successful, and has mass success, that's really all that matters to Activision and Telltale.

It'll just be like nearly every other game in the series that have been devisive among the fans for various reasons.

You don't have to continue playing the games! They won't really care if they lose you, and a certain block of fans, because found success among other fans.

Who knows I don't know what I'll think of it... But I'll witholding judgement until I have more concrete information. Its simply not worth getting an ulcer over.... Like I said at this point, all that can be done is to give constructive suggestions and state what we want to see.

And another thing... While I don't think every Telltale has been perfect, they also haven't been charging an arm and a leg for their products...

I think its an important point to point out. If Telltale had been charging the $49-$60 that Sierra used to charge for their games,, I'd be giving far more criticism... There were Sierra games, that I felt like I got cheated, because I didn't think they were worth the price Sierra was charging! I expected more out of them, for that price. Sierra didn't deliver to my expectations.

But since they are charging between $20-$30 bargain range prices, that slightly changes how I view the games. In my opinion, for the most part I've found the value to the quality ratio of their games to be just about right.

Its a matter of the fact I already expect less from a lower budget game, and then adjust my opinon of it (based on that fact). I can be be surprised if it goes beyond by lowered expectations.

HMM, if people want the authentic Sierra experience, Telltale will have to raise their price to $60! Then I can have the authentic Sierra disapointment or not, depending on the quality of the game!  If telltale was to calculate for inflation, that would have to charg $70-$80 to match the cost of Sierra games back then! That would really give me a reason to criticize the game!

[Lambonius]

Wrong.  The low price tag of Telltale's games has to do with the fact that they are EPISODIC.  It has nothing to do with "quality."  You pay less because you have to WAIT to play a complete game.

They also need to keep the price low to talk people into buying a whole season at once.  That's the whole draw.  If you buy each episode individually, it DOES equal about a 50 dollar investment.

So I certainly do think Telltale needs to step up the quality of its games if they hope to win over more old-school Sierra fans.

[Baggins]

Wrong.

First I have to say, how can the way I put value on things, be 'wrong' (you obviously missed that I qualified everything in my post with "I" as in 'my opinion' for 'me personally').  Different people place value on things in different ways. I expect that you would place values on completely different factors. These are personal 'opinions', and therefore neither 'right or wrong'. (more on that later).

The last few games, since Tales of MI, they haven't even been charging per episode as far as I know (only by the season)?

First few games, the first Sam and Max seasons, were by episode.

I bought each season (1 & 2) in a bargain bin for $9 each. Which was reasonably what I'd be willing to play for an adventure in this day and age.

I'm not really all that willing to pay $70-$80 bucks (Sierra's price figured for inflation) for adventure games. Nor would I be willing to pay $49-$59...

My tastes in gaming have changed quite a bit over the years, especially with improvements in action-adventure genre.

It might be important to point out that I came out of gaming from primarily console generation, and Text Adventures. I played Sierra games a little later. PC games were almost always more expensive than the console games. So I was certainly more criticle about the price of Sierra games. Often found myself disapointed in them, if I had payed full price. This is why I almost always waited on buying Sierra games for them to go to the bargain bin!

The exception being I did buy KQ6 CD at full price, and it felt more than worth it! I was burned with KQ7, and still don't like it as much as previous games!

Whereas, I never really got LSL series, and felt like they were crap, at not worth full price!

Different people place different values on things, based on different criteria. But for me, price is a major aspect of value to me! Because it could be the difference between lost meal or an extra meal, or clothign or some other  necessesity! It's all about where I set my prioarties, and what I would be willing to spend.

[Lambonius]

All I'm saying is that Telltale doesn't purposefully make crappy games because they charge less for them.  You're making it sound like those two factors (how good their games are & how expensive they are) are intrinsically linked.

They charge less for their games because of the format, not the quality.  They have to hook people into making an investment in an entire season of a game they might not like after the first episode.  Buying any Telltale game is thus a leap of faith.  So they try to make it easier for the consumer to justify the purchase by making the leap a very short distance, metaphorically speaking.

[Baggins]

Except I think you missed my point again, that for me (this only has to do with how I value things), the fact that they aren't charging as much (for whatever reason), has made it much easier for me to put down money for their games. I've have for the most part, come away enjoying them still! I'd never go back to them, if they charged more!

The only game, I got from them, that I didn't like, was Strong Bad... and that's because I'm not that big of a fan of that universe, and its style of humor. It's ok... I don't remember having payed full price either.... I think I waited for the price to drop...

I can undertstand where other people are coming from, and that you expect more... But I have a completely different set of values.

BTW, my main reason for playing adventure games back in the day, was not for the puzzles and gameplay style. But primarily for storytelling. You got highly advanced story, that couldn't be found on console systems, with higher level of interactivity. Other genres have now matched up to the level of story telling, but offering variety of game styles.

Edit: Another thing that helped me decide to get certain games early was because they offered a special, that gave me a free game with the purchase of another series. I used that to pickup several telltale series for free! Again, for me was value added purchase. Without it, I probably would have waited for the price to drop.

Similarly I almost never bought many of the Sierra games one at a time, I waited until the collections came out! Simply because it was a much better value for the money I was paying.

[KatieHal]

Their low prices actually have a lot to do with the fact that they have no production costs--they don't need to spend money on creating a physical product, which saves them quite a lot of money, and that gets reflected in the price.

[MusicallyInspired]

Its simply not worth getting an ulcer over.... Like I said at this point, all that can be done is to give constructive suggestions and state what we want to see.

Who's getting an ulcer? I'm just not with Telltale right out of the gate on this one. And giving constructive suggestions is all I've been doing on their forums. Whether they choose to listen or not to everything in the end will be the deciding factor on whether I'll be gung ho about this or not. I could care less what Telltale thinks of losing me as a customer. I wouldn't be their customer anymore so why should I care? Their values in game design haven't aligned with mine and continue to even moreso drift further and further apart, so I'm not going to support them by paying them money for something they haven't proven to do correctly. Bottom line is, I'm not just going to buy anything that says "King's Quest" on it. If it's fun and true to King's Quest then I'll support it. If it isn't I won't. But as you said there's no way to know for sure right now so I'm not getting my hopes up. In fact, I'm being uber skeptical about the whole process because that's the only way to ensure that my personal King's Quest needs are met. I'm not going to just be ok with whatever they put together. I'm no mindless fan who believes anything they churn out is automatically gold.

(Posted on: March 29, 2011, 09:25:30 AM)

Started and beat BTTF3 today. Story is definitely getting good. The gameplay/puzzles are a little better than the first two, but not much.

[wilco64256]

How long did it take you to finish that one?