The Walking Dead: A New Frontier - Spoiler-friendly AMA

1235713

Comments

  • 1) Are we to assume Kenny is dead if we chose the Clem stays in Wellington ending?

    2) Is there a particular reason there was so much emphasis on romance this season (Javier x Kate; Clem x Gabe)?

    3) Is there a particular reason the Javier and Jesus flirting was inserted at the end of Episode 5? This is just my opinion, but I feel it was very clumsy and not logical given the way the characters were written in the previous episodes.

    4) How do you feel about how the Garcia family has been generally received? Are you surprised the reaction hasn't been as positive as the protagonists from previous seasons?

    5) I know you probably can't discuss this in detail but are there plans to revisit any key characters (or their fates) from previous seasons such as Lilly, Arvo, Bonnie and Mike?

    Thank you for doing the AMA.

  • edited June 2017

    Well, I'm just curious, out of all 4 endings of season 3;

    1. Which endings do you guys (Telltale) think are good and bad endings?
    2. IF there is 1 ending that was canon (according to you Telltale), which one is it?

    My wish: I just hope that the outcomes will matter more in the next installment (Season 4/DLC), I don't know how you'll manage to do it, because we don't want another Kenny/Jane treatment for the determinant characters in season 3...just don't disappoint us Telltale

    Well I will be really, really happy if this question of mine will ever got answered eventually :(

  • [removed]

  • [removed]

  • If Max and Lonnie live through episode 3, where do they go in episodes 4-5, and are they still alive or in Richmond if so?

  • edited June 2017

    [removed]

    If Max and Lonnie live through episode 3, where do they go in episodes 4-5, and are they still alive or in Richmond if so?

  • edited June 2017

    [removed]

  • Why start up a new story and not continue Where Season2 endes?

    1. Why were the episodes so short?
    2. Why is there wasted potential in every single character?
    3. Why are determinant characters (except Conrad) being treated more shitty than ever?
    4. Why did you remove the slaughterhouse?

    I would continue, but honestly, I'm so negative about ANF, I can't be bothered anymore.

  • Only one thing matters to me:
    Will Season 4 be better?

  • Sorry, not responding to you but for some reason, the site won't let me post my questions.

    What made you guys think that you could tell a compelling family drama in five 75 minute episodes?

    Why weren't the Garcias (aside from David and Javier) more developed as people beyond their titles of "niece" "nephew" and "sister-in-law"?

    Why did you guys kill Mariana? Because she wouldn't have created drama? Why not have her be this season's Piggy, the voice of reason vs. Gabe's Jack imitation with Javier as Ralph trying to balance it out?

    Why did who Clem goes with in the finale (and by extension how much she trusted Javier) depend on flashbacks that Javier took no part in?

    What was the point of throwing Rufus into the finale? Or having us decide whether or not to cut off his arm? Who was he that players should have been emotionally invested in his or his wife's plight (beyond general sympathy)? Do you see how that might have been seen as pandering?

    What made you guys think that the majority of people wouldn't shoot Conrad? We barely knew anything about him then and now vs. knowing Clementine for 2 seasons. Both options saved Gabe (saying that he might have missed is absurd since most of the gameplay is qte that you either win or lose) but only one option carried any emotional weight. Most players couldn't stand the thought of betraying Clem while shooting Conrad was easy to justify and meant next to nothing. Who was he that players should have cared whether he lived or died? At least Gabe had the "nephew" title so people felt a perfunctory obligation to protect him.

    Why was this season so action oriented? I could understand the finale being fast paced but why was it like this for the whole season? When has a good family drama ever been this action oriented?

    What made you guys think that players would care about Richmond (and to a lesser extent Prescott) without actually letting us see and experience it via a hub area? Tripp's later reminder that Prescott had been destroyed meant nothing to me because Prescott was never a fully realized place with people for me to actually care about.

    Why did you build Joan up to be the villain only to toss her aside? Why did she suddenly go from clever to stupid with that speech in episode 4 and pulling that stunt with Ava and Tripp?

    What was with that Ava/Tripp stunt? Did you really think people would care about two people we barely knew anything about? Of course more people picked Tripp: he had been with Javier since episode 1. That's as far as my thinking went.

    Why is David so unrelentingly unsympathetic in the finale? Breaking a woman's arm? Starting a fight with Javier even if Javier tells him that nothing happened with Kate? Grabbing Gabe and running off in the middle of a walker herd? Arguing with his father about his final wishes?

    What were you guys thinking with those ep. 1 Clem flashbacks? Kenny dies heroically in a car crash (that's how it looked) and Jane basically abandons Clementine in the most final way possible (again, that's how it looked)? Both sucked but at least Kenny fans can point to his as proof that he wasn't too far gone while Jane fans are stuck with (seemingly) undeniable proof of Jane's unreliability? I'm not saying that that's what I think or believe but that is how it looked and more than a few die-hard Kenny fans have used those poorly written and executed flashbacks to disparage Jane as a character and as a viable option for the end of S2.

    Why even give players the option of turning down Kate if you were going to lean so hard into them being an item? If players consistently rejected her in the flashbacks and present, the conversation in episode 4 shouldn't have even happened for them.

    Why was Kate so into Javier in the first place? Before all of this, he was considered a flake and unreliable. What drew her to him?

    What did Kate do to try to make her marriage with David work?

    Why was Kate and David's marriage rocky? Was it always so? Why did they get married in the first place?

    How old were Gabe and Mariana when they lost their biological mother? What happened to their biological mother?

    How do Gabe and Mariana see their father before and after the apocalypse? Beyond the stereotypical "I want to be just like my dad!"

    Who was Francine to Conrad? I know she was his wife but who was she as a person to him? Was she his rock, something that kept his anger in check? Was she something from the old world that he held on to? Was she a reminder of the man he could be?

    Why were Eleanor and Tripp an item and why did Eleanor break it off?

    Who are Eleanor and Tripp as people? What motivated them beyond survival? What did they do before the apocalypse? How did they end up in Prescott?

    Why didn't Tripp try to go back and help the people of Prescott when he ends up trying to help the people of Richmond in the finale?

    Why would you kill Tripp/Ava after the technical success of triple determinant Conrad?

    Why bother making a triple determinant character if you're not going to make them interesting afterwards? People are jumping all over Conrad as the first triple determinant but beyond that, he doesn't get any more interesting and certainly didn't make up for pulling a gun on Gabe in my eyes. Did he ever even apologize for it?

    Was Tripp officially in charge of Prescott or did people just defer to him because he was the only one willing to make the hard calls?

    What was the point of Prescott if you weren't going to use it to develop Eleanor, Tripp, and Conrad beyond the surface stuff?

    What was the point of adding Clementine to this season? Take her and AJ out and the season could have kept going. In fact, you guys could have used the "effort" that went into those Clem flashbacks to flesh out the supporting cast more.

    What was the point of the supporting cast if you weren't going to flesh them out somehow (maybe via hub areas)?

    Why suggest anything romantic between Gabe and Clementine if you weren't going to give her any real screen time so that we could see her actually address it?

    Why was Gabe such a punk beyond the stereotypical "teenagers are moody" and "I want to be like my dad"? Those things were fine as starting points but since you all never developed these things beyond that, a lot of people ended up hating Gabe. If Gabe was around 8 or 9 before the apocalypse and David wasn't around much (which is insinuated by his dialogue), what exactly did Gabe see that made him want to emulate his dad?

    Why was Gabe such a punk to Kate early on? Again, beyond the teenage angst excuse.

  • Will clem's story continue in a Season 4 or A New Frontier DLC?

  • I'm sure you're well aware of the many criticisms The New Frontier has faced. Does the creative team plan to take these criticisms into account moving forward, and try and put a better focus on what made us enjoy season one and (for most of us, at least) season two so much? I personally didn't think ANF was bad, but there were definitely conflicting ideas and creative decisions made too late which led to some poor scenes (especially Ava's death) and strange character decisions (Gabe basically telling Javier he's more of a father to him than David, then siding with David anyway just minutes later). Will upcoming seasons be more planned out with a definitive vision before full development starts so something like this doesn't happen again in the future? I would love to feel the magic of season one again, and I'm sure it can happen!

  • Was it planned at any point for Christa to make an appearance either late into season two or during A New Frontier?

  • Did he ever even apologize for it?

    He did. In Episode 3 when Javier picks up Conrad's gun from the ground Conrad tells him to take it in sign of apology.
    Quoting Conrad: Take it. Please, just take it. Call it an apology. That man in the tunnel, that wasn't me. Take the gun.

    Caduceus89 posted: »

    Sorry, not responding to you but for some reason, the site won't let me post my questions. What made you guys think that you could tell a

  • Can we please get Kenny back?

  • Is there any particular reason as to why the actual gameplay has become more linear rather than open world (Hubs)? I loved exploring the environments in S1&2 and in ANF it feels more like a film rather than a game.

  • edited June 2017

    What are the responsibilities of a creative director/season lead writer?

    Why the decision to move from the comic book artstyle to a more realistic looking approach with ANF?

    How do you decide what content does and doesn't make it into the game?

    (Thank you for making the time to answer our questions.)

  • For an AMA, they sure are aren't answering any questions.

  • edited June 2017

    Have you ever considered that they won't read all of that?

    Caduceus89 posted: »

    Sorry, not responding to you but for some reason, the site won't let me post my questions. What made you guys think that you could tell a

  • That's because it hasn't happened yet. It will be later today.

    For an AMA, they sure are aren't answering any questions.

  • edited June 2017

    Firstly, I want to say a sincere thank you for taking feedback into consideration with ANF. It especially means a lot to me that there were truly determinant characters and positive LGBT+ representation.

    The best question I can think of besides character last names and heights is: is there anyone from Season One who is also LGBT+?

  • dojo32161dojo32161 Moderator
    edited June 2017

    Can I shake the hand(s) of the person(s) responsible for this?

    Another question I have is about the odd disappearance of Conrad at the start of episode 5. Was there an original scenario for him during the breach? And since it is canon that he disappears, I'm curious to know what he was doing during all of the excitement.

  • This and who the hell is Grady Standard?

    dojo32161 posted: »

    Can I shake the hand(s) of the person(s) responsible for this? Another question I have is about the odd disappearance of Conrad at th

  • edited June 2017

    Javier's future boyfriend :)

    AronDracula posted: »

    This and who the hell is Grady Standard?

  • I agree with every point, so Telltale should read it because this game has many, many problems and that states many of the problems (still not all).

    Have you ever considered that they won't read all of that?

  • I don't have a problem with Javi being bi, but the "Javi is bi" thing came out of nowhere though. No build up, no nothing.

    Firstly, I want to say a sincere thank you for taking feedback into consideration with ANF. It especially means a lot to me that there were

  • dojo32161dojo32161 Moderator

    A programmer at Telltale, similar to Randy Tudor.

    AronDracula posted: »

    This and who the hell is Grady Standard?

  • OzzyUKOzzyUK Moderator

    Grady is a content programmer for Telltale.

    AronDracula posted: »

    This and who the hell is Grady Standard?

  • With beautiful golden hair, apparently.

    OzzyUK posted: »

    Grady is a content programmer for Telltale.

  • Why was Kate left unknown in my ending where I trusted Clem with her? What was the point of making her deliberately unknown as opposed to a walker like in a different ending? Should i maintain any hopes that Kate might be alive and found later by Clementine?

  • What happened to the 400 Days cast, both the ones who went with Tavia and the ones who stayed behind? Is there a chance we will see them again, alive or otherwise?

  • Did you try continue to looking for her !?

    It is not easy to know what change some little things yet, more people playing and explaining their gameplay would help to determine it more accuratly !

    For now not everthing is known yet

    ( sorry not sure if everyrhing is english in what I written XD )

    Why was Kate left unknown in my ending where I trusted Clem with her? What was the point of making her deliberately unknown as opposed to a

  • Im asking the same think. I think the Garcias were a really interesting family

    KaiMaestro posted: »

    First i want to thank you for creating another awesome game. My question is: are we going to see the Garcias back in the future?

  • When exactly in July? Do you know the date of the San Diego one?

    OzzyUK posted: »

    I know San Diego Comic Con is coming up in July and both season 2 and season 3 where announced there so i will be watching that event closely.

  • [removed]

  • Out of the whole cast of A New Frontier, who would win a tap dancing contest?

  • I chose the dialogue option saying "No shes still out there" but then the 3 day timeskip happens and Javi/Gabe assume she os dead and add her photo to the memorial wall.

    In the other endings Kate is either alive or found as a walker. I really dont understand why they made her unknown on purpose unless she was going to reappear, it's really messing with me.

    Did you try continue to looking for her !? It is not easy to know what change some little things yet, more people playing and explaining

  • OzzyUKOzzyUK Moderator

    It's from the 20th-23rd, in previous years Telltale have normally made their announcements during the Skybound panels.

    When exactly in July? Do you know the date of the San Diego one?

  • [removed]

    AgentZ46 posted: »

    With beautiful golden hair, apparently.

This discussion has been closed.