What I feel these games needs to do
I actually made an account just to post this when I heard the announcement, lol. I've bought games from you guys in the past and I've enjoyed that fact that you stayed true to their original source material in terms of atmosphere and feel. I also like that y'all actually read these forums and take things we say into consideration. 
However, like many others here, I felt a slight sense of unease when I heard this announced (and a great deal of excitement!). As a loyal fan of the series, I'm extremely happy that the series is getting its first official game since 1998, but I'm also worried it won't get proper treatment since all your previous games have had a very distinct style to them. I'm sure all you at Telltale have realized that most of the old fans feel the same way and you've taken it into consideration, so I don't mean to insult your intelligence with this list; I just need to vent and know that I got this out there somewhere.
1. They need to feel like the old games: A very broad statement, so I'll try to clarify. A moderate amount of camp, but not an excessive amount. And please, please don't overextend into trying to make it more dramatic like The Silver Lining.... unless you've got a truly phenomenal script for any game you decide to take that approach with. I've enjoyed their game for the nostalgia, but it doesn't feel like a true King's Quest game to me. It's taken a very strong "Tell, don't show" approach in terms of explaining the characters and story, and all that translates into is a lot of cheesy dialogue followed swiftly by a facepalm. That aside, the same style of humor being present is very important to me. And, just saying - a great way to maintain a similar feel is to get some of the original voice actors. A lot of them frequently come back to do work on fan games, particularly Josh Mandel (the iconic King Graham).
And I can't stress this enough... make sure the narrator doesn't suck.
2. I don't want to play the same games over, except in 3D: I understand you want to try to appeal to new gamers as well as pleasing the old fans, so this shouldn't be too much of a problem. So please, feel free to take a lot creative licence with these games. Change up the stories a little bit (as long as they're still good), make completely new dialogue, come up with lots of new puzzles, etc. Just be sure that the style does justice to the traditional games and that the characters are essentially the same people.
3. The puzzle logic needs to be the same and there needs to be an adequate amount of ways to die: A lot of people have exaggerated how often you could die in the old games. Besides the obvious falling off cliffs, there wasn't literally a death on every screen. But at the same time, we shouldn't really feel safe when playing a King's Quest game, which is another problem I have with The Silver Lining - it's really obvious when I'm safe and when I'm not. It shouldn't ever be like that.
4. Inclusion of The Black Cloak Society: The only real loose end in the series and the main reason most fans haven't felt closure (aside from the poor job done in KQ:MoE). Whether or not you guys explain it in these games or choose to explain it in any potential future sequels, I don't really care. Just a mention of it would be great.
So, that's the end of my little rant. I'm looking forward to seeing the results and I'll surely buy it regardless of what I think from any previews we get. If all turns out well, then who knows? Maybe we'll finally get an official conclusion to the series we all love.
However, like many others here, I felt a slight sense of unease when I heard this announced (and a great deal of excitement!). As a loyal fan of the series, I'm extremely happy that the series is getting its first official game since 1998, but I'm also worried it won't get proper treatment since all your previous games have had a very distinct style to them. I'm sure all you at Telltale have realized that most of the old fans feel the same way and you've taken it into consideration, so I don't mean to insult your intelligence with this list; I just need to vent and know that I got this out there somewhere.
1. They need to feel like the old games: A very broad statement, so I'll try to clarify. A moderate amount of camp, but not an excessive amount. And please, please don't overextend into trying to make it more dramatic like The Silver Lining.... unless you've got a truly phenomenal script for any game you decide to take that approach with. I've enjoyed their game for the nostalgia, but it doesn't feel like a true King's Quest game to me. It's taken a very strong "Tell, don't show" approach in terms of explaining the characters and story, and all that translates into is a lot of cheesy dialogue followed swiftly by a facepalm. That aside, the same style of humor being present is very important to me. And, just saying - a great way to maintain a similar feel is to get some of the original voice actors. A lot of them frequently come back to do work on fan games, particularly Josh Mandel (the iconic King Graham).
And I can't stress this enough... make sure the narrator doesn't suck.
2. I don't want to play the same games over, except in 3D: I understand you want to try to appeal to new gamers as well as pleasing the old fans, so this shouldn't be too much of a problem. So please, feel free to take a lot creative licence with these games. Change up the stories a little bit (as long as they're still good), make completely new dialogue, come up with lots of new puzzles, etc. Just be sure that the style does justice to the traditional games and that the characters are essentially the same people.
3. The puzzle logic needs to be the same and there needs to be an adequate amount of ways to die: A lot of people have exaggerated how often you could die in the old games. Besides the obvious falling off cliffs, there wasn't literally a death on every screen. But at the same time, we shouldn't really feel safe when playing a King's Quest game, which is another problem I have with The Silver Lining - it's really obvious when I'm safe and when I'm not. It shouldn't ever be like that.
4. Inclusion of The Black Cloak Society: The only real loose end in the series and the main reason most fans haven't felt closure (aside from the poor job done in KQ:MoE). Whether or not you guys explain it in these games or choose to explain it in any potential future sequels, I don't really care. Just a mention of it would be great.
So, that's the end of my little rant. I'm looking forward to seeing the results and I'll surely buy it regardless of what I think from any previews we get. If all turns out well, then who knows? Maybe we'll finally get an official conclusion to the series we all love.
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Comments
My biggest complaint about ToMI was that it felt very small... there was not a whole lot going on visually in the background... it really should have been more lush and populated... lets not do that again with KQ.
I agree wholeheartedly with everything you've said, except the Black Cloak Society part. I think it was a lame idea to begin with. Ooh, a secret society of evil wizards and witches that all wear black robes??? Real original, Jane. Personally, I'd like to either see a true reboot, where we start with Sir Graham on a new quest to become king OR a series of totally standalone stories that don't touch the storyline of the original games in any way.
PS: You are dead on about The Silver Lining. I couldn't have said it better.
She may have meant for the games to be standalone, but that doesn't mean it's not objectively better for the story to explain the connection. I think it could be a really good idea if done right.
That's really quite subjective.
There are, however, a lot of things that are generally recognized as being good elements of stories. Layers of intelligent complexity without bordering convolution is usually a good thing. How good the final product ends up being if they decide to go down this road would be a result of how smartly and carefully it's treated.
As we all know, official King's Quest incorporates numerous fairy tales, legends and myths in its world. But it lets them remain distinct from each other, in keeping with the spirit of the source material. We are not expected to believe that Rumpelstiltskin is Pan's father, for example.
So adding this further layer of nearly everything and everyone being intertwined à la Wold Newton or The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen or the X-Men loses the simplicity that archetypal stories and myths depend on for their effect...
Errrr... have you played "Back to the Future" yet?
True. It makes several allusions to fairy tales that never have interconnectedness and whatnot, but what I have in mind is for them to merely explain something that was briefly mentioned. It doesn't have to become a drama. KQ6 is by far and large considered the best KQ game so far, and they managed to introduce a possible connection without losing the quality of the game.