Should the TTG King's Quest games have fanservice?

Anyone thinks that TTG should add a lot of references to the previous KQ games? Personally, I want to see TTG handle the game w/o having too much fanservice. Fanservice is good, but there is a fine line in using just the right amount without making the entire game feels like it is trying too hard to fit with the other series. Typically, a lot of fangames and fan fiction suffers from this esp if the writer of such a fict loves a specific title. No offense to the TSL, but that game is littered with fan service.

Commercial games are not immune to this as licensed titles from TV shows also has this. For instance, games like the Simpsons and Family Guy usually have a lot of references to various episodes.

Furthermore, games that aren't licensed has this problem as well - One of the bad things, imo, about the MCL LSL game is that it focuses too much on fan service.

Comments

  • edited February 2011
    Lately they went too far with fanservice tbh.
    Sam & Max 305 for example. Too many characters that were walking in waving their hands and leaving again and then there was this horrible scene when Sam said "Sam & Max fans are the best in the world" into a camera.

    please not too much fanservice in these games.
  • edited February 2011
    der_ketzer wrote: »
    Lately they went too far with fanservice tbh.
    Sam & Max 305 for example. Too many characters that were walking in waving their hands and leaving again and then there was this horrible scene when Sam said "Sam & Max fans are the best in the world" into a camera.

    please not too much fanservice in these games.

    Are you talking about fan service as in the game acknowledges the fans? I was talking more akin to games that references memorable moments in a previous game all the time. A good example is the Final Fantasy Advent Children movie where they brought back "dead" and living characters to please the fans.
  • edited February 2011
    der_ketzer wrote: »
    then there was this horrible scene when Sam said "Sam & Max fans are the best in the world" into a camera.

    please not too much fanservice in these games.

    Isn't that more of breaking the fourth wall? Some characters do it all the time, like Deadpool.
  • edited February 2011
    tomimt wrote: »
    Isn't that more of breaking the fourth wall? Some characters do it all the time, like Deadpool.

    That is what I am thinking as well.
  • edited February 2011
    doom saber wrote: »
    Are you talking about fan service as in the game acknowledges the fans? I was talking more akin to games that references memorable moments in a previous game all the time. A good example is the Final Fantasy Advent Children movie where they brought back "dead" and living characters to please the fans.
    I was talking about both in my post.
    Why did we need Abe in there (who didn't even have a descent line), why Satan etc.?
  • edited February 2011
    I'm sure there will be at least some subtle references to past games, like how KQ6 featured references in the pawn shop, but I would be very surprised if they had major plot points and characters related to previous games.
  • edited February 2011
    I think there is a big difference between gratuitous "fan service" and plain old references that feel natural in context. Personally I have no interest in the former and find it very off-putting. Regular references are another matter.
  • edited February 2011
    I think there is a big difference between gratuitous "fan service" and plain old references that feel natural in context. Personally I have no interest in the former and find it very off-putting. Regular references are another matter.

    Agreed. It is one of the main reasons why I find TSL very off-putting. It appears the writers decided on the references first and then write a story around it as oppose to the other way around. It is a fangame, so I guess they are allowed to do it.

    The small references in Sierra titles like in LSL is imo a good balance of reference that feels natural in context.
  • edited February 2011
    doom saber wrote: »
    The small references in Sierra titles like in LSL is imo a good balance of reference that feels natural in context.

    Yup, the ending of LSL3 was subtle as hell.

    :p

    ...which was probably the most epic fourth wall breaker in history of gaming. Never been topped since.
  • edited February 2011
    I loved that kind of thing in the Sierra originals. It was part of the experience and never struck me as self-indulgent or anything. There was always a tight "editorial" rein on the execution, so that it felt like a totally natural part of the whole...
  • edited February 2011
    From Strong Bad Episode Five:

    Oh, the fan needs to be fixed? Where's a guy to get some FAN SERVICE around here?!?
  • edited February 2011
    I agree with you guys 100% that there's a fine line between having appropriate references vs. having way too many (e.g. excessive fan-service). But to be honest I'm more concerned about Telltale providing too little than too much (I'm not sure what to make of the term "reboot" or of some of the team's distaste for classic Sierra). I hope that there are at least some references to the previous games, be it in the form of recurring characters, the art, or even the music. Having none (e.g. creating an all-new fantasy game while using the KQ and Daventry name just to capitalize on profits) would be disrespectful to the KQ legacy and its fans. (I don't think Telltale would actually do this, but no one can say for certain, right?)

    I think The Silver Lining is a prime example of how too many references can create a lose-lose situation. On one hand the excessive fan-service (the Green Isles, the recurring characters, etc., etc.), without-a-doubt alienates new players. But what's even more unfortunate is that all that fan-service doesn't equate to what I like to call the "King's Quest feeling." The game is far too serious and dramatic to be King's Quest. This is just an example, but Graham's intro monologue in the beginning of Episode III would never, ever happen in a real KQ game. Contrast this with King's Quest IV, which had very few references to the previous games (aside from the royal family), yet it still feels like KQ.

    At the end of the day, what's most important to me is that Telltale re-creates the King's Quest feeling. Having a bit of fan-service is just one part of the overall puzzle.
  • edited February 2011
    I agree. I share the concern they might go too far in overhauling things, or rewriting them. I think this concern is only to be expected since we care so much for this series. But the team should not let this discourage them... I am actually expecting them to surpass everyone's expectations.

    It is indeed very important to stay true to (at least!) the spirit of the original. But having expressed this concern, I think some of our fears may be a bit exaggerated. As yet I think we do not even know who all are involved with this project.
  • edited February 2011
    Whatever happens I'm going to be very skeptical and inquisitive this time around. I've boarded the hype train with Telltale too many times to fall for it again.
  • edited February 2011
    StarEye wrote: »
    Yup, the ending of LSL3 was subtle as hell.

    :p

    ...which was probably the most epic fourth wall breaker in history of gaming. Never been topped since.

    LSL3 was an exception since that ending was a way to end the series. Since the first game, LSL breaks the fourth wall. Be strange to see something slightly serious like KQ to start using fan service all of a sudden.
  • edited February 2011
    Daventry wrote: »
    I agree with you guys 100% that there's a fine line between having appropriate references vs. having way too many (e.g. excessive fan-service). But to be honest I'm more concerned about Telltale providing too little than too much (I'm not sure what to make of the term "reboot" or of some of the team's distaste for classic Sierra). I hope that there are at least some references to the previous games, be it in the form of recurring characters, the art, or even the music. Having none (e.g. creating an all-new fantasy game while using the KQ and Daventry name just to capitalize on profits) would be disrespectful to the KQ legacy and its fans. (I don't think Telltale would actually do this, but no one can say for certain, right?)

    I think The Silver Lining is a prime example of how too many references can create a lose-lose situation. On one hand the excessive fan-service (the Green Isles, the recurring characters, etc., etc.), without-a-doubt alienates new players. But what's even more unfortunate is that all that fan-service doesn't equate to what I like to call the "King's Quest feeling." The game is far too serious and dramatic to be King's Quest. This is just an example, but Graham's intro monologue in the beginning of Episode III would never, ever happen in a real KQ game. Contrast this with King's Quest IV, which had very few references to the previous games (aside from the royal family), yet it still feels like KQ.

    At the end of the day, what's most important to me is that Telltale re-creates the King's Quest feeling. Having a bit of fan-service is just one part of the overall puzzle.

    You are right. KQ4 did feel like a KQ game despite not having a lot of references. The same goes with the original KQ3.

    I think the over-saturated references in TSL is a bad thing in some ways. For some players, the over use of references might lead to the player that the developers is trying to make the game be a lot like the original series without adding something new.

    Just that it never made any sense on why Rosella's wedding is held in the Land of the Green Isles. I can see her and Edward visiting the place as their honeymoon, but I think it is more appropriate to have the wedding at the Kingdom that Rosella is going to rule over especially since none of the citizens from that realm doesn't have regular access to the land.

    Perhaps the developers should have stuck with the original idea and have it as a birthday party instead.

    Quest for Glory had lots of references in part 5. However, I think Sierra did a good job adding a lot of references without overdoing it. Sure, some of it was over-the-top like the homeless guy from part 1 becoming a banker in part. Though, if I remember correctly, he told the hero that he is moving to Shamaria (spell?) after you give him money in part 1. Unlike TSL, the game did not heavily focused on references from one particular game. Furthermore, I think QFG was consistent in using past preferences whereas KQ hardly used any - the KQ games heavily relied on all new adventures in foreign new lands whereas QFG relied on a large consistent storyline.
  • edited March 2011
    I think Quest for Glory had more (and could support more) past references because you could import your own customized character between all the games, by having those references in 5 which was intended to be your character's retirement of sorts, it helped remind you of all you had accomplished in the previous games. Mass Effect 2 is similar in this regard (though I think it overdoes it a little bit) where you sometime run into characters that you encountered in 1, and how the encounter goes depends on how you handled the situation in 1. Helps create the feeling that your actions have had an impact beyond the immediate game/situation, and helps it feel like YOUR character. King's Quest, though, kept changing up the lead characters, and those characters were pre-created for you. Graham was the lead in the most games, but still. so in 4 it wasn't logical to have a ton of past references, since Rosella was the star, and not in Daventry for most of it besides. I mean, basically what I'm saying is that just because it worked well in one game doesn't mean it will work well in another. Though I would be fine with some nods to the past so long as it was something that wouldn't confuse someone new to the game, in which case it begins to feel self indulgent
  • edited March 2011
    I'll agree that it was a little goofy in QFG5 the sheer number of characters that showed up. In the previous games there were references to the earlier ones and some recurring characters, but not nearly as many as QFG5. Nice and convenient that everyone decided to converge on Silmaria for the final game in the series. It's a little goofy in Mass Effect 2 as well--I mean, I like having choices from 1 show up in 2, but at the same time... it's strange to have everyone I met in the first game just so happen to be on the handful of planets I visit in the sequel.

    Kings Quest was always good about this. Though you played as a member of the Royal Family of Daventry in each one, you didn't retread old ground. Wasn't KQ1 the only one that actually took place IN Daventry?
  • edited March 2011
    Am I the only one who saw the title of this thread and thought it was referring to a completely different type of fanservice?
    I was a little baffled how that would fit in with King's Quest...
  • edited March 2011
    Only recurring characters I would actually like to see are the Royal Family of Daventry and Connor (ending of MoE was most unsatisfactory and I would like to see proper conclusion for him).

    I don't mind seeing few references to the past events of the series, but I hope that there will be new lands to explore and new characters to interact with.
  • edited March 2011
    Molokov wrote: »
    Am I the only one who saw the title of this thread and thought it was referring to a completely different type of fanservice?

    Yes. And now go and wash your dirty mind with soap.
  • edited March 2011
    As I understand, that is where the term originated...
  • edited March 2011
    from wiki:

    In Japanese manga and anime, Fan service (ファンサービス, fan sābisu?), fanservice, or service cut (サービスカット, sābisu katto?),[1][2] is material that is designed to amuse or excite the audience with especially derived content. Long full shots of robots in mecha shows, sexual elements, long fight scenes or violence, all can be considered fanservice as they are specifically aimed to please the fans of any given show
  • edited March 2011
    Molokov wrote: »
    Am I the only one who saw the title of this thread and thought it was referring to a completely different type of fanservice?
    der_ketzer wrote: »
    Yes. And now go and wash your dirty mind with soap.

    NTjh0.jpg


    :D
  • edited March 2011
    I appreciate a few nods like in KQ5 if you look at the witch the narrator comments it's third and ugliest witch he has encountered during his adventures.
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