Telltale Games Should Give Up KQ License
If Telltale Games does not announce any definitive KQ plans in the next five months, then they should give up the KQ license and let another development team (who actually respects the KQ series and KQ fans) bring the series back to life in a proper way and in grand fashion, the way the series deserves. Dave Grossman has been dismissive of KQ, and it has been a long time since we have heard anything from Telltale about KQ.
It is a slap in the face to fans of classic adventure gaming for Telltale to essentially sit on the KQ rights and prevent any new KQ game from being made, while they pretend like TTG is doing adventure gaming a favor by having acquired the license in the first place.
I think most of us realize that Telltale Games was never the right developer for a new King's Quest, anyway. Telltale is great when it comes to nonchallenging, somewhat formulaic, episodic games with limited virtual exploration. They seem to have settled on a strategy of acquiring licenses for well-known brands, and then releasing games that attract more attention because of the movie/book/comic brand than they do for the actual original merits of the game. And more power to them.
Many of us were willing to give Telltale the benefit of the doubt, but enough is enough. If, in 5 months, Telltale hasn't announced anything definitive about KQ, then they need to do the right thing and relinquish the license so someone else can bring back the series the right way.
It is a slap in the face to fans of classic adventure gaming for Telltale to essentially sit on the KQ rights and prevent any new KQ game from being made, while they pretend like TTG is doing adventure gaming a favor by having acquired the license in the first place.
I think most of us realize that Telltale Games was never the right developer for a new King's Quest, anyway. Telltale is great when it comes to nonchallenging, somewhat formulaic, episodic games with limited virtual exploration. They seem to have settled on a strategy of acquiring licenses for well-known brands, and then releasing games that attract more attention because of the movie/book/comic brand than they do for the actual original merits of the game. And more power to them.
Many of us were willing to give Telltale the benefit of the doubt, but enough is enough. If, in 5 months, Telltale hasn't announced anything definitive about KQ, then they need to do the right thing and relinquish the license so someone else can bring back the series the right way.
Sign in to comment in this discussion.
Comments
I highly doubt that Telltale has an "exclusive" clause in contract, preventing others from making games in the series. So all complaints of "sitting" on the license should probably be taken up with Activision.
ATTN: TELLTALE REPRESENTATIVE
We demand to hear from Telltale whether KQ is currently in production. Does Telltale still plan on releasing KQ games?
I somehow seriously doubt that that Activision had to beg Silicon Knights to give up the KQ license when it went nowhere with them.
The challenge that Activision faces is they probably are looking for established successful proven money-making businesses to produce games. Perhaps not every developer out there has much interest in the IP. That is to say they may not see much success in the IP to risk making a game with it.
To use an example the developer of Arx Fatalis, Arkane Studios, wanted to make Ultima: Underworld sequel (3 I think it was). But the owners of Ultima didn't think it was viable. So the developers took their idea and made Arx Fatalis instead. It was more or less a flop apparently. They did decide to go and make an Arx Fatalis too though, but couldn't find someone to produce it. Ubisoft wanted them to make a Might and Magic game though, so they turned their ideas for Arx Fatalis 2 into Dark Messiah of Might and Magic.
So ya worst case scenario KQ License could go to anther company and then be forced to turn into a completely different IP! Because Activision decides it might be more "successful", that way.
Perhaps there is a "curse" such that in the past, each professional corporation that had attempted to revive KQ have had to cancel those attempts perhaps even before they began!
KQ8 the last of the original series, was nearly cancelled itself in early development.
In this case we neither know if and when there will be a 'cancelation'. So you must count up to keep a running tab of the amount of days between when you started counting, and they choose to say something,
I have no idea and am trying to get some answers myself. Maybe Activison could feel that having multiple developers working on KQ titles could be confusing for customers and bad for the brand. Maybe there are concerns about differences in product quality level or style between different designers.
It would be good news for KQ fans if Telltale Games, who are more interactive movie makers than "adventure game" developers, announced the cancellation of their KQ plans.
1. Telltale doesn't own the King's Quest license, Activision does. Telltale is making a new King's Quest game under license from Activision, much like how they made Tales of Monkey Island under license from LucasArts. Telltale isn't going to give up the rights to King's Quest, because it's not theirs to give up in the first place.
2. Admittedly, Telltale's always been bad when it comes to giving information about games in advance. (This is something they need to work on, especially now that they're entering the mainstream and attracting...less patient fans.) However, this doesn't mean the project's been abandoned. They're just not ready to reveal anything about it yet, especially since KQ isn't their next game. I would wait until Fables is over (speaking of which, where's the Fables info?
3. Telltale isn't sitting on King's Quest, preventing anything from happening with the series. If you haven't noticed yet, KQ has been in limbo since 1998, before Telltale even existed. If Telltale really did give up on this new game like you want, you know what'd probably happen? Activision, the guys who have actually been sitting on the series, would continue sitting on it because they can make more money with Call of Duty: Modern Zombie Ops 12. It's really kind of amazing Activision has bothered allowing a new King's Quest game at all, so I'd be thankful.
4. As for whether Telltale's qualified to make a King's Quest game...that's a debate I think it's best I don't get into. But look at it this way. If the game turns out to be good, then awesome! A long-forgotten series gets to return to its former glory, and bring tons of new fans with it. If the game ends up being shit, the old games will still be there. Maybe even a few newcomers will play the old games to get a better idea of what kind of series the new game ruined (hey, it's been working out for Devil May Cry
Look here:
http://www.telltalegames.com/company/pressreleases/
February the 18th, 2011.
That's weird: of all the projects they announced back then (including Fables), King's Quest never got its official press release. And no, they've not cancelled the announcement
Sussssssssspence...
When the Telltale KQ project was announced, we were promised more details about the game after a few months. Instead, all we got was a story about an apparently-for-show offer to Roberta Williams (OF COURSE Telltale knew she wouldn't accept) to co-design the game. They just wanted to be able to say that the offer was made, and that they received advice from her. And that was almost 2 years ago. Beyond that, we haven't gotten anything. Not one word.
Couple that with the much-discussed dismissive attitude of Telltale's Dave Grossman about King's Quest and classic adventure gaming in general, and it shouldn't be hard to see why many KQ fans are concerned.
Now we hear that Telltale is talking about wanting to move in a new direction with more "serious" storytelling, and has been throwing around names like Star Wars and Half-Life.
Telltale has been moving away from adventure gaming elements (not that they ever were a paragon of designing epic quests full of exploration and challenging puzzles, anyway) and towards interactive movies. So, even if Telltale does develop a KQ, it seems likely that the product will be more like their more interactive movie-style recent releases.
Telltale isn't giving King's Quest the respect it deserves. How much do they value KQ and its fans?
Why should we be happy if Telltale is acquiring or leasing exclusive rights to various classic adventure brands? I don't see how this is necessarily a good thing for adventure gaming, or at least what I consider adventure gaming, especially when the people acquiring the rights don't even care for the original series they are supposed to be rebooting. And wouldn't a little more diversity in terms of developers be a nice thing? I am tired of the idea that Telltale is the one "savior" for long-ignored adventure game fans.
The recent Kickstarter phenomenon has shown us that there is still strong interest for these games, and people will be more likely to support a product if they know developers behind the projects love and understand adventure gaming as much as the fans.
I repeat:
ATTN: TELLTALE REPRESENTATIVE
WE DEMAND TO HEAR FROM TELLTALE WHETHER KQ IS CURRENTLY IN PRODUCTION. DOES TELLTALE STILL PLAN ON RELEASING KQ GAMES? IF SO, WHEN?
After almost 2 years of being ignored, the time for a deferential "pretty please it would be nice maybe if you get a chance if it isn't too much to ask perhaps we could get a couple words?" approach is over, as far as I'm concerned.
You're darn right we are demanding answers and demanding them now. And, don't worry, whether or not the "we" was used in the royal sense, it didn't presume to include some people here who insist on making excuses for Telltale even as the company's role in snatching up the KQ license might mean we don't see a new KQ for a very long time.
I make no apologies for wanting to see a new KQ game developed and done right. Telltale is not entitled to mine and other KQ fans' support just because they promise to have the words "King's Quest" in the title.
It is time for Telltale to show more respect to KQ and its fans.
The offer was definitely not just for show. They brought Ron Gilbert, the creator of Monkey Island in for Tales of Monkey Island, and he had a large hand in the initial story design process. The darker tone of the game and the evolution of the characters (such as the Voodoo Lady) have a lot to do with Ron's input.
I wouldn't necessarily say that they're moving away from traditional adventure games. The last few haven't been, but that doesn't mean all of their games will be in this style. Telltale's been mixing up classic point and clicks with more casual adventure games since their inception (for example, the CSI games and Puzzle Agent), so there's no reason to think that they still won't be releasing classic adventure games based on their history. Hector was one of the five games announced by Telltale at their 2011 press event, and it was a traditional point-and-click adventure game.
[EDIT: I removed a rambling about the Walking Dead license being given to Telltale and Activision at the same time: a friend told me the Activision TWD probably covers the tv series, so they can coexist.]
Bt
It's kind of sad for me (or it was, I don't care anymore). When Telltale first started I thought their approach to adventure was a little shallow and simple, but I expected greater things to come. I figured they'd have to build their audience and get people used to the idea of adventure games again. Instead it went the other direction. They weren't trying to create more fans of adventures, they instead used the adventure fanbase and their roots in classic adventure developers (namely LucasArts) as their foundation to build upon so they could have enough notoriety to move on to mainstream. This doesn't sit right with me.
Not to mention, this is the subforum for King's Quest, which began it's life as a game where you control the protagonist with a keyboard. Adventure games have always had differing control schemes (text parser (eg: Zork), text parser + keyboard (eg: King's Quest), text parser + mouse (eg: Leisure Suit Larry 7), mouse only (eg: The Secret of Monkey Island), mouse + keyboard (eg: Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures), keyboard only (eg: Grim Fandango), joystick (eg: PS2 version of Escape from Monkey Island)). Despite all of the different means of control, all of these games were still adventure games.
As for Dan Connors statement, the statement ended with a laugh. Like I said before in this subforum, I think it's more likely that he meant that Telltale didn't have to be the flag waver for the adventure genre anymore (or better said, Telltale was no longer the company that the mainstream media would point to and say "these people are keeping a "dead" genre alive", since the mainstream media is actually covering adventure games again outside of Telltale).
As I said, Hector was a traditional point-and-click (and wasn't a super easy or casual adventure like Back to the Future or The Walking Dead), and that came out in 2011. So, Telltale hasn't given up the genre.
Also, Back to the Future is still a traditional point-and-click (well, point-drag-and-click) adventure game (although it's a casual adventure game, about on par with the Bone games in terms of difficulty, and I never heard anyone say that the Bone games weren't traditional point-and-click adventures, albeit definitely casual ones).
If you look at Telltale's history, there's really not much to be worried about in regards to them moving away from traditional adventure games. Their strategy's pretty much the same as it's always been, a mixture of casual and traditional adventure games with some non-adventures (or games with light adventure elements).
2005
1 non-adventure
1 casual adventure
2006
1 casual adventure
1 game with light adventure game elements
2007
1 adventure
1 game with light adventure game elements
2008
2 adventures
2009
2 adventures
1 game with light adventure game elements
2010
1 non-adventure
1 adventure
2 games with light adventure game elements
2011
1 adventure
1 casual adventure
2 games with light adventure game elements
2012
1 casual adventure
1 game with light adventure game elements
I'm just not interested in what they have to offer anymore. I was a fan based solely on the fact that their games somewhat resembled adventures and were made of IPs that I once enjoyed. But in retrospect, none of them were as good as their forefathers. Not to mention I dislike the episodic format. Telltale is just not my scene anymore. I don't care if they do make a King's Quest. I won't play it.
Well, I might. If only out of sheer morbid curiosity. Or watch a playthrough or something. But I will never lay money down for another Telltale game again unless they actually do something that interests me and agrees with my personal tastes in game design.
I'm sorry to say that we really need an official statement now, after a whole year of silence. Denial won't help.
We don't know for sure if The Walking Dead Season 2 is coming before King's Quest.
King's Quest isn't coming at all.
And the Telltale forums are reunited with an old friend it hasn't seen in a very long time...
http://www.adventuregamers.com/articles/view/23582
I don't think he's been "dismissive" of King's Quest, as MntPeak said, because I remember he talked about the franchise here:
http://www.adventuregamers.com/articles/view/18536
(I really liked this interview
I'm not saying I'm sure they'll cancel the game (heck, the forum is still here, after all!
Good example, though.
Might be interesting if telltale had a similar contract with Activision. To make the game, but Activision distributes it. Similarly it might be up to Activision to make any major announcements and advertising. Similar to what happened with those early Telltale Law and Order games.
No I mean; Law & Order: Criminal Intent. This was back in 2006ish or so. Not the same thing as the new L&O: Legacies. Unless it turned into that?
They also did a CSI game too didn't they?
I remember there being some kind of FAQ in which they discussed CSI or Law & Order and how they didn't have the rights to distribute those games online, and that NBC or some such had the rights. Maybe they were just explaining why they no longer offered them.
Probably was CSI;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSI:_3_Dimensions_of_Murder
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSI:_Hard_Evidence
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSI:_Fatal_Conspiracy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSI:_Deadly_Intent
Seems like its Telltale's lost game series, they almost never show up on any list of Telltale Games.
Bt
The game known simply as "Mask of Eternity" is not a King's Quest game. It's some game/mod set in time of the Mayans, made for a educational game design project.
http://www.artinstitutes.edu/losangeles/gw/moe/about.htm
The novel The Mask Of Eternity is also not a KQ game;
http://www.amazon.com/Eternity-Solis-DeLacey-Series-ebook/dp/B008TRXRO2/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1358347123&sr=8-11&keywords=Mask+of+Eternity
Also, the musical album, Mask of Eternity is not a King's Quest game;
http://www.amazon.com/Mask-Eternity-Chad-Band-Gold/dp/B0065NOWRS/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1358347521&sr=8-7&keywords=mask+of+eternity
Neither is the song, "Mask of Eternity" from that album;
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006Z1WOPC/ref=dm_dp_trk1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358347521&sr=8-7
King's Quest (VIII): Mask of Eternity on the other hand is a king's quest game.
Bt
Also to be fair, the term 'wall of text', refers to a post that is just plain text, has no punctuation or formatting; including no spacing between paragraphs.
Infact it is written as one giant paragraph.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=wall%20of%20text
In other words its just hard on the eyes! What's worse than a wall of text? Wall of text that's ALL CAPS!
But Roberta mentioned that Sierra received many complaints that it was slow jerky animation. Also those who didn't like the art style. She also mentioned there many that complained thought she should have ended the series with six because adventure game genre was showing its age and had become outdated. As far as professional critics it was nearly universally panned.
Perhaps only the KQ1 remake received more criticism from fans. To the point that Sierra stopped future remake development in the KQ line. Roberta had confirmed on multiple occasions it was the least successful game of the series.
We'll never really have a clear idea how KQ8 was viewed except that it was was praised or treated as great by most of the professional critics. Roberta mentioned it QA more successful than KQ7. It was more successful than Grim Fandango. It received at least one adventure game award and was nominated for others. Although keep in mind besides Grim Fandango there wasn't alot of competition that year.
Since Roberta not Sierra went onto to make another KQ game we have no comparisons to its success or lack there of from Roberta or Sierra's perspective in comparison to the next game in development.
But ya more than likely those three are the least well received on release.
Fan games probably appeal to newer generation of fans that grew up after Sierra's main heyday. But I'd venture to guess most of Sierra's original fan base do not know about them. Just as I doubt many of that generation know that telltale announced that they obtained the license to make a game in the series. It's just not common knowledge.