One thing that has been a small niggle in the back of my mind is if it was originally delayed partly due to The Silver Lining. Let me explain, Activision might see TSl ad a kind of indirect competition to a new KQ game.
That is a very good point. I had never considered that.
I was thinking about this whole thing earlier. What has bothered me is the lack of respect shown by TTG to the KQ series and the downright insulting (at times) attitude when referring to the original KQ designers. I would feel much better if Telltale reps, whenever discussing their possible KQ plans, always made a point to praise the series. The sense I have gotten from them is that it seems like they see themselves as doing adventure gamers a favor by perhaps creating a new KQ, when in reality I think Telltale should feel fortunate to even have the opportunity to contribute to the legendary series. It's like, "King's Quest? Eh, we'll get to it when and if we get to it. Boy, didn't those games have inane puzzles? Ick. Now let's get back to discussing The Walking Dead..." I mean, it's not hard to see why many KQ fans would be distrustful of TTG in this regard.
Look, I would rather Telltale make a new King's Quest, even if it weren't a true adventure game, rather than never have a new KQ. Ideally, I would want a new KQ (of course with the best graphics possible, etc) with plenty of opportunity for exploration and lots of fun, ingenious, logical puzzles, and if that means another developer besides Telltale, then great. Letting KQ stay dormant would be the worst of all possible scenarios and is not an acceptable option, as far as I'm concerned.
The idea that Activision/Telltale would make special considerations for a fangame is pretty ludicrous. Telltale isn't making King's Quest. The only plausible explanation for the lack of cancellation announcement is that they are either looking into re-licensing the IP after their license expired, or more likely, that they are waiting until the opportune moment to announce the cancellation. Dan Connors said absolutely nothing in that statement. As has been pointed out, his statement was very carefully worded to put absolutely no positive spin on it, so as to not get people's hopes up. Telltale's King's Quest project is dead, mark my words. And thank God, too.
I've said it before and I'll say it again -- I'm pretty confident that whatever Telltale Games decides to do with King's Quest will feel right. In fact, pretty much the only reason I could imagine them NOT going forward with the project is if they don't feel like they're doing the property justice in some fundamental and unfixable way.
Telltale has demonstrated repeatedly, with IPs as diverse as Strong Bad and Jurassic Park, that they will honor the spirit and style of the original property. Their dedication to nailing the look and feel of a license has been far more consistent than the quality of the finished products, IMO. Jurassic Park wasn't much of an adventure game but it looked and felt like one of the movies. Tales of Monkey Island didn't LOOK exactly like any one of the earlier games, but it definitely felt like the same universe and played like the classic series. I expect we'll get the same vibe from KQ.
That said, I can also see value in separating King's Quest from the Fables tie-in marketing-wise -- now that The Walking Dead has been such a huge hit with a mainstream audience, it may be worth allowing some time between those series so that two very different "fairy tale universe adventure games" don't create confusion. It's been a long time since an adventure game has sold millions of copies, and Telltale has visibility and marketing reach they didn't have a year ago. The last thing anyone would want is clueless consumers complaining that this awful King's Question game has foul language, violence and sexual themes in it.
Well, I've tried to post something about TT's King's Quest whenever possible on other sites, Telltale articles, to try to keep some presence of "people still wanting to know what's going on" out there.
In other news, folks at the Double Fine gameclub (fan group) are playing Sam & Max with a couple Telltale devs this weekend... I'll try to politely pester them. Details here.
Has Telltale ever published a game that they didn't also develop? Could that be what they are doing with KQ?
They did that once so far with Hector: Badge of Carnage.
I suppose it's possible that could be Telltale's plan for King's Quest. We don't know anything about Telltale's King's Quest so far, other than the fact that an internal team was set up for it a while back (but they also had a team at Telltale working on Hector since the game was converted to the Telltale Tool internally by Telltale themselves).
You could even say that most that post on here don't care themselves.
The extremely vocal "don't care/haters" probably scare away most who care, and want to have meaningful discussions, since they would be mostly attacked for 'caring'.
The extremely vocal "don't care/haters" probably scare away most who care, and want to have meaningful discussions, since they would be mostly attacked for 'caring'.
Yup. It's funny how people saying something as simple as, "Hmm, a new KQ game could be interesting," were told over and over how they were brainwashed by Sierra marketing and addicted to the brand name. I guess it's not possible to enjoy something because you simply enjoy it?
And the people who didn't care about the game had to announce their lack of caring almost irrationally to the forum in every thread. But the good news is people can share their opinions now without fear of being attacked and insulted repeatedly by the 'true fans'.
It doesn't really matter either way. If Telltale does KQ, cool. If they don't, okay. But if it's a possibility, then certainly we should talk about what we think it might be. I think when all is said and done Telltale isn't going to do this game. They have Fables coming up and they already have a cash cow in TWD. Doing KQ could only be a potential commercial setback for them, but you never know.
That's kinda of my perspective. I'll judge it on its own merit if and when it comes out. Just having a new KQ story if it is compelling might be worth it ot see.
What I would like to know though, is what else is Telltale going to do... They have reportedly expanded the company in size, increased the number of employees, moved into larger building, etc... Are they using all that new task force on making other games they aren't ready to announce yet. Or is it being used to 'port' currently made games on more consoles with less of a waiting period? They did mention that this expansion would allow them to make more games at once, and maybe delve into more variety of genres.
If the former are there going to be some products that just appear out of nowhere when they are ready to advertise/release them?
In other news, folks at the Double Fine gameclub (fan group) are playing Sam & Max with a couple Telltale devs this weekend... I'll try to politely pester them. Details here.
Jake Rodkin came by and chatted while we played the first S&M season- asked if he could say anything about whether KQ was ever going to happen - "<ja2ke> I can't talk about KQ"
Shortest answer of an awesome chat
It also didn't particularly sound like a return to more traditional point & click TT games was going to happen for awhile/ever.
At least the lack of information is consistent... Back when I was 12 and would try to pry new game information out of the Sierra customer service people they'd all say different things.
Refusing to say now whether or not a KQ is even going to happen speaks volumes, especially when you consider that they previously announced their intention to create a new KQ.
Since TTG doesn't even make adventure games anymore and likely never will again, I want KQ freed from TTG's hold so that another developer can get the license to continue the series properly.
At least the lack of information is consistent... Back when I was 12 and would try to pry new game information out of the Sierra customer service people they'd all say different things.
Even if you went to visit Sierra, you couldn't even talk about what you saw. You had to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
For various reasons (I previously alluded to the fact in several threads), I've moved out most of the third party references from Trowe/Replay from 2012, and onward to its own secondary timeline in the timeline thread.
This is important, since its very difficult to trust or verfiy anything Trowe may have said or posted prior to the June 2012, due to the fact that he was actively trying to sabotage competing companies at the time. He was caught doing it in June. He apologized later. However, that still leaves anything prior to June potentially suspect.
I added in a short reference to the cotroversy in the timeline at its correct point in the timeline, as it does relate to the Replay history, and this topic. In addition i've added the Trowe interview, published on April Fools 2013 (It doesn't seem to be a 'joke' ), as it is the latest information from Trowe/Replay and their third party attempts at getting the King's Quest license. It does seem to be partially a retelling of the previous claim made in April 2012, but with a few alternate details.
Hopefully verification from Activision, and Telltale will be forthcoming.
Pulling out the Josh Mandel 3rd Party comments to its own section. As it may not be as reliable, and more speculatory than anything. Also I don't have a strong direct reference to the 2011 quotes, its someone quoting him, but no specific citation to the original source. Hopefully not putting anything Josh's mouth.
Edit: found an archive of the original quote, now updated.
Edit: found an archive of the original quote, now updated.
Yeah, I'd paraphrased Josh's comments in my original post -- out of some deference to the casual setting of the chat (I didn't want him to get in any trouble by saying anything off-the-cuff-ish in a room of fans). The last sentence seems particularly candid.
Comments
That is a very good point. I had never considered that.
I was thinking about this whole thing earlier. What has bothered me is the lack of respect shown by TTG to the KQ series and the downright insulting (at times) attitude when referring to the original KQ designers. I would feel much better if Telltale reps, whenever discussing their possible KQ plans, always made a point to praise the series. The sense I have gotten from them is that it seems like they see themselves as doing adventure gamers a favor by perhaps creating a new KQ, when in reality I think Telltale should feel fortunate to even have the opportunity to contribute to the legendary series. It's like, "King's Quest? Eh, we'll get to it when and if we get to it. Boy, didn't those games have inane puzzles? Ick. Now let's get back to discussing The Walking Dead..." I mean, it's not hard to see why many KQ fans would be distrustful of TTG in this regard.
Look, I would rather Telltale make a new King's Quest, even if it weren't a true adventure game, rather than never have a new KQ. Ideally, I would want a new KQ (of course with the best graphics possible, etc) with plenty of opportunity for exploration and lots of fun, ingenious, logical puzzles, and if that means another developer besides Telltale, then great. Letting KQ stay dormant would be the worst of all possible scenarios and is not an acceptable option, as far as I'm concerned.
I could quote Ken Williams "bashing" adventure games. Even discussing phasing them out completely.
It you want a more trust worthy interviews you kind have to straight to the programmers and individual game developers themselves.
CEOs don't necessarily see the big picture or the views of the programmers.
I'm not saying the CEO is lieing just that maybe CEO's viewpoint may have very different ideals Or priorities than the game makers themselves.
Actually, I was referring to Dan Connors' quote.
TWD Season 2 is set for late 2013:
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2013/03/06/telltale-s-the-walking-dead-season-two-on-track-for-release-this-fall.aspx
This sticks with TT's anticipated schedule: Fables, then TWD, then maybe King's Quest.
A lot more care than post on here.
You could even say that most that post on here don't care themselves.
Telltale has demonstrated repeatedly, with IPs as diverse as Strong Bad and Jurassic Park, that they will honor the spirit and style of the original property. Their dedication to nailing the look and feel of a license has been far more consistent than the quality of the finished products, IMO. Jurassic Park wasn't much of an adventure game but it looked and felt like one of the movies. Tales of Monkey Island didn't LOOK exactly like any one of the earlier games, but it definitely felt like the same universe and played like the classic series. I expect we'll get the same vibe from KQ.
That said, I can also see value in separating King's Quest from the Fables tie-in marketing-wise -- now that The Walking Dead has been such a huge hit with a mainstream audience, it may be worth allowing some time between those series so that two very different "fairy tale universe adventure games" don't create confusion. It's been a long time since an adventure game has sold millions of copies, and Telltale has visibility and marketing reach they didn't have a year ago. The last thing anyone would want is clueless consumers complaining that this awful King's Question game has foul language, violence and sexual themes in it.
In other news, folks at the Double Fine gameclub (fan group) are playing Sam & Max with a couple Telltale devs this weekend... I'll try to politely pester them.
I suppose it's possible that could be Telltale's plan for King's Quest. We don't know anything about Telltale's King's Quest so far, other than the fact that an internal team was set up for it a while back (but they also had a team at Telltale working on Hector since the game was converted to the Telltale Tool internally by Telltale themselves).
The extremely vocal "don't care/haters" probably scare away most who care, and want to have meaningful discussions, since they would be mostly attacked for 'caring'.
Yup. It's funny how people saying something as simple as, "Hmm, a new KQ game could be interesting," were told over and over how they were brainwashed by Sierra marketing and addicted to the brand name. I guess it's not possible to enjoy something because you simply enjoy it?
And the people who didn't care about the game had to announce their lack of caring almost irrationally to the forum in every thread. But the good news is people can share their opinions now without fear of being attacked and insulted repeatedly by the 'true fans'.
It doesn't really matter either way. If Telltale does KQ, cool. If they don't, okay. But if it's a possibility, then certainly we should talk about what we think it might be. I think when all is said and done Telltale isn't going to do this game. They have Fables coming up and they already have a cash cow in TWD. Doing KQ could only be a potential commercial setback for them, but you never know.
That's kinda of my perspective. I'll judge it on its own merit if and when it comes out. Just having a new KQ story if it is compelling might be worth it ot see.
What I would like to know though, is what else is Telltale going to do... They have reportedly expanded the company in size, increased the number of employees, moved into larger building, etc... Are they using all that new task force on making other games they aren't ready to announce yet. Or is it being used to 'port' currently made games on more consoles with less of a waiting period? They did mention that this expansion would allow them to make more games at once, and maybe delve into more variety of genres.
If the former are there going to be some products that just appear out of nowhere when they are ready to advertise/release them?
That's what I'm guessing. They could have one other IP on which they're working, but they won't reveal it until a month or so before the release.
But from recent interviews Fables could be out next month, so Telltale will be back in the spotlight.
Jake Rodkin came by and chatted while we played the first S&M season- asked if he could say anything about whether KQ was ever going to happen - "<ja2ke> I can't talk about KQ"
Shortest answer of an awesome chat
It also didn't particularly sound like a return to more traditional point & click TT games was going to happen for awhile/ever.
At least the lack of information is consistent... Back when I was 12 and would try to pry new game information out of the Sierra customer service people they'd all say different things.
Since TTG doesn't even make adventure games anymore and likely never will again, I want KQ freed from TTG's hold so that another developer can get the license to continue the series properly.
Even if you went to visit Sierra, you couldn't even talk about what you saw. You had to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
This is important, since its very difficult to trust or verfiy anything Trowe may have said or posted prior to the June 2012, due to the fact that he was actively trying to sabotage competing companies at the time. He was caught doing it in June. He apologized later. However, that still leaves anything prior to June potentially suspect.
I added in a short reference to the cotroversy in the timeline at its correct point in the timeline, as it does relate to the Replay history, and this topic. In addition i've added the Trowe interview, published on April Fools 2013 (It doesn't seem to be a 'joke'
Hopefully verification from Activision, and Telltale will be forthcoming.
Edit: found an archive of the original quote, now updated.
Yeah, I'd paraphrased Josh's comments in my original post -- out of some deference to the casual setting of the chat (I didn't want him to get in any trouble by saying anything off-the-cuff-ish in a room of fans). The last sentence seems particularly candid.