Only full season on PC
I've been looking forward to this game, but my plan was to buy it one episode at a time because I'm kinda short on money right now. Why are you only able to buy the full season for PC, but you can buy individually on Xbox and Playstation?
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I have the same problem. Why there is no option to purchase a single episode on PC?
Taken from: http://www.telltalegames.com/community/discussion/46086/the-wolf-among-us-faq-please-read-before-creating-new-threads
Like The Walking Dead, the episodes will cost 5$ each. A season pass option comprising all five episodes will be available for 25$. On some platforms (like the PC), you can't buy the episodes individually and will have to buy the game season at once.
I saw that, I'm just trying to figure out why you can only buy the full season.
I'm not interested in "Kickstarting" episodes 2-5. I don't understand why they're making PC players buy Episodes that we won't be able to play for another 3-6 months. I was extremely excited about this series, considering I loved TWD, love the Fables comics, and enjoy most telltale releases... but this has really turned me off on this one.
I want to play the episodes while they're fresh and my friends are all playing and discussing them, but I refuse to buy games before they are available to be played. If I have to wait until all 5 episodes are out to play it, I might not even bother because everyone will have already played the series (and I'll probably end up having most of it spoiled, simply because it will have been so long since it's release), and I'll be just generally irritated that I had to wait so long.
Does anyone know why they've made such a bizarre choice on this?
Telltale has always released their games episodically, including TWD. It's kind of their thing.
well yeah, that's why it's strange they aren't doing that this time.
It seems for the PC release, Telltale is trying to "have their cake, and eat it too." They want to call the game "episodic" and release it over the course of six months... yet we have to pay for the whole thing up front as if it was a single finished product. That is not cool, and it bothers me that it seems a lot of people are okay with it.
Again, they did the exact same thing with TWD. I'm not sure if they did the season pass for their previous releases, but they definitely did for TWD. You may not like it, but they've proved that it's a successful strategy.
So, you couldn't buy the single episodes of The Walking Dead on PC either? I played it on PS3, so I wasn't aware of this.
I'm really disappointed now. I was really excited about playing this game on PC, but I've just lost a TON of respect for this company and will probably not be buying any of their products in the future.
No, you could buy episodes individually with walking dead on pc. I know I did
I agree it is odd that the episodes are not being sold individually, and we don't know why that is at this point. That said, given how much I enjoyed TWD and how much I like the Fables IP I've no problem at all paying $25 now (actually $22.95) and getting to play them as they are released over paying $25 in 6 months and having to wait until then and play them all. I understand your ideological stance, even if I completely disagree with it, but it seems like you were expecting to spend the $25 anyway and are instead going to rob yourself of the enjoyment of playing the game over the semantics of when you give over your $25. To each his own I suppose...
I guess some people are cool with just handing over money to developers sight unseen, but I think it sets a terrible precedent for the future of gaming if we are expected to act like investors for game developers. If they expect me to pay for their development costs up front, then I should get something on the backend. Otherwise, sell it to me as it's released. Telltale isn't some indie upstart with two guys in a bedroom, they're a multimillion dollar studio with numerous awards and a healthy advertising budget. I think what they're doing is disrespectful to their fans and just straight up unacceptable. I'm a customer, not an investor.
What happens if the game is critically acclaimed, but no one buys it? Will they continue to spend the same amount of money on production as they spent with the first episode? Can they guarantee the same quality throughout the series? How do I know they won't pull people off the development for some other project in 3 months and half ass the second half of the game? Yeah, you can say "well, don't worry about it," but that's the problem. If they (TellTale Games) expect me to treat the game like an investment, then they're also putting that burden on me as a responsible adult who has his own job and his own bills to pay. It's not a big deal if TellTale is the only game in town (sorry, pun intended), but if it works for them then other companies will inevitably follow suit.
If a business practice would be bad for the consumer if everyone used it, it's generally considered the sort of business practice a conscientious business would avoid implementing. I'm proposing that TellTale Games may be setting a bad precedent.
So you would be willing to pay more in the end then just buy a pre-order or full season now? You sir, are an idiot! You say you love the Fable comics and liked TWD. Then trust the people who's work you liked in the past...
PS: I rather pay TTG upfront for stuff they will deliver then pay a company like Ubisoft for 100Kb DLC's that are already in their games but just locked so they can pump out more of my cash out of my wallet! It's just a matter of how you look at things... Just ask yourself: "Am I going to play the whole season?". If the anwser is yes just buy it and talk about it with your buddies when each episode comes out... otherwise just don't buy the game or wait 'till the full season is out and lag behind 6 months and spend cash for the total packet once completed.
I've learned not to preorder media before the work is completed. Just because someone did one project you enjoyed, doesn't automatically mean you'll like everything they ever do. I mean look, it's not that big of a deal, but it is annoying and I really don't think it's setting a good precedent. I'm glad that they're at least selling the episodes separately on the consoles, I'm just disappointed because I thought I was going to be playing this game today rather than posting about it on a message board.
If you would be taking that statement for real you wouldn't be buying any game unless it's +6 months old. Because you can't buy all the DLC's yet and the full story is incomplete from the start. The Assassins Creed and GTA franchise are a prime example of that system... So even though I understand what you mean the theory behind it is flawed from the beginning.
Its not like the game is very expensive... 25 dollars is way cheaper than most games.
That's nonsense. If I could buy only the first episode I would do so. I don't need every piece of the game to be complete at time of purchase, but I expect to only be charged for the product that is currently available. If, for example, a game like Assassin's Creed or GTA only had a $100 "Season Pass" that included the DLC that would be coming out 6 months later, and you couldn't just pay $60 for the base game and buy the DLC later, then you would have a point. But it doesn't work that way. Normally you have the option to buy just the content that is completed, or the option to pay extra and get a discount on future DLC.
What Telltale is doing here is like the first option. If I want to play the content currently available, I also have to buy the future content up front.
I'm not sure I understand how that is in any way relevant here. Care to explain?
If I didn't like the game it would be $25 for about 2 hours of game play though (the first episode).. that's actually quite expensive if you ask me.
That said; I've played Ep.1 now (yes, downloaded it) and liked it a lot. So now I'm buying the season pass. No advertisement like actually playing it.. I treat the first episode like a demo.. I liked it, so now I'm paying for the whole game. The Telltale devs have earned my money.
I do not see the $24.95 upfront funding the future episodes. I certainly do not have any kind of insider knowledge of Telltales development practices, but I find it difficult to believe that they are sitting around waiting to see if enough people buy the season/episode1 and then deciding if and how they should finish it. There's almost no way they can fully produce one of these episodes between the release of one and the release of another, and what they can get done is attributable to the amount of work they've put into the engine and tools set. The lion's share of the work for each episode is probably already done and they spend the in-between time polishing and testing. But that's just my guess...
Concerning business practices, the only way TT doesn't finish this series is if they go out of business entirely - because that's most likely what will happen if they just decide willy-nilly not to finish the series. Sure, that can happen, but the likelihood is SO remote it's completely a non-issue for me. It's akin to going into a Starbucks and refusing to pay the cashier for my drink up front because they might not actually make the latte at the other end of the counter.
&¨%$#@! so I'll have to buy the other episodes? really?
While we could certainly discuss whether or not paying the full price upfront actually funds future episodes (and I'm of the opinion it certainly comes in handy) there are a couple of things that are inconsistent and those are the ones I take issue with. First is the fact that the game releases episodically yet TTG intends to charge full price instead of the price of the episode. This would be similar to paying upfront for all six issues of a comic series that has only published the first one.
Ask yourself, what's the advantage of releasing a game in episodes? For me, the most obvious one has to do with price: you can buy the first episode at only a fraction of the price of the full game. If you didn't enjoy it, then you've only lost $5 as opposed to $25. If you did enjoy it, then you're encouraged to buy the next episode or even a season pass for all remaining episodes. This model encourages more people to buy at least the first episode, with TTG gaining a market that might never have bought the game in the first place.
My second issue has to do with the different pricing strategies across platforms. After all, the episodes are available for individual purchase on consoles. Why is this not the case for PC? Why can console gamers buy each episode individually? Some explanation would be welcome but, so far, we have received none. Furthermore, it is actually cheaper to buy on console than on PC (if you buy the first episode and the season pass that is), what is a bit odd considering console fees but is not really my main concern.
It is because of this that I have yet to purchase "The Wolf Among Us." And, like I've said before, it's a real shame because I probably would've enjoyed it.
I agree with you. In truth, I didn't really think about it when I preordered the series, because I knew I'd play them all anyway even if I didn't care for the first one just to see if they improve and because I'm a huge Fables fan; but if I had realized then that I actually couldn't buy just one episode, it would have bothered me. It's the principle of the thing. Maybe you generally really love telltale games, and you think you'll love this too, but you play the first episode and find it's really not for you and you have no interest in playing the rest; well, too bad, apparently, because you had to buy all or nothing. (All that said, I really enjoyed the game, except for the stupid mash-the-q-button bits, and am looking forward to the next one; but I totally agree with your stance here--wouldn't have actually prevented me from buying the games, but I understand your frustration for what it's worth.)
"They leave me no choice". Man, people just love to justify piracy, don't they?
If you got a Season Pass, you're already entitled to Episodes 2 through 5 as they come out.
That makes sense, and believe me I'm not trying to argue that anyone's view is right or wrong. I'm just trying to understand the perspective that leads people to believe that TT is trying in any way to "pull a fast one", which is how I read many of these posts. Perhaps it's just me reading things wrong.
Like I said I do find it strange that the PC players are not offered the opportunity to buy the episodes individually. I suspect there is some kind of publishing snafu for that platform that made this a problem for TT and landed us here, but who knows...
Your analogy of a comic series made me realize I look at the $25 up front as a subscription. Sure, with most subscriptions I can also buy the items individually, but I am likely to go ahead and pay for the convenience of a subscription. I do this already with tv shows on itunes and any number of services online - almost all of which you pay for what you are going to use, not what you have used. The convenience of having Steam automatically download and make ready each new episode of TWAU is right in my wheelhouse.
Has TTG explained why only the season pass is available for PC?
In fact, I think Jake did. But I haven't got a chance in HELL finding his ca. two year old statement with the search tools presently available on this new forum. I just don't know how to retrieve that comment.
It wasn't his finest hour though IIRC. Something about spending too much time explaining deals to customers and configuring the Telltale Store... but I really don't remember all this too well.
That said - yeah, Telltale has done this for a long time now, without a lot of complaints. Combining partly bought games with the Telltale Store Season DVD is probably a bit complicated. And asking 25$ and less for this game is certainly not overpriced even IF episodes are spread throughout a few months. Yes, it's the price you pay to get the episodes 'new and fresh' instead of waiting for deals that could possibly even happen midway in the Season.
That is true, but when you don't have the option to buy it in pieces (I'm a PC player), then it is really expensive. I never bought a game like this before. Usually, it's all done, and I can either download it from the internet or CD-ROM. So, if I didn't like the first episode, then I would be up a creek because I would be out $25.00. Luckily, I really enjoyed episode 1, but it took me a few reviews and seeing the first 5-10 minutes of a walkthough to convince me to get the game and play right now.
I'm with Baalroo on this one. If I waited for all the pieces, I might have had the whole game spoiled, but on the other hand, I don't play or read PC games (or regular console games) for that matter so might not be a difference after all.
It's an interesting business model to say the least...
Do you mean this post?
http://www.telltalegames.com/community/discussion/comment/598109#Comment_598109
If this is the case, then it still doesn't explain why console gamers are still able to purchase individual episodes. Or was the episodic structure only hard to understand for PC players? Mind you, if you check Steam, people are still asking whether by buying the game they're buying one episode or all five so I'd say the confusion still remains. I don't mind paying $25 for all five episodes. Indeed it seems like a very reasonable price. However, given its episodic nature I thought an episodic payment structure would've been the most appropriate for reasons I've mentioned above (https://www.telltalegames.com/community/discussion/comment/861335#Comment_861335). This incoherences, if you will, have so far prevented me (by my own decision, naturally) from buying this game.