Why did Telltale have J.T. Petty write Amid the Ruins?

He doesn't even work at Telltale, he has no idea how to write games like this, so why would they hire him to write an episode, it makes no sense. He should never write another episode for this series in the future. Amid the Ruins is the worst episode from Season 2 in my opinion. At least Eric Stirpe works at Telltale, so I don't have as much of a problem with him, but J.T. Petty should never be involved again.

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Comments

  • In my opinion, 'Amid The Ruins' was only slightly after 'No Going Back'.

    The worst was 'In Harm's Way' or 'All That Remains', 'A House Divided' also wasn't better than 'Amid The Ruins'.

    Just my opinion.

  • Just because a person doesn't write for games like TWD, doesn't mean he can't.

  • edited October 2014

    Amid the Ruins is the worst episode from Season 2 in my opinion.

    In my opinion I'd enjoy it if he wrote another episode, I loved Amid The Ruins. Third favorite episode =]

  • I really like Amid The Ruins despite Sarah's and Nick's deaths. I don't know if J.T. Petty made the decision to kill them both off or if he was told to kill them off in the episode.

  • doesn't mean he can't

    Ep4 is the living proof that he can't.

    Just because a person doesn't write for games like TWD, doesn't mean he can't.

  • For the same reason that they got Gary Whitta to write Around Every Corner.

  • Exactly, let someone who actually works for Telltale games write the episode. Frankly, Eric Stirpe should have been the only one to write it, at least he works for Telltale.

    doesn't mean he can't Ep4 is the living proof that he can't.

  • Lot of Action, no development of characters and bad use of the story. The episode is fun, but not good in question of story. I hope Nick Brenckon write ALL season three, If he had written episode four, things had been different. He said that.

  • While he doesn't work for Telltale, he was called in to oversee the narrative development of Season 1. So at least he was involved in the project before he wrote Around Every Corner, there is no evidence that J.T. Petty was in any way, shape, or form, a part of Season 2 before writing Amid the Ruins.

    DomeWing333 posted: »

    For the same reason that they got Gary Whitta to write Around Every Corner.

  • True, but my beef with this episode was the choices. I know people have complained the choices don't matter as much in Season 2, but if there was any glaring evidence of that, it's in this episode. Arvo claims you stole from him no matter what you did, you could have easily just had him say he was attacking you for revenge against Jane for threatening him if you chose not to steal from him. As you mentioned, Nick and Sarah's death's. But even if he didn't have the decision to kill them off, he still decides HOW they are killed off. Nick dies off screen and Sarah dies twice, which really pisses me off. I hoped that by saving Sarah I could teach her how to be strong and it would help her survive without Carlos, but she dies like half an hour later. Kenny is mad at you whether you chopped Sarita's arm off or not, which makes the final choice of In Harms Way completely pointless. And let's not forget the fact that, at the end of the episode, one of the 5 major choices was deciding to hold the baby. When I saw that, I couldn't believe that holding AJ was a major choice. I could think of 3 things that happened that were more important:

    1. How did you get Kenny out of the tent: did you try to talk to him calmly (say something like "you help me all the time") or be honest with him (say something like, "don't be an asshole and pretend you're the only one who has lost people")
    2. Who did you go with first: Did you go with Jane to the observation deck or with Mike and Bonnie to the museum.
    3. Did you accept the nail file from Jane or not.

    But I will give credit where credit is do, I liked Jane's development in this episode. That's one thing they did right, she became one of my favorite characters after this episode (until she tried to manipulate me into killing Kenny in No Going Back, in which case she is now one of my most hated characters).

    I really like Amid The Ruins despite Sarah's and Nick's deaths. I don't know if J.T. Petty made the decision to kill them both off or if he was told to kill them off in the episode.

  • Well Jane had some nice development in this episode, that was one of the saving graces for the episode, her development is why this episode is like 9th on my list of best episodes instead of 10th. It's definitely fun to play, but some of the choices were stupid and didn't matter. You can't have Nick Breckon write the entirety of a season, it would be great, but that's way too much work for him. Even Sean Vanaman didn't write all of Season 1. Just have Nick and Pierre write Season 3, that should be enough, maybe a third person. Season 1 only had 3 writers, Season 2 had 5 writers. Out of curiosity, when did Nick Breckon say that?

    VectorXP posted: »

    Lot of Action, no development of characters and bad use of the story. The episode is fun, but not good in question of story. I hope Nick Brenckon write ALL season three, If he had written episode four, things had been different. He said that.

  • Saying that he should never write again for Telltale is a bit too much, because there were also some people who liked the episode (like me). And who's to say it was him who created Nick and Sarah's deaths and not Eric Stirpe? The episode was still above All That Remains and In Harm's Way in my opinion.

  • I agree. I only liked it because it felt like an improvement over episode 3 and I liked the scene with Bonnie and Mike but that's about it. Non of the choices really did matter and even if Sarah had to die by the end of the season, I wish she could've survived into the finale if you saved her instead of just being killed off about half an hour later.

    Hopefully in season 3 the choices will matter more.

    True, but my beef with this episode was the choices. I know people have complained the choices don't matter as much in Season 2, but if ther

  • I see it on a interview ( I remember, in one Playing Dead, or IGN, i don't remember exactly ). You can search on google, you surely find. Well, so I wait him writting: Episode One, Four and Five. Episode Four is always the worst one, I hope this end with him.

    Well Jane had some nice development in this episode, that was one of the saving graces for the episode, her development is why this episode

  • Yeah I think it's abit unfair blaming him for everything that was wrong with this episode. I still enjoyed it.

    Grafite posted: »

    Saying that he should never write again for Telltale is a bit too much, because there were also some people who liked the episode (like me).

  • Fuck Amid the ruins! Worst episode ever!

  • True, maybe I'm being a bit too harsh, it could have been Stirpe who wrote their deaths that way. But still, he has no experience writing games like this, unlike someone like Breckon, Shorette, Mark Darin, etc, and that's why I don't think he should be hired again. And it's not like I hate Amid the Ruins, while it's my least favorite from Season 2, it's still a good episode, there's not really an episode of the game I hate. And In Harms Way gets way too much hate, it's my 3rd favorite from Season 2 and 4th all time. All That Remains I can understand, but that was more to set the tone for the season and get things started.

    Grafite posted: »

    Saying that he should never write again for Telltale is a bit too much, because there were also some people who liked the episode (like me).

  • And hopefully they will not let a character die in the same episode that we save him.

    I agree. I only liked it because it felt like an improvement over episode 3 and I liked the scene with Bonnie and Mike but that's about it.

  • I agree with everything except the improvement of Episode 3, that was a great and underrated episode (but again, my opinion). For Sarah, if you taught her how to use a gun back in A House Divided, she could have been helping the group clear the walkers that were coming up the stairs, instead of just staring there looking scared. And if they were to have her die, have her die in the shootout. It seems miraculous that nobody from out group died in the shootout when we were surrounded, have her die if she's expendable in that episode. Same could have went for Sarita if you decided to chop her arm off. They could have had her live after getting her arm chopped off and had her die in the shootout, then Kenny wouldn't have been mad at you and make Kenny even more pissed off at Arvo and his group for killing her.

    I agree. I only liked it because it felt like an improvement over episode 3 and I liked the scene with Bonnie and Mike but that's about it.

  • For me it's Long Road Ahead, but Amid the Ruins is a close second.

    JMOREL posted: »

    Fuck Amid the ruins! Worst episode ever!

  • Yeah unless they have really good reason too. I'm hoping we'll have more determinant characters like Doug and Carley.

    JMOREL posted: »

    And hopefully they will not let a character die in the same episode that we save him.

  • I did like episode 3, it had some really cool moments like Kenny's beatdown and Carvers death. My only problem was that there didn't seem to be as much actual gameplay compared to the other episodes.

    Simple improvements like that would have made the episode so much better.

    I agree with everything except the improvement of Episode 3, that was a great and underrated episode (but again, my opinion). For Sarah, if

  • Fuck Long road ahead! To much death in the same episode!

    For me it's Long Road Ahead, but Amid the Ruins is a close second.

  • Maybe, but what I like about In Harms Way was the character of Carver. He epitomizes what this world can do to a person. He is someone corrupted by the power given to him and he has become this ruthless dictator of his community and uses fear to keep his subjects in line. He's like The Governor from the comics and show, and a little like Crawford from Season 1 in that he kills the weak (Reggie) to protect the strong. Plus, I love the conversation he and Clem have in the episode, I feel it's an underrated scene from the episode. It really makes the player consider how they want their Clementine to be, which was the main point of Season 2, who has your Clementine become. Are we someone like Carver, or are we someone like, lets say, Lee. Are we that same girl from Season 1 who wants to help people and knows right from wrong, or do we adapt to this new world and become concerned with our own survival.

    I did like episode 3, it had some really cool moments like Kenny's beatdown and Carvers death. My only problem was that there didn't seem to

  • ...you think Long Road Ahead is the worst episode? HOW?

    For me it's Long Road Ahead, but Amid the Ruins is a close second.

  • That's one thing I didn't like :P In episode 2 I felt like Carver was introduced as a clever sort of villain who your entirely sure if their completely bad or not. I liked the whole thing about the Cabin group not being trustworthy and maybe Carvers actually the 'good guy'. But then in episode 3 I feel like they threw that out the window and just turned him into your typical power corrupted Villain.

    I agree though, that conversation between Carver and Clem was a good scene.

    Maybe, but what I like about In Harms Way was the character of Carver. He epitomizes what this world can do to a person. He is someone corr

  • Don't get me wrong, it's a good episode, and had some great Clementine and Lee moments, but it was just very slow. It started off well, but once you got to the train, I felt that the episode came to a grinding halt and you end up spending a good part of the episode just trying to get the train to work. I don't mind slow episodes, but the episode just felt overly long and, like I said, spent a good part of the episode either fixing the train or getting the truck off the bridge.

    DomeWing333 posted: »

    ...you think Long Road Ahead is the worst episode? HOW?

  • If you like Amid The Ruins, you're an edgy hipster.

  • edited October 2014

    J.T. Petty:...I came out to have a good time and I'm honestly feeling so attacked right now T_T

    It wasn't a bad episode to me. Not as strong as one and two which are my most favorites this season, but he still wrote some really good stuff in there that after Episode 3, it was an improvement. I think it's more to do with my problem with Season 2 as a whole rather than just that episode, because towards the later episodes, it seemed like the plot just didn't really know where it was going. You get these nice scenes with Mike and Bonnie for example which are cute, but it doesn't affect or contribute anything to the main story, but rather feels like a little side quest...a cute one [and even when given that extra time with them, we still learn nothing about Mike or Bonnie even. Pretend 400 Days never happened, we would know nothing about that lady.]

    Even with my problems with the later episodes, I can't go saying they're bad writers and should never write for Telltale again. Out of the later three episodes, Amid The Ruins was the strongest and did have me hyped for the finale, despite that being a big boo boo to me. If J.T.Petty did write another episode, I wouldn't mind it...just uh, don't make anybody fall from any high decks...or um, have a beloved character die off screen and get caught on a fence, and then have the player chop off the face of the beloved character ;_; come on man, Jane have a screwdriver right there! Do you realize how less messy a screwdriver is? That was cruel!

  • The reason Jane didn't kill walker Nick was to see if Clem can handle killing the people she loves. I'm starting to sound like a broken record when saying this, but I loved In Harms Way, it's like my 4th favorite episode from the entire series and my 3rd favorite from season 2 (behind No Going Back and A House Divided). And it would have been nice, during the search of then museum with them, if we could ask how Mike ended up at Howe's hardware and what happened to him. Jane had nice development in that episode, it would have been nice to see that happen with Mike as well. Not so much with Bonnie because we did see her and understand how she came to be at Howe's through 400 Days. Maybe instead, we could ask her why and how Luke and the group escaped (yes, because of Rebecca, but Bonnie hinted that Luke and Carver didn't get along, so it would have been nice to learn more about that). She said she was going to join them and leave, but that was the end of it. Did Petty actually say that, and if so, where can I find it. I'm not saying he is bad at what he does, I just don't think he is fit to write for a company like Telltale.

    Lilacsbloom posted: »

    J.T. Petty:...I came out to have a good time and I'm honestly feeling so attacked right now T_T It wasn't a bad episode to me. Not as str

  • What's that, ranking episodes again?

  • I had this idea where it was all dependent on Nick's status and whether you taught Sarah how to use a gun, and overall how you acted to either of them throughout the course of the Season. So at the trailer park, Nick would still be alive, and whether Sarah went with you or not depended on how you treated her. Also if you were nice to Nick he would also try talking to Sarah, having gone through a similar experience with Pete.

    Later on, at the Observation deck, after Sarah falls down, if Nick is still alive and you convince Jane to save Sarah, he will jump down and cover Jane. Jane gets hit in the head and dashes back up, Nick continues trying to save Sarah. After the debris is clear, a walker comes up behind Nick. If you taught Sarah to use a gun, she will shoot it. If not, Nick will die, but Sarah will be able to escape (yeah I know the fall probably destroyed her legs...). So at the end of the episode, if Sarah and/or Nick are still alive, they will be the ones to die in the shootout.

    I agree with everything except the improvement of Episode 3, that was a great and underrated episode (but again, my opinion). For Sarah, if

  • TBH, I don't know if I can really scapegoat the writer himself. Nick Breckon ain't that much better.

    But I do feel pissed about Sarita's mistreatment. About the rather disrespectful and superficial usage of the Civil War setting. About Sarah and Luke's characterization being sacrificed in order to prop up Jane 2.0. About Kenny being The Only Man who can help a pregnant woman (because he saw Katjaa delivering baby cows lol) because the little girl who literally spent a year with a pregnant woman didn't remember anything. And Arvo existing purely to get robbed.

  • Or you just enjoy the episode.

    If you like Amid The Ruins, you're an edgy hipster.

  • edited October 2014

    EP 4 wasn't that bad, i liked it, maybe Sarah and Nick's death should have been handled better but other than that i don't have any problem with it.

  • youre crazy

    In my opinion, 'Amid The Ruins' was only slightly after 'No Going Back'. The worst was 'In Harm's Way' or 'All That Remains', 'A House Divided' also wasn't better than 'Amid The Ruins'. Just my opinion.

  • K.

    doesn't mean he can't Ep4 is the living proof that he can't.

  • Because I have a different opinion? :D

    jamex1223 posted: »

    youre crazy

  • first person ive ever met who had the same opinion on this episode

    Don't get me wrong, it's a good episode, and had some great Clementine and Lee moments, but it was just very slow. It started off well, but

  • Good to see I'm not the only one. Like I said, it's a good episode, but it would have to be my least favorite from the entire series.

    colgato posted: »

    first person ive ever met who had the same opinion on this episode

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