Behind-the-scenes Telltale Community Content

mostlypoptartsmostlypoptarts ModeratorFormer Telltale Staff

Hey guys!

You may have seen my thread in the Walking Dead forum asking for dev blog feedback/requests, but I wanted to open that up to a larger topic of conversation...

Basically, if we were to create behind-the-scenes content in the office with devs, what would you like to see? Weekly or bi-weekly dev blogs? Weekly stream? Podcasts? Instagram day-in-the-life stories? The sky is the limit, but keep in mind that it's basically just me and @Butterwomp wrangling people to participate in this kind of stuff :joy:

Comments

  • Blind SniperBlind Sniper Moderator
    edited February 2018

    Cross posting from Walking Dead section:

    This is a really good direction for you guys to take staff/fan interaction in and I'm really happy to see you working towards ideas like these. I'll try to get the ball rolling with some quick ideas:

    I don't know how practical it would be, but an idea I've had for a while is that maybe Telltale could do like a monthly News Vlog or something, mixed in with general "behind the scenes" stuff, chat with the developers, etc. Nothing super fancy or souped up like Talking Dead or Player's Space with any special sets, hosts, etc - just a low key and casual kind of video.

    Each month, you could release a video with a combination of:

    • News on the latest Episode's progress (or Trailers if you have them) - If the episode is close to release, you can give a hint of when to expect it - or, if it's in progress, you can give a quick heads up and maybe show something like a teaser clip or spoiler free concept art from an upcoming episode
    • Choices made from the previous Telltale episode(s) - For a while around Walking Dead and Wolf Among Us, Telltale made some trailers after an episode release to show "choices made". Revisiting this idea to discuss choices made could be really cool.
    • Quick/casual developer interviews/chat/etc - If you wanted to, maybe you could find some developers to just ask them some casual questions, such as what they are currently playing, what their favorite Telltale episode is, etc.

    EDIT 2/3; More ideas:

    • Small segments of Behind the scenes trivia/commentary for previous Telltale Seasons
    • OzzyUK's idea of showing off staff dogs

    I guess something like the Summer Update 2017 video is what I'm getting at (but, of course, not on the same scale of how many big announcements were in that video).


    EDIT: Another example of a "casual" video that I meant:

  • edited January 2018

    Here's what I want to see

    • I'd love to see a weekly/bi-weekly youtube series showing the day-in-the-life of telltlales employees.
    • A Podcast like the players space would be nice. Like the players space with no gameplay (Make it hosted by Steph plz)
    • Reveal Switch Ports in Nintendo Directs. No idea why you don't do this already, it would give a lot of brand awareness to Nintendo gamers.
    • More stuff like this https://youtube.com/watch?v=DsS4zrhxe1w
    • More concept art
    • More PAX Panels! I went to the Pax East one last year and it was great! (Aside from being 13: Watching Javi bash a walkers head with a baseball bat while my father sitting next to me was a... memorable experience)
    • I know I already made a thread for this but PLEASE make more merchandise. I love my Hala Pop, and I'm sure some MCSM Pops would sell like hot cakes. Lukas and John Doe would be nice in particular

    • More world premieres at TGA/E3

    Also PopTarts, me and all the other TTG fans have noticed the much improved PR from you guys with the twitter and forums. Thank you!

  • Yes! I would buy any MCSM pop figures! Btw, can anyone from telltale give us some kind of update on MCSM season 3 ? Or just MCSM in general. We really just want to know what's going on with the series.

    4k60fpsHDR posted: »

    Here's what I want to see * I'd love to see a weekly/bi-weekly youtube series showing the day-in-the-life of telltlales employees. * A

  • mostlypoptartsmostlypoptarts ModeratorFormer Telltale Staff

    I would love Pop figures too! A lot of the merch stuff is up to the IP holder. Marvel came to us about the Guardians Funkos, which is why they exist in the universe!

  • The sky is the limit, but keep in mind that it's basically just me and @Butterwomp wrangling people to participate in this kind of stuff :joy:

    I think you forgot to keep this in minds. It's literally just two people doing this so I don't think they would be able to do anything as grand as you would like them to do.

    4k60fpsHDR posted: »

    Here's what I want to see * I'd love to see a weekly/bi-weekly youtube series showing the day-in-the-life of telltlales employees. * A

  • edited January 2018

    Oooo I think a weekly/bi-weekly dev blog series would be cool. I really enjoy looking at behind the scenes stuff for Telltale. Maybe something like Player Space where you would interview people who worked on certain games while playing those games, asking them questions about specific scenes/choices/characters in the episode? I'd also really like to see some of the concept art for Telltale posted on instagram or other social media every now and then if it's possible!

  • I loved those choices statistics videos you used to make. They were especially neat if they included percentages of choices that weren't present in the end statistics of the episode itself, so if those videos made a comeback, I'd be really grateful. :)

  • PR people talk to the higher ups, so having your request heard is better than nothing

    lupinb0y posted: »

    The sky is the limit, but keep in mind that it's basically just me and @Butterwomp wrangling people to participate in this kind of stuff

  • Interesting!

    I might be beating a dead horse here - But Minecraft, TWD, and Batman have all had non-telltale pops. I'm sure that if you guys worked with Mojang/Skybound/DC then merch could be possible!

    I would love Pop figures too! A lot of the merch stuff is up to the IP holder. Marvel came to us about the Guardians Funkos, which is why they exist in the universe!

  • mostlypoptartsmostlypoptarts ModeratorFormer Telltale Staff

    This is true!

    And like I said at the top of my post -- write whatever you want here so we know how you're feeling. I can't make any promises about what will come out of it, but it's better to know than not know :)

    4k60fpsHDR posted: »

    PR people talk to the higher ups, so having your request heard is better than nothing

  • I would like to see more MCSM behind the scenes videos, like the one with Jack and Petra.

  • edited January 2018

    Also, as a marketing suggestion, have you ever heard of Fanatical (Bundle Stars?)

    They do these things called star deals where you can buy a steam key for a game at its all time low price,even if it's all time low is 1% cheaper then the 2nd lowest price.
    I'd recommend forwarding this message to whoever works on distribution/marketing at telltale so they can look into getting telltale games on bundle stars. This can probably make you guys good money

    (I'm not affiliated with these guys, I just love bundle sites and telltale games)

    https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/vanquish

    This is true! And like I said at the top of my post -- write whatever you want here so we know how you're feeling. I can't make any promises about what will come out of it, but it's better to know than not know

  • yo where TF is the Bigby Pop figure at

    also ps pls make a merch store with rhys socks pls homie i haven't forgotten poptarts plz

    I would love Pop figures too! A lot of the merch stuff is up to the IP holder. Marvel came to us about the Guardians Funkos, which is why they exist in the universe!

  • We need a video of Telltale staff just reacting to all our shi- I mean high quality top notch memes! :sweat_smile:

  • Blind SniperBlind Sniper Moderator
    edited January 2018

    also ps pls make a merch store with rhys socks pls homie i haven't forgotten poptarts plz

    Telltale actually did have a merch store in the past, prior to when they became really big from Walking Dead. But, I guess they decided to prioritize other things. Or, maybe the merch store would not have been as easy/cheap to manage when they had to account for supporting a larger fan base/more customers after TWD Season 1 took off. Honestly, I dunno.

    Poogers555 posted: »

    yo where TF is the Bigby Pop figure at also ps pls make a merch store with rhys socks pls homie i haven't forgotten poptarts plz

  • Developers and their pets! C'mon. Good times... and they still list them every game.

  • Telltale should make a merch section, and all they sell is Rhys socks. Tellin you, million dollar idea up in here man!

    also ps pls make a merch store with rhys socks pls homie i haven't forgotten poptarts plz Telltale actually did have a merch store i

    1. A weekly/bi-weekly podcast who be really cool. It could cover a wide range of topics, such as behind the scenes stuff, much like the Batman choreography videos, interviews with Telltale staff, updates concerning upcoming episodes or projects, and maybe even what direction the company is going in and where it plans to be in the future.
    2. Popular Youtuber Tomska has this weekly series he does on his second channel called “Last Week I...” Basically, it’s him filming some of the stuff he did in the past week, something like that within the Telltale office could be a neat idea, highlighting some of the shenanigans and daily happenings of Telltale staff and what working in the office is like.
    3. If the podcast thing doesn’t work, how about more stuff like Playing Dead or the Batman videos you made after the release of an episode. Again, it could be stuff with writers, designers, actors, and feature behind the scene videos and show off what goes into the making f these episodes.
    4. A Telltale store that sells Rhys socks so my boy Poogs can finally get some.
  • OzzyUKOzzyUK Moderator

    I think bi-weekly to monthly would be good. I think it will be interesting to see behind the scenes videos as well as the occasional interview with staff or voice actors, it would also be fun if the voice actors could also do a AMA on the forum as i'm sure people would love to chat to the voice actor who plays Joker, Melissa Hutchison or any other actor from any of the games.

    Concept art is another cool thing to see, i know some does get posted onto the games webpage but having some posted withing a blog could make it more special and something for people to look forward to on each update.

    Another small thing which could be fun is a featured Doggo. On every blog you could have a "Doggo of the week/month", if you do a video blog you could maybe film them for part of a day (or maybe even strap a go pro to them) and feature it on the video just for a bit of extra fun.

  • Agreed with Pipas!

    Pipas posted: »

    I loved those choices statistics videos you used to make. They were especially neat if they included percentages of choices that weren't present in the end statistics of the episode itself, so if those videos made a comeback, I'd be really grateful.

  • A few more blog posts would be nice. It could give us insight into the creation of certain scenes, characters, or design choices. Doesn't have to be through the blog, but whatever you guys can manage.
    I'm with others that it'd be cool to see more of the development of each episode, knowing how far along things are, or a reflection on past choices.

    Developers and their pets! C'mon. Good times... and they still list them every game.

    Yes. This. More of this. (Even though we've already got a great Imgur album from April and this adorbs Twitter account
    Someone gimme a pic of that adorable Brendan Q Ferguson from the list.

  • Blind SniperBlind Sniper Moderator
    edited February 2018

    On every blog you could have a "Doggo of the week/month", if you do a video blog you could maybe film them for part of a day (or maybe even strap a go pro to them) and feature it on the video just for a bit of extra fun.

    If something like my monthly News/Behind the Scenes vlog idea were to be looked into, this would be something cool to include too :p

    OzzyUK posted: »

    I think bi-weekly to monthly would be good. I think it will be interesting to see behind the scenes videos as well as the occasional intervi

  • edited February 2018

    Speaking of which... @emilybuckshot How's Magoo holding up? Hoping for the best.

    Edit: Saw the update. Sorry to hear he's going to lose an eye. Is he doing okay otherwse?

    Johro posted: »

    Developers and their pets! C'mon. Good times... and they still list them every game.

  • Oh! I almost forgot, one thing I'm sure we want more of is Humble Bundles with telltale games! Telltale Games in Humble Monthly too.

  • I'd like to add: More Concept Art?

  • I would like to see a feature on your artists and their work on building a game universe. But yeah more conversations with the staff would be great..put faces to names and such. Hell just getting to know you guys would be a great thing. Maybe a video on writing and VO sessions. I am loving this new openness to be honest, I hope it continues.

  • I just want to say...selling Rhys's socks would be a bad idea. Telltale needs to do other thing than sell socks...plus this has the added benefit of insuring Poogers never gets those socks...everything else though would be cool.

    * A weekly/bi-weekly podcast who be really cool. It could cover a wide range of topics, such as behind the scenes stuff, much like the Batma

  • tfw all you want is socks but telltale and the community just roast you

    I just want to say...selling Rhys's socks would be a bad idea. Telltale needs to do other thing than sell socks...plus this has the added benefit of insuring Poogers never gets those socks...everything else though would be cool.

  • If these "interview"-type things could be done, with artists, writers, or whoever, it could go nicely like this one here:
    Giving us a breakdown of what the process is, why certain design decisions were made, etc.


    (This is a video found on the jobs page, essentially talking about what certain duties might be as a cinematographer. This is the way to go if this were made for BTS content!)

  • I think videos on that level would be a bit overly technical for what most normal fans would enjoy, but general behind the scenes type trivia would be interesting.

    AChicken posted: »

    If these "interview"-type things could be done, with artists, writers, or whoever, it could go nicely like this one here: Giving us a break

  • I would love to see a behind the scenes with the animation process. Story boarding; how the music is composed; the people behind the concept art and decisions on how things look.

    I also want to know if there’s a free muffin day for staff, because if not I think you should petition for one o.o

  • edited February 2018

    I would love overly-technical videos, myself. I know a lot of people would lose interest, but I'd love a 5-20min sit down with a developer walking us through something they created. One where they discuss the limitations and problems that they had to work through. I love that stuff and I think it humanizes them for the fans. When you spend hours and even days trying to make something work, only to have someone call you out as being "lazy" because it isn't perfect, really hurts. This wouldn't necessarily change that, but I think fans would appreciate it more if they knew what a developer has to go through.

    I really do just love how excited developers are with sharing a creation. Every time, it's like them telling you about their child learning to walk.

  • mostlypoptartsmostlypoptarts ModeratorFormer Telltale Staff

    I also want to know if there’s a free muffin day for staff, because if not I think you should petition for one o.o

    Ha! I like the way you think! We have free bagels on Fridays and free donuts every other Monday. It's definitely a highlight :blush:

    Lilacsbloom posted: »

    I would love to see a behind the scenes with the animation process. Story boarding; how the music is composed; the people behind the concept

  • ...as another addition for my monthly vlog idea;

    Maybe you could add a fan question/letter section as well, for when/if you get some interesting questions asked over Twitter.

  • One idea that I was thinking of is a type of podcast similar to Rooster Teeth's Weekly Podcast and Achievement Hunters' Off Topic series where you talk about what what crazy antics you have been up to during the week. It would be a good way for us fans to get to know the Telltale Staff on a personal level ? However if you think it is a silly idea or you are unable to do it then I understand

  • Cross posting my idea from the Batman 205 thread:

    I've missed the trailers like that from the Wolf/TWD Season 2 era of episodes. If Telltale wanted to bring those back (or make developer News posts where they share/discuss the developer's take on the choice split after an episode has recently premiered), that would be really cool!

  • edited March 2018

    Just decided to pop in with a possible (maybe even probable) content salvation.

    Even though the BTS Player's Space videos are now over with the loss of Ryann Weller, there's still a lingering incomplete episode, that being MCSM S1E4 of which only the first part was uploaded.
    These episodes are fully pre-recorded and then split up on YouTube in chunks, meaning there's got to be some remaining footage of the episode's commentary somewhere, hopefully.
    I'm not sure who is in charge of the editing of the episode, or who exactly is affiliated with its production, but that episode must have been recorded in full like all the others, and I feel like it's a loss to have it suddenly abandoned with footage still in hand. (Unless it's all been deleted after his leave. That's valid.)

  • Since they aren't making the show anymore, I can't imagine they want to upload the rest. It would cause confusion, as they "unlisted" the videos from the channel. (They are still up on YouTube but not publicly linked to on the channel.)

    AChicken posted: »

    Just decided to pop in with a possible (maybe even probable) content salvation. Even though the BTS Player's Space videos are now over wi

  • edited March 2018

    No, they're still there. The full Player's Space series is in their publicly avaliable playlist. (Through their channel. Can't find the actual videos with a normal YouTube Search though.)

    Edit: But, yes, I can clearly understand why they wouldn't upload the rest. Still a shame it was cut so abruptly.

    Since they aren't making the show anymore, I can't imagine they want to upload the rest. It would cause confusion, as they "unlisted" the videos from the channel. (They are still up on YouTube but not publicly linked to on the channel.)

Sign in to comment in this discussion.