The tragic end of Telltale Games • Hacker News Board

Re: The tragic end of Telltale Games

#81

Post by taneq » Fri, Oct 05, 2018, 1:54 PM UTC

prithee wrote: post #51

gassed wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can someone explain more about "making the same game over and over"? I don't know anything about these games. Were they all similar, despite being different franchises?

They all shared the same narrative focus and gameplay mechanics of titles in the "adventure" game genre (inspect environment, walk around, quick time events, make decisions in conversation or events that at least promised branches in storyline.) Typically the engine and graphics styles were roughly the same, though improved as time progressed (to the point where you often felt they were battling the old engine). I un…

Sounds like those Sierra games. Those hacks.

Re: The tragic end of Telltale Games

#82

Post by aikah » Fri, Oct 05, 2018, 1:54 PM UTC

lmm wrote: post #38

aikah wrote: post #15

Sometimes you simply got to let the data speak for themselves: https://imgur.com/a/2tR4WVX It's so strange how the prestige around the brand was not correlated to the sells numbers. It so strange how their demise was so unexpected by the press and gaming communities when the writing was on the wall long ago.

The gaming press is more press than gaming; they're often people with writing degrees who are disproportionately fond of "literary" games compared to the buying public.

> The gaming press is more press than gaming; they're often people with writing degrees who are disproportionately fond of "literary" games compared to the buying public.

The real question is how influential are they today? I think they might not be that influential when it comes to AAA titles, however, some outlets are extremely influential when it comes to indie gaming, since it's a small scene where "knowing the right person" can make a difference when it comes to coverage.

My problem with the press is that there is essentially 2 categories:

- marketing outlets AKA content farms such a IGN,Gamespot who add very little value to the content they produce as they seek quantity over quality.

- pseudo-intellectual outlets like Eurogamer or Polygon which talk about gaming through the lens of "intersectionality", which is their right, but after 10 hours of work getting yield at by my manager I'm not interested in articles that are more about identity politics than the games I play when I get home.

Personally, I take more pleasure in hearing Joseph Anderson babbling about hitboxes in Dark Souls 2 and how you get critical damages even though the NPC sword stroke was PI/2 radians off your character's position, for 3 hours straight on youtube than any of the former.

Re: The tragic end of Telltale Games

#83

Post by erfgh » Fri, Oct 05, 2018, 1:55 PM UTC

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Re: The tragic end of Telltale Games

#84

Post by bliblah » Fri, Oct 05, 2018, 1:55 PM UTC

tablethnuser wrote: post #71

Don't work in the games industry. This is the par story for game companies. Every little detail of this story I saw repeating on loop in a decade of working in games. The artists grabbing assets to stuff into their portfolios before two years of professional work disappears into a black hole, the ppl moving families across country to be laid off months later, the crunch, the over promising, it is all text book. The g…

I honestly wish I could disagree but it's probably the most soul sucking industry out there.

Yeah there are great companies but considering that just this year alone there were over 1,000 layoffs [1] in an industry that there are just a handful of large developers / publishers it's hard to get a position where you aren't just churning out gambling apps or one off VR projects for a Big Media Company trying to make a quick buck.

The issue is that video games are entertainment and the industry is built off the back of exploited workers that are genuinely passionate but have no resources outside of becoming indie (which is basically rolling the dice) or just using their talents elsewhere.

[1]https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2018-09-27-more-than-...

Re: The tragic end of Telltale Games

#85

Post by wheelie_boy » Fri, Oct 05, 2018, 1:56 PM UTC

tablethnuser wrote: post #71

Don't work in the games industry. This is the par story for game companies. Every little detail of this story I saw repeating on loop in a decade of working in games. The artists grabbing assets to stuff into their portfolios before two years of professional work disappears into a black hole, the ppl moving families across country to be laid off months later, the crunch, the over promising, it is all text book. The g…

Game dev is a meat grinder.

While making games is a great way to learn programming, and is a lot of fun, the working conditions make it an untenable career choice for most.

Re: The tragic end of Telltale Games

#86

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Oct 05, 2018, 1:56 PM UTC

michaelscott wrote: post #74

Razengan wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have been gaming literally my entire life save for the first couple years, spending thousands of dollars on games every year, and I have never watched any of those “gaming personalities.”

If it helps add another data point to the mix, I can confirm parent's comment on these personalities and their influence within the gaming community. A number of them often provide in-depth critiques and unexpected insights on game design that take the form of comedic video quasi-essays, and they rack up huge subscriber counts.

[deleted]

Re: The tragic end of Telltale Games

#87

Post by everyone » Fri, Oct 05, 2018, 1:57 PM UTC

plopz wrote: post #55

everyone wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems to work for most AAA games.. In fact they usually dont even bother changing IP eg. assassins creed series, farcry series, call of duty series, madden series, etc. etc. Look at the ridiculously popular battle-royale games like fortnight.. They are pretty much clones of each other, and that gameplay has been done (better) decades ago.

Battle royale games were done better decades ago? I can't even think of a battle royale game from the 90s.

quake, unreal tournament, tribes, battlefield, planetside.. Deathmatch with many players. Same thing pretty much, but with more action.

Re: The tragic end of Telltale Games

#88

Post by chii » Fri, Oct 05, 2018, 1:59 PM UTC

wheelie_boy wrote: post #85

tablethnuser wrote: post #71

Don't work in the games industry. This is the par story for game companies. Every little detail of this story I saw repeating on loop in a decade of working in games. The artists grabbing assets to stuff into their portfolios before two years of professional work disappears into a black hole, the ppl moving families across country to be laid off months later, the crunch, the over promising, it is all text book. The g…

Game dev is a meat grinder. While making games is a great way to learn programming, and is a lot of fun, the working conditions make it an untenable career choice for most.

Only way is to either make it a hobby project, and work a day job that pays well.

Or, take the risk and go indie - effectively a lottery ticket.

Re: The tragic end of Telltale Games

#89

Post by bliblah » Fri, Oct 05, 2018, 2:00 PM UTC

screye wrote: post #57

lmm wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The gaming press is more press than gaming; they're often people with writing degrees who are disproportionately fond of "literary" games compared to the buying public.

This is very true. Gaming journos have very little influence inside the gaming community. Many of them do not quite get that "fun" is the most central reason for playing a game. Their articles often read like someone who is hoping for a regular media house to notice and hire them, rather than a gamer writing for other gamers. Gaming's biggest personalities are on YouTube and Twitch. ACG, Angry Joe, TB (rip), Dunkey h…

The advantage that these personalities have is that you learn if their tastes match up with yours.

I have learned to never listen to Dunkey when he says a game is "Boring" but his idea of "Fun" matches well with me.

Also I watch some of the Angry Joe reviews because despite his tired theme of being angry all the time, he does a good job extensively covering a game from a semi objective standpoint. And I know when he is hammering home the negative points he is just hamming it up for the views so I don't take them too seriously.

Meanwhile gaming press is just a random assortment of editors with different tastes and values making it harder to discern how well the game will be for me.

That's why I like giantbomb since they are only 5 ish reviewers and you get to learn their tastes pretty easily.

Re: The tragic end of Telltale Games

#90

Post by tablethnuser » Fri, Oct 05, 2018, 2:01 PM UTC

crispyambulance wrote: post #46

k__ wrote: post #4

"years of nonstop crunch culture, toxic management, and frustration from developers who believed the company’s refusal to diversify gameplay had led to creative stagnation" I don't understand why the people who were let go didn't leave in the first place...

> I don't understand why the people who were let go didn't leave in the first place... I feel the same way. One often hears the statistic that the games industry revenue (~36 Billion) exceeds that of the film (hollywood) industry. It makes me wonder, given that there's probably fewer workers in games, who is making the lionshare of the money? Is it just a tiny sliver of investors? How did it get that way? One would t…

Once a game company has a hit they become their own angel investor and try to find the next hit. The odds are really low though so most die before finding it. It doesn't help that most companies have no idea why the first game was a hit.

It's easy to hide for a long time because a hit can be so profitable. Look at Riot Games. League of Legends remains their only product even after trying to find another one for a decade. Zynga is still around because in a few short years they got a couple billion in the bank.