Square-Enix's New Episodic Formula May Be a Good Thing

[WeepingAngels]

As game companies find more ways to squeeze more money out of us by avoiding the "buy it once and be done" model gamers continue to prove that they will put up with anything. "Oh, it's not a bad model if it's done right, not like on disc DLC and stuff".

When are you guys going to learn, they aren't doing it for your benefit...it's for their benefit. So what's wrong with 4 episodes at $15 each? Well, it will soon become 5 episodes at $15 each and then 4 episodes at $20 each and when you get comfortable with paying $80 for a game then they will inch it up again. The devil in these things is that it's easier to get $20 out of people at one time than $60 and $20 every 3 months isn't so bad...right? Until you look back and realize you have spent $120 on 6 episodes.

Tell me, how has it worked out with DLC, giving the industry the benefit of the doubt?

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

The issue I have with Hitman isn't the episodic part, its that it wasn't developed with that in mind. I think Square fucked up and didn't want to push the release date back anymore so they decided that an episodic release would be better. It won't, and it only hurts the game. Even if it turns out to be great as a whole, it won't be viewed as a great game because of how it was released.
I'm hoping the price for the game is for all the episodes and they have a smaller price if you want to by per-episode. But its a horrible way to market a game that isn't developed as episodic. Dumb move on Squeenix's part.

 

[WeepingAngels]

As game companies find more ways to squeeze more money out of us by avoiding the "buy it once and be done" model gamers continue to prove that they will put up with anything. "Oh, it's not a bad model if it's done right, not like on disc DLC and stuff".

When are you guys going to learn, they aren't doing it for your benefit...it's for their benefit. So what's wrong with 4 episodes at $15 each? Well, it will soon become 6 episodes at $15 each and then 4 episodes at $20 each and when you get comfortable with paying $80 for a game then they will inch it up again. The devil in these things is that it's easier to get $20 out of people at one time than $60 and $20 every 3 months isn't so bad...right? Until you look back and realize you have spent $120 on 6 episodes.

Tell me, how has it worked out with DLC, giving the industry the benefit of the doubt?

\

If it was that simple, why havent AAA publishers tried to increase the price of games to 80, 90, 100 dollars already?

If the only point you have against this model is "Oh, they'll jack up the price," then I dont see any significant downside to gamers as long as the game is designed around that model from the ground up.

The reason they haven't jacked the price up is because it's easier to get that amount in smaller increments than in one large one. I said this, did you miss it? In fact, with DLC and season passes we are already paying upwards of $100 for some games and that is because gamers have put up with it. Same thing here, start small and grow exploitative.

So, jacking the price up is just fine as long as that's the plan all along? That makes no sense, I must be reading it wrong. It's like saying robbing a bank is ok as long as you plan to rob a bank from the beginning. If however, you plan to mop the floor of the bank and then half way through you decide to rob it, that would be wrong.

Edit: Let's look at your logic in regards to DLC. These days DLC is being planned with the game itself so does that mean that on disc DLC is ok since it was planned that way?

 

[Redryhno]

As game companies find more ways to squeeze more money out of us by avoiding the "buy it once and be done" model gamers continue to prove that they will put up with anything. "Oh, it's not a bad model if it's done right, not like on disc DLC and stuff".

When are you guys going to learn, they aren't doing it for your benefit...it's for their benefit. So what's wrong with 4 episodes at $15 each? Well, it will soon become 6 episodes at $15 each and then 4 episodes at $20 each and when you get comfortable with paying $80 for a game then they will inch it up again. The devil in these things is that it's easier to get $20 out of people at one time than $60 and $20 every 3 months isn't so bad...right? Until you look back and realize you have spent $120 on 6 episodes.

Tell me, how has it worked out with DLC, giving the industry the benefit of the doubt?

You really have to remember that the majority of people in gaming aren't all that informed on some of the on-goings. And the rest of us either do follow it(very few honestly) or don't care enough because they want it NOW.

No matter how good something is, your memories of it will inevitably distort and fade over time. The same goes with the skills learned from gameplay, but it's a lot easier to rely on muscle memory and the relearning curve to get you back up to speed than it is to jump back into the plot and ask "Wait, why'd that guy do that?" about that one character that you completely forgot about until he showed up on screen again.

The thing is, Hitman is not a twitch or muscle memory style game. It's largely more a puzzle game than anything, and the relearn curve you're talking about can be infinitely more difficult than your standard game plot. And as I said, if the game's story is THAT special, you'll probably remember it alot more. People still mention Usual Suspects and Sixth Sense these days because they were unusual for the time and it's memorable. Hell, people still remember their favorite setpiece from Half-Life 1&2, the last entry of which came out over a decade ago. We remember things we liked, especially if they're largely simple like in game plots. And characters being forgotten is something that happens with alot of story-based games that are sorta long. It's not something endemic to episodic games.

 

[FoolKiller]

1. I like The Walking Dead but only paid 10 dollars for the disc version for all the content.
2. For digital games I never spend more than 10 dollars.
3. It could work for Hitman, but not other franchises.
4. Having an RPG such as FFVII delivered episodically is ridiculous. It just doesn't work
5. Tomb Raider is about tombs. It is not about shooting random people. Shooting people is what made the game suck.
6. Sonic the Hedgehog 4 shows the problems with episodic gaming that can occur.
7. I like the stories in the games. Removing them to have a dumb episodic mechanic shovelled into it would just result in a lost sale.

 

[Dalisclock]

I think a reason why Telltale games usually gets a free pass when it comes to their episodic model, is that they're games aren't really games per say, more like interactive movies or to put it properly a television series, and the fact they barely contain any element of gameplay, plus it's TT's shtick and people are more familar with them doing it.

Though that ignores the fact TT has been doing episodic gaming from the beginning, with games like Sam and Max, Back to the Future, etc which weren't Interactive movies and it still worked well.

 

[josemlopes]

When are you guys going to learn, they aren't doing it for your benefit...it's for their benefit. So what's wrong with 4 episodes at $15 each? Well, it will soon become 5 episodes at $15 each and then 4 episodes at $20 each and when you get comfortable with paying $80 for a game then they will inch it up again. The devil in these things is that it's easier to get $20 out of people at one time than $60 and $20 every 3 months isn't so bad...right? Until you look back and realize you have spent $120 on 6 episodes.

A key part for it to work properly is to give the option to buy the game in its entirety for the normal price of 60$.


OT: I think that in theory it works and makes sense, but since it has all been very poorly informed (just see most comments here, some even think that you pay 60$ for the game plus the episodes and others dont even know that you can just pay the 60$) a lot of people will see it as a shady way of selling the game. It will likely fail (it reminds me of the poor information about the Rainbow Six Siege season pass, it basicly just gives skins so the people that bought it say its shity business because they didnt actually knew that you didnt need it to get the new maps and characters, so yeah, free content is being seen as bad business because they didnt saw that they were buying something else).

So far for me the only thing that I am suspicious about is the quality of the rest of the game (but I guess I can wait untill its fully out) and how they will likely keep the game full price for an entire year.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

A key part for it to work properly is to give the option to buy the game in it entirety for the normal price of 60$.

This is the most important part of the business model itself. If I pay $15 for the base game and $10 for each episode, I can reliably expect some 5 or 6 episodes out if someone who bought the whole package paid $60. Why? Because if I pay less for the episodes piecemeal then the people who bought the package all hell will break loose in terms of "shitty business model" and "screwing consumers over".

More importantly, from a gameplay perspective, the game has to support it. Hitman is a great fit because the best received Hitman (Blood Money) was little more then a series of largely unconnected missions that were tied up with an excuse plot near the end. Releasing Hitman as episodic content allows for developer to polish up each individual scenario more while not being constrained by the need for a narrative that goes far beyond "47 travels around and kills people". Tomb Raider, likewise, could also work in such a model with each new episode containing a self-contained area to explore and even a self-contained story to be told.

As an added bonus, if you are on the fence about the game you can drop those $15 and really get to engage with it. If you don't like it, you haven't lost that much (what? two big mac meals?) but if you do like it you can get the season pass and only pay some 5-10 dollars premium compared to taking a chance at full price.

 

[Here Comes Tomorrow]

A key part for it to work properly is to give the option to buy the game in it entirety for the normal price of 60$.

This is the most important part of the business model itself. If I pay $15 for the base game and $10 for each episode, I can reliably expect some 5 or 6 episodes out if someone who bought the whole package paid $60. Why? Because if I pay less for the episodes piecemeal then the people who bought the package all hell will break loose in terms of "shitty business model" and "screwing consumers over".

More importantly, from a gameplay perspective, the game has to support it. Hitman is a great fit because the best received Hitman (Blood Money) was little more then a series of largely unconnected missions that were tied up with an excuse plot near the end. Releasing Hitman as episodic content allows for developer to polish up each individual scenario more while not being constrained by the need for a narrative that goes far beyond "47 travels around and kills people". Tomb Raider, likewise, could also work in such a model with each new episode containing a self-contained area to explore and even a self-contained story to be told.

There's no guarentee that either the subsequent episodes will be amy good though, and this is my main issue. After people buy the $60 version there is nothing holding Squeenix to make anything of any quality.

Sorry, but when it comes to big game devs, cynisism wins out every time for me. The "episodic" plan is in no way motivated by the players best interests. Moreover, the fact that they switched to an episodic format so close to release means the game is more than likely finished, they're just hacking it up for profit. A few more weeks of bug squashing in Feburary and then release prep for the remainder of March.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

There's no guarentee that either the subsequent episodes will be amy good though, and this is my main issue. After people buy the $60 version there is nothing holding Squeenix to make anything of any quality.

Sorry, but when it comes to big game devs, cynisism wins out every time for me. The "episodic" plan is in no way motivated by the players best interests. Moreover, the fact that they switched to an episodic format so close to release means the game is more than likely finished, they're just hacking it up for profit. A few more weeks of bug squashing in Feburary and then release prep for the remainder of March.

You mean except all the money from the people who decides to buy piecemeal? Part of the idea of releasing episodic is that you can build up hype as each new episode releases, to build a following by making a strong show with each new episode. Squeenix wants as much money as they can get, that means that if they go episodic they have to make a consistently good effort or people who prefer to pick ad choose which episodes to get will skimp on those that are said to be bad.

As for Hitman itself, the game was already said to have been intended to be episodic. The major change is that instead of releasing with "several" (exact number never stated) scenarios/missions it will now only release with the prologue/tutorial and the Paris mission and all the other missions will come at a later date. It could be taken as a sign that IO was given more time to polish their unfinished missions.

 

[Fallow]

Statistical analysis strongly indicates that this is a terrible idea.

Your whole argument hinges on the possibility that Squeenix will not screw over customers any more than they currently do. If there is one thing that every gaming publisher does (except for Stardock <3) it's screw over their customers every which way as often and as hard as possible.
Why would Squeenix suddenly develop a conscience? What indicators do you have that this time (number 1,239,781,389,423,948,123,413,224 in the streak) is the time that a publisher decides to play nice when a new salted whip and gagball has appeared?

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

I'll just cut this down to the most straightforward argument possible: this is being done by the current Square-Enix. Which means it has an extremely high chance of being done badly as when current SE starts experimenting things go awry quickly.

 

[Lightknight]

I don't know about you guys, but episodic games or titles with a ton of DLC just make me wait (sometimes for years) until there's a bundle including all of them. This certainly isn't something that these studios want to happen but we'll see what impact it eventually has.

 

[RJ 17]

Those types of games are the ones that would be best suited to being Episodic.

Let me stop you right there, as this is your first point and you already seem to be making a mistake in saying that the games that are getting chopped up are the games that are best suited to being episodic.

Any type of game that has any type of progression system is the last game you want to be episodic. What, for instance, will this mean for FF7 Remake? Will there be level caps in each episode? If so, you remove one of the core elements of an RPG: being able to get to whatever level you want. They put caps into FF13 and we all saw how much that leveling system was loved by the fans. What's the alternative, allowing levels to carry over? That kinda defeats the challenge for the next episode, doesn't it? I've got FF7 Ep 1 for - just throwing a number out there - 6 months (as I highly doubt FF7 Remake is going to be the kind of project that they crank out an episode-per-week...as Jim has guessed: it's likely that they're using this episodic release schedule so that they can have sales from one episode finance the development of the next) and have gotten all my characters to 99...the rest of the game is going to be a breeze. Will they give us an arbitrary point to start from (say "Episode 2 starts with you at lvl 35 no matter what you were in the previous episode"), then that means you just wasted all of your time grinding up to lvl 99.

This example is just an example of why splitting a FF game into episodes is a terrible idea, however as I said: the same reasoning can be applied to any game with a form of progression...which Deus Ex and Hitman certainly have, don't know about Tomb Raider as I haven't played it.

Progression aside, you still get into the "I stopped caring like, 6 months ago" issue.

Unless the episodes come out in rapid succession, there's going to be a large amount of player drop-off between the episodes. TotalBiscuit did a look into this matter - granted, in a completely non-scientific manner as it was just a spur-of-the-moment thing on his podcast - by looking at TellTale's Walking Dead games. He looked at the total number of people that had the "You've Completed Episode 1!" achievement vs the number of people that had the "You've Completed Episode 2!" achievement, and so on. Between each episode there was a significant drop off.

I'm actually rather surprised that you'd reference Jim Sterling - someone who thinks this is a terrible way for Squeenix to be proceeding - and then go on and write an essay about why you think it's a grand idea. I'd say Jim makes a pretty convincing argument for why it's a terrible way to do things. More convincing than your argument in favor of this, at least.

 

[Here Comes Tomorrow]

I'll be honest, I'm willing to let FF7R slide on the episodic thing cuz that game is fucking HUGE. I think skipping text my shortest play through was like 50 hours? Every time I think back on it I remember a new part to it. And it's going to be fully animated, voiced etc. Thats like a 5 year project.

The same can't be said of Hitman or Tomb Raider. They're like 12 hours max if I'm being generous, which means episode will be really short. Like maybe 2-3 hours? I don't feel that $5 an hour is worth it.

 

[Deshin]

stuff

I never included Final Fantasy 7. It's clear from the rest of my post I'm specifying Hitman and Tomb Raider as the prime examples with slightly dipping into Deus Ex as a "maybe". In fact my post goes into detail about why games where the plot isn't the driving point would make good Episodic formats, and as an RPG is by definition story-driven it would fall into the "not so great" category. Context and subtext, mate.

It's also laughable to say that Hitman has progression. No, it does not. The only form of "progression" Hitman has ever had is in the form of unlocking weapons throughout the game.

As for some other points throughout this thread I'm going to give a quick rebuttal:

"They'll screw us over with pricing" - There is absolutely nothing to stop publishers doing that right this second. Publishers are screwing us with pricing left, right, and center in their single release AAA games with gouging and DLC. It's a non point because it can be applied to any single possible form of release.

"I'll just wait for a bundle to buy it" - Another non-problem because it's identical to saying "I'll just buy the GOTY edition" (Elder Scrolls and Fallout come to mind) or "I'll buy it when it's on sale". Once again, not a problem in any way, shape, or form unique or endemic to Episodic games.

"I'll forget the gameplay after 6 months" - Seriously? I... I don't even know where to go with this one. Play the turotial for 5 minutes. Or trust that the developers know what they're doing and don't drop you right into the thick of things when you hop back into a new episode.

"There's no guarantee the subsequent levels will live up to the quality" - Another problem that isn't unique to Episodic games. EVERY game has the possibility of being crap. I've played a *lot* of games that had a great first 1/4 of the game and the rest of it was mediocre. The difference is by the time I got to the crap parts I'd already put down money for the full game so felt a lot more ripped off. If anything Episodic content has MORE REASON to keep the quality up because if they release a crappy episode it'll push down purchases of subsequent parts. Be smart, don't pre-order Episodic titles, buy them as they come out. (which is basically "never pre-order" which no one should do ever) Hell, how many AAA games now are $60 and only last 5-6 hours? Wait for reviews.

"It's a rip off that's BAD for consumers" - If anything it protects the consumers a LOT more than the current model. Instead of a $60 investment you have 4 separate $15 investments. You buy episode 1 and don't like it? You've just saved yourself $45. Don't pre-order them, wait for the episodes to come out and be reviewed and form an informed opinion about should this series get more of your money or not. Treat the Episodes as sequels.

A lot of complaints people have in this thread are solid legitimate complaints. BUT those complaints are complaints that apply to ALL GAMES and not specifically the Episodic format. Yes it can be overpriced and it can suck, but that's a complaint you can hold up to ANYTHING. Consider the problems that are unique to Episodic titles and not problems that can be leveraged at games as a whole.

The best mindset to apply to the format is "each episode is a tiny game". That's it, each and every Episode is a tiny game and every subsequent episode is a sequel. With that mindset a LOT of complaints against it are nullified. What is the difference between releasing a full AAA game every 2 years (Hitman's original release) or releasing 1/4 of a Hitman game every 6 months for 1/4 of the price? Game sucks, don't buy the sequel, simples.
Games as a medium are changing and evolving and unless we try out new things we'll never get anywhere. Imagine how HUGE a concept it was at the time when they released the first ever Expansion Pack for a game? How many people said "what a rip off, they're not making a sequel and only giving us half a game"? If done right then Episodic content could be a great new avenue for games that improves quality and consistency of our favourite titles... OR it could crash and burn~ which is possible. It could totally be possible. I know full well Square-Enix's capacity for taking great ideas and fucking them up royally. All I want is more "caution" instead of "condemnation" from the people.

 

[Lightspeaker]

"They'll screw us over with pricing" - There is absolutely nothing to stop publishers doing that right this second. Publishers are screwing us with pricing left, right, and center in their single release AAA games with gouging and DLC. It's a non point because it can be applied to any single possible form of release.

You're drastically, drastically missing the point here.

There is something stopping publishers from doing that right this second and that thing is the market itself. If the next Call of Duty was announced to cost a hundred quid (i.e. over a hundred and forty US dollars for you Americans out there) then the number of people purchasing it would drop like a stone. People will flatly refuse to pay that price. And will go buy other things instead.

So instead of just jacking the price up on a game heavily overall they chop it up and sell it in chunks. Its significantly easier over time to add small increments to portions of a product than to jack up the price of the whole thing by the same amount. If TellTale were to make each episode of a series cost two pounds more that's not a lot per episode, but overall it adds another ten quid to the price of the whole thing.

Its a psychological thing. And it works in exactly the same way microtransactions do. Pound or two here is barely worth mentioning. Another fiver there, bit bigger but its okay its still not going to break the bank. And before you know it you've spent a fortune over and above what you intended to, because each transaction (or increase in price) was relatively minor.

"I'll just wait for a bundle to buy it" - Another non-problem because it's identical to saying "I'll just buy the GOTY edition" (Elder Scrolls and Fallout come to mind) or "I'll buy it when it's on sale". Once again, not a problem in any way, shape, or form unique or endemic to Episodic games.

Not a problem as far as customers are concerned but its a massive problem as far as big publishers go. We're talking about an industry obsessed with pre-order and first-week sales in which something can sell millions of copies and still be a failure. Companies literally teaching potential customers to not buy it yet because its not worth it is, frankly, a bizarre business strategy. And there will come a point where even the more stubborn customers will decide its not worth paying for until everything is out. And this could easily result in an episodic game outright being dropped after one episode because 'hardly anyone bought it so nobody must want it'.

"I'll forget the gameplay after 6 months" - Seriously? I... I don't even know where to go with this one. Play the turotial for 5 minutes. Or trust that the developers know what they're doing and don't drop you right into the thick of things when you hop back into a new episode.

I don't see many saying about forgetting the gameplay. I see a lot saying about forgetting the story. And this is true. Its a thing that happens, especially if the story is complicated. Hell even if its simple.

"There's no guarantee the subsequent levels will live up to the quality" - Another problem that isn't unique to Episodic games. EVERY game has the possibility of being crap. I've played a *lot* of games that had a great first 1/4 of the game and the rest of it was mediocre. The difference is by the time I got to the crap parts I'd already put down money for the full game so felt a lot more ripped off. If anything Episodic content has MORE REASON to keep the quality up because if they release a crappy episode it'll push down purchases of subsequent parts. Be smart, don't pre-order Episodic titles, buy them as they come out. (which is basically "never pre-order" which no one should do ever) Hell, how many AAA games now are $60 and only last 5-6 hours? Wait for reviews.

Difference being with an episodic game you're effectively already committed to it. You literally DON'T get a whole story in one episode. That is a deliberate design decision. So buying the first episode means you have a much, much heavier commitment to the game than you have merely pre-ordering a full game, because you can always cancel a pre-order and you're not invested in it at all until you get the full product. With an episodic game you've got a much higher level of commitment and you potentially won't find out for MONTHS if that commitment is worth it.

"It's a rip off that's BAD for consumers" - If anything it protects the consumers a LOT more than the current model. Instead of a $60 investment you have 4 separate $15 investments. You buy episode 1 and don't like it? You've just saved yourself $45. Don't pre-order them, wait for the episodes to come out and be reviewed and form an informed opinion about should this series get more of your money or not. Treat the Episodes as sequels.

Again you are totally ignoring the fact that buying into the first episode means you now have a commitment to the game. And again, you can't treat 'episodes as sequels' because that isn't how the thing is designed. Episodes are deliberately designed not to tell a full story so unless you really do not care about stories in games at all then you have a much higher motivation to want to buy the rest of it. Unless you REALLY don't like it and/or can't bring yourself to care in the slightest you'll probably buy the rest and finish it regardless of reviews.

The best mindset to apply to the format is "each episode is a tiny game". That's it, each and every Episode is a tiny game and every subsequent episode is a sequel. With that mindset a LOT of complaints against it are nullified.

Its nullified yes, but you're using a total misrepresentation of the format to do so and you are being incredibly dishonest with your argument here.

 

[RJ 17]

I never included Final Fantasy 7. It's clear from the rest of my post I'm specifying Hitman and Tomb Raider as the prime examples with slightly dipping into Deus Ex as a "maybe". In fact my post goes into detail about why games where the plot isn't the driving point would make good Episodic formats, and as an RPG is by definition story-driven it would fall into the "not so great" category. Context and subtext, mate.

Well mate, I'm afraid you don't get the cherry-pick when it comes to things like that. Your topic says "Square Enix's New Episodic Formula May Be A Good Thing", which therefor means you're arguing in favor of all the games that Squeenix currently has on the chopping block, not just the ones that conveniently fit your argument.

It's also laughable to say that Hitman has progression. No, it does not. The only form of "progression" Hitman has ever had is in the form of unlocking weapons throughout the game.

That's still progression, my friend. Will they be capping what weapons are unlocked? Doing so will severely hinder replay value, just as it would with any RPG and a level cap. Will they let you keep going until you get all the weapons? Doing so negates the challenge of the later Episodes. The same issues I brought up - which you neglected to address - apply to any game, regardless of what genre. In fact, I'd say you got it backwards: only games that are purely story driven - such as Tell Tale's visual novels - are suited for an episodic release. In such games, the only thing that is progressing is the story, as such the only thing that needs to be kept track of between the episodes is "what choices did the player make?" Things like weapons, items, levels, experience, etc don't need to be worried about.

"They'll screw us over with pricing" - There is absolutely nothing to stop publishers doing that right this second. Publishers are screwing us with pricing left, right, and center in their single release AAA games with gouging and DLC. It's a non point because it can be applied to any single possible form of release.

Sorry, are you suggesting that just because everyone else is doing it we should then give a pass to practices that exacerbate the problem?

"I'll just wait for a bundle to buy it" - Another non-problem because it's identical to saying "I'll just buy the GOTY edition" (Elder Scrolls and Fallout come to mind) or "I'll buy it when it's on sale". Once again, not a problem in any way, shape, or form unique or endemic to Episodic games.

At this point I think you just enjoy hearing the sound of yourself typing, because this one isn't even a complaint against an episodic format...it's a course of action one takes in response to an episodic format.

"I'll forget the gameplay after 6 months" - Seriously? I... I don't even know where to go with this one. Play the turotial for 5 minutes. Or trust that the developers know what they're doing and don't drop you right into the thick of things when you hop back into a new episode.

I think you're misunderstanding here. While I certainly haven't browsed every comment here to see if there's people talking about forgetting the gameplay, there was the issue that I brought up of "who's going to continue to care 6 months down the line?" Unless you stick to a rapid release schedule - like that Resident Evil game that released a new episode every week - then chances are a fair chunk of your audience is going to move on to different games.

"There's no guarantee the subsequent levels will live up to the quality" - Another problem that isn't unique to Episodic games. EVERY game has the possibility of being crap. I've played a *lot* of games that had a great first 1/4 of the game and the rest of it was mediocre. The difference is by the time I got to the crap parts I'd already put down money for the full game so felt a lot more ripped off. If anything Episodic content has MORE REASON to keep the quality up because if they release a crappy episode it'll push down purchases of subsequent parts. Be smart, don't pre-order Episodic titles, buy them as they come out. (which is basically "never pre-order" which no one should do ever) Hell, how many AAA games now are $60 and only last 5-6 hours? Wait for reviews.

Again with the "because normal games have this problem we should excuse it for episodic games". We should be working to get the industry to stop these issues, not bring about more practices that can lead to these issues.

"It's a rip off that's BAD for consumers" - If anything it protects the consumers a LOT more than the current model. Instead of a $60 investment you have 4 separate $15 investments. You buy episode 1 and don't like it? You've just saved yourself $45. Don't pre-order them, wait for the episodes to come out and be reviewed and form an informed opinion about should this series get more of your money or not. Treat the Episodes as sequels.

Or we could simply encourage and promote developers that manage to make full games that are straight-up good. Take CD Projekt Red and Witcher III for example. Here's a game with tons of content, tons of additional free content post launch, and expansions that are as big as many other regular games out there. These are the types of things we should be encouraging.

Or I suppose we could keep hoping that Half-Life 3 comes out.

A lot of complaints people have in this thread are solid legitimate complaints. BUT those complaints are complaints that apply to ALL GAMES and not specifically the Episodic format. Yes it can be overpriced and it can suck, but that's a complaint you can hold up to ANYTHING. Consider the problems that are unique to Episodic titles and not problems that can be leveraged at games as a whole.

Once more with feeling: just because an issue can apply to other formats doesn't change the fact that it's still an issue with Episodic games. In fact, considering that these issues are applying to a fraction of a game (with episodic development) as opposed to full games, I'd argue it makes such deficiencies even more glaring.

The best mindset to apply to the format is "each episode is a tiny game". That's it, each and every Episode is a tiny game and every subsequent episode is a sequel.

Except that's not the case. It's a fraction of a game. Unless a game is specifically designed to be episodic - which Hitman wasn't, as an example - then you're being sold a game in pieces.

With that mindset a LOT of complaints against it are nullified.

Why, just because you say so?

What is the difference between releasing a full AAA game every 2 years (Hitman's original release) or releasing 1/4 of a Hitman game every 6 months for 1/4 of the price? Game sucks, don't buy the sequel, simples.

Well in one situation you've got a complete game that - if you did your homework by not preordering and checking out the reviews - you should already have a good idea of if you want to buy the game or not. 6 months down the line who knows if you'll even still be interested in picking up the next episode? A shiny new game may have been released and you don't even care about Hitman Episode 2 anymore.

Games as a medium are changing and evolving and unless we try out new things we'll never get anywhere. Imagine how HUGE a concept it was at the time when they released the first ever Expansion Pack for a game? How many people said "what a rip off, they're not making a sequel and only giving us half a game"? If done right then Episodic content could be a great new avenue for games that improves quality and consistency of our favourite titles... OR it could crash and burn~ which is possible. It could totally be possible. I know full well Square-Enix's capacity for taking great ideas and fucking them up royally.

All the more reason for Squeenix's new business model - or any new trend in gaming - to be treated with loads of skepticism rather than willing enthusiasm.

All I want is more "caution" instead of "condemnation" from the people.

And at last it seems we agree on something.

Just be aware that, apparently, the target audience/market demographic for Squeenix's episodic release plan has already rendered judgement, something that comes after the initial caution: acceptance or condemnation. The target audience has clearly chosen the latter.

As such, in the end, you're fully entitled to your opinion on the matter. The above arguments were made with sincerity and absolutely no disrespect intended. All I'm saying is that if your goal is to convince others of your opinion on the matter, you've got a pretty tough up-hill battle ahead of you.

 

[CaitSeith]

Before I wrap this up I'd like to address one more thing. Why are people so up in arms about Episodic format but Telltale Games gets a free pass?

Because Telltale Games have proved they can do it right and sell it at a fair price. Square-Enix (and other major AAA publishers) have proved lately that they'll abuse of any monetization system for their sole advantage, customer satisfaction be damned. I hope they don't charge $60 - $70 per episode and fill each one with microtransactions; but I wouldn't be surprised.