Episodic Releases... Your Opinions

[MC]

After browsing around GameSpy for about half an hour, I noticed the term "episodic content" and/or "episodic releases" being mentioned in a good majority of games still in development. It would seem that a lot of companies want to take the same approach as VALVe did (I don't know of any companies that do the same, before VALVe).

The up-side to this is that it seems to cut production costs and allows the developers to judge how the next episodic release should turn out in regards to how the previous one did.

Discuss!

 

[Jariroth]

Ive got no problem with it as long as the "episodes" wont be something that you can finish in few hours... I'd hate to pay for five episodes to actually get the full game...

 

[Sicron]

Yet the downside is that you have less hours of gameplay, and it will cost you more.

For example, Half Life 2 gave me like...20 hours of gameplay for, I think 60 dollars. Yet, Half Life 2 Episode 1 gives you 3 hours of gameplay for 20 dollars, as will Episode 2 and most likely also Episode 3. So in total you get about 9-12 hours of gameplay for 60 dollars. No, give me the 2 years waiting for a good stable game, rather than 3 hours of gameplay every 6 months. Saves me money, and it's way more fun.

 

[Adaptus]

Episodic content is bull**** and far too expensive in most cases.

It should die. >:[

 

[Deman]

I remember back in the day when Episodes were called Expansion Packs.

 

[L]

Yet the downside is that you have less hours of gameplay, and it will cost you more.

For example, Half Life 2 gave me like...20 hours of gameplay(8+ hours I replayed the game and stopped and gawked at the nice graphics) for, I think 60 dollars. Yet, Half Life 2 Episode 1 gives you 3 hours of gameplay(becuase I totally stop replaying it and not as impressed as I was at HL2 release date) for 20 dollars, as will Episode 2 and most likely also Episode 3. So in total you get about 9-12 hours of gameplay(if you rush through) for 60 dollars. No, give me the 2 years waiting(Plus long delays from VALVe) for a good stable game, rather than 3(underestimated) hours of gameplay every 6 months. Saves me money, and it's way more fun(to replay the game and gawk at teh new graphix).

Yes, I also dont like all these Extra's that come with the episodes either.
Like TF2, I dont think I'd like that as a bonus for 20$ and have more HL2 goodness at all.
Like, TF2 online doesnt add gameplay time to HL2 episode 2 either!
It's a totally different game!
I think I'll wait when TF2 is stand alone and comes at 20$ instead.
Oh and three episodes at like, 12+ hours of game time for 60$ (which is more hours played then HL2, less money on release) is totally not worth it either..
And holding out to get the best of technology to date isnt always a good thing.

 

[Sonic the Vampire]

I'm not sure why you "quoted" him like that but it's rude, so don't do it again.

Episodic content that takes six months per segment is not something I would look forward to, but if they could drop that to 3 or 4 months I wouldn't mind. A big plus to episodic content is that releasing shorter segments requires you to slice out much of the 'filler' that is normally associated with 20-40 hour gameplay experiences. If they'd released Halo in segments, for example, they probably would have used more types of corridoors, used more environments, and had more variety in their levels (Hello library). With those gone it'd be much more fun to replay through, even if it was shorter. I'm all for quality, not quantity, so if you give me a short game that I want to play through twice I'm happier than if you give me a 30 hour experience with parts that drag out.

 

[ZeroNightmare]

what ever happened to free content.

 

[Eon]

what ever happened to free content.

businesses losing money? ;o

 

[DiebytheSword]

I personally think it's another bull**** pay-2-play scheme like the MMORPGs. I'll wait and get the HL2 Expansion box set.

 

[frsrblch]

After seeing the extra "content" for Oblivion, I think I'll avoid them in the future. Free updates are great, exansion packs are okay if they provide lots of new stuff (Broodwar, for example), but usually the stuff added is just more of the same and not worth the cost.

 

[L]

I'm not sure why you "quoted" him like that but it's rude, so don't do it again.

~Sniffle~... Okay.. :cry:

Ah well anyways, as my original sarcastic and rude post above, I think it would be worth it if they keep on releasing these other games with the 'episode'.

 

[itr]

Episode 2 will be worth the $20 or whatever pricetag it has, it will include TF2 and Portal. Those games alone will make many hours of fun. I have no issues with episodic content, it really doesn't hurt my wallet.

 

[Adaptus]

Episode 2 will be worth the $20 or whatever pricetag it has, it will include TF2 and Portal. Those games alone will make many hours of fun. I have no issues with episodic content, it really doesn't hurt my wallet.

Wait till they start charging you $20 for just a few extra levels, weapons or whatever, when all that content goes online for the consoles (PS3 and XB360). You'll be paying more for less.

 

[sub]

Episode 2 will be worth the $20 or whatever pricetag it has, it will include TF2 and Portal. Those games alone will make many hours of fun. I have no issues with episodic content, it really doesn't hurt my wallet.

Yeah. I think it really depends on what you get and what game it is. With HL2, they're putting in Hl2: EP 2 complete with engine updates, Portal, and TF2, which is quite a deal. I'd pay 60 dollars for those games.

I'm not all for Episodic gaming though. I'd rather a company release a full complete game, then if that's good and sells well, bring on the episodes (like Valve did with HL2). For example, I don't want 20 episodes of a new IP with bad gameplay, but if you were offering me 20 episodes of something proven like Starcraft 1, Diablo, Oblivion or any quality AAA title like those, then I'm all for it. They just need to release a full game before hand.

 

[~*Logan*~]

"Episodes" are just a fancy way of describing 2 things. Expansion Packs and sequals.

Xenosaga is easilly noted for this. It has Episodes 1-3, yet could easilly be called Xenosaga 1-3. "Episode" just makes it look fancy.