Knock on thought
So because of the way EA was framed, I think the best analogy or cautionary advice would be something like...
Once you win the Academy award for Best Picture or Best Editing, that is a pretty clear signal to just call it and stop editing. This is the hardest thing to do, or to know when to do, really with any work of art or creative endeavor. This doesn't mean you can't make a "Directors cut" or a dozen director's cuts, but that's why those sorts of things release with different subtitles to differentiate them from the theatrical releases.
In short try to be Ridley Scott rather than George Lucas when it comes to this sort of stuff. Like recut Blade Runner till the end of time if you want, as long as the theatrical version still gets to exist somewhere. Star Wars the motion picture (1977) by contrast, no longer exists in a way that can be experienced by the average viewer, because it's been altered so many times.
I think cinema is a better analog here than say a stage play or improv, because the audience expections are rather different going into those experiences. When I go to see a play part of the appeal is that something perhaps unexpected or unique might occur in each performance, because it's live.
A film is different, the viewer does not expect little things to change on repeat viewing or to be surprised in that way. Even a very slight alteration in sequence or sound or musical accompaniment can change the pacing and overall vibe and leave the viewer scratching their head like 'why did they change that?' You know, cause perhaps they liked the first version better.
Likewise, if I go to see a Broadway revival (something I can't actually afford to do, but just indulge me) I wouldn't expect to see the exact same thing people saw the first time around. But if I got to watch a classic film, I do expect that, and it's kinda the whole point of cinema. Clearly a cRPG is not cinema or theater or stand up comedy, it's something categorically different, but I think the same sorts of analogies may hold.
For another familiar example, the LotR films vs their Extended Editions. Return of the King won best picture and it has it's own separate DvD. Now I might just always watch the extended versions of these flicks cause I think they're interesting, but if they mucked those up, at least those Extended versions would exist on a separate disc. The one doesn't supercede or replace the other, instead they both get to live alongside one another.
If it's purely additive then I'm more positively disposed towards the whole enterprise. If it tries for a do-over or to sweep the earlier thing under the rug I find that annoying. Especially if the thing I fell in love with managed to blockbust and worm it's way into the collective imagination to become a cultural phenomenon. You just can't pull a fast one when the thing's already been seen by millions of people. There's no backsies there. Literally everyone will notice and scrutinize every single change, and just refuse to ever let it go lol.
On the upside, because this is a game, there are more options available to us, because unlike a movie or a play, here we have those dialogue branches baked-in. Instead of replacing a given scene with a redux, they can add another dialogue entry to the list, and do it that way. This would be my strong preferance, because the alterations are less disruptive and there's more flexibility. At some point though, the dress rehearsal has to give way to the real deal, and for a typical game that would be when you start selling tickets at the box office right? But I think they got a bit too used to an Early access vibe.
I also take the point about cars not working, currently I got a busted alternator in my whip, so I feel that lol. Though I think that analogy is a bit reaching. I mean this isn't an automobile or a new computer that cost someone potentially thousands of dollars just for the ticket to ride. We're not going to fly off the freeway into a ditch if the brakes suddenly fail here.
A better analogy is probably something like, trying to get your ticket at will-call for some kind of festival concert, only to find out at the door that they switched the lineup or set list at the last minute. The band you specifically came to hear play got moved to a different stage and now there's issues. But then other people are just happy to be there, like chillin' out on the lawn with an overpriced margherita, cause they knew going in that it might be part of the dice roll. But again, if this is Frampton Comes Alive and they cut a record during that show, we don't break the master and re-record it right? You want em to feel like you 'did' in that case hehe
Ok ok just a ramble, but I think there's a lesson in there somewhere, maybe.
Last edited by Black_Elk; 19/02/24 09:34 PM.
