BioWare goes episodic

[GunnyMo]

BioWare CEO Ray Muzyka has put out the word (http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=155730) that they have some major episodic content coming for many of their soon to be released PC and console titles.

...we have big plans afoot at BioWare for post-release and episodic content for upcoming cool BioWare games like Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Jade Empire: Special Edition and other upcoming BioWare titles, both on console and PC", BioWare CEO Ray Muzyka divulged in an interview with CVG which we'll be publishing shortly.
We'll bring you the full interview as soon as CVG puts it up but what a tease!

All I have to say is: woot!

[F3nyx]

That's not very exciting, especially when you've got companies like Epic giving away post-release content for free.

[Johan]

I like the continued developer support for titles. I don't like paying too much. Here's to hoping a nice equilibrium is reached between cost and content.

[drakkarim]

episodic content is great on paper, just like communism, religion, politics, and taxes.

[Roc Ingersol]

episodic content would be nice, if anyone was actually delivering it at a sufficient clip - and not just slathering a new buzzword on 'expansion pack'.

[gzsfrk]

I think it would be cool if they could offer cheap, episodic expansions to one of their previous franchises, like the original KOTOR. I'd love to have a steady stream of new missions, say along the lines of 5 hours or so, to continue on in a game-world that I knew very well and enjoyed very much.

That being said, I know the chances of it happening are slim to none. (And Slim just left town. )

[51|RandoM]

episodic is a joke when it isn't 100% digital distribution.

Let us say it takes, oh, say, 5 episodes to equal the length of a good, solid title---Prey obviously being not what I'm thinking of---and you end up with five times the packaging, five times the shelf space, five times as many trips to a brick&mortar.

Is this just the MTV generation's version of gaming?

Another issue with episodic content is time. Who does episodic content and actually releases stuff in a reasonable timeframe? NOBODY(maybe .hack was an exception?).

Imagine waiting six months to a year for each episode of 24, or Lost, or Heroes.

If you can't release the episodes in a timely fashion, you're not providing any benefit to your consumers. Instead you're just making them pay for your development milestones in what would've been a full game.

[Xerxes]

I think Half-Life 2 has it about right.

[51|RandoM]

I think Half-Life 2 has it about right.

Oh really?

Episode 1 - June 1st 2006
Episode 2 - Sometime in 2007...

EP1 and EP2 are very poor examples though, because they stopped being episodic the moment valve decided to bundle ep2 with portal and tfc remix.

For episodic content to work for me it'll have to be a new episode every 3 months or less, at least when they're the length of EP1.

[PIPBoy3000]

With Neverwinter Nights, Bioware set up a Live Team which supported games post-release. I think the plan is to have that continue, creating additional content. The catch is the audience tends to be smaller, but there's a core group of fans that will cheerfully pay $10 a pop for a few hours of extra gameplay.

[Xerxes]

Actually I think a game like Splinter Cell could pull it off. Remember how they released those new filled out maps not to long after the game was out. I six months would be a suite spot. If they have a good set tools and a decent size staff they should be able to crank out a new full level polished enough to be sold. And wouldn't it be more in there favor in some regards being all digital distribution. In other words, more money in return than the original game.

[Grey]

maybe "episodic" will establish only as a new word for "poor or short (or both) add-on" ... well Sam&Max wasnt bad, but if the game has "serious" story/content it just blows if you cant play more then 6h.

I dont like this whole "episodic" blahblah ... but since bioware decided to go the console way, i dont care for them anyway (multiplattform games are (mostly) even worse)

[violentp]

Oh really?

Episode 1 - June 1st 2006
Episode 2 - Sometime in 2007...

EP1 and EP2 are very poor examples though, because they stopped being episodic the moment valve decided to bundle ep2 with portal and tfc remix.

For episodic content to work for me it'll have to be a new episode every 3 months or less, at least when they're the length of EP1.

Opinions are like assholes, everyone's got one. Remember that.

[Roc Ingersol]

Episodic content needs to be far more frequent than every six months.
Otherwise, your audience will wander off.

It isn't an opportunity for the suits to greenlight concept-shopping one episode at a time. (because they have no idea what is good and what resonates with gamers, they're eager to drop short games in front of people, so bombs don't cost as much. but that's a raw deal for everyone.)

It needs to be done more like TV:
you build 4 or 6 episodes then start 'airing' them as you continue to build more.
If it bombs, then you restructure your in-dev episodes to wrap up the story line and the publishers get to pull the plug for maybe half the price of a full title.

If it goes over well, maybe you can incorporate some feedback in the last few episodes. But overall, the feedback from the first 'season' is used to drive the second 'season'.

If they want to concept-shop, they could air a 'pilot' and use that to judge whether it's worth investing in 6+ episodes worth of production. (Hell, maybe that's what SIN Episode really was).

but Episodic content needs to be delivered at least on tv or even comicbook-style schedules: weekly, biweekly, monthly or (very rarely) bimonthly.

[51|RandoM]

Opinions are like assholes, everyone's got one. Remember that.

...that might be why I said the part about "for it to work for me", cupcake.

Do you really think once/year makes sense as episodic content?

Taking what would otherwise be a game and an expansion pack released over two years and putting the dividing line somewhere else, relabeling it as "episodic" content and then releasing one part a year after another doesn't make any sense to me.

From what I've seen so far, "episodic" means a way to ultimately pay more for less. I don't consider that opinion, btw, I consider it fact.

[Xerxes]

Six months is a long time, but it's still fresh. Hell, and look at Lord of the Rings. Man they made us wait a fucking year. I just meant if you just wanted to say I make something grand to actually last 6 months as well. But in this industry truth be told technology could catch up by episode 2 or 3 and X company would be wondering what the fuck happened. See how Valve keeps updating the Source Engine.

Building up 4 or 6 episodes would slow down release time of the original. Unless you had parallel group doing just episodic content. Which could work. Hmm... I would probably say a good episode a month would be the sweet spot but as I'm not in the industry yet, I can't tell you specifically how long creating 5-10h of content would actually be. You could stick some bullshit hard ass achievements in there to boggle the mind i guess until new episode day. 1-3 months could turn a good game into a cash machine. Chromehounds selling parts is bull shit.

[violentp]

Sure, but do you really think once/year makes sense as episodic content?

Absolutely not.

Taking what would otherwise be a game and an expansion pack released over two years and putting the dividing line somewhere else, relabeling it as "episodic" content and then releasing one part a year after another doesn't make any sense to me.

I agree 100%

From what I've seen so far, "episodic" means a way to ultimately pay more for less. I don't consider that opinion, btw, I consider it fact.

I think in the end we are paying more for less. Who's to say they aren't holding back content just for a second product. I personally feel the whole thing is bullshit in it's current state. I agree with you one hundred percent man, but regarding my previous statement, sometimes ignorance is bliss.

[rein]

I agree with Random. I was originally excited at the announcement of episodic content. I had thoughts of paying $10-$15 each month for a new episode and playing through a developing story line. Unfortunately, that is not what happened. Instead, we get a part of a game that is released almost a year before the next part. Not my idea of episodic content.

[Roc Ingersol]

Six months is a long time, but it's still fresh. Hell, and look at Lord of the Rings. Man they made us wait a fucking year.
That wasn't 'episodic content' -- those were self-contained feature-length AAA films that happened to be released one after the other. Episodic content is "The Amazing Spiderman" or "Heroes" or "The Unit".

But in this industry truth be told technology could catch up by episode 2 or 3 and X company would be wondering what the fuck happened.
The whole point of episodic content is a focus on the content. Worrying about technology mid-season is silly.

And you can always upgrade the engine between 'seasons'. That is: have a technology group that's working on the version 2 upgrades, while the content team is working on version 1. After the season, you switch the content guys to version 2 and get the tech guys working on version 3.

[GunnyMo]

That's not very exciting, especially when you've got companies like Epic giving away post-release content for free.

I think there is a difference between new multi-player maps and actual, single player episodic content relating to the storyline. I'm not complaining about free maps, mind you. I'm just pointing out the difference.

[doyama]

I find episodic content to be somewhat hit and miss. On the very bad side you have Half Life 2 which seems to think episodic content can come out in a semi-annual or annual basis. On the good side, Sam and Max have been so far been very consistent in their release schedule while still providing quality content.

Though I'm kinda sad that original voice for Max seems to have been replaced between 1 and 2? Anyone else notice this?

[Sandman]

What everyone forgets is yearly IS episodic to Valve. Remember how long it was between Half Life 1 & 2?

[Telefrog]

Sam & Max would be the best example so far of truly episodic content. Granted, I haven't seen any of it since I'm not willing to sign up for Gametap, but it sounds like they have the idea right. The crap Valve is putting out is not what I would consider even close to episodic. The length and content is good, but the wait in between episodes is way too long.

It's sort of like the hiatus Lost has taken. It's just too damn long. I'm really not even very interested in watching it when it comes back on since I now have Rome, Heroes, and 24 to occupy my time.

[Disgustipated]

Eh... additional content would be nice as long as it's priced right, and doesn't take away from the main game. I'm 99% sure Bioware wouldn't pull an EA.

[Twigz'N'Berries]

...I'm more interested in this Jade Empire: Special Edition. I hadn't heard anything about it. Will it be 360 or OG Xbox? What will make it 'Special'? I liked the original, and with a few tweaks it could be pushed into an all-time favorite category.