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Back in 2006, Valve Corporation introduced the gaming world to the idea of episodic content. The way Gabe Newell explained it, instead of spending five years to develop a full game, a series of episodes could be made at a rate of one every six months, keeping the user interested while implementing changes to the game engine and reacting to gamer feedback between episodes. The summer of 2006 saw two large-scale attempts at episodic games: Valve's Half-Life 2: Episode One and Ritual Entertainment's SiN Episodes: Emergence.
Fast forward to 2007. SiN Episodes has been canceled with Ritualistic being bought up by second-rate casual game maker Mumbo Jumbo, and Half-Life
2: Episode 2 has been delayed to the fall of this year as part of The Black Box and The Orange Box collections. The only episodic game that has gotten past episode 1 in a timely manner has been the Gametap-funded Sam & Max episodic series, and even then the game uses a very modest graphics engine with tons of recycled content.
Why am I talking about this? Well, there are some who would love to see an episodic RPG. The idea is that characters could go through long, detailed plots without the huge commitment. Multiple villains, plot twists, romances, and all those wonderful things we've come to expect from RPGs would encompass an ongoing series, allowing for much deeper character development than a single full game.
Needless to say, I think it's a horrible idea. The biggest problem with the episodic model is that, quite frankly, you're going to run into programming and/or finance hurdles that will inevitably delay the release of an episode. This is most true when trying to create new environments, as opposed to slightly modifying preexisting environments. This leads to the problem of maintaining interest. We all get tired of reruns of our favorite shows and stop tuning in until the summer comes with new
episodes. In some cases, we never come back. Imagine having to wait six months in the first place, then seeing the game delayed
repeatedly. This just wouldn't do.
Of course, even if there were no delays, is six months really a good release schedule? RPGs tend to be slower to get to the big parts than most game types, so four hour installments are pretty much out of the question. How big should an episode be? How often should episodes be released? It's just too much to think of, and the perils of getting it wrong far outweigh the perceived rewards for getting it right.
Lastly, one has to worry about a game being exploited unreasonably. With a single game, there's pressure to provide at least some sort of closure. Squall and Rinoa living happily ever after. The Meteor being stopped just before it destroys the Planet. The gates of Oblivion being sealed forever. Even if room is made for sequels, most games have a fairly satisfying ending. Theoretically, episodes can make a game never-ending and, eventually, long in the tooth. We all know that if Square Enix released an episodic FF7 series, the fanboys would eat it up, enduring the delays and experiments with episode size. Considering Square Enix's recent stewardship of the Final Fantasy series, I could easily see them stretching FF7 to the thinnest extremes possible, with enemies getting more and more ridiculous, pairings made and broken for the fanboys' pleasure, and crazy new
characters up the wazoo. Episodic is just way too easy to exploit, destroying all the things that make a game appealing.
When you look at the pitfalls presented by episodic gaming, it's hard to see how it would be much of a good thing. Episodes have to be carefully measured to balance gamer satisfaction with company profitability. Delays are a part of game development that could destroy interest. And even without those two things, there's too much risk of companies draining the well dry. It's just not a good idea and I for one hope to never see an episodic RPG.
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