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What mistake did you wish Roberta Williams could have avoided at all cost
| Poll: before damaging the name, Sierra even further? Total Votes: 34 |
|
|---|---|
| Inventing dead ends in adventure games | 9  |
| Creating Phantasmagoria franchise | 2 |
| Turning King’s Quest franchise into a 3D action game | 12 |
| Other | 11 |
I have respect for her. I just wish she wouldn’t have taken things for granted that casually.
She did not invent dead ends in adventure games. All text adventures were crawling with dead-ends. I liked the Phantasmagoria games, they were different and daring. But I hated KQ8.
Butter my buns and call me a biscuit! - Agent A
Other - Retiring.
Recently finished: Four Last Things 4/5, Edna & Harvey: The Breakout 5/5, Chains of Satinav 3,95/5, A Vampyre Story 88, Sam Peters 3/5, Broken Sword 1 4,5/5, Broken Sword 2 4,3/5, Broken Sword 3 85, Broken Sword 5 81, Gray Matter 4/5\nCurrently playing: Broken Sword 4, Keepsake (Let\‘s Play), Callahan\‘s Crosstime Saloon (post-Community Playthrough)\nLooking forward to: A Playwright’s Tale
She did not invent dead ends in adventure games. All text adventures were crawling with dead-ends.
This. You can blame Roberta Williams all you want for sticking with obnoxious gameplay conventions for too long (I certainly do), but not for coming up with them. If you want to blame someone for dead ends (and mazes, and timed puzzles, and more), blame Will Crowther and Don Woods.
being feminist and introducing Rosella at KQIV ..
ok, well thats a complete troll
I actually found Mask of Eternity kind of refreshing (yet unpolished) adventure/RPG. Now with King’s Quest 7 she really made a wrong turn - pseudo-Disney animation, smart cursor and inventory that covers half of the screen… That was a dead-end.
PC means personal computer
Now with King’s Quest 7 she really made a wrong turn - pseudo-Disney animation, smart cursor and inventory that covers half of the screen… That was a dead-end.
So Roberta is responsible that all other game designers since decided to blindly follow her and included smart cursors in their games? 
Recently finished: Four Last Things 4/5, Edna & Harvey: The Breakout 5/5, Chains of Satinav 3,95/5, A Vampyre Story 88, Sam Peters 3/5, Broken Sword 1 4,5/5, Broken Sword 2 4,3/5, Broken Sword 3 85, Broken Sword 5 81, Gray Matter 4/5\nCurrently playing: Broken Sword 4, Keepsake (Let\‘s Play), Callahan\‘s Crosstime Saloon (post-Community Playthrough)\nLooking forward to: A Playwright’s Tale
Nobody invented dead ends, same as nobody invented bugs in computer programs. They’re just evidence of imperfection in products. Deaths are deliberate, someone programs those in. Dead ends are just what happens when you don’t take care to avoid them.
So Roberta is responsible that all other game designers since decided to blindly follow her and included smart cursors in their games?
I think smart cursors were invented earlier (Lucas Arts always had them). But Roberta is responsible for the wrong turn that Sierra took after KQ7. Which was in the lines of “crappy trendy games” for the most part…
PC means personal computer
But Roberta is responsible for the wrong turn that Sierra took after KQ7. Which was in the lines of “crappy trendy games” for the most part…
This. I blame Roberta for the dumbing down of adventure games as a whole. Without the shitstain that is Kings Quest 7, we would never have the (I can’t think of a strong enough negative adjective) casual interactive movies of Telltale. I also found KQ8 to be a refreshing (though unnecessary) change after KQ7. They should have just gone back to the style of KQ6, but with better graphics.
Nobody invented dead ends, same as nobody invented bugs in computer programs. They’re just evidence of imperfection in products. Deaths are deliberate, someone programs those in. Dead ends are just what happens when you don’t take care to avoid them.
Not true. Back then, tricking players into a dead-end was considered a legitimate part of the the challenge. See, e.g., the sequence with the blue monster, the bag of peas and the cheese in King’s Quest V. (Or the rat. Or the pie/meat hunger/eagle/yeti situation. Or entering the forest. Or…)
Without the shitstain that is Kings Quest 7, we would never have the (I can’t think of a strong enough negative adjective) casual interactive movies of Telltale.
I was going to reply to this, but that statement is factually wrong on so many levels that I don’t even know where to begin.
I voted for “Turning King’s Quest franchise into a 3D action game.”
Whether or not KQ8 was enjoyable as an action game, changing an adventure series into an action game is essentially a bait and switch.
Not that KQ7 wasn’t disappointing too. I could just as easily voted for “Turning KQ7 into a silly Disney imitation” or “Turning Rosella into a silly sissy.” It’s too bad KQ7 and KQ8 didn’t build on what worked in KQ6.
You can’t get on Roberta for trying to innovate. Her and Ken’s relentless drive forward is one of the main reasons for the genre’s popularity and greatness in the ‘80s-‘90s. Had there been a KQ9, I have full confidence that she would have thrown out what didn’t work while continuing to move the genre forward. So probably something closer to a traditional adventure game, but in full 3D.
Hindsight is 20/20.
That’s all.
Bt
I voted for turning KQ8 into an action game. Surely they could’ve done something different with the early 3D engine. But other than that… yeah “other - retiring” is a good one too.
You can’t blame her for inventing dead ends, because she didn’t. You can mostly blame her for not getting rid of dead ends sooner (but then, Sierra did make a lot of money with hint books, so YMMV). And the first Phantasmagoria is a good game.
Roberta is an adventure legend. Don’t go blaming her too much, mmmmkay?
The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka
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