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SiN Episodes Pretty Much Done

Posted by Zonk on from the it-was-mediocre-while-it-lasted dept.

Kotaku is carrying comments from this week's 'Games for Windows' podcast, where employees from Ritual Entertainment confirm that SiN Episodes is finished. The mini-exodus from the company earlier this month has effectively sunk the studios' ambitious episodic content plan. From the article: "Jeff: Sin Episode 2... Shawn: ...is likely not happening now. A lot of the people from the dev team have left. Jeff: At Ritual? Shawn: Yeah, they've gone elsewhere. They now work for other people. Some of the key people. One of the lead programmers. That's not a good sign."

24 comments

  1. refund! by Allison+Geode · · Score: 1

    since they're not going to complete the game, can i get a refund on the portion i bought? see, this is the problem with episodic content: when they decide to not finish it, people who have been enjoying it up to that point are left in the cold, with an unfinished game and 20 bucks poorer.

    1. Re:refund! by Loadmaster · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The same can be said for MMORPGs. Once they decide to shut the servers off you have no game. It sucks, but I don't think there's any recourse for the consumer.

      I do believe that once a company closes its servers they should release the source to the community so people can run personal servers. Seems to work. Just ask MS about their game Alliance.

      Swi

    2. Re:refund! by ajlitt · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yeah! I want my money back for Spaceballs too, because I was clearly assured that there would be a sequel.

    3. Re:refund! by stg · · Score: 1

      That's silly. If you didn't get your money's worth in the first episode, that is the game's problem.

      How many movies were clearly made to be continued, but didn't? How many books? If the authors can't make a satisfying conclusion for an episode alone, that is their problem.

      I played Sin Episode 1 and had no intention of getting the next episode - because it was pretty weak and had a lot of problems that should have been fixed before release.

      At the same time, I got Half-Life Episode 1. Not only I'm going to buy the next one, but I'm waiting eagerly for it...

      "Episodic" gaming doesn't really mean a lot - just that they want to try to make cheaper, smaller games and sell more of them instead of fitting the same price mold as everyone. There will be good games and bad games, just like the regular type.

    4. Re:refund! by ZetSabre · · Score: 1

      Yeah, they should have charged us $50 for a FULL unfinished game. Chances are that you got to play more of the game than you ever would have if it wasn't episodic.

    5. Re:refund! by Mr.+Hankey · · Score: 1

      Supposedly there will be, although it hasn't arrived yet. It's been a while since the last Star Wars movie came out, and Spaceballs 2 was supposed to be out a year later. Still, Spaceballs was a full movie whereas SiN Episodes was clearly sold as a vehicle for future content. Apples, oranges and all that.

      --
      GPL: Free as in will
    6. Re:refund! by Jartan · · Score: 2, Insightful
      That's silly. If you didn't get your money's worth in the first episode, that is the game's problem.

      How many movies were clearly made to be continued, but didn't?


      No offense but you clearly didn't finish it if you are trying to make this argument and thus you should not comment at all.

      SiN Episode 1 was more akin to a TV show than any kind of movie or what not. Yes if you liked it it was clearly worth the 20 bucks all by itself but nobody likes to see the start of a story they find intriguing and have it cut off without any sort of conclusion at all.

      Of course nobody is going to give us our 20 bucks back but this is clearly going to leave a bad taste in many peoples mouths for episodic content in the future.
    7. Re:refund! by stg · · Score: 2, Insightful
      No offense but you clearly didn't finish it if you are trying to make this argument and thus you should not comment at all.


      Actually, I did finish it. I just didn't want to see any more of the story (or the game) after finishing it...

      That is just like saying that the many TV pilots or episodes that ended on an abrupt point are going to make people reject the concept of TV series.

      Well, they didn't. And I really doubt that will be the case here.

      If the gamers don't WANT to see the next episode, well, clearly it's a good thing that they didn't spend the price of a whole game on it in the first place.

      Of course, anyone who actually liked it is not going to be happy about it, but I think it's much better if more money isn't spent on poorly done flops, both by developers and gamers.
    8. Re:refund! by ricree · · Score: 1

      Not to mention that they never came out with that flamethrower they were advertising. Those lying jerks.

    9. Re:refund! by Chabil+Ha' · · Score: 1

      How many movies were clearly made to be continued, but didn't?

      By the same token, how many sequel movies have been made but clearly shouldn't have been? I'd like my money back from them too.

      Oh well...

      --
      We're all hypocrites. We all have hidden parts, it's the contrast between them that make us more a hypocrite than others
    10. Re:refund! by kalirion · · Score: 1

      A better example might be History of the World - Part One. Not only does the title imply that the movie is only a part of a bigger whole, but they actually had a trailer for Part Two at the end!

  2. I want my Blake's 7 by DrSkwid · · Score: 1

    After the credits rolled, the BBC announcer said "Blake's 7 will return in the Autumn". I'm still waiting. I want my Orac back !

    --
    There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
  3. "Pretty much done" by kmcrober · · Score: 4, Interesting

    "Pretty much done" can also mean "Close to being completed." As in, "Almost released." Since that's the exact opposite of what the article actually says, maybe the editors should pay a little more attention to detail?

    1. Re:"Pretty much done" by Khuffie · · Score: 1

      I agree. From the title on my RSS feed I pretty much thought that all the future releases for SiN Episodes have been fully coded/designed/completed, and that now all that there is left to do is release them, which would solve the major criticism against episodic content wherein they wouldn't have regular release cycles. Obviously, this was completely wrong.

  4. Idle Speculation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Nothing in this story is from the developers, it's just from a podcast with absolutely no true inside knowledge.

    I don't doubt that further Sin episodes aren't happening, but why not wait for an official source before posting a story about it? The official one is probably going to end up with its own story anyway.

  5. If it's cancelled... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...I'm not going to cry. It felt like a poor version of Half-Life 1 with bad map design. Guess the guys with the money finally realized it.

    (Yeah, so I'm trolling, but really, I found it hard to justify the loss of $20 for something like that)

    1. Re:If it's cancelled... by Travoltus · · Score: 4, Funny

      [apathetic elitist mode on]
      Who cares about the loss of $20? That's like 4 lattes for me. I lose $20 bills every time I step out of the car. People oughta stop whining about losing $20. This is America, land of the rich, remember?
      [apathetic elitist mode off]

      --
      --- Grow a pair, liberals... stop letting the Republicans bully you!
    2. Re:If it's cancelled... by @madeus · · Score: 1

      FYI, where I am, 20 USD will get you no more than 2 medium lattes from Starbucks (YMMV).

      I do think people shouldn't whine that they spent 20 USD on a game and now feel burned given it seemed obvious what to expect from the extensive in game footage and screen shots released in advance. It was clearly not going to be up to the same standard as the the first SiN game and from the in the in-game footage both the level design and game play look pretty uninspired (serviceable, but rather tedious).

      I think it was best SiN died now rather than continuing to flog a dead horse. The first title was _really_ good, this follow came across more like a Hollywood sequel style attempt to cash in on the name. Though lack luster, technically the offering seemed competently executed. Anyone with any competence would have immediately realised how bland the proposal was.

      I would bet good money this was a management screw up, and that someone without the relevant experience or ability (i.e. some weasel who knows bupkis about games) was in charge of overseeing the development (that would also explain why much of the team has now split). Anyone in management who was even vaguely competent, and actually plays games now and again, would surely have realised how badly lacking the proposed follow up was before development had begun.

      (Sadly, even in low level management having a completely lack of familiarity with products being developed seems to be par for the course in many companies.)

  6. Summary is wrong -- not confirmed! by bigbigbison · · Score: 2, Informative

    The summary says, "employees from Ritual Entertainment confirm that SiN Episodes is finished," which it totally untrue. This is just a group of editors from the magazine speculating. Sin Episodes may or may not be canceled, but these guys are just gossiping based on the fact that a lot of people have left Ritual. It might be or it might not be canceled. No one from Ritual has made a comment yet.

    --
    http://www.popularculturegaming.com -- my blog about the culture of videogame players
    1. Re:Summary is wrong -- not confirmed! by p0tat03 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Mass resignations or not, SiN is on the chopping block anyways. The first episode was generally not well-perceived, and I don't expect the second episode to do that well either.

  7. Levelord still there? by Rog7 · · Score: 1

    I don't think Levelord has gone anywhere has he? And AFAIK he's the main holdover from the original SiN. Ritual has had plenty of people part in the past, so this current drama is probably just stirring up FUD dust.

    As long as Levelord is still at Ritual, I have complete faith in good content for SiN episodes.

  8. Sin: Episode 1 never worked for me... by _Griphin_ · · Score: 1

    I bought Ep. 1, and just like Half Life 2 Episode 1 it never worked. Now with all the lead programmers working for other companies, I now realize why they took off. Yes, there game was CRAP!!!

  9. Multiplayer? by JavaLord · · Score: 1

    Did they ever get Multiplayer working with SiN episodes? I pretty much played the original SiN just for the multiplayer, and I was waiting for episodes to have multiplayer support before I would buy it.

    The original sin multiplayer, and the expansion pack wages of sin were a great deal of fun. There were a boatload of weapons, like remote controlled rockets and mines, an ion cannon, the standard BFG like nuke gun, and speeder bikes!

  10. !refund by why-is-it · · Score: 1

    Why do you think you are owed a refund?

    Does Joss Wheadon owe us anything because Firefly was canceled?

    I liked the SiN franchise, and I am really sorry to see this happen. I enjoyed SiN Ep1. (even if it was a bit on the short side) and looked forward to what would be coming next. I don't want a refund, I got my $20's worth. I do think they should remove the dependency on Steam though.

    --
    *** Where are we going? And what's with this handbasket?