Erpy, is there a Blue Frog Mode ???

[ATMachine]

Yeah, the fact that the AGDs' response when people are spending fruitless hours following false leads to Easter Eggs is not only to laugh in amusement, but even to perpetuate the misinformation, rather decreases my respect for them. It's not very professional.

I could understand that certain cranks in the forum could find twisted humor in such actions, but I would really expect better from the people who spent the time and effort programming in the secrets. What good is your work if no one ever discovers it?

Wow. That IS childish.

Well, pardon me for thinking misleading people is wrong. I suppose I should be giving out false hints myself?

Seriously, I don't have a problem with refusing to give hints, or giving only very cryptic ones. I can completely understand the rationale behind that, and I support the AGD team in not wanting to spoil everyone. It's just perpetuating actual misinformation that I disapprove of, and since it only happened once, I'm willing to let it pass.

[gamecreator]

I'd love to know the Malcolm's Revenge reference as well. Feel free to PM me the full details. Thanks!

[Anonymous Game Creator 2]

...the whole thing is a non-issue and I'm sure you can tell from a save game file if someone used the mode.

Yes, theoretically, you could tell from a save file if a debug mode was enabled. But that doesn't eliminate the fact that the reported bug could still exist in the normal game, even if it was encountered when a debug mode was active. It just muddies the waters. It's a hard decision to determine whether to include cheats in the game that could potentially cause players to mess things up. These decisions aren't made lightly.

It's not really about patience, life ending, or seriousness (cause I'm not all that serious when it comes to other things than psychology). When I don't find the easter eggs, it's because I work 43.5 hours from monday to friday, and on top of that spend 15 hours in public transport on average during the week to get to work and back home. Just very little time . So even if I pursue false hints for only a few secs, it's already a (relative) waste of precious playtime in my life. I'm only still working on my second playthrough. I mean, I waited anxiously for this game for so long (and am very thankful), but I won't be wasting another sec on possible hoaxes. That's all.

In that case, it's unlikely you would have found the Eggs by searching normally (without hints), since your schedule probably wouldn't allow the time required to invest in it. By patience, I meant people wanting to know about all these things right away, rather than simply waiting a few months until they all become public knowledge and then checking them out. It's inevitable that all the Easter Eggs will be discovered and confirmed eventually. We certainly didn't program stuff into the game with the intention of it never to be found. That would just be a waste of time. But even if it takes 10 years for the first person to discover a particularly obscure Easter Egg, I'd still say that hidden secret was worth adding.

[Erpy]

...the whole thing is a non-issue and I'm sure you can tell from a save game file if someone used the mode.

You can't really tell from a savegame whether blue frog mode was used or not. You can tell from a savegame whether someone unlocked it, but you can't always tell whether someone actually used it or not.

[Thyme in Lost]

Messing around with Blue Frog Mode for 30 minutes and I think I crashed the game 100 times.
I can understand Erpy and AG2 not wanting to deal with bugs from something that can so easily crash the game.

Plus, once you start using Blue Frog Mode, the game is completely different. It to me becomes more about learning the ins and out of the BFMode (Blue Frog Mode) then playing the game. Which isn't the game Erpy and AG2 spent years wanting to release.

[Blackthorne519]

Waaa, waaa, waaa. A couple people in here need a bottle and a binkie. Perhaps some cheese to go with their whine.

Bt

[ATMachine]

Wow, imageblur was right. If you express a critical opinion around here a good chunk of the forumites will take it upon themselves to belittle you. (Though I will readily say, the AGD team has been very fair and articulate in responding to my criticism, so I can't fault them. They are indeed classier than I first gave them credit for.)

It's more that I'm getting fed up with the ordinary people who come in here just to complain about how I'm "whining." I have articulated my position on how I would wish game designers to deal with their fans in regards to hidden secrets, and that can be boiled down to two words: No untruths.

If I'm lambasted for hoping for such a policy, so be it.

[Schrijvertje]

This topic reminds me so much of all the discussions about whether or not some easter eggs were real in GTA:San Andreas, like Bigfoot or that chainsaw serial killer.

Easter eggs in games are fun - I like 'm best when you just happen upon them without having done anything special. Like the images of Sam & Max appear in so many LucasArts adventure games.

When easter eggs become a quest, however, I drop out. And frankly I don't really mind that I'll probably never find them. Like several other players here, I don't play that much so I'd rather not waste time trying to achieve something that takes either forever, dumb luck or inside knowledge.

It kinda applies to Sierra's "die every five seconds" trial and error tactics in their games (I remember spending what felt like eternity crossing a river, in which a crocodile popped up randomly). Some may think the save and restore routine is fun, but then it's no longer about solving puzzles or skills.

Another example is in the Final Fantasy games, where the most valuable objects or best weapons can only be found by doing a mundane task (or sometimes not doing, like how you need to refrain from opening several treasure chests at the start of the game if you want to find the Zodiac Spear at the end of the game - I'm still astounded and frankly still don't believe for 100% that players actually discovered this on their own).

So yes, elusive easter eggs are good for people who can totally immerse themselves in a game, who can spend days, weeks, years playing the same game in an attempt to unlock all its secrets. But I'm not one of those people, so when I decide a particular easter egg is out of reach, I move on and do something else.

Though I must admit, sometimes I fire up my copy of San Andreas, gather a posse and head out into the woods for a nightly search, because sometimes it really is more about the journey than the destination.

[Spikey]

In that case, it's unlikely you would have found the Eggs by searching normally (without hints), since your schedule probably wouldn't allow the time required to invest in it. By patience, I meant people wanting to know about all these things right away, rather than simply waiting a few months until they all become public knowledge and then checking them out. It's inevitable that all the Easter Eggs will be discovered and confirmed eventually. We certainly didn't program stuff into the game with the intention of it never to be found. That would just be a waste of time. But even if it takes 10 years for the first person to discover a particularly obscure Easter Egg, I'd still say that hidden secret was worth adding.

All true, hidden stuff is where the fun is. I don't mind it being hidden for a long time. By pursuing some of the (true) hints, I still got to experience some of the discovery of new side quests and easter eggs on my own, and that was all well worth it as well. Pursuing fake hints was not worth it, though, so that's why I said what I said.

[Blackthorne519]

If a critical opinion has merit, there's no need to belittle. But when it's whining about a games hidden content and how one thinks a development team should act, well, my critical opinion will rear it's head.

Hidden behind flowery languange and well written prose, there still exists a childs whine about what they're entitled too. No one here is entitled to anything. You're lucky to get a freshly squeezed nugget of turd from anyone around here, so don't act all high and mighty. If you really have a problem, just ask for your money back.

Bt

[ATMachine]

I can see no matter what I say in defense of my strongly held philosophical viewpoint, I'm going to be labeled a childish whiner just because I disagree with the AGD team on some things. Oh well.