Was telling us somebody was going to die a bad thing? (spoilers of course)

[Operational]

Most of us knew that a main character was going to die and a lot of us guess that it would be Eli. The moment was very dramatic, but I wonder if it might have had an even bigger impact if Valve didn't say that a main character would die in Ep2.

The Orange Box was already getting a lot of publicity and I really doubt there were many people out there saying, "I wasn't going to buy it but now that a major character is going to be bumped off I'm so getting it!".

Admittedly I forgot about the death while playing but as soon as that last scene started my first thought was, "oh right this is where Eli is going to die" rather than, "what's going on?".

I know that by reading spoilers you find out what is going to happen (obviously which is why they are spoilers in the first place) but IIRC it was more of a widely known fact about Ep2 than a spoiler.

 

[Jintor]

Yeah. I think it was.

I agree with prety mcuh everything you've said, up to and including the feeling of 'Oh, so that's who they meant. I wonder how this will play out.'

 

[attorney general]

Thank goodness I managed to miss that release from valve so Eli's death was still a shocker. I actually dreaded the part when i thought that alyx was going to die. But when things turned out okay I Eli's death completely shocked me.

 

[Planetary]

I'd already suspected that he'd die, for some time Valve announcement or not. I was just surprised by the way he died. I'd really thought it would be a sniper, but when I saw that advisor smash through the window, well... I learned never to trust those videos again.

 

[LandStander]

They should have just kept their mouths shut.

 

[Naurgul]

Yes, I agree. Stuff like this are better kept as surprises. It loses its dramatic value when it's presented as a plot device ages before you play the game. Even as a marketing tool, really, this isn't an incentive to buy the game, as Operational said.

 

[Hamsocks]

I never heard anything about it, so it was a surprise to me anyways.:E

 

[Narvi]

Actually, I didn't believe they'd kill off Eli. I was quite surprised.

 

[Zephos]

I likewise forgot about them killing a character, but nonetheless they shouldn't reveal it like some ****ing preview in a soap opera magazine.

 

[Asknoone]

Yes, it was.

 

[kupocake]

Admittedly I forgot about the death while playing but as soon as that last scene started my first thought was, "oh right this is where Eli is going to die" rather than, "what's going on?".

I think you get the sense that it is likely with or without knowledge that someone was going to be on the chopping block.

1) Eli's relationship with the character during Episode Two is very emotive, perhaps somewhat ham-fisted in its approach. Eli not only tells you that he 'couldn't be more proud of [Gordon] if [he] was his own son', he also makes a point of suffixing 'Son' to lines elsewhere in the game. Then there are the obvious hopes he lays on Gordon and Alyx for Grandchildren: Aside from Alyx, no one sees a recogniseable fraction of this relational development.

2) Eli's importance to the plot rose about 5000% during the course of Episode Two. He is revealed to basically have a great understanding of the series' big mystery... then Valve keep delaying him making his reveal.

3) T-Minus One is far, far, far too quiet and happy a chapter to not end on tragic note. With the resistance's goals achieved, basic dramatic practice dictates that something bad is going to happen, and the Half-Life game structure can't simply let the screen fade to black as Gordon and Alyx climb in the helicopter. With just the player, Alyx and Eli in the closing scene, Eli seems so very much more vulnerable because of the position the plot has put him in.

I think that telling us prepared us, but I think the game would have done the same during its course anyway. This isn't to say it was poorly handled at all: the staging of the death was incredible, and the real surprise comes in how horrible it is. Third time through, I turned my monitor off because I didn't want to watch it again, but in line with what Laidlaw says in the interview currently on the front-page, this didn't necessarily make it any less disturbing, since a sizeable part of the trauma comes from Alyx's reaction.

I'd definitely say that Eli's death is the most affecting i've ever seen in a game, regardless of the fact that I second guessed it months ago. For comparison, I was always vaguely aware that a certain character dies in a certain Famous role-playing game about a schizophrenic purple stick-man chasing his bondage gear wearing super soldier nemesis across the world. When that happened, I frankly couldn't give a shit.

 

[Ennui]

I don't think it was bad, I figured someone was going to die anyway, and I didn't know who it was... not to mention it was obvious that Eli was doomed once that part of the game came around, there was no way he was going to sit you down and talk about the G-Man and reveal everything.

 

[Tagaziel]

I honestly wasn't expecting this, I thought that applied to Alyx (who was technically dead, as her body functions stopped when you stepped out of the elevator with the nectar), and took it as a "you thought we'll leave her here dead, didn't ya?" from VALVe.

Eli's demise was truly a shocker for me, moreso due to Alyx's reaction.

I can't watch that scene again.

 

[Naurgul]

I honestly wasn't expecting this, I thought that applied to Alyx (who was technically dead, as her body functions stopped when you stepped out of the elevator with the nectar), and took it as a "you thought we'll leave her here dead, didn't ya?" from VALVe.

There was also a tease with D0G for a moment.

 

[Lizardizzle]

I was expecting Barney to die somehow. Luckally, I forgot about Valve's announcement while I was playing the game, so Eli's death was a shocker. It's a shame Dog didn't come in about ten seconds earlier. ;(

 

[Oppressor]

The game was so immersive all the way I totally forgot about the fact that a main character would die

 

[Asuka]

No, I think it was fine.

It got the hype up and i really didnt expect it to be eli.

 

[leib10]

It probably was. It was done to build up the hype, but for the people who were going to get Episode Two anyway, it served to lessen the emotional impact the incident could've had.

 

[Xendance]

I thought Alyx had died when the hunter stabbed her, and I was like "is that it?"

But yeah, Valve shouldn't have told us.

 

[Nitre]

I don't think valve should have told us, but nevertheless the scene still had a huge impact on me. I did read that a main character was going to die, but i decided not to think about it too much. Initially i had thought it was going to be Alyx from the misleading trailers, and also when the was hurt by the hunter. After that, though, i didn't really think about it until when it actually happened.

I'm actually quite annoyed at my reaction the first time i saw the sequence though. I chuckled slightly, but then by the time the screen faded to black i was on the verge of shedding a tear as the true importance and the fact that the character was so...i don't know, lovable? I really liked Eli all the way through the games, and to see him go like that really annoyed me.

I don't question valve for a moment for doing it though.

 

[Chug a Bug]

I don't think I should have learnt it, but then I think thats what you should expect if you read spoilers/previews. TBH I was wondering when was it was going to happen for most of the game and when it got towards the end I was thinking, perhaps Alyxs' near death was what they had in mind...? And then it happened of course. Ouch. So it was sort of a surprise.

As soon as previews/information for Ep3 start coming out thats it, I'm steering well clear until it's release.

 

[Atomic_Piggy]

Yes, I don't think Valve should have told us. It was kind of obvious by the end the Eli was gonna die.
Although I was so immersed in the game it shocked the shit out of me. Then as the advisors came in I was like "OMG this is it!"
I proboaly would have died if they hadn't told us.

 

[Crazy_killer]

I was expecting Barney to die somehow. Luckally, I forgot about Valve's announcement while I was playing the game, so Eli's death was a shocker. It's a shame Dog didn't come in about ten seconds earlier. ;(

He had lag

 

[Acepilotf14]

Yeah, since I hadn't been reading up on it and avoided all spoilers before playing the OB, I had forgotten that someone was going to die. It was a huge surprising at the end.. I was hoping something would happen. And I was like, 'Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!', He died.. but then Dog came and I was like 'BEAT THAT MOFO TO THAH GROUND!! BALRGHLAHA!'

 

[Fuzileer]

I didnt read any spoilers, and, (I feel really bad now because of it!) I never expected Eli to die until the credits rolled.
I was like;
"Wake up, Eli. You cant be dead. WAKE UP, DAMNIT!"

 

[nurizeko]

I watched his death on youtube before I had episode 1 let alone 2 and not lnog after I had finished HL2 (yeah, I'm that green to da scene!).

So in short, I completely ruined it for myself, and the worst I felt was knowing the moment of his death was that close when playing at the end, but oddly enough I wasn't so bothered when it happened.

 

[morgs]

I don't think they should have released it...Because by the end scene when it hadn't happened yet, you knew it was going to happen then.

 

[Darkside55]

Considering the amount of hype and speculation that the announcement drummed up, I think it was the right decision on Valve's part to drop the hint that a major character was going to die. You recall they said their goal was to make the player feel that they lived in a world of consequences, and that no one "will escape unscathed." If anything it heightened the emotion felt in the scene, because hype, when delivered upon, is a powerful emotional tool. We expected something, and we got it, and it was masterfully done.

Certainly people would've anticipated a great storytelling experience from Episode Two, and jaws would've hit the floor when the scene happened--as it would've been totally unexpected--but it might not've had the same impact. The prerelease spoiler built up a sense of tension that without a doubt in this episode someone WAS going to die. You held that with you throughout the game. Most of us even knew who the likeliest candidates were; we knew who was going to bite it, but that still didn't do anything to ease that sense of dread, or the shock when it happened.

Plus you might want to consider the backlash if Valve HADN'T said anything prior. Angry e-mails, "OMG how could you kill Eli?!" And maybe the scene would've seemed so out-of-the-blue if we hadn't been warned that it might've come off as abrupt and random. But because we knew what was going to happen, it clicked into place.

 

[MorganFreeman911]

Thank goodness I managed to miss that release from valve so Eli's death was still a shocker. I actually dreaded the part when i thought that alyx was going to die. But when things turned out okay I Eli's death completely shocked me.

I knew about eli's death, but I was thinking Alyx would die, too.

 

[Jintor]

Considering the amount of hype and speculation that the announcement drummed up, I think it was the right decision on Valve's part to drop the hint that a major character was going to die. You recall they said their goal was to make the player feel that they lived in a world of consequences, and that no one "will escape unscathed." If anything it heightened the emotion felt in the scene, because hype, when delivered upon, is a powerful emotional tool. We expected something, and we got it, and it was masterfully done.

Certainly people would've anticipated a great storytelling experience from Episode Two, and jaws would've hit the floor when the scene happened--as it would've been totally unexpected--but it might not've had the same impact. The prerelease spoiler built up a sense of tension that without a doubt in this episode someone WAS going to die. You held that with you throughout the game. Most of us even knew who the likeliest candidates were; we knew who was going to bite it, but that still didn't do anything to ease that sense of dread, or the shock when it happened.

Plus you might want to consider the backlash if Valve HADN'T said anything prior. Angry e-mails, "OMG how could you kill Eli?!" And maybe the scene would've seemed so out-of-the-blue if we hadn't been warned that it might've come off as abrupt and random. But because we knew what was going to happen, it clicked into place.

I think the line was probably at 'No-one will escape unscathed'. Hint at it, sure, but don't blatently go out and say "A MAJOR CHARACTER WILL DIE!" because, in all honesty, I cannot remember a situation where a major character has died that was not blatently spoiled by whoever the hell was writing.

 

[FriedchikenCamo]

I actually didn't know this before hand. The death scene was a complete surprise. I guess I wasn't too hyped for Ep2 until I got the Orange Box for TF2.

 

[Omnomnick]

I completely forgot while playing and i had just thought they had changed it from Alyx being killed to just seriously injured, so it was still a huge suprise and emotional scene when Eli got killed

 

[losttheskyagain]

Telling us someone was going to die was a bad idea. I probably would have cried a bit if I didn't see it coming. At least it wasn't Barney.

 

[Omnomnick]

Barney not dieing was a relief but I think he will enter heriocly then die heriocly in episode 3 possibly in a large combat sequence or one of those moments where the guy goes 'No!! You go ahead, I'll stay here and hold them off' only to be killed in the process, it always happens and it may do here. Or he suggests Gordon and Alyx to leave, but Alyx refuses, getting all three captured to Barney/Alyx killed.