When should you end a series?

[Zombie Badger]

If you look around today, or just look at any message board anywhere, you will see people complaining that their once-favourite series has been ruined forever, voicing loudly their hopes that the games will fail horribly and that the creators will die in a horribly painful accident involving chickens. To be honest, I think that a series should end either when the creators feel that they need to take it in a different direction, changing the tone or adding completely new features that have become popular, or if they are simply remaking exactly the same plot as the previous installments. Cases in point: Max Payne and Mario. I believe that Max Payne should have ended with 2, but a sequel is being made, ditching the film noir feel and changing the hero to a generic thug, and adding the dreaded cover system. Banjo-Kazooie is another obvious case. Mario should also be retired (Zelda or Sonic would make equally good examples, unless they make a sequel to Majora's Mask), and the reasons for this can be found anywhere on this message board. What are your ideas about this?

 

[grimsprice]

i think if you close the story beautifully then fine. let it be done, and let it be art. but if you let the story just end abruptly without closing it together in a cohesive end then you just fucked the dog and ruined it. why? because it wasn't selling? because it wasn't the 'new' thing? thats stupid. if you start something you have an obligation to at least finish the plot.

 

[Kiutu]

When it stops being good and fun. Maybe give it one last go, since ya never know. Ofcourse, its easier for non-character specific games to keep going, long as they stay fun (Grand Theft Auto, The Elder Scrolls)

 

[Pandalisk]

I wonder, if the show continued, would people say the same about Firefly after a few series?

 

[Proteus214]

Honestly, the ending to any series should be thought up from the beginning. If you at least plan for it to end at some point, you can kill it off gracefully before it overstays its welcome.

 

[ghalkhsdkssakgh]

I wonder, if the show continued, would people say the same about Firefly after a few series?

Quite possibly. It's brevity is one of the reasons it's become a cult classic (as well as the reason that it's really damn good).

OT, I think most games should have a definitive end. Ending games on cliffhangers just really annoys me, especially for games that may never get a sequel (Beyond Good and Evil, I'm looking at you)*

*Yes, I know a sequel is planned, bt really, wouldn't it have been so much easier without the cliffhanger?

 

[meece]

When you reach the predetermined end point.

Or when you just can't keep it up to par, go do something else and don't keep beating the empty piñata.

 

[Danzaivar]

When it was originally planned to end.

 

[KarumaK]

When it starts losing money. So many people forget that all these things they love were created to make a profit.

 

[G1eet]

When it starts to whore itself to everybody out there, and oversaturates the market with its bastard offspring.

 

[S-Unleashed]

I'll be done with a series when the story has been told all the way or when I feel like it. God gamers today are ungreatfull and careless. They say "Let it die! but they don't think of the people who work hard to make the games, or the people who oh I don't know LIKE the games.

 

[Zombie Badger]

I wonder, if the show continued, would people say the same about Firefly after a few series?

Quite possibly. It's brevity is one of the reasons it's become a cult classic (as well as the reason that it's really damn good).

OT, I think most games should have a definitive end. Ending games on cliffhangers just really annoys me, especially for games that may never get a sequel (Beyond Good and Evil, I'm looking at you)*

*Yes, I know a sequel is planned, bt really, wouldn't it have been so much easier without the cliffhanger?

Definitely. If I wrote a series of books, or films, or whatever, I'd make each installment have a definite end, but leave enough characters alive for another story. So almost all plots threads resolved, a few left open, and the villain of the installment dead. Making the story up as you go along, and leaving cliffhangers, is incredibly annoying (Halo 2 pissed me off for this reason).

I'll be done with a series when the story has been told all the way or when I feel like it. God gamers today are ungreatfull and careless. They say "Let it die! but they don't think of the people who work hard to make the games, or the people who oh I don't know LIKE the games.

Not all of the people who create a game get to choose the game they help create. Many people who work on the newer Mario games don't get the chance to say 'Lets make a different game', they just have to make it. Also, if the series died, a new, more original, better game could made, and it would bring joy to all those who played it.

 

[S-Unleashed]

I wonder, if the show continued, would people say the same about Firefly after a few series?

Quite possibly. It's brevity is one of the reasons it's become a cult classic (as well as the reason that it's really damn good).

OT, I think most games should have a definitive end. Ending games on cliffhangers just really annoys me, especially for games that may never get a sequel (Beyond Good and Evil, I'm looking at you)*

*Yes, I know a sequel is planned, bt really, wouldn't it have been so much easier without the cliffhanger?

Definitely. If I wrote a series of books, or films, or whatever, I'd make each installment have a definite end, but leave enough characters alive for another story. So almost all plots threads resolved, a few left open, and the villain of the installment dead. Making the story up as you go along, and leaving cliffhangers, is incredibly annoying (Halo 2 pissed me off for this reason).

I'll be done with a series when the story has been told all the way or when I feel like it. God gamers today are ungreatfull and careless. They say "Let it die! but they don't think of the people who work hard to make the games, or the people who oh I don't know LIKE the games.

Not all of the people who create a game get to choose the game they help create. Many people who work on the newer Mario games don't get the chance to say 'Lets make a different game', they just have to make it. Also, if the series died, a new, more original, better game could made, and it would bring joy to all those who played it.

Are you sure? Jet Set Raido is long gone and Sega hs not made anything other then Sonic it is better.

 

[LackingSaint]

When the sequel number is larger than the average rating.

 

[scnj]

I wonder, if the show continued, would people say the same about Firefly after a few series?

I believe that Joss Whedon had a 5 or 6 year plan with the ending in mind.

 

[Deleric]

I've noticed that a series should end when some major plotpoint is destroyed, done, etc.

Like Buffy's main run ended when Sunnydale blew up.

Or Halo (SHOULD HAVE) ended when they finished the fight.

Or Harry Potter, when they killed Voldemort.

 

[Trivun]

i think if you close the story beautifully then fine. let it be done, and let it be art. but if you let the story just end abruptly without closing it together in a cohesive end then you just fucked the dog and ruined it. why? because it wasn't selling? because it wasn't the 'new' thing? thats stupid. if you start something you have an obligation to at least finish the plot.

Exactly, and this is why I hate Halo-bashers so much (that, and half of them haven't played the game anyway, they just hate it because it's cool). Halo has one of the best stories and most expansive universes I've seen in a game (not counting your Star Wars's and Warhammer 40k's...). Hence everyone who says "stop making sequels and novels and so on" simply should just shut up, since there are so many unanswered plot points and so on.

But yeah, I agree that the story and so on should be concluded first. Make something art, by all means. Anything else is just sloppy. But when it gets to the point where not even the fans are enjoying it, then it's always time to call it a day. So something like Sonic needs to go bye-bye. Halo, of course, still has a large and expansive fanbase, so it's definitely something to continue.

P.S. Sorry for the repeated Halo mentions, it's just that it's the easiest example I can think of for what I'm trying to say, given the hate many people here seem to have for it.

 

[Akai Shizuku]

A series should end, in my opinion, when there's no more good ideas the developers have for it.