A really sad surprise

[klap]

Hi guys,

I have the Collectors game box and as soon as I received it, I played the game. As a crazy graphic adventures fan, again, it was Fbiiiip awesome.

I’ve let a long time pass in order to play it again. It was tonight, I’ve installed it from GOG and the sad surprise is, I no longer can see Green Tentacle and the Edisons in the Ransom Circus show. THEY HAVE BEEN ERASED!

Any kind of cease and desist Lucasarts stuff?

For me that LOVE every small reference to my beloved games has been really bad news and, again, a sad surprise.

Anyone knows what happened and why this stuff was deleted? Any other deletions that I will miss in the game?

[Sushi]

Go to the options and change the “Annoying in-joke references” option
They are off by default

Ron Gilbert - Not here anymore, on Mastodon now

See also

The "Annoying In-jokes" option

Eventhough, this in-joke-option is rather silly in itself, imho, it is a valid reason to do another playthrough to find out, what’s different. Changes I found so far: Wanted meteor poster is gone. Skeleton “return to Dr. Fred.” is not mentioned. Use ketchup bottles: “Take that, Sierra online!” is missing. “Call Edna for a good time” graffiti is gone. You can still call her, though. The parcel in the post office is addressed to in-joke dept. instead of Ed. The comment about the cut room at the…

And

The "Annoying In-jokes" option

Unfortunately, your opinion is in the minority. A lot of people (in reviews on on social media) really hated the in-jokes. We got dinged pretty badly in a few reviews. Adding the option was a fun way to deal with it. As for why it’s off by default? It’s because from this point forward, most of the copies of the game will be sold to non-backers and people who are not hard core adventure fans. These are exactly the people who objected to the in-joke. Unlike myself, players don’t tend to explo…

[ZakPhoenixMcKracken]

As precise and complete as @Nor_Treblig

[klap]

Thank you so much guys! I’ll turn it on NOW!

[Sushi]

I couldn’t help but look for exactly when the “Annoyingly hidden annoying off-by-default annoying in-jokes option” was first announced.
Annoyingly I could not find the exact first mention.