Lets talk about Early Access.

Maurgrim · December 2018

In what shape and form do you think are a EA are ok?

Well the question are huge to say the least but for me a game who are in EA should be playable, bugs yes but not gamebreaker, you should be able to login and play and use the tools the game provide, test it but still be able to play, you don't need a Nasa computer to break 60 fps.

For me a Early Access game are playable, stable, little content, more content are added during the development, but this a a big deal for me, marketing a game with nice looking videos and pretty graphic and when you buy it It's not like what you saw ( Atlas) are really big deal, you should market your game as It look, NOT how it looks on your gaming studio computer.

There have been plenty of EA games out there that are so frikkin good that you thought they are a released version and we have some odd ones that you can't really play but they have golden word "potential" but we all know that will never happen.

So what are your thought about Early Access?

Pemmin · December 2018

Its a catch all term for "not ready for consumers" that's what your paying for. its literally a funding campaign while they build the game.

Scot · December 2018

Why buy something before the company that makes it thinks it is ready to launch? I am getting the odd impression I already did this post...Groundhog Day again.

Slapshot1188 · December 2018

Made up term that is meaningless because as you describe in the OP the products range from unplayable to launch ready. Today it's just used as a mechanism to get money for an unfinished product.

Wellspring · December 2018

I learned my lesson about early access years ago when I bought DayZ.

Ungood · December 2018

Ideally.. IMHO.. Early Access should be that point between Beta and Launch, that players get in a bit early to get a head start in the game.

But as others have said, currently it is just a term used by game companies to get money for an unfinished product.

Cryomatrix · December 2018

I get the reason companies do early access. It's really a way to fund development and it clearly works so it is a brilliant strategy. People may think others are dumb for buying into them, but why does it bother you with what someone else does?

if you think EA is pathetic, then don't buy the game, not sure why people complain, its not like it influences your life.

Cryomatrix

cochs · December 2018

The premise is solid, getting players more involved earlier. But it takes a lot of structure to do that well. Ie not just throwing something out and saying it's not finished.

Having structured alpha/beta tests with a good feedback loop, ideally time limited. Documented roadmaps, constant communication with players. It's a really good way to get players involved but with the right expectations and to build community far ahead of your actual release.

Also with mmo's you don't need steam to get at your core audience. That and steam really provides none of the tools you need to build a pre release community. The value of steam to an mmo is I think questionable. I think it does let you pick up some players that you wouldn't otherwise get, but not enough to make or break the game.

Everything on steam is focused on giving information about the game, being able to make a judgement call on is this game worth buying. Building communities and involving players in iteration and testing is a very different thing that requires a different approach and different types of tools.

DrunkWolf · December 2018

EA reminds me of paying for beta, its not the released version of the game. so if you cant handle that dont buy it. personally I have had good luck with the EA games i have bought. and when they are broken or somthing i dont like i put them down for a few weeks or maybe even months before checking back to play it again.

The biggest problem is these people feel like they have to buy the game because its new or have to play it because its new, then they cry and rage when its not a full released version of the game.

Wizardry · December 2018

It is never ok.
If you want people to test your game as you claim to be doing with early access then fine but you don't charge them money to help you out.
VERY seldom do we see much work going into these games afterwards,instead they try to scam consumers a second and third time.

Look at Conan Exiles,the first addition to the game they were charging money for it lol.If a game is early access then that means the game is not nearly finished,you are suckering people in to pay for development.You do not then turn around and say screw you,thanks for the money now here please by this dlc or expansion pack.

Cryomatrix · December 2018

Wizardry said:

It is never ok.
If you want people to test your game as you claim to be doing with early access then fine but you don't charge them money to help you out.
VERY seldom do we see much work going into these games afterwards,instead they try to scam consumers a second and third time.

Look at Conan Exiles,the first addition to the game they were charging money for it lol.If a game is early access then that means the game is not nearly finished,you are suckering people in to pay for development.You do not then turn around and say screw you,thanks for the money now here please by this dlc or expansion pack.

I can see why the concept bothers you, but if people do it, then enough people are okay with it. I'm okay with EA. If I like the game, I'll get it. Plus, games are EA for such a long time. Just don't be the schmuck that buys it out of the gate. Just wait to see the state it's in.

GeezerGamer · December 2018

Early Access is a euphemism for butsecks

gervaise1 · December 2018

C'est la vie - but buyer beware.

ciely · December 2018

Too bad that's not the case with most early access, there are greedy and incompetent companies like neowiz that remove whatever content they already lacked and release Bless as early access to scam dumb people. It's being abused a bit too much

Musket-Squid · December 2018

Have a few EA games and last I checked no one came and kicked my door down to buy it. So if you don't like and don't buy it, but why for the love of god why do we get some many cries from someone that bought an EA game. It's hit or miss with them. Some companies put out an EA and you know they will make it better as it goes on others ..well it cost about a burger.

Bananable · December 2018

Sure, lets talk about it.

Its SCAM period. It was nice talk

Yesterday i tried Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues.
HOLY FREAKING DOLLS! #$%@, &^%$! WTF is this? Ive never played anything worse in my life before...now i think even Mortal online is better.

This game UI looks like its from 1999, and the graphics slightly better (from 2000? :P), but it also has 1080 IN RECOMMENDED!

This is what wiki says:

Development

Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues was publicly announced on March 8, 2013. Following fundraising on Kickstarter, US$1.9 million was raised. As of January 20, 2014, an additional US$1.1 million has been raised.

Art assets will be partially crowdsourced, and used assets will result in payment to the artist. In addition, the Dungeon Kit is available to developers who pledged US$400 or more; this allows royalty-free reuse of the game's assets. On November 24, 2014, an early access version of the game was released on Steam, the game was fully released in March 2018.

"In what shape and form do you think are a EA are ok?"

I think, Larian studios did good EA with Divinity: Original Sin 2. (Atleast with optimization and time being in EA). Thats it.

I dont like EA at all, cause its way way worse than F2P MMO CBT was about 8 years ago.
Seriously - YOU have to pay them and work (for free) as (alpha) tester.
EA means they dont have money already. If nobody buy it - they will abandon the game or release it unfinished. But if they get ALOT of money...they will not going to finish it eather.

Just look at Atlas. Ive never played ARK, but according some negative reviews on steam, Atlas is just DLC for ARK. (And most of positive reviews is just about "haters must shut up" ) >.>

Quizzical · December 2018

I think that early access is fine, so long as:

1) It's clearly labeled as early access, and
2) They do eventually get the game to a proper launch state.

It doesn't need to be polished in early access. Indeed, early access kind of implies a lack of polish. If you don't like playing games that are a mess in early access, that's simple enough to solve: don't. No one is forcing you to.

H0urg1ass · December 2018

Early Access preys on the ego.

People truly love being "first" in something.

People like being the first to see a movie if it has a pre-opening. I was an AM at a 24 screen theater for a year and I watched every movie the day we got it, even if I didn't care about the movie, just to be the first to see it a week before it came out.

People like to be the first to hear an album if they're on an exclusive list. In the 90's you could get on artists exclusive lists by helping promote them, and you'd get their latest CD a week before it came out.

People like to be the first to try the new restaurant in town. A new Zaxby's opened up where I lived in Texas for 11 years. A freaking Zaxby's... and that stopped traffic on the road near work for almost two days while people tried to eat there before their friends.

I guarantee you it's what drove Sir Edmund Hillary to the top of Mt. Everest and what drove Walsh and Piccard to the bottom of the Mariana trench.

Early access just plays on that. You want to get into that game before other people and your friends, so you can say you already played it. When your gamer buddies at work are like "I heard about X game and it looks good" there's few replies that feel better than "Yeah, I'm already playing it."

So yeah, people will pay for early access. It's stupid, but it's human.

Arkade99 · December 2018

Arterius said:

This is a hard question to answer because games like Atom RPG that was an early access for a year would have taken probably another three if not for EA and the money they got. I think that most are a cash grab yes. A easy way to make money before the game launches. Then either not release the game at all or release it in a terrible state.

Yet I don't think we should get rid of EA titles altogether. As I have said there are some games that I have played in EA that were a blast and have gotten better over time. Such as Project Gorgon, Atom RPG, and They are Billions to name a few.

I think there just needs to be someone in valve who looks at EA titles before they hit the store.

Speaking of Project Gorgon, it was originally free to play, prior to their kickstarter. I had been playing it for quite a while when the kickstarter launched, and I contributed to it to support the game.

A lot of games won't get made without money coming in from players to pay for development. Whether that's crowdfunding, selling early access, or whatever, there are a number of games that would likely not even be in development if that money wasn't contributed. Gone are the days of MMOs being backed by big publishers and being developed behind closed doors until it is ready for the public. People can refuse to pay for beta (or earlier stages of development), but don't expect to find many games that will be able to fund their development without it.

Early access isn't a scam. It's just the current reality of the industry. Developers may fail to achieve their goals, but apart from 1 or 2 bad eggs, they aren't trying to cheat people out of their money. Don't conflate the results with the intent.

Pemmin · December 2018

Ungood said:

Ideally.. IMHO.. Early Access should be that point between Beta and Launch, that players get in a bit early to get a head start in the game.

But as others have said, currently it is just a term used by game companies to get money for an unfinished product.

we already have a term for this its called "head start". the developers have at least been pretty consistent with there word smithing.

Aethaeryn · December 2018

Soo. . Atlas?. It is EA and has the typical Steam warning. . but then it has this:

What is the current state of the Early Access version?
“Everything in the features section will be there around Early Access Launch and the game will be an unparalleled massively multiplayer experience from Day One.”

The game is nothing like the trailer was hyped for day one sales etc.. . and saying it is EA doesn't cut i when they make this claim.

I have gotten a few great EA titles but have found it is much cheaper to wait until release. . most games are the same price or go on sale soon after leaving EA.. the money runs out before 1.0

I have no complaints about anything I have purchase. I never get it day one anymore. I wait for a bit to read the forums etc.

A few great EA titles: Rimworld, Subnautica, Kenshi etc.

I bought a few that were okay.. 7 Days to Die. I got my value from it before they botched it

A few were not a good buy: Savage Lands. . . .

If i had not bought the duds I could have payed the non EA price for the others. I also find that EA spoils the game for me a bit. For some people I am sure it is like loot boxes

Luiden · December 2018

It's a scam, maybe in the next 5 years they will pass some laws to prevent this type of scheme. The problem is games are mostly sold to kids who have no idea how bad they are getting ripped off by it so it will continue until there is some regulation in the gaming industry.

It's just a matter of time to be honest.. maybe star citizen will be the thing that triggers people to wake up.. who knows. For me though I will never buy a early access game again.

The best part of this is Steam.. it's seems like 80% of their games are EA now because that's all developers really care about. They get an idea, implement about 30% of it, take your money then get bored and more on to the next thing... consumer gets ripped off. No other industry does this.

newbismx · December 2018

EA has been used and abused like crazy- No doubt.

However, with the exception of mmorpg's some of the best titles in most genres have now come from EA. I've played many EA games and really have only been 'burned' once- But have a library of games ive paid little for and have racked us thousands of hours playing the different builds and watching the games evolve into released state.

Even some of the EA games I have that have yet to release are a freaking blast and I sure dont feel ripped off. games like Empyrion are not 'released' yet and i'm not totally happy with some things about development but I love the game and have sunk more time into that title than most full fledged RPG's.

Just because something is being abused doesent mean we should tar all EA projects with a broad brush- And I worry that we will end up throwing the baby out with the bathwater over some of these shady practices.

I know that EA has given me some of my favorite games of the last decade and ive enjoyed watching the games come together and ideas being realized. Its been as good for gaming as its been bad if that makes sense.

parpin · December 2018

Ashes of Creation invited a lot of people to test their game during alpha phase without asking people to pay money, they only wanted their feedback, that is right thing to do when your game is not ready to be released, EA is garbage cash grab, pay 25$ in case of atlas and try to play unfinished game and give feedback and hope for the best, maybe in 6 months to one year at least they are gonna make the game better but you already spent time and money playing unfinished version. which make no sense to me. do you want support the company because they need money to finish the game then go to crowd funding part and help them, but when it comes to testing the game, then it must be free, just like what Ashes of Creation did.

kjempff · December 2018

My opinion on this is that the problem is that consumers have the wrong expectations - Because they are uninformed about what early access means.
You can not demand nor expect anything in terms of quality or playability because you did not buy anything, you supported a project with a donation. The promise to get the game once it finishes and to test it early is what you get.

Aelious · December 2018

As long as the company is being honest and up front about what they are selling and produce stated product, customers are responsible for what they buy.

That said, in my opinion I think any company selling EA needs to have a roadmap with milestones for future features/improvements that they are held accountable for. If people want to pay full price for something that isn't yet realized they should at least demand to know what that product is supposed to look like... since they have already paid for it.

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