The Role Playing Public Radio Forums
General Category => General Chaos => : Mckma July 16, 2014, 12:42:43 PM
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Opinions on this? I have heard varied opinions on what seems to be the new trend (especially for a lot of indie games) of charging people for accessing alpha builds while they are still in development and was wondering what you all thought. Do you favor it or not? What about what seems to be the standard pricepoint of about $15 (USD)? Just looking to see where the conversation goes....
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I have no objections to the concept: it seems to be a possible method to help fund a developing game.
That said I personally do not buy them.
There is no standard price point, it ranged across the board. Minecraft was ten bulks, which I did buy into. The Warhammer Game is 65. Planetary Annihalation is 70. The Forest and Stomping Land are, what, 25? 30?
Alot of these early accesses, at least ones on Steam, are priced like full releases with no assurances of when they will improve or how much. You are pre-purchasing a game without even the benefit of critical reviews.
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There is no standard price point, it ranged across the board. Minecraft was ten bulks, which I did buy into. The Warhammer Game is 65. Planetary Annihalation is 70. The Forest and Stomping Land are, what, 25? 30?
Yes I suppose I should amend my statement, you are totally right that there is no standard, I guess my thought was coming from that I saw this as the most (but then again, even if it is the mode it says nothing about mean or median).
I think the last point you made is a really good one, I feel that (somewhat like I do with KickStarter) that what I would prefer is that this is best for smaller studios that are genuinely working to constantly improve the game and need the capital to do so. Having an early buy-in is a way for them to get money (and feedback) while at the same time offering at least something in return to "investors" so to speak (I know it's a different concept). I guess my main concern or worry is that as it grows, that other groups will start latching onto this model, flood the market with crap that never really goes anywhere and we miss out on helping with the gems because there is a bunch to sort through.
From my understanding or experience (and I am certainly no expert), Minecraft was one of the first games that really did this, or at least the first one to be big doing it, and I think at the time it was the perfect example of what I would like to see. Something that is new and interesting, seeking to really find its place and buy putting in the money, you get to be a part of that. Granted I didn't buy in until retail, but I remember watching it and tracking it at the time.....
Anyway, those are some of my largely un-researched thoughts....
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Broforce is amazing and worth the 15 bux
Delver's Drop is not early access, but you can pre-order it now and get access to a playable alpha http://delversdrop.com/
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Squad is doing this with Kerbal Space Program, also. I'm sure you've all heard of it. I don't remember what the original price was, but it's $27 right now.
I like this type of model, because it enables developers to build games they wouldn't otherwise be able to build, with money they wouldn't otherwise possess.