I don't mind early access for really small developers... Making even a moderately sized indie game takes a lot of time, a lot of work hours and therefore a lot of money. If I see a concept I really like and good hints of passion from the developers, I don't mind paying for an unfinished game in the hopes that it will he finished someday.
29/09/22
The way things are they don't even need to do that. People will buy any unfinished shit due to the hype. Just take a look what happened with Cyberpunk, or whenever a new stupid hat/skin is released in any game. Their mommy should just take their credit card away, because rich kids that can't make a mature decision are the ones that have ruined gaming for good.
29/09/22
Steam should have a set amount of time to be early access. Like, a couple or months. After that you cannot call yourself an early access game. You either publish it and take the backlash, or remove the game from the platform.
29/09/22
There's a very simple solution for Early Access games. Never buy the promise. Only make a purchase if what's currently available for the current price feels right. Key words being "currently available". This solves things perfectly. I don't think I've ever regretted an early access purchase following those simple rules.
29/09/22
Matter of situation and perspective really. There is a gulf between the overhyped but unfinished AAA and a indie dev which provide a solid base and want to develop it more but need funds through Early Access. It's up to the customer to make that choice.
29/09/22
Fucked. There, now OP is crying
29/09/22
I get it with indie developers/small teams. The game development is really hard and expensive work that can take years. Small teams often underestimate that. If they have solid concept and work done already, I don't mind supporting them throught Early Access. I don't buy obvious scams of course, but I don't really remember when/if I had a bad experience with buying Early Access title. I always got what I expected. Maybe because I don't buy every shit I stumble upon and I'm never buying anything based solely on hype.
29/09/22
I think it just needs to be 1 year max and it would be really great to have Early Access. But finished games hiding behind Early Access for about 5-7 years is just ridiculous. Like Hearthstones Battlegrounds. It was about 4 years in Ealry Access. By a company that size..
29/09/22
I have good experience with early access.
29/09/22
I dont mind too much as long as they continuously improve and add to it. As long as they advertise it as such and not an unfinished "complete" game. IE cyberpunk and no man's sky.
29/09/22
It's worse than that. Version A) release EA, rake money in, abandon. Version B) release stating it's a full game but it's a never tested, unfinished, unpolished bug-fest, i.e. an undercover EA, THEN abandon... Or hope the players will the the job for free... Then fix 5% of the bugs, add a $$$ DLC, then abandon...
29/09/22
Tactics
29/09/22