Garry and co. would actually like it if people played the game LESS. Rust's popularity has provided them with tons of money, for which I'm sure they're grateful, but I think that popularity has also caused them a ton of problems and slowed development.
So that's why it won't go on sale. I don't think the lack of discount is any sort of honor thing, not that I don't respect Garry immensely. Rust is a goddamn cool game, one of the few I've purchased at full price.
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I don't blame them for that, since it's an early access game and people tend to b!tc# a lot about bugs and stuff. But I really was hoping for a discount. My wallet won't survive for 2 more days lol.
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It's worth $20 for sure. I recommend you get it sooner rather than later, as I fear it won't have much of an active population once release comes around. I could be wrong, though.
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(not meant rudely) What's your logic on this? I've heard it a lot, but I don't get it.
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Makes sense in some cases, and maybe Rust is one point. But there's lots of Early Access games worth to buy. I've been playing Victory: The Age of Racing and it is a great game so far (50% off right now). A shame there's not many people playing it, since it's an online racing game and I never raced with more than 5 players. Aside that, works perfectly. Having a lot of fun.
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The concept behind early access games is that they are effectively paid alphas and betas. Unfinished products, regardless of how well they play, should not be discounted or advertised to those who aren't interested enough to support the developers.
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You basically just restated what he said with slightly more information. You're assuming the logic behind why "unfinished products" shouldn't be discounted is intuitive, but it isn't for me. So can you explain that logic itself to me?
Note: If I sound harsh, it's because Flux and I are friends, so he knows I'm not an asshole, meaning I can be more confrontational. Please don't think I'm a jerk! :P
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Game A is in early access. Its directed towards people who specifically are interested enough in it's premise to support the developers. Game A's price is set at a point where the developers will not lose money. To put said game on sale is an affront to the developers who supposedly only want the early access funds so that they can continue to develop the game.
Let's be honest here. Early Access is broken. I supported one early access game, Starbound, and found the gameplay to be fun. Then my world was wiped. I was promised lots of updates, but honestly, the game is nowhere near release. It is no longer installed on my computer. If it ever does get released, which I doubt it ever will, I'll probably boot it up once more and play for maybe 3 or 4 more hours. Playing the game pre-release not only killed the hype, but also severely degraded the developer's interest in finishing it. Starbound sold more than a million copies a few months after it was released on Early Access. At $15 a copy, that's a lot of money for supposedly cash-strapped indie game makers.
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Well, since these games are digitally distributed, there's not really any cost to sell them, so discounted games most certainly still make a profit, and sales are great way to get games prominently displayed along with providing the psychological treat that draws people into finally making that purchase they were considering before ("Why buy a game full price when we know it'll be on sale later?" Most of us wisely ask).
Now, in terms of your Starbound example, I have no idea about that game specifically, as I never bought it, but having just one example is never a good idea, as it could be the one exception (or one among a few) while most others trend in a different direction. Also, this is game development; it's entirely possible and likely that the Starbound you play on Steam is the "playable" version which gets updated only when factors from the in-development, messy version are stable enough to be put into the playable version. That's how game development works; games actually in-development are very often unplayable for the bulk of development time. That is the real "problem" with early access, which is only a problem if you're looking for a fun, playable game, something I don't think early access was originally intended to provide.
Oh, and most indies (in the early access program and otherwise) are cash-strapped. It's the juggernauts like Starbound, Rust, and DayZ (which, not at all incidentally, is backed by an actual publisher) that aren't cash-strapped.
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The cost exists because potential buyers are likely to opt in at full price at release.
Let me reiterate- games are in early access because devs need money. Rust has made lots of money, so the devs don't need a sale. They just want to finish their game, which they can do now that they have lots of money.
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The games are unfinished and might never be finished. Early Access is supposed to be for those people, who want to be part of the development by providing feedback. When you have the games on sale, it goes against the idea of only those "passionate" people buying the game.
There are several good finished games that should get the daily deal spots instead of alpha or beta stage games.
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Okay, so in perfect-everyone-is-chivalrous-communism-work-perfectly-because-no-one-is-greedy land, this makes some sort of sense. However, in a capitalist society, that would be really stupid. Some of these early access games are highly desired by many people, so of course Valve and the devs are going to use that to their advantage and cash in on those people's desires. And it's a two-way street: while Valve and the devs get money, those people get the game they want.
So I find it hard to understand why some people seem outraged over this. People go into it knowing the games are early access, and they should know the games may never come out; if they don't know that because they failed to look too deeply into the issue, that's their mistake, and they'll learn an extremely valuable lesson.
Also, don't think the devs are just like, "Money, money, money, we're so rich! Let's just stop making the game now!" No, oftentimes these are small indie operations hurting for money even while selling the game as early access. Putting the early access games on sale could actually help development as it directs more money into the funding pool of said games, so by banning discounts on those games, you might actually be causing the problem you're so worried about in the first place: permanently unfinished games.
Note: Okay, so maybe I am an asshole :(
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I agree with you in some respects, but I think they absolutely should be discounted. We (as gamers/customers) are essentially PAYING to test someone's work. If anything, I think they (Early Access) should have a separate storefront, but considering the Early Access aspect, they should be eligible for sales/discounts, in fact I think discounts should be mandatory for Early Access. If a finished game is going to retail for 29.99, it should at the bare minimum be 50% off for Early Access buyers and the rate go up as it gets finished. It encourages developers to keep working on it and gets people to pay attention as the game is growing. The playing field needs to be leveled.
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I agree that a separate storefront might be good idea, though it could just end up hurting the smaller games (those opposite to Rust and DayZ). However, mandatory discounts don't make much sense. In my experience playing Rust, the vast majority of people buy the game to have fun, not to test for bugs. So why should the devs be required to receive, in theory, less money simply because people are buying the game early? In the end, early access buyers will get the finished product at no extra cost.
I feel that in many of these discussions, we forget that most of these devs are not rich and are not trying to rip people off. They're running the game as early access because they need that as a funding source or else the game wouldn't exist.
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The reason for a required discount is for every Rust that is clearly a success and has a dev who cares, there's garbage like Earth 2066 and stuff that has been in development for eons like Interstellar Marines. For the record, I think the devs for IM are great guys, but the game is taking ages to go anywhere.
Paying full retail for Early Access and then buying a shit game turns people off on Early Access and there's always a risk that a developer will just say screw it and not continue working on it. There needs to be an incentive for buying the game in its early stages, in my opinion. A lower price will get more people to take the plunge as well.
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I don't know anything about the Interstellar Marines situation, but how you're describing it sounds a lot like the process of game development. It doesn't move at a pace anyone wants. Unless you want a crap game, game development (usually) takes time. It's just that early access shines a spotlight on that slow process and causes people to get even more impatient because they can see firstish-hand how slow development is.
If the idea is an incentive to buy, then shouldn't it be at the developer's call whether or not the game has a discount? The incentive to buying it early access is that you get to check out a game you're interested in, not how much you'll save by going in early.
The incentive for the devs to finish the game, aside from the hazy, unlikely concept of "a bunch of people buying it at release", is much less clear. If the devs could choose to sell at a large discount for early access but then at the end, when true release comes, buyers will have to pay extra for the final release, then there is definitely an incentive for the devs to finish the game. But that would come with its own set of flaws.
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Well, that is refreshing. This Early acces game son the main sales is wrong.
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It was included later into the bundle, and the bundle didn't go towards Humble or the developers, just the (five?) charities.
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I respect that decision. It would have been easy enough for them to get into the sale, but they have enough players to alpha/beta.
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