General Discussions

I still remember the days when you could get pre-released copies of games on the side for £200-500+ and they'd be broken, and they'd be incomplete, but it didn't matter because you were playing the game months/years before anyone else.

Compared to that, Early Access is considerably better. Often it's cheaper to get it earlier and you get the promise of a complete at the end of it. By far the best feature in comparison is that they update the copy you bought, no need to re-purchase.

That being said, I can see where everyone is coming from. A large portion of my Steam Library is full of unfinished Early Access games. I'm constantly buying more and more just to get a few Acts/Chapters in and hitting a brick wall. Then I add it to the Early Access category and uninstall it.

It feels like some games have been on that list for years, still I've been gaming for a long time and waited patiently for both Diablo III and Starcraft II. Next to those two, three years here and five years there isn't terribly long to wait for a games release. Though it is a ghastly state off affairs, there are at least enough games currently being released each quarter, that I barely have time to think of past tense games.

Not sure what to say... I have paid for a very few and so far have only regretted about two of them. The rest have thus far been very good investments. For example: Divinity: Original Sin, Invisible Inc. although that one is still unfinished, Shadowrun, which is not bad for an indie title, and even waste land 2 although I haven't bothered finishing it lol.... I do not regret these titles. Life is Feudal, I regret though...

So my point: it is a risk, sure... I win on some and I may loose on a few. I always use discernment and take the shot when I can... That is part of the risk and with more experience I get better at the decisions I make. Then again, I am trying to start off my own developing company so I am not sure If my opinion can be related too. Either way, this is how i feel about it i guess.

I've only ever shelled out twice for Early Access - the first one was Horizon, which was, well, 'meh' (the game was functional but the mechanics seemed a little too skewed towards micromanagement for my tastes; how (or if) that has changed in the full release I have no idea) and the second was Plague Inc: Evolved which was most assuredly not 'meh' (the vast majority of the game was in place and it was the last few bells and whistles that were still being polished, nothing gamebreaking).

My own feeling with E/A is that it is the ultimate expression of caveat emptor or 'buyer beware'.

I totally agree, they shouldn't make early access games, what's the point of letting players play when it's not even finished yet, did di vinchi let people color in his painting before he was finished? Plus now people are putting out more crap games idk if i will be looking forward for new up comming games. There should be a law that if your game sucks you shouldn't be able to sell it and steam isn't helping either, so much crap games on steam!