Concerned About The Game- Returning From An Early Access Perspective

[Arcane Teuton]

I initially intended to buy this game deep in early access. However, it was one of many titles that just got put into my backlog, and eventually was forgotten about as Steam refused to recommend it to me when it was on sale, and unfortunately I never got to support it in its infancy.
I purchase games if:
A. I have the time/intense desire to play them
B. They are on sale that will help me save money in the long term, even if I don't immediately plan on playing them.


I found out about it from a former Youtuber, Generikb, and I thoroughly enjoyed his playthroughs of it. I hoped that, eventually when I had the time, I would buy the game and play it too.

However, as I consider buying the game now, I see many things I do not like.

The game showed so much potential in early access, but overall it seems they have made bad design decisions. Something I do not know for certain, because I am still only returning to view the game years later.

Overall, from what I see the game simply does not interest me anymore. They removed hazards, they removed the storm feature. It just misses the charm that the early access title had in general. I might elaborate on this more as I continue to monitor the game.


They added microtransactions. Something I wasn't initially concerned about, but doing further research, I found they were BAD microtransactions. 5 dollars for an emote, and roughly twelve-hundred dollars to get all of them?

Was it a mistake that this game fell into my backlog, or did my lack of diligence to follow this title actually save me money and time?

[Wolfgang]

The storms were removed since they weren't realistic and were more an annoyance than a hazard (you dig yourself a small hole and wait in there so your progress is stopped during that).

The microtransactions are purely cosmetic and don't add anything to the game. Buying them doesn't give you any advantage and not buying them doesn't give you any disadvantage. They are just "skins" you can buy.

[Arcane Teuton]

Originally posted by Wolfgang:

The storms were removed since they weren't realistic and were more an annoyance than a hazard (you dig yourself a small hole and wait in there so your progress is stopped during that).

The microtransactions are purely cosmetic and don't add anything to the game. Buying them doesn't give you any advantage and not buying them doesn't give you any disadvantage. They are just "skins" you can buy.

The cosmetics are still grossly overpriced. This reminds me of the 11 dollar Apex Legends weapon skins.

"It's just cosmetic" is a poor cover for bad, greedy pricing.

[[G.B.Ger] kller1993]

Yes, things got removed, but more got added and is still coming. Yes, they have cosmetic microtransactions, but you can still earn the (IMO) best cosmetics. The game is still worth it, and yes, I am playing since end of 2017. They added more tools, vehicles, automation, goals you might want to reach, world features, base parts, and a lot more. And I hope, that they bring the storms back as an option in the settings^^

[Bomoo]

Originally posted by ✠ Tarnil Corvax:

The game showed so much potential in early access, but overall it seems they have made bad design decisions.

Overall, from what I see the game simply does not interest me anymore.

Was it a mistake that this game fell into my backlog, or did my lack of diligence to follow this title actually save me money and time?

You are correct, yes. And yes, it was a mistake to miss out on the early access for this game. Even though the potential was squandered, it was a great time to play it. Similar kinda thing as with Darkest Dungeon, which rapidly went down the toilet after its first maybe 6 months in early access.

Originally posted by ✠ Tarnil Corvax:

They added microtransactions. Something I wasn't initially concerned about, but doing further research, I found they were BAD microtransactions. 5 dollars for an emote, and roughly twelve-hundred dollars to get all of them?

I regret to inform you that you found out wrong. They are, in fact, not "BAD" microtransactions. They are tacky cosmetic crap that confer no gameplay benefit and you absolutely do not need to enjoy the game. I've played the game to death and haven't bought a single damn one.

[Bomoo]

Originally posted by ✠ Tarnil Corvax:

"It's just cosmetic" is a poor cover for bad, greedy pricing.

It's not "greedy" pricing if they do not influence gameplay in any way. "Greedy pricing" would be to charge you $20 a month so you can have xp gain that isn't agonizingly slow or something, which is actually what heroes of the storm does. Do you want to pay $11 for a visor or tacky suit palette? I mean okay, it's your money. I think that's foolish but who am I to tell you where to throw your money away. It literally is "just cosmetic."

I'd say a lot of the outcry over this game's cash shop is from people who, with all due respect, have some kind of behavioural quirk or compulsion that drives them to collect ALL THE THINGS even if there is no achievement for doing so, even if it is COMPLETELY pointless. In those cases I think it's a problem you need to fix in your own head or you're always going to be getting taken advantage of.

[Arcane Teuton]

Originally posted by Bomoo:

Originally posted by ✠ Tarnil Corvax:

"It's just cosmetic" is a poor cover for bad, greedy pricing.

It's not "greedy" pricing if they do not influence gameplay in any way. "Greedy pricing" would be to charge you $20 a month so you can have xp gain that isn't agonizingly slow or something, which is actually what heroes of the storm does. Do you want to pay $11 for a visor or tacky suit palette? I mean okay, it's your money. I think that's foolish but who am I to tell you where to throw your money away. It literally is "just cosmetic."

I'd say a lot of the outcry over this game's cash shop is from people who, with all due respect, have some kind of behavioural quirk or compulsion that drives them to collect ALL THE THINGS even if there is no achievement for doing so, even if it is COMPLETELY pointless. In those cases I think it's a problem you need to fix in your own head or you're always going to be getting taken advantage of.

This is false. Customization is a huge part of games, and for good reason. People feel inclined to do it. Taking advantage of that by adding ridiculously expensive cosmetics is scummy, whether or not they actually affect the game.

Actually study the psychological affects and the drive people have to buy stuff even if it is just visual. It's not as easy as saying "oh its just uhhh its just visual so they can price it however they want without it being bad!!!!" That argument never works. Look at Vermintide 2's Outcast Engineer Cosmetic pack, look how poorly reviewed it is.

There's no magic line that makes pricing cosmetics whatever you want okay. Yes, it will always be LESS scummy than locking gameplay features, but that doesn't automatically make it okay.

[TͤͣͬearOfTheSͭͣͬtar]

Originally posted by Bomoo:

It's not "greedy" pricing if they do not influence gameplay in any way.

It would be much less of a problem if they didn't use "premium currency" and ethically questionable design and just let us buy any cosmetic directly with our money as a dlc, like space engineers do for example. I personally stopped playing astroneer after they added it, cuz i don't want to support this manipulative tactics. And unlikely to buy their future games.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Astroneer/comments/hgk295/is_it_possible_to_earn_qbits/fw4jf5f/

Originally posted by MathPony:

System Era is using behavioral psychology to pressure players into purchasing:

• Shop—not settings—is the first tab in the menu
  
• Items in the shop can't be earned through gameplay
  
• Middle currency obfuscates the real dollar amounts players are spending
  
• Prices ensure some currency is left over, encouraging additional purchases
  
• Sound is used as positive reinforcement when buying an item, creating a sense of reward
  
• Limited time discounts and rotational stock cause urgency to buy
  
• Premium items are more distinctive designs, leading to social pressure to have an exclusive item
  
• Over 50 new items were added to the shop, but three new items were added for the event
  
• Shop was introduced on stream months ago as "a bundle" to avoid controversy

When any in-game shop is made, it justifies its existence by "supporting developers." However, the increased cash flow will cause the game to change and add new mechanics that support more revenue and monetization—instead of mechanics that support fun gameplay. (See Destiny 2.)