What does Early Access mean to you?

[Mother]

I've been looking at a ton of games that are currently Early Access and most have mixed reviews. So form there I start reading reviews and the most of them are "Not enough content" and "Buggy". It's clear that Early Access may be above most of their heads or they're just really dense. EA clearly doesn't mean the game is gonna be finished and polished, it's a real shame that people skim over some of these games just because they have mixed or negative reviews when in reality it's a bunch of idiots complaining the game isn't finished.

Side note: Some of the reviews were well thought out and had legitimate reasons for being negative.

[Naota]

It means quality and dignity have diminished.

It's sad to see a once great site selling hundreds of amateurish games that never get finished.

[Dr Doctor]

It's meant to tell potential customers that there will be large changes to the game, except most people seem to have the reading comprehension of a snail so they think every game is full release and then complain about updates.

[Grumple Stiltskin]

It means a lot of things to me!

What is SHOULD mean:

This game isn't done. It will be soon(ish). This is a paid alpha/beta. Expect it to not work more often than it does.



What it currently means (95% of the time anyway):

This game will never be done. The devs made a half-baked game for money, and likely bought their way onto steam. Don't purchase it, it will likely be abandoned, or never leave early access. In the off chance it does make it to full release, it wont be what was promised, and in some cases will be a majorly different game.

[76561198001062896]

Naota eredeti hozzászólása:

It means quality and dignity have diminished.

It's sad to see a once great site selling hundreds of amateurish games that never get finished.

Amateurish you say?

Oh yeah, The Forest, Prison Architect, Dont Starve, Rust says hi


Its usually a good idea to think before making invalid statements

[The Brown Hornet]

Naota eredeti hozzászólása:

It means quality and dignity have diminished.

It's sad to see a once great site selling hundreds of amateurish games that never get finished.

PC gamers behave as if they are entitled, they always want to be the first to play something new, therefore they are easy to manipulate, easy to decieve, easy to fall for a scheme called Early Access.

[kaboomboom]

The Brown Hornet eredeti hozzászólása:

Naota eredeti hozzászólása:

It means quality and dignity have diminished.

It's sad to see a once great site selling hundreds of amateurish games that never get finished.

PC gamers behave as if they are entitled, they always want to be the first to play something new, therefore they are easy to manipulate, easy to decieve, easy to fall for a scheme called Early Access.

Are you a PC gamer?

Hypothetical, lets pretend your observations are correct for just a moment. If you are a PC gamer yourself, then are you also all of those things you listed?

If not, then what makes you so different?

[The Brown Hornet]

kaboomboom eredeti hozzászólása:

The Brown Hornet eredeti hozzászólása:

PC gamers behave as if they are entitled, they always want to be the first to play something new, therefore they are easy to manipulate, easy to decieve, easy to fall for a scheme called Early Access.

Are you a PC gamer?

Hypothetical, lets pretend your observations are correct for just a moment. If you are a PC gamer yourself, then are you also all of those things you listed?

If not, then what makes you so different?

Yeah but I am not a long time or die hard PC Gamer, I dont mind consoles at all, especially PS2 generation on down to Atari. Since becoming a PC gamer about 3 years ago (I'm very late to this party) I have noticed the entitled attitude of this gaming community. They dont savor anything, always want whats new and shiny even if its a complete dud...Early Access in a way is giving them what they want......."something only they will play"

[kaboomboom]

I'm sure that what you describe is true for some PC gamers, but not most of them. How do you know what percent of gamers fall into your catagory? Is it just a made up statistic or assumption on your part that most PC gamers are like this? Or are you guaging that on a few wackos you talked to on a forum? It certainly is not true for me.

I stick to the PC because I could never get use to a game controller. I strongly prefer a mouse and a keyboard.

I also noticed that games made specifically for a PC tend to have more depth to them than console games.

Finally, games fall in price faster on the PC. I never pay more than $10 to $20 for a game. So when I buy a really good title, it has been on the market for 2 to 3 years already.

I don't like the Early access games program on Steam because I think the marketing tactics being used are unethical. I don't buy EAG. There are many PC gamers who feel the same.

[The Brown Hornet]

kaboomboom eredeti hozzászólása:

I'm sure that what you describe is true for some PC gamers, but not most of them. How do you know what percent of gamers fall into your catagory? Is it just a made up statistic or assumption on your part that most PC gamers are like this? Or are you guaging that on a few wackos you talked to on a forum? It certainly is not true for me.

I stick to the PC because I could never get use to a game controller. I strongly prefer a mouse and a keyboard.

I also noticed that games made specifically for a PC tend to have more depth to them than console games.

Finally, games fall in price faster on the PC. I never pay more than $10 to $20 for a game. So when I buy a really good title, it has been on the market for 2 to 3 years already.

I don't like the Early access games program on Steam because I think the marketing tactics being used are unethical. I don't buy EAG. There are many PC gamers who feel the same.

A real gamer is equally adept with mouse and keyboard or a controller, when "entitled PC gamers begin to act as if consoles are beneath them, that in my opinion is the opening to scam they azzes with broken games and Early Access duds. There are great games on console, Last of Us, Uncharted series, and until recently the Final Fantasy games, so I see no point in that PC master race mumbo jumbo.

Have I grown to like PC? Absolutely, especially FPS games, horror titles and yes I like the prices, sales and convenience of downloading. But those same reasons....prices, convenience, downloading, have also made PC gaming the garbage dump of crappy titles. With Steam in particular I have never dealt with so much shovelware in my gaming experience. As a result I do most of my gaming on Origin where high quality (vs high quantity) titles like Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Dead Space, Battlefield ( Bad Company 2 ) get the majority of my time.

Origin actually reminds me a bit of console, because it is not overloaded, you actually get to savor and spend a great deal of time with a small number of great games. Here at steam its always whats next, whats next, whats next...there is something fundamentally wrong with this.

[kaboomboom]

I guess that I am not a 'true' gamer by your narrow definition. I don't even claim to be a very skilled gamer because I am not good at FPS at all. I just love to play games, but I am very particular about which games I play. Been playing for over 30 years. I still love doing it when I can find the right game.

Never claimed PC's are a master race mumbo jumbo stuff, just have a preference for the PC. I'm sure I will start to appreciate the console more as my son gets older, he is only 2 right now. I have seen that consoles offer superior entertainment with friends who are physically present in the same room. That is something the PC does not do well. So I will most likely invest in a cosole in the next few years and start to play it with my son and wife at the same time.

Steam does have a lot of bad stuff on its store, but they need stuff to sell to make money and people keep buying it. We call it shovel ware, but Steam keeps shoveling because people keep buying. We may turn our noses up at the stuff, but someone is really liking it.

What I think is kinda funny though is you stated you are not into that PC master race mumbo jumbo, but you seem to be into a type of 'game master race mumbo jumbo'. Why dis on the low end games?

I know you don't like EAG, same here, we are in agreement on that.

But what is wrong with shovelware so long as it does what they say it will do? Someone out there is buying that stuff right? It works and is not falesly marketed, so no wrong doing. I try not to buy it, but it does not bother me.

I too like to savor a great game. I just spent a couple hundred hours playing through fall out new vegas, talk about savoring.

Now, I am experimenting with modding fall out 3. Can't seem to get all of the mods to work right though, but I think I am close. Once I get that working, I will be playing that game for a long time.

Modding is something I just discovered and started playing with, so I am like a kid in a candy store.

[The Brown Hornet]

kaboomboom eredeti hozzászólása:

I guess that I am not a 'true' gamer by your narrow definition. I don't even claim to be a very skilled gamer because I am not good at FPS at all. I just love to play games, but I am very particular about which games I play. Been playing for over 30 years. I still love doing it when I can find the right game.

Never claimed PC's are a master race mumbo jumbo stuff, just have a preference for the PC. I'm sure I will start to appreciate the console more as my son gets older, he is only 2 right now. I have seen that consoles offer superior entertainment with friends who are physically present in the same room. That is something the PC does not do well. So I will most likely invest in a cosole in the next few years and start to play it with my son and wife at the same time.

Steam does have a lot of bad stuff on its store, but they need stuff to sell to make money and people keep buying it. We call it shovel ware, but Steam keeps shoveling because people keep buying. We may turn our noses up at the stuff, but someone is really liking it.

What I think is kinda funny though is you stated you are not into that PC master race mumbo jumbo, but you seem to be into a type of 'game master race mumbo jumbo'. Why dis on the low end games?

I know you don't like EAG, same here, we are in agreement on that.

But what is wrong with shovelware so long as it does what they say it will do? Someone out there is buying that stuff right? It works and is not falesly marketed, so no wrong doing. I try not to buy it, but it does not bother me.

I too like to savor a great game. I just spent a couple hundred hours playing through fall out new vegas, talk about savoring.

Now, I am experimenting with modding fall out 3. Can't seem to get all of the mods to work right though, but I think I am close. Once I get that working, I will be playing that game for a long time.

Modding is something I just discovered and started playing with, so I am like a kid in a candy store.

I have over 100 hours on Fallout 3 yet Steam has my time in game as 0.7 or something like that, it just wont record my time with that game, I have no clue why, Fallout 3 is a wierd one to me because I dont think the game is great at all yet I keep playing it for some reason. I keep feeling like I'm going to get somewhere if I keep walking, somewhere thats not green, grey, brown post nuclear garbage! LOL

[kaboomboom]

The Brown Hornet eredeti hozzászólása:

kaboomboom eredeti hozzászólása:

I guess that I am not a 'true' gamer by your narrow definition. I don't even claim to be a very skilled gamer because I am not good at FPS at all. I just love to play games, but I am very particular about which games I play. Been playing for over 30 years. I still love doing it when I can find the right game.

Never claimed PC's are a master race mumbo jumbo stuff, just have a preference for the PC. I'm sure I will start to appreciate the console more as my son gets older, he is only 2 right now. I have seen that consoles offer superior entertainment with friends who are physically present in the same room. That is something the PC does not do well. So I will most likely invest in a cosole in the next few years and start to play it with my son and wife at the same time.

Steam does have a lot of bad stuff on its store, but they need stuff to sell to make money and people keep buying it. We call it shovel ware, but Steam keeps shoveling because people keep buying. We may turn our noses up at the stuff, but someone is really liking it.

What I think is kinda funny though is you stated you are not into that PC master race mumbo jumbo, but you seem to be into a type of 'game master race mumbo jumbo'. Why dis on the low end games?

I know you don't like EAG, same here, we are in agreement on that.

But what is wrong with shovelware so long as it does what they say it will do? Someone out there is buying that stuff right? It works and is not falesly marketed, so no wrong doing. I try not to buy it, but it does not bother me.

I too like to savor a great game. I just spent a couple hundred hours playing through fall out new vegas, talk about savoring.

Now, I am experimenting with modding fall out 3. Can't seem to get all of the mods to work right though, but I think I am close. Once I get that working, I will be playing that game for a long time.

Modding is something I just discovered and started playing with, so I am like a kid in a candy store.

I have over 100 hours on Fallout 3 yet Steam has my time in game as 0.7 or something like that, it just wont record my time with that game, I have no clue why, Fallout 3 is a wierd one to me because I dont think the game is great at all yet I keep playing it for some reason. I keep feeling like I'm going to get somewhere if I keep walking, somewhere thats not green, grey, brown post nuclear garbage! LOL

I played it all the way through way back when it first came out. Playing new vegas recently has re-awakened my interest in the game, and all the mods they have for it make it into a whole new game. If I can get it all to work it will be really cool.

[suksas]

The Brown Hornet eredeti hozzászólása:

kaboomboom eredeti hozzászólása:

I'm sure that what you describe is true for some PC gamers, but not most of them. How do you know what percent of gamers fall into your catagory? Is it just a made up statistic or assumption on your part that most PC gamers are like this? Or are you guaging that on a few wackos you talked to on a forum? It certainly is not true for me.

I stick to the PC because I could never get use to a game controller. I strongly prefer a mouse and a keyboard.

I also noticed that games made specifically for a PC tend to have more depth to them than console games.

Finally, games fall in price faster on the PC. I never pay more than $10 to $20 for a game. So when I buy a really good title, it has been on the market for 2 to 3 years already.

I don't like the Early access games program on Steam because I think the marketing tactics being used are unethical. I don't buy EAG. There are many PC gamers who feel the same.

A real gamer is equally adept with mouse and keyboard or a controller, when "entitled PC gamers begin to act as if consoles are beneath them, that in my opinion is the opening to scam they azzes with broken games and Early Access duds. There are great games on console, Last of Us, Uncharted series, and until recently the Final Fantasy games, so I see no point in that PC master race mumbo jumbo.

Have I grown to like PC? Absolutely, especially FPS games, horror titles and yes I like the prices, sales and convenience of downloading. But those same reasons....prices, convenience, downloading, have also made PC gaming the garbage dump of crappy titles. With Steam in particular I have never dealt with so much shovelware in my gaming experience. As a result I do most of my gaming on Origin where high quality (vs high quantity) titles like Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Dead Space, Battlefield ( Bad Company 2 ) get the majority of my time.

Origin actually reminds me a bit of console, because it is not overloaded, you actually get to savor and spend a great deal of time with a small number of great games. Here at steam its always whats next, whats next, whats next...there is something fundamentally wrong with this.

Sorry to say but you are wrong. What you described is a hardcore gamer and just set up yourself to be compared to thouse entitled pc gamers you mentioned earlier.
True gamer is anyone who plays and enjoys playing video games no matter which medium they are on.

And lets not kid ourselves. Consoles do have ♥♥♥♥♥♥ games,they just have less of them. Just like they have less of the good ones then PC too. Consoles don't have any quality to their games to be considered better place for gaming quality then pc. They are just far less likely to have games that ether don't come form publisher willing to pay MS or Sony for the right to release on their platform or haven't become imensly popular on PC as indies.

Current consoles indie games owe PC and Steam for their privilege of joining consoles.

Not to mention that if given a choice,most console players would subscribe quite happily to console version of EA.

Bashing on consoles is what elitist pc snobs nobs do, but there is also the other spectrum of blind console warriors thinking that consoles are greater then certain parts of pc community. You ravings on steam for example :D

[cinedine]

suksas eredeti hozzászólása:

Sorry to say but you are wrong. What you described is a hardcore gamer and just set up yourself to be compared to thouse entitled pc gamers you mentioned earlier.
True gamer is anyone who plays and enjoys playing video games no matter which medium they are on.

High Five for truth! "I'm a gamer. I play games, not platforms." Being active on console forums as well I can certainly attest to the fact that those who play more on console are just as un/willing to pay for Early Access as those who play mostly on PC. It's like saying all Apple customers will spend their lifetime savings on the new iPhone while waiting in line for the newest Samsung (i.e. Android).

The Brown Hornet eredeti hozzászólása:

Have I grown to like PC? Absolutely, especially FPS games, horror titles and yes I like the prices, sales and convenience of downloading. But those same reasons....prices, convenience, downloading, have also made PC gaming the garbage dump of crappy titles. With Steam in particular I have never dealt with so much shovelware in my gaming experience. As a result I do most of my gaming on Origin where high quality (vs high quantity) titles like Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Dead Space, Battlefield ( Bad Company 2 ) get the majority of my time.

That is a simple issue of curation. Electronic Arts and the console manufacturers don't let everyone upload a game to their storefront while Steam is all about free market with as little barriers as possible. The only difference to before is that Steam already has a userbase in the milllions which is now readily exposed to all those games from Desura, Newggrounds, and hobby projects of all kind.
Nothing to do with Early Access, though.

[Crix]

What does EA mean to me?

-Be cautious of seller.

That's pretty much what it means to me. That's because most of them don't keep their promises, change their game entirely or don't finish it at all well past the refund limit. Honestly I think for a game to be EA it needs to have deadlines and it needs to have rules. DayZ for instance everyone knows that game isnt' going to finish and it was purly cashed in on a name from the ARMA 2 mod. There are many more like it that aren't getting updates at all and left abandon but bottle fed updates much like DayZ for the sake of saying "it's still getting updates" regardless of the quality of the updates or minior changes in the list of the patch notes. I mean there are literally only values changed in a text folder and a list of them that wouldn't take but an hour to change and that was considered a long awaited update.

EA needs to have it's own refund system and rules. Developers should've have some consequences for not meeting these rules aka a refund system. The 2 hour 2 weeks rule makes sense for finished games and developers capable of providing the feed back but those that don't have the established reputation or one to keep for that matter, that's a different story where all they get is a loud audience and zero infractions. It all lands on the consumer.