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.

[Alexalmighty502 Sup Acc]

its called early access for a reason tons of early access game i bought nearly doubled in size to to added content and improvements EA means that devs with a low budget but with a great idea are able to get on to steam

[Tux]

It means the following:

1. Likely that the games will be more interesting to me than non-Early Access games
2. That there is far more of said games (games I find interesting like crafting games) by a large ratio then in non-early access gaming
3. if its been in Early Access for less than a year it a purchase risk.

People have a hard time understanding why I like early access games but I think maybe this different response might help.

Please point to me the non-early access games that have crafting and are not minecraft

[wintermute]

What early access games means to me is wait until finished before buying.

[The Brown Hornet]

引用自 Tux：

It means the following:

1. Likely that the games will be more interesting to me than non-Early Access games
2. That there is far more of said games (games I find interesting like crafting games) by a large ratio then in non-early access gaming
3. if its been in Early Access for less than a year it a purchase risk.

People have a hard time understanding why I like early access games but I think maybe this different response might help.

Please point to me the non-early access games that have crafting and are not minecraft

And most EAG crafting games tend to be unpolished, lacking in content, buggy, glitchy, and unoriginal. All good reasons to not like or support them at all

[Tux]

引用自 The Brown Hornet：

引用自 Tux：

It means the following:

1. Likely that the games will be more interesting to me than non-Early Access games
2. That there is far more of said games (games I find interesting like crafting games) by a large ratio then in non-early access gaming
3. if its been in Early Access for less than a year it a purchase risk.

People have a hard time understanding why I like early access games but I think maybe this different response might help.

Please point to me the non-early access games that have crafting and are not minecraft

And most EAG crafting games tend to be unpolished, lacking in content, buggy, glitchy, and unoriginal. All good reasons to not like or support them at all

and instead play the crafting games that are non-early access.

oh wait...there really arent any.

''''''Please point to me the non-early access games that have crafting and are not minecraft???'''''''

I pretty much only play games with crafting in them now. I guess putting crafting in games is just to hard to do.

[Joki the Disco Bandit]

@ Tux: Don't Starve. Though you may want to go ahead and purchase Don't Starve Together, since it's basically the single player game with the added benefit of being able to play with others if you wish. (The only significant difference between DS and DST aside from the multiplayer is that enemies all have higher health in DST, to compensate for the added players)

[Tux]

引用自 Hotblack Desiato：

@ Tux: Don't Starve. Though you may want to go ahead and purchase Don't Starve Together, since it's basically the single player game with the added benefit of being able to play with others if you wish. (The only significant difference between DS and DST aside from the multiplayer is that enemies all have higher health in DST, to compensate for the added players)

a cartoon that is almost 2d? nope not for me I need something that at least makes an effort to make me feel like I am there

[oy]

It means paying money to become a playtester for a product that may never be finished.

[Ishraqiyun]

I don't think it's a great way to make games in general - there are apparently special cases where EA really worked, but no one knows in advance which ones these will be.

Also, the completion rate of games is low, so just know that before you buy.

[Caedo]

引用自 wintermute：

What early access games means to me is wait until finished before buying.

引用自 dagg245：

It means paying money to become a playtester for a product that may never be finished.

Pretty much that.

[BlackSpawn]

A concept that is great on paper but crap in practice.

Early Access was devised to incentivize creativity and the creation of fun, inventive, out of the box titles with unconventional subject matter, gameplay mechanics or game design.
Basically to support indie games from small or up and coming developers.

Players would get to support a potentially cool project and actively or passively contribute feedback and help shape the game.
Developers would get beta testers, feedback that would potentially aid in development and bugtesting and capital to be able to continue development and sometimes even dispense with the need for a publisher.

At its inception, Early Access games would be cheaper at launch and sometimes go up in price on Full Release; as a way to reward those that took the Early Access risk.

Currently, Early Access is being abused, which results in games remaining in a perennial state of "Early Access Hell", with trite, overused game concepts being pushed.

At this moment, most of the experimentation while on Early Access involves abuse of pre-release monetization rather than exploring novel game concepts.
Until the paid Early Access concept is completed, no additional monetization should be added, in my opinion. Moreover, if any additional monetization will ever be added, these plans should be clearly delineated at EA launch.

Early Access has gone off the rails IMHO.

[TheStoryteller01]

What means Early Access to me?

For me personally it's mainly a fascinating social and legal experiment.

As a social experiment it surprises me every day in how much ♥♥♥♥ gamers on Steam can be fed until a critical mass is reached. If Early Access wasn't about selling games but torturing, the pain threshold of gamers would put every trained spec forces member to shame.

As a legal experiment it exemplarily shows to me that in the online business one can still l get away with borderline fraud without suffering serious consequences.

Future generations of students will write papers on the subject.

[Xylber]

A good concept if the developers are honest (the very few); but a money grab if they are greedy and only wants a quick buck (the majority).

[The Brown Hornet]

引用自 Alexalmighty502 Sup Acc：

its called early access for a reason tons of early access game i bought nearly doubled in size to to added content and improvements EA means that devs with a low budget but with a great idea are able to get on to steam

Or it means devs with a low budget and bad ideas or able to get on Steam

[tmwfte]

引用自 The Brown Hornet：

引用自 Alexalmighty502 Sup Acc：

its called early access for a reason tons of early access game i bought nearly doubled in size to to added content and improvements EA means that devs with a low budget but with a great idea are able to get on to steam

Or it means devs with a low budget and bad ideas or able to get on Steam

Both situations have always been possible since Valve started selling third part products on Steam. This isn't unique to early access.