Early Access update: My opinion on this game has not changed as the game itself has not changed since it entered early access. It is still buggy and devoid of content.

TL;DR Don't get it yet, it's plagued with too many infuriating game-breaking issues and design flaws which enable griefers, and make group play impossible.

I've been playing WA since closed alpha, and I'm a sucker for sandbox games. I love the concept of WA which envisions the player having the ability to design and create their own ships, and destroy others, in a large pseudo-steampunk sandbox open world with a heavy emphasis on exploration and PvP. However, the game is ridden with bugs, some of which will make you alt-f4 or stop playing alltogether. There are serious performance issues which will completely cripple your ability to play the game that everyone experiences at some stage.

You potentially have so much to lose, your hard work to gather resources and construct a ship is hopelessly futile when the game crashes at a critical moment, which is not an uncommon event at all. On the topic of loss, this is the part where I address griefing: No, I'm not confusing PvP with griefing, I'm 100% for PvP, no separate servers or a 'safe mode' or any such things. Currently there's nothing stopping players from revisiting a starting area with a fully decked ship, and raining hell on noobs trying to build a ship with no way to retaliate.

It's so easy to grief given that you can lose nothing and repeatedly spawn in while being on the attack. You lose nothing, the defender loses everything. This is not PvP. This is not something that happens because you're bad at the game. This is abusing the lack of desperately needed punishment mechanics for endlessly respawning and attacking. Thankfully this has been addressed by the devs and will be changed ... soon ... ish. (I'd like to note that developer communication is very slow).

Given the early access nature of WA, there's a severe lack of meaningful content. Part of this depends on the presence of a healthy playerbase, seeing as so much of the concept of WA relies on player interaction. When almost no one is playing, like as of now, player encounters are such a rare happenstance. This completely rules out the possibility of PvP and cooperative play completely. Cooperative play is borderline impossible right now, that's all on that topic.

PvE is advertised as a part of the game, but that equates to 2 types of enemies you can fight. It's severely devoid of content. Nothing else to say here too.

This game is unique. It has an interesting setting that's difficult to define, and allows for players to create wonderful sky ships that are used to fight, cooperate, and trade. However, it's technically and mechanically flawed in so many ways that it sabotages your enjoyment. The lack of content in some areas makes aspects like PvE and exploration more of chore than anything.

Wait until the game is in a better state before you pick it up. Ignore it until then, even if it's on sale.

Early Access update: My opinion on this game has not changed as the game itself has not changed since it entered early access. It is still buggy and devoid of content. TL;DR Don't get it yet, it's plagued with too many infuriating game-breaking issues and design flaws which enable griefers, and make group play impossible. I've been playing WA since closed alpha, and I'm a sucker for sandbox games. I love the concept of WA which envisions the player having the ability to design and create their own ships, and destroy others, in a large pseudo-steampunk sandbox open world with a heavy emphasis on exploration and PvP. However, the game is ridden with bugs, some of which will make you alt-f4 or stop playing alltogether. There are serious performance issues which will completely cripple your ability to play the game that everyone experiences at some stage. You potentially have so much to lose, your hard work to gather resources and construct a ship is hopelessly futile when the game crashes at a critical moment, which is not an uncommon event at all. On the topic of loss, this is the part where I address griefing: No, I'm not confusing PvP with griefing, I'm 100% for PvP, no separate servers or a 'safe mode' or any such things. Currently there's nothing stopping players from revisiting a starting area with a fully decked ship, and raining hell on noobs trying to build a ship with no way to retaliate. It's so easy to grief given that you can lose nothing and repeatedly spawn in while being on the attack. You lose nothing, the defender loses everything. This is not PvP. This is not something that happens because you're bad at the game. This is abusing the lack of desperately needed punishment mechanics for endlessly respawning and attacking. Thankfully this has been addressed by the devs and will be changed ... soon ... ish. (I'd like to note that developer communication is very slow). Given the early access nature of WA, there's a severe lack of meaningful content. Part of this depends on the presence of a healthy playerbase, seeing as so much of the concept of WA relies on player interaction. When almost no one is playing, like as of now, player encounters are such a rare happenstance. This completely rules out the possibility of PvP and cooperative play completely. Cooperative play is borderline impossible right now, that's all on that topic. PvE is advertised as a part of the game, but that equates to 2 types of enemies you can fight. It's severely devoid of content. Nothing else to say here too. This game is unique. It has an interesting setting that's difficult to define, and allows for players to create wonderful sky ships that are used to fight, cooperate, and trade. However, it's technically and mechanically flawed in so many ways that it sabotages your enjoyment. The lack of content in some areas makes aspects like PvE and exploration more of chore than anything. Wait until the game is in a better state before you pick it up. Ignore it until then, even if it's on sale.