So, Ive been extremely skeptical and even suspicious regarding Star Citizen and after so many years of development and over $100 million in money taken/raised, Im starting to think theres something wrong. Dozens of other developers have delivered crowd funded games with a tenth or one hundredth of that budget. Below is an article on one backer of Star Citizen that got a refund of $2550. He now views the game as a scam and fought with Cloud Imperium until he got his money back. I would have sued for more lol.
So many games like DayZ or Star Citizen are sitting on huge development budgets and have yet to show enough to let everyone think that the money has been well spent. I feel like it shouldnt be Early Access anymore but rather Early Investment only. With an Early Investment a user would gain a small stake and therefore influence in the company that would then keep the developer accountable. That isnt the same as paying for a game in Early Access and getting a game later when it finally releases in whatever state they dub Version 1.0. I feel like Cloud Imperium needs to be put under investigation to see where all those $100 million went.
and ya’ll called me crazy when i was vehemently against pre orders and early access. You will see, soon you will all be on linux. It is only a matter of time.
Honestly, I hope Linux becomes gaming dominant. The security and freedom would be amazing to have. And no…it isnt there yet. I dont care what you say lol. Im not playing on Wine.
And for the recond, I think I can confidently claim that Ive never purchased an Early Access game.
So I was one of the og backers of star citizen when it was on kickstarter. I thought it was a cool concept and was something I felt would be worth $40 few years down the line. It gave me access to pretty much every step of the game. I don’t regret my backing like others have, I’ve been quietly seeing the progression of the game and although I have the alpha access I haven’t tried it out because I feel like I have no need to play it until it gets more complete. I don’t feel like I got burned because I didn’t expect it to be “the game of the century” as others did.
As far as other games I’ve backed:
Prison Architect - I absolutely loved backing this game and it was well worth the initial $15. This game is one of the most successful games to come out of early access imo.
Kerbal Space Program - On par with Prison Architect if not even more successful then Prison Architect. Also loved this game and the devs
Starbound - Coming out of Early Access today actually (7/22). This game I felt kinda burned on when I originally got it because of the grand promise of being a terraria successor in space, but then I realized that I was just getting the unfinished version of the game and then decided to not touch it and wait until it was complete. I haven’t played this game in years and I read up on all the changes (which sound amazing) and am excited to try it out.
Darkest Dungeon - Amazing game that will make you rage like no other. Got it when it was in early access, played it for a bit and had a great time with it. Now that it’s finished I’m having even more fun with it and there is promise of future content as well.
Ark Survival Evolved - The only game I’ve ever refunded on steam. This game was so broken and unplayable that it made me sick. The Devs are super shitty and only in it for the cash grab at this point. I don’t think the game will ever be finished. Even the early access tag did not justify how broken of a game this is.
The Culling - A hunger games style game where you’re put in an arena with nothing and must find resources craft weapons and fight. The devs have been very good with patches and updates. The game is very limited in its stage as of now and I only got it because a group of us were looking at it and wanted to try it out together and it turned out to be extremely fun with a group but isn’t that great playing alone.
So here’s my 2-cents to anyone who is thinking about kickstarting or early access:
Read up on the developers of the game. Have they made a game before? How are they with interacting the community and are they putting out content regularly? Basically if the devs are good then the game that you back will eventually be good.
That leads to #2 which is EVENTUALLY. Do not expect the game to be what you want when you first buy it. IT WILL FAIL YOUR EXPECTATIONS. I think that’s what a lot of people don’t understand or have a hard time coming to terms with. We live in a society today that feeds on instant gratification so the thought of “I’m spending money on this game so it will be what I want in the future as opposed to right now” isn’t something that they are willing to accept easily or without a bitter taste.
Wait. Seriously just wait. Don’t play the game if you don’t have to. Waiting for the game to finish and playing it after release will make your experience with the game so much more special and you get that “wow I backed this a couple years ago and now its amazing”. If you’re constantly playing the game in its early stages most likely you won’t be impressed with the final product and you will feel like you got burned or cheated because you’ve already exhausted your fun of the game. For example Starbound came to early access in 2013. That’s when I initially played it but decided to shelf it until its finished. It is now 2016. THAT’S 3 YEARS of waiting guys.
TLDR: early access isn’t suppose to be for your instant gratification of a game. The idea is that you like the idea of the game (or the devs) and want to see this game eventually finish and be what it set out to be. So if you buy an early access game wait until its finished an then play it for optimal gaming experience.
Sad to hear about ARK. I was sure (with how many thousands play it per day) that it would be good and just get better. That really sucks. As for the other games that have been Early Access successes, they didnt play the same games as Star Citizen, if you ask me.
Prison Architect had a busy development. The alpha was available pretty quickly and they hit the ground running from what I understood. The updates were constant and the content was substantial. I own the game but I bought it after it released.
Kerbal basically did the same as Prison Architect in terms of development. I feel like both devs held themselves accountable and at least provided tiers of benefits for those who opted to pay more cash. “Name in Game Edition” and the like.
Same with Darkest Dungeon and so far the extra content has been free, right? Ill be getting this game at some point. But again…after release. lol.
I concede that some of these games simply cannot release without people to buy the early access version but at the same time the successful ones have all limited the amount you give to the cost of the game or some tier. More honest in a sense.