After watching this video,
I had to find out what everyone thought of Early Access?
Are you against it, for it, maybe with a few tweaks might be OK with it? etc...
Thoughts?
Thu, 11/05/2015 - 07:41
#1
Early Access: Good or Bad?
Also,
Can a game really be equated to a Comfort Food?
And Binge on it? :P
Also, how does a game Suit Your Mood your in?
For CoT, is this the Paths system? or is it found in Mission Objectives?
Meaning...
- Stealth (Processed Chicken/Beef/etc... just get fed)
- Detection (Healthy Balance, part of a diet)
- Delivery (Delivery Pizza onder 30 min, or it's FREE)
- Crafting (make your own Ice Cream Scoop with any sprinkle)
- Socializing (Green Smoothie)
- Power Leveling (Power Bars)
- Soloing (TV Dinner)
- Teaming (Family Dinner, assorted sides)
- Raids (buffet, all you can eat)
- etc...
Thoughts?
I've been a long fan of Extra Credits, and always take their insights into account when working. I even have one of their t-shirts which says "Fail Faster."
They are very much on the money here. Releasing a game too early will give people the incorrect idea as to what the game itself is. And that will give the wrong impression. And for a game like ours, which rely upon an active server to work means that there is time and money taken away from development for merely maintaining that server.
We figured out once that to do a proper early access would require hiring, that is proper employees, to help GM the game, and to be active in maintaining that server. Hundreds of thousands in sunk cost for a year. So, before that happens, it needs to be clearly worth it.
Technical Director
Read enough Facebook and you have to make Sanity Checks. I guess FB is the Great Old One of the interent these days... - Beamrider
As badly as I want this game NAOWUH!!!, I'm greatly heartened to hear this kind of thinking.
This kind of perspicacity gives me great hope for MWM and CoT.
FIGHT EVIL! (or go cause trouble so the Heroes have something to do.)
Ayup, I agree with the take presented in the video. I never considered how early access could create difficulties for an effective launch[color=red]*[/color] and I doubt many developers have made that connection, either.
I prefer the days when "early access" meant that you could start playing the game a week or two before everyone else.
[br]
[color=red]*[/color] "Oh, the game's finally live? Huh."
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[font=Pristina][size=18][b]Hail Beard![/b][/size][/font]
Support [url=http://cityoftitans.com/comment/52149#comment-52149]trap clowns[/url] for CoT!
To me, "Early access" is just another marketing tool and it is something that should be used carefully. Hell, the same should be said for beta/open beta testing.
On balance, I'd have to say ... no early access prior to game launch for the public.
In most cases, Early Access simply winds up being an attempt to get two bites at the apple of making a first impression. On that basis, it doesn't work.
[center][img=44x100]https://i.imgur.com/sMUQ928.gif[/img]
[i]Verbogeny is one of many pleasurettes afforded a creatific thinkerizer.[/i][/center]
Releasing too early is what really killed Tabula Rasa.
[i]Has anyone seen my mind? It was right here...[/i]
I found it funny and was chuckling at the Sim City discussion near the end concerning a User Mod circumventing the Always Online to be playable also Offline. ;D
I remember someone commenting that in development of CoH, for a while Hasten worked in such a way that you did not get the "come down" at the end and it was BA-ROKEN like that, so the devs tweaked it into the still-broken state it started the game in at launch before eventually being nerfed such that it wasn't so bad. Anyway, at the time of the playtesting stage, the first time it got nerfed (before we as players ever got to see the game) there were playtesters who said that the version we had at rollout was "so bad it wasn't worth taking anymore".
Your point of view on just one power can be skewed by prior experiences with it and perceived nerfs in such a way that much-needed tweaks to powers can be viewed as "they went and ruined the game, so I'm out, because they took away my Preferred Play Style(TM) of 'Take the broken power and pwn with it.' because they hate me personally for some reason."
R.S.O. of Phoenix Rising
There are those of us who are extremely passionate about getting a truly 'Super Heroic Super Hero Game' to play. Then there's everybody else. I agree that early access would be a mistake, but are there enough mouths here to make 'Word of Mouth' publicity possible? What other economically feasible options can be used to get consumers outside of the bubble of true believers interested in the final product? We want the game to succeed and last. What kind of strategies do you believe will work?
Lay your hands on me
While I'm bleeding dry
Break on through blue skies
And take it high
Early access is a huge mistake imo; there is no way to convince the buying public that the game will get any better. There are no gaurantess it will even get finished.......
However, the standalone character creator is a great idea. Black Desert has a ton of publicity due to the creator alone, it is its' major selling point irrc (Not saying BDO did this btw). I am no dev, not sure if MMOs can do this, but a standalone creator with website funding options is a better idea. So much goes into making a game, therefore, most early access games feel "Meh" which hurts its' image. Early access does more harm than good imo, unless your pre-alpha looks like DCUO. However, if it looks like DCUO, there would be no need for early access lol.
As a child, I thought my name was handsome, cause that is what everyone called me.
Yep. Zero Punctuation will do a hit piece, that's all anyone will see or think about, the memes will shamble on like zombies forever, and your product is toast.
[i]Has anyone seen my mind? It was right here...[/i]
Agreed.
It'll drive some of the folks here who are really chomping at the bit crazy to wait, and the waiting will breed recurring accusations of vaporware out on the net--but none of that is nearly as bad as getting panned very early on.
FIGHT EVIL! (or go cause trouble so the Heroes have something to do.)
I would much rather get a feature like the AB and just wait til the game is done. What would be kinda cool/funny is to have a waiting room. A huge waiting room where your toons and others can get on and sit around playing chess(etc) and just hang out till the game gets made lol
The Carnival of Light in the Phoenix Rising
"We never lose our demons, we only learn to live above them." - The Ancient One
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Isn't that one of the functions of Paragon Chat?
Be Well!
Fireheart
Yes, I would love to have something like that but where you can get in with other players and actually see their costumes and whatnot
The Carnival of Light in the Phoenix Rising
"We never lose our demons, we only learn to live above them." - The Ancient One
Avatar by lilshironeko
Despite the issues that everyone brings up (which largely amount to personal opinion...including my following thoughts)....early access games still sell very well.
The truth is most games that go into early access do so with good intentions (obvious exceptions). It is a very good tool for small game companies that require an infusion of funds. Where they run into trouble is using early access too...well early. Games like Day Z, Nether and 7DtD give the vast majority of early access games a bad name. The broken, buggy and featureless games are released far too early and do not provide an accurate representation of what the games will be in its finished state. As a result those games get very negative returns (even in the case of Day Z which still sells reasonably well).
Games like Don't Starve, Ark: Survival Evolved, Minecraft, and Gang Beasts all have had great success with early access and are fairly well received games. Even Rust...after its bumpy past, is still very popular and a top seller with its fans raving about it. These games are put into early access in a state where the game has bugs, does not have all the features implemented and in many cases are not graphically optimized. But they are at a stage where the core gameplay is represented so the players can see what the finished product will be. Whats more, these games are at a stage where updates and fixes come at a steady pace giving the customers a reason to trust the developers.
In the end, early access is a development tool like any other.... It can be used to great effect and help a game see completion or it can be misused and the game will falter. It really depends on the developer and the choices they make.
My personal opinion (much like the rest of this post) is if MwM were to take advantage of the early access option they would do so in such a way that would benefit the games development.
This is one of those things I would LOVE to be wrong about. I would smile at every "I told you so".
If there is a way for me to get to play the game sooner--even in a somewhat rough state--where I could also support the game with sub fees AND it would benefit the game's development?
Sign me up and glad I was wrong ;).
FIGHT EVIL! (or go cause trouble so the Heroes have something to do.)
I am *always* in two minds over the early access. I love the idea of testing being more open. I am (however) seriously against the idea of *paying* for the privilege of "testing".
Also, and this is one thing to remember: It used to be the case that in the *testing* environment, that your progress COULD and WOULD be wiped at any moment in time.
And people tend to get tetchy if you wipe their progress on a regular basis once they start paying money....
Early access is not just about testing. I do agree that the idea of paying to test a product is distasteful in some ways but it is not a new concept. Car companies, restaurants and land developments (to name a few) all have used similar 'early adopter' programs to help further their goals.
I personally view the early access as a way to support the developing game financially. I have many early access games that I purchased yet played for little to no time. I paid for them because I wanted to see the end result and this was how I could help... not so I could play the game regularly. In fact of all the early access games I have bought the only one I regularly play is Ark and that is because the game is constantly updated (at one point we saw up to 4 updates a week).
That is very true. But people will get tetchy if a minor bug is not corrected instantly as well. Early access will ALWAYS see a lot of people complaining about a lot of different things. Its how the devs respond that will make or break it.
In regards to server resets....wiped progress should only happen in extreme cases AND at launch. This goes back to what I said before. If the game is at a stage where the core gameplay is not nailed down....and requires frequent server wipes to correct balance, bugs or exploits then it is not ready for early access. Ark had a complete server reset once a duplication bug was found and it caused a major uproar.... but they weathered the storm and the game continues to improve.
I honestly think MwM could use early access in a way that provides a much greater benefit to the game than negative. It would depend on what the developers want to get out of early access. Funding, testing, feedback or visibility.... deciding what is most important will help then use early access right. Above all else they need to have the game at a stage where the game is representative of what the finished product is.
As I see it.... I don't think MwM is going to have to use early access because of the way they have said they want to roll out the avatar builder....