Steam Early Access revealed by Valve

[James]

Steam Early Access revealed by Valve

Get your hands on tomorrow’s games today

[HavocXphere]

Steam Early Access revealed by Valve

Get your hands on tomorrow’s games today

Reminds me of the Liandri Corp's slogan: "Liandri Brings You Tomorrow, Today".

I don't think I'm going to go for this. 2 reasons:

1) If you talk to say game testers they'll tell you they lost some of the enjoyment of playing the finished game because they recall it in its less than perfect state. I don't want my first impression of a game to be a glitch fest. First impressions last.

2) Discounts. Or rather the lack thereof.

Nonetheless I do like that Valve did this. Its progress & a feature even if I won't use it.

[Avatar]

Nonetheless I do like that Valve did this. Its progress & a feature even if I won't use it.

I don't. It's the same problem I have with the massive amount of selling beta access as a pre-order incentive. Beta testing should be just that, testing, with structure and planning and all that. This seems to be a tacked on marketing stunt most of the time, and, while I've been guilty of playing beta's (I did try to actually be a tester, though, and I don't quite agree with your first point) I don't think selling a game in beta with no restrictions is the right thing to do.

That said, Kerbal Space Program, an indie gem I've been playing, has been sold on its own website for a while now. They've only just gotten on Steam with the early release program, so perhaps it's fair to have them continue to sell the game the way they have been doing. Thanks to the Steam funds, they've already been punting features they're adding.

[Lyt]

If you talk to say game testers they'll tell you they lost some of the enjoyment of playing the finished game because they recall it in its less than perfect state. I don't want my first impression of a game to be a glitch fest. First impressions last.

^^This. I've bought the Arma 3 alpha and so far even thinking about the game makes me want to go to the toilet. I know that its not the case with the finished game, I'll probably love it once its finished.

[Graal]

I haven't had any issues with the Arma3 alpha yet. It seems pretty solid to me.

Either way, I love alpha-funding games. I own most of the alpha-funding catalogue on Desura. I like watching games develop and change over time.