Who needs to pay game testers when you can just release the game early and get people to pay you to find the bugs for you.
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I've to admit, I used it ONCE on a homophobe person on youtube. It just fit the situation.
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Was kind of my first reaction ... Along the way with early access and Planetary Annihilation(if memory serves me right they were the first ones to ask a ridiculous amount of cash for early access) it got to the point where you need to pay to have a game tested for bugs.
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I think part of the reason some of us (including me) find this practice distasteful is that it feels appropriate that if money is exchanged at all, that money should be paid to the people finding the bugs (the players of the alpha game), not to the people creating the bugs (the game makers).
Yes, a person is supporting a game by buying an Early Access alpha. However,$100 is a LOT to PAY to perform tasks that normally people would be PAID TO DO.
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I have never claimed $100 is justifiable, but I understand the confusion since I have never made that clear. I personally believe that alpha game sales should be an investment for the players as well the game devs. Players get a really good deal early as well get to play the game sooner, the game devs get free bug testers as well some money to help support their business (and not just release an unfinished game out of pressure from their wallet). With that all said, $100 is unreasonable, even for all dlc, and I think $50 would be better. It all depends on how much dlc they plan to release with a price tag. That there would be a whole different conversation on morals with money, since having the intentions of creating content in the near future for money can be bad as well. (there was a time when dlc was used to improve the game, not be used to cut the game into maller pieces for more money).
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It's not only about DLC, as was explained on the steam forums(and you can also read on the store) the game will also get multiple expansions, just like it's predecessor did, they would have to be stupid or insane to sell the founder pack for 50$ when the base game alone will be 40$ at launch.
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Yeah please let me know when you find a dev that's willing to give internet randoms money to test his game. You're not paying to test bugs you're paying to get all the DLCs/Expansions the game will have and to get to play it early. Let's be honest most people who buy into early access only report(aka bitch about) a bug if it really gets in their way.
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haha, when you put it that way it sound so easy. Everyone should be doing it.
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But it's a privilege!!
lol
EDIT: wtf with the stardock account requirement? Damn I hate that
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Also:
You must be running 64-bit Windows 7 or later to play Galactic Civilizations III. This requirement allows us to create the largest, most advanced, strategy game possible.
LOOOL
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And no game worth 100 bucks :S. That's really a lot of money, even for a finished and really complete AAA game...
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you know - that might actually have some merit. Advanced AI requires large quantities of memory. 32-bit systems are usually gimped to 2gb (some trickery possible to increase that in some cases). 64-bit can address much more (several TB). So that can become a requirement to keep things moving at a reasonable pace.
'course, that only helps if your machine has the extra GB's for the game to use...
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Rather than wasting my money buying a game that is unfinished, I would rather pay for classes to learn video game development. That way I could actually help the company finish the game.
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By the way, I hate when developers release an online game on steam that requires another account. Why don't they just find a way to either link to your steam account without setting up an additional account, or just use the account directly?
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Actually, you could also buy it for $40 and get beta access (but no DLC) until the start of this month.
But that would require you to actually be informed about the game and be interested in following its development, rather than just look for things to bitch about.
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Personally I think the game looks boring as, I personally would never want to play it just by looking at the video, although maybe if I actually had the game and tested it I might feel different. $100 bucks though, damn!! If I had that money, I would use it on rent, or food, and if I had that money to piss away I'd prefer to spend it on a humble bundle and give away the games here then pay for a alpha.
What worries me the most is that it literally feels like someone went to a lot of effort to ensure that they made positive reviews of the game but with as different personalities as they could. Maybe I'm wrong but I smell a fake.
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Just another form of kickstarter. However, Stardock is a successful, renowned developer so they are entitled to have that kind of audacity to have their true fans try the game at the alpha stage given they are able to withstand any consequence from that kind of action (praise, hate, boycotting, etc.)
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"Just another form of kickstarter."
As i said, a lazy one. First you could get beta access for 40$, now its: if you bought beta access pay 60$ more for alpha and future dlcs, but if you didnt we are sorry, we cannot sell you beta access now (cos not, thats why), there is only alpha for 100$.
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Big deal, they can do what they want......I'll just wait until that final standard price 2-4 years from now and buy it witih -75% on top of it. 2-4 years is no problem.........I have 100 games still awaiting completion to deal with on my steam library.
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Better than the way Planetary Annihilation is doing things.
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I've had a pre-order eMail earlier this year and back then I could join the alpha testing for 'only' $40.
...nah... I'll pass on alpha testing games and pay for it. They should pay me for testing their game, or at least give the game for free to alpha test it!
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The $40 was for the Founder's Basic package witch gave you the game plus access to Beta, not Alpha.
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Funny reading all the butthurt in this thread, and on steam. Maybe people should have bothered to actually read the store page and what one dev posted in the forums. For the 100$ you get access to the game now and the 4-6 5$ DLCs and 2-3 20-30$ expansions the game will get after release. It's Stardock, not some random indie dev. It's a founder's pack, not a simple early access, access to the beta/alpha is just a perk. And in the end no one is forcing you to fucking buy it.
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sometimes i feel like people didnt bother to read more than the topics title.
"For the 100$ you get access to the game now and the 4-6 5$ DLCs and 2-3 20-30$ expansions the game will get after release." as i said - got it, it's like preordering GOTY edition for a double price of base game, yeah it is cheaper than paying full price for every dlc ut that the way it allways worked not only for GOTY editions but also season passes. Unlike GOTY editions where usually you can buy it \or the base game alone, they are forcing you the full version not offering cheaper versions at this point
"It's Stardock, not some random indie dev." Yeah it's Stardock so i expect them to do beter than that. If they want money to finish or polish the game - they should make a proper kickstarter campain. If thay don't need it that much, why ripping off hardcore fans?
"no one is forcing you to fucking buy it" its not about someone forcing me to buy it, it's about people supporting this kind of practices
"It's a founder's pack, not a simple early access" - still its under "Steam Early Access". But i agree, as for early access its a joke, as for crowdfunding it's still a joke with only 1 tier at the time, and needless to say a pricy one, and no real knowlage what they gonna do with that extra money you gave them.
It could and imo should be done better
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If they want money to finish or polish the game - they should make a proper kickstarter campain.
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I did read your op, the "not reading the store page" was aimed at other people who apparently just saw the price and started to bitch about it, both here and in the cesspool that is the steam forum.
And how are they "ripping off" anyone? How the fuck do you get ripped off when you know exactly what you're buying? No one is forcing you to buy anything you can wait like everyone else until it's released. The hardcore fans are the ones that will want to buy something like this, it is not aimed at normal fans of the series like me and you. You could have bought into just the early access by buying the base game for 40$ on their website, like other people have mentioned, if you actually cared about the series no one is forcing you to buy the founder pack.
Yes it's Stardock so you know they will actually deliver the post launch stuff included in this Founder's Pack. Why would they make a kickstarter for it? Again this is not due to a lack of money to make the game, this is most likely aimed at the hardcore fans who know they will want the game and all it's DLCs and expansions and will buy it in advance. I doubt they would have pulled this off unless there was actual support for something like this on their forums, you know, where the actual fans of the series hang out.
What kind of practice is it? This is not Planetary Annihilation where they asked 80$(or w/e the fuck it was) just to get into the beta. It is, like you said above, pre-purchasing a GOTY. Yes it is under Early Access because buying it gives you EARLY ACCESS to the current build of the game, so it's right where it should be.
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The Founder's Elite edition gives you:
The base game (which will list for $49.99 when released)
The future expansion packs (we current have 4 planned)
All DLC (we plan to do around 6 the first year and 4 per year subsequently as long as there is interest)
Access to our Founder's vault which includes access to our own internal dirty laundry (internal docs, failed concepts, music drafts, etc.)
Naming a star in the game
Forum badge and special forum access
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i seen that on steam and had to actually look at the game page thinking it was a typo. i was even more shocked to see recommended and not recommended comments meaning some people actually paid it. i was like WOW some people have way way to much money to waste. i wouldnt pay $100 for a game even if i was rich. to me no game is worth more then $25 and ill wait till any game hits that or lower before i even consider buying it myself.
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I know game development is pricy but charging 100$ for a game that is not nearly finished? i get the point that you also get access to all future DLC ut thats still 2x more the finished game will probably cost.
i think i should't even count it as early access, it's croudfunding (like kickstarter) but with ONE (sic!) tier ONLY
EDIT:
To get it right, you could buy full game with beta access for 40$, now they want hardcore fans to pay 60$ more if they want alpha. With this 60$ you also getting all future DLC. It's like a season pass for the game that isn't nearly finished. You can easly invest this 60$ and wait around 2 years until first dlc will come out. Most people agree that pre-ordering is bad and is harmful to game industry. This is new level of preordering - buying DLC for an alpha game.
If they really wanted feedback from community they would gave alpha passes for free or at least to people who bought early access before. On the other hand if they need cash they should say it as many devs at kickstarter do. Thats just a simple cash-in aimed at hardcore GalCiv fans that are to blind top see they are getting ripped off
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