I propose 2024 is the year of early access games boycott.
Bring back completed games only.
There’s nothing wrong with buying early access games. You as a buyer just need to be happy with the current state of the game at the time of purchase.
And the price should reflect the game’s current state/value, not some hypothetical roadmap.
So more like Kerbal Space Program, less like Kerbal Space Program 2.
Exactly this. I tell my friends not to get their hopes up too high about Palworlds eventually being completed because the studio has a history of abandoning titles in early access. I’m not telling them not to buy it or that it’s not worth purchasing, but to weigh if where it’s currently at is worth the price they’re charging.
The studio may use the funding they got from its spike in popularity to actually complete a title just as well as they might sell out to a bigger studio (I’d imagine The Pokemon Company would love to buy then bury it), or abandon it entirely. We don’t know what the future holds and we do know the studio has a history, so keep that in mind when you’re purchasing or when you’re asking yourself if it was worth the buy.
I’d imagine The Pokemon Company would love to buy then bury it
sighs and looks at DRM-Free versions
Which one have they abandoned? Because Craftopia still gets updates, and last year they got the open world update, which is a massive change.
I see a lot of people shitting on Craftopia saying it’s a BotW ripoff, while its fun and completely its own thing (ok, asset wise and sound wise eerily similar, but gameplay has nothing to do with BotW)
I am not sure about the pokemon company. Palworld is a completely different genre than pokemon and therefore not really a competitor.
really, do tell, what games have they abandoned in early access?
Craftopia which is basically palworld without the Pokemon aspect. I got burned by that one a few years ago which is why I’m still reluctant to pick up palworld. I think they did the same with their other game (now removed from steam), but I can’t remember the name of it.
Never grave is the one you’re thinking of
And they’re still doing it (Never Grave)
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Craftopia was updated last week and is still being actively developed but whatever you want to believe
Eh, early access isn’t the problem. Palworld has been wrecking Pokemon despite being Early Access
Can 2024 instead be the year of bad game boycott? When an early access game is better than most AAA completed games, then there’s a serious problem
If we could all just agree to not preorder, I’ll negotiate from there.
Preordering made sense when games came in nice boxes, and you wanted to be sure to play it on the day of release instead of waiting for restocking. With digital downloads now which are not limited in quantity it is just stupid.
This, 100%. The only value of preordering is guaranteeing stock of a physical item that threatens to be out of stock if you were to buy it walk-in. In the modern digital age where downloading tens of gigabytes that take up no space, ship near-instantly on demand, and have theoretically infinite supply, preordering is pointless if the actual game itself is all you care about.
i never preorder, and i don’t think i could justify jt even if i did. buying a game for 70 bucks when you don’t even know if it’s any good just sounds stupid to me.
Early Access is a problem when big publishers try to do it. It makes sense that indies do it so they have cash flow at all. Big outlets have funding on hand, but are trying to leverage it, anyway.
Using us as test dummies is still better than releasing an unfinished piece of shit for full price.
kinda like what’s going on with Last Epoch and Diablo IV
May it’s my age, but I feel like d3 was significantly more popular that d4 is.
Since it’s required to be online I’m 100% skipping it.
I’m also Skipping it because they took overwatch 1 away from me. So no more blizzard games until overwatch 1 comes back.
Diabolo 3 is also always online tho.
Not on console, at least.
Is this post not about Palworld?
Now it is
Palworlds mad fun though…so …sorry!
I haven’t played it most just read the news about it. But to me It maybe early access but it doesn’t sound like a subpar game.
It’s fun and scratches the Pokemon itch better than the switch games. I wish the pals evolved and there was a story but I’ve already gotten my money’s worth in it’s current state
Really? To me it feels like
60% Ark/Rust + 15% Pokémon Legends Arceus dodging and throwing + 20% Amazon Warehouse Simulator + 5% Zelda/GenshinImpact climbing
That doesn’t contradict anything I said. Unless you’re saying any of that is bad
I mean that it doesn’t really scratch that Pokémon itch.
But you’re totally right. It’s massive fun.
I’ve never played those other games you mentioned but Palworld definitely scratches it for me. I wish there were poke centers/Marts and other iconic pokemon tropes but I’m having more fun with it than any pokemon game I’ve played in many years. I didn’t play Arceus because it doesn’t have gyms but the other switch Pokemon games are barely polished turds compared to Palworld.
Actually Legends: Arceus and Palworld are pretty similar.
Fun-wise, Arceus plateau’d for me after like 15 hour, while with Palworld I’m already 48 hours in and still going strong.
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This is more applicable to over-hyped, AAA titles. A lot of the games mentioned in comments are smaller, indie developed passion projects that get the TLC they deserve.
Have you heard the tragedy of Cube World the Incomplete? I thought not. It’s not a story the Indie Devs would tell you. It’s an Early Access legend.
Gosh I loved that game! I pirated it because I was a broke kid, it ran like a Diashow on the netbook so I did not buy it. Then when I got a gaming PC I pirated it again, and later wanted to buy it. I was disappointed lol. Still got it on my steam wishlist.
You might be interested in this: https://veloren.net/
Imagine breaking so many hearts with one hang glider trailer that you spawn an open source mmo.
Castle story was the other big horror show.
The games I have bought in early access:
- Kerbal Space Program
- Factorio
- Satisfactory
- Subnautica
Early access isn’t the problem.
Minecraft.
Dwarf Fortress.I miss early access Minecraft…
Dwarf Fortress has only gotten better though, and it started great.
Project zomboid
Rimworld
Deep Rock Galactic
Did i hear a Rock and Stone?
Was just gonna say I’ve put an embarrassing amount of hours into Satisfactory, which is an “early access” game I paid like $20 for. Nothing wrong with it. It’s not an abandoned product, but even if it was I’d have a hard time complaining about it.
I have 1000 hours in Satisfactory. And there’s a LOT currently wrong with it. Tons of bugs, incomplete mechanics, performance issues, and it got worse in Update 8 not better because of the engine update.
That said, the team is working on it, Coffee Stain will get it ironed out and release a solid v1.0.
the more obscure one: scrap mechanic
it’s been in early access since 2016, and axolot is really slow on updates. but when they happen, it often adds a lot of cool shit.
Isn’t axolot the studio behind raft (another excellent game that was in early access for years)?
Same here with 7D2D I have over 1k hours on it and it’s still fresh to me.
And there’s more than one way to do EA.
KSP 1 started small and free, added more stuff and went purchase but cheap. On the other hand, KSP 2 went straight for full-price AAA game price yet lacked a ton of features and terrible performance (it was clearly rushed out).
I wonder if that has much to do with the original being made by a small startup company named Squad, while the sequel lists Intercept Games as the developer and Pirate Division as the publisher?
Enjoying palworld quite a bit despite bugs, and the input (and money) will probably make the end product a better game. BG3 is another example of a game that was wildly successful due to EA.
I’ll judge these on a case by case basis. But I think the issue is less EA titles and more titles that are released not as EA but obviously broken.
And even those are a mixed bag, like Cities Skylines 2 should be in EA, but as an informed gamer i still knew what i’m going to get on day 1 and despite all the downsides it’s enjoyable and i wouldn’t choose to play C:S 1 instead
Yeah, after all that Baldur’s Gate 3 early access thing came out terribly.
I’m very anti-pre-order, but early access I’m okay with. It comes with the same decision process as buying anything else, is what I’m getting right now worth the money I’m paying? If yes, then buy it, if no then don’t. I don’t buy promises, I buy products.
Baldurs gate 3 is a good example of early access done right. I knew going in I was getting the first 4 levels and roughly 1/4 - 1/3 of the planned final game, but what was there already was worth the price I paid, even if they never finished or released it, I got my money’s worth imo. I put like 200+ hours into it before it released, i can’t be mad at that for 30 bucks.
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Wait, people are buying EA from AAA studios? Cuz like the VAST MAJORITY of EA games are Indie
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I mean, just do a little due diligence, Jesus. I’ve bought PalWorld, Planet Crafter, Traveler’s Rest, and more in early access and had a blast with all of them. In fact, I’d say it’s some of the best bang for my buck in the last ten years of gaming. I’ve also not bought early access games because the five minutes of due diligence suggested that it was a garbage game.
I particularly think it’s fine with small, indie studios that don’t have a lot of devs or resources. No way in fuck am I buying an early access AAA release.
My rule is that it has to be an enjoyable experience in the game’s current state. Factorio was fantastic years before it left early access. I bought Space Engineers practically as soon as it hit, before there was even proper weapons in the game, and I had a blast building space ships.
I’m holding off on Palworld. I’m sure what’s there is enjoyable for many people, but I’d like to see the endgame fleshed out a bit first.
Pocketpair releasing Palworld into Early Access when Craftopia is still in Early Access leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth
Same. I love both, but when I purchased craftopia I was funding the development of craftopia, not palworld. They’re a small company so I kinda get it, but it still has me concerned that they’re not going to properly finish craftopia.
I think it unfortunately just comes down to money. Craftopia wasn’t popular enough to pay the bills to finish it.
We’ll see what happens with palworld. If they abandon it too then we’ll know they’re just scumbags. But if they finish it then we’ll know abandoning craftopia was a financial need.
I can’t say I’ve ever played Craftopia, but after hearing about this I went to the steam page to see for myself. They have released consistent large updates in the last 6 months and even since the launch of Palworld.
Most of the reviews from people who’ve played it mention it’s getting review bombed because of this mis-information and is actually quite good.
Seems to me if they can pull off making two games with multiple teams both which continue to have development, I say more power to them. I’m enjoying Palworld and will at some point check out Craftopia now because of it.
I also saw those updates. I never played it so I usually just cede that they abandoned it for the sake of argument.
I agree with you though
Eh, I bought Grounded in Early Access. Maye by Obsidian and backed by Microsoft. I think this should count as AAA. Also I think you don’t mean that “small, indie studio” cause those are few and far between. Sons of the Forest? They have a Publisher (literally the opposite of being independent). I think there are lots of games which you have put into that category that are not actually indie devs at all. Anyway, my point is just that it’s not a black and white issue.
Couldn’t agree more.
Games like Valheim or Satisfactory have also been great, despite technically still being in early Access. And, looking back, Risk of Rain 2, Hades and Dead Cells developers have all done excellent job at using early access to develop their games and listen to the community.
Early access, just like any other development model, is a tool. All depends on how it is used.
Yep. The indie boom that PC gaming experienced would not have been possible without early access funding, full stop.
Not every early access title has gone perfectly and there are some studios that have gamed the system.
Still, the stuff that managed to make it through the process and become successful has been some of the only stuff saving us from a live service hellscape
Satisfactory I bought for 30 dollars 4 years ago and it’s sitting at 1,600 hours for me. I think sweeping general statements are really the bad guy here
the journey of this game is wild.
it was super fun from the get go years ago, but somehow every single update made it better and better.
i haven’t seen a game with such a focus on quality of life updates before. that team is glorious
Ah yes, “completed” games like Cyberpunk, Fallout 76 or Battlefield 4.
What year is it that people don’t realize the only difference between early access and AAA releases at this point is lies?
Nah, I’ll buy quality games whether or not they’re EA. As with everything, you have to put in the effort to find the good shit mixed in with the bad. I’ve easily had at least a half dozen EA games that I’ve bought and played hundreds of hours, and more than a half dozen “completed” games that were absolute trash. Games like KSP, Minecraft, Factorio, Satisfactory, Oxygen Not Included, and DSP are some of my most played games, and all bought during early access/pre-release. And those are just the ones that come to the top of my head lol.
When you buy something early access you have to know what you’re getting, and you have to understand this is potentially all you’re getting. With any early access game I purchased, I made sure that I’m okay with the game I purchasing and that I don’t feel like more justify my purchase. With that mentality I’ve never been disappointed in my choices for early access purchases, and the games I’ve purchased have all come a long way and some have even gotten to “completed”/1.0 level.
If the company has a history of releasing solid, complete products or properly using Early Access for its intended purpose (BG3), or is punching above its weight and just doesn’t have the money to reach the finish line (Palworld) I don’t see it as intrinsically bad, as long as you as a consumer understand that there’s a risk that the end result is dissapointing. On the other hand, there’s Paradox, that releases supposedly complete games and advertises them as such despite clearly having the means to slow down and put them through QA before selling them in a mechanically broken state. They’ll still become great games though, after 8 years of further development and 14 DLC.
Okay but Pocket Pair) has THREE unfinished early access games (Palworld, Never Grave, Craftopia)
Palworld and craftopia seem to be the same framework so it I’m guessing they are gonna use some of the dump truck full money they got from palworld to contine their development process.
If this were a finished Palworld, it’s already more game than most AAA releases, and more stable at that. If anything, calling Palworld a beta at this point seems like they are trying to raise the bar for release quality in general.
I respect people who wait for games to leave early access, but there are genuinely great indies in EA that are more polished than most AAA titles. Take each title on a case by case basis. Don’t give shitty devs/pubs your hard earned money.
7 days to die has been in early access for nearly 11 years now and I’ve had more fun in it than Starfield.
Dyson sphere is been in EA for years as well, and its probably going to be in my top 3 games for 2024 (which is when I started playing - at almost 200 hours), alongside Palworld, also in EA. Palworld can still be a bit buggy (maybe yesterday’s update fixed some of that?) and DSP expects a much better CPU than I have (which is mostly a me problem, given my CPU is coming up on 10 years old but is a problem eventually for everyone at the extreme late-game I think)
Yesterday’s update absolutely fixed some of that!
Satisfactory pirated it in early access liked it bought it in early access
I’m buying 2 more copies of Palworld just because you’re whining.
I’m buying 10 more copies of pokémon scarlet just because you thought this post was about Palworld
It wasn’t necessarily about Palworld, Palworld was just the last early access game I bought. For that misunderstanding, I’m buying 50 more copies of Palworld.
Look, I don’t want to tell you what to do with your money, but I mean if you’ve got the cash sitting around I could do with some weed?
I buy what game I want, whether it is EA or not. Worked out great with BG3. Palworld is another one with tons of content for an EA title and I had a blad with the universim during all of EA and it is now released with even more content.
