What does Uber Entertaintment think about Fan's power in Alpha stage?

Hey there..

Don't know if this is the place for this post, but here is where I placed it lol

After the shocking news about the new C&C game getting cancelled, due to many unhappy alpha complaints. What does Uber (and it's fans) think about the power that the developer is giving players in alpha?

I personally feel giving Alpha access to an army of regular / random players can be the doom for any game, no matter the franchise or company. And shouldn't just be gifted out, just because ppl prepurchased the game.
I got to admit that when I first got into C&C Alpha, the game was pretty bad and didn't really feel like a C&C game in my eyes... but that changed a lot over the time I was in alpha. at the end I had great fun, and had such great hopes for the game.
I'll also admit I had the same feeling for PA aswell at the start (yup.. I'm one of those) But I'm not one of those that sit down and throws hate towards the developers.

Anyways.
I know this post is ****, but there you have it, just wanted to hear your opinions.

I actually don't like the idea of open alphas (and by "open" I mean anyone can potentially get into it)

Wasn't SMNC an "open" Alpha like this?

Nope. SMNC Alpha users were hand picked by Uber.

I wouldn't know. I didn't get in until January 2012.

But I bet they don't do it this way again. (PS. just because developers decide to do it like that doesn't mean I refuse to play the game, just a preference is all)

I would like to think that well directed fan involvement early on provides more critical feedback.
Sure, it's going to be one heck of a rough ride, but I think the end product will be a heck of a lot better.
This is assuming the developers communicate well with the fanbase and makes use of their unique talents.
Otherwise, it's just a PR nightmare waiting to happen.

Imagine of the decision of Diablo 3's real money auction house was decided upon by the fans.
It sure as heck wouldn't exist, and D3 would be a lot better for it.

On the flipside, a "better", more enjoyable game might not be the one that makes the most money...

Generals 2 was great fun, I got into 3 weeks before it got cancelled and Generals 2 was going to be my competitive game after I finished with SC2 whereas PA would be where I would go for a more epic and "relaxing" 2-3 hours battle experience. I heard rumour that the game is sold to another developer, so I still have a little hope for Generals 2. I have no idea what Louis Castle is doing, he is a genius but EA corrupts and decay anything they get their filthy hands on.

I did not participate on the Generals forums, but the developers in general really need to differentiate between the nolife nerdrage minority that spams forums and the constructive casual but mostly silent majority, it is in the latter all the money is after all.

The one problem having feedback this early on is the variety of opinions you can get. You can't please them all, and you might be going back and forth between things and end up with a product that feels like it has a lack of direction. There is the serious issue of blocking out certain kinds of feedback in your mind because that's not where you want the game to go, and filter out the feedback that IS useful to you, and you have to do it all in a respectful way. There's a lot of pitfalls.

I think anyone who buys into early access stuff should be aware of this. In the end it is up to the developer's vision what becomes of the game. Fans don't have power.. they have opinions. If you listened always to the customer, they will always keep asking for more, more, more.. which is understandable. I want more game for my money too. Still I think there is great value to having a larger pool of people discussing the game. In my opinion there is always value to letting your imagination run wild, there would be no innovation without it. It is just sensible to remember to keep one's expectations in check as a customer. From the dev point of view, with crowdfunding you have the crowd with an insatiable craving for more features, more awesome.. with regular funding you have publisher/investor greed for money.

The price thing makes sense, in a way. Unfortunately, that doesn’t really matter, public opinion being what it is. It’s something that’s going to hurt Uber a lot, I fear.