[discussion] Early Access Boxed Edition

So I recently noticed this:


A physical copy of Planetary Annihilation intended to be sold during the early access phase. I find this an interesting decision, as I'm pretty sure it's something that hasn't been tried before. Naturally, that makes it a little controversial. It's been mentioned in another thread before, but I figured it would inevitably warrant its own thread sooner or later (since it's been making the rounds on a few gaming websites).
So, what are your thoughts on this?

I'm really courius about that commander on the box.

Now that is interesting... and it gets a unique Commander... one I haven't seen before.

That's a pretty cool Commander...

Why can't everyone just get these new commanders? I don't want to buy the game four times just to get them all.

Here's a discussion on retail commanders, where I noticed this version was first mentioned (ironically, because of the commander on the box).
Didn't really intend for the thread to go off on a tangent about restricted commanders (The main point of discussion being that a boxed version of the game will be available prior to official release)

This seems like a really weird way to go about it. It kinda reminds me of the pre-order bonus flak that Dishonored got. You had to buy the game from like 5 different stores to get everything or wait a year or two for a GOTY edition.

concepts like that are perfect to give crazy people a reason to buy 5 copies of the game they so love.

It could be that Nordic Game had to necessarily release some sort of box, and since Uber postponed the release date for version 1.0, they go with an Early Access, pumped up with a new fancy commander. At this point is irrelevant.

That new Commander on the cover is pretty cool. Good catch for the ones who will have it.

im crazy but not that crazy.

"Hey guys, should we sell a boxed copy of a game that's so early in development that its almost unplayable? How much should it cost? 2x as much as a hugely more convenient digital version? Pre-order exclusives? Should we not tell the community about it beforehand and not explain how the pre-order content works? Should we put our fingers in our ears ans ignore any negative feedback from big names (like TotalBiscuit, he's already mentioned it) about this?"

Sounds like me, I've already bought the game twice; now I need to buy two more editions... I want to collect all the ones I possibly can.

(I personally don't mind the special editions, though I have a slight biased since I prepare to buy them both, because I don't really see the problem, don't want the commander? Don't buy it. It's just an a esthetic... it doesn't even affect gameplay; it's just a thing to show off, that's all. Or something for hard core fans to buy by the box set )

The *real* question is what lengths will you go to get your hand on the custom commander keys???

By the way, if I were you, and wanting all the possible Commanders, I would wait a little, to see if you could get the ones you like directly within the Armory, as soon as Uber will fire up their Marketplace for Mods and stuffs.

To the ends of the Earth

Meh, I wouldn't mind getting the awesome box sets too, I need something to show off when I'm 80 years old.

To be fair.. I wish I waited to buy it now, I would have much preferred that edition Much cheaper too.

I'm not crazy or stupid enough to buy it more than once for myself.. Others here can do that for Uber.

I don't see the big deal. You can currently buy and play the game, how is this edition any different? At least now people will be able to actually see the game on shelves at stores.

Also I don't know of any company that openly discusses business practices and deals with it's community.

Oh, okay ill take 5 copies then...

The differences are its not digital, you get an "exclusive to early access" commander and pay a lot less.

It also doesn't come out till late June. You just jelly much.

Early access boxed Edition doesn't come out until June? Shouldn't that be called "Late Access Boxed Edition"?

"Not digital" probably doesn't mean much. It likely has a set version of the server and client, but as soon as you try to connect to Ubernet it would try to do an update just like the rest of us. The really interesting thing to me here is that I can't imagine them releasing a box without the server included for offline play. Maybe this means we're getting the server really soon?