[Discussion]The consequence of releasing it on steam

Let me first say that I did not register to flame on Uber Entertainment for their somewhat surprising price model. I do my best to treat the opinions of the developers, alpha testers and steam community as equal. And yes I am fully aware that the average steam forum thread is a lot less positive than it should be.

It was however undeniably a move that created a lot of resistance. Some of the arguments against it are not entirely unjustified, and I feel that a lot of the disappointment does not come from the fact that people are unwilling to pay the price. But rather the way Uber Entertainment has communicated with the steam community.

The valid question that currently is quite common, but easily lost between all the trashposts is:

"Does the steam version offer the same bonus content as the Galactic edition?", I honestly think that the steam page is in need of extra information to answer this question.

So the issue is mostly miscommunication. And I realise that no Developer wishes to waste time by reading the trash posts that are specifically targeted at them, but giving some clarity might already fix a lot of the issues that people are talking about.

And I would love to get somewhat of an opinion on this matter, because I am a potential buyer, but such miscommunications can really hurt a game's popularity and it would be good to see the issue resolve itself in a good way.

If thats your only concern just buy it in the uber store.

Steam makes it very clear that Early Access games are unfinished, and it -should- be common sense that buying a game early and when it's in dev is a privilege, not a right, and one that warrants extra cost. The staggered pricing on Minecraft and alpha/beta "Demos" have spoilt gamer's attitudes.

Yes it does. It is the galactiv edition.

Source: A dev post I'm tool lazy to link but which is linked in many a thread now. :mrgreen:

The prices are set the way they are so that Uber doesn't stab the KickStarter backers in the back.


The business model isn't as surprising as it is fair for those who were here first.

The way I see the problem is that (most) Steam users are entitled little twats that didn't do any research. I'm sure that *95% of them will calm down once they realise that people paid the exact same prices eigth months ago, and were entirely happy to do so.

Maybe Uber should have pointed out this fact. On the GasPowered forums, I know of some very smart people that overlooked this too.


*95% is a number I just pulled out of the air. It's used to illustrate the situation. I have no firm data on Steam's userbase.

If one were to take a quick look through the Early Access catalogue you would find that every entry save PA is sold at a discount, so it isn't JUST Minecraft. It's more-or-less the way things are done over there.

Its actually fairly understandable why they would find the pricing a bit prickly.

This I just can't agree with.

It is neither a priviledge or a right. It is or atleast should be a form of mutual communication and benefit. The developer provides the game early to allow for community input, and in return the community playtests it and gives feedback in an early stage of the game so it may be a better game once it goes retail. Especially considering that people playing the alpha can increase the popularity by word of mouth and possibly other forms of media if it is allowed.

Even though I understand that they are respecting the people that have already bought it at the current price, I think that any costs made by allowing more alpha players at this point are simply an investment that will more than earn itself back in the future.

The only reason I'd pay is for the simple reason to support the developer, not because I feel it would give me a certain priviledge. Which is exactly why I care so much for how a developer communicates to the community.

The game simply isn't ready for the mass market yet. Anyone who has played it knows that would be a disaster. We could lower the price to $20 a sell a ton of these things and it would be a huge issue because the game isn't finished yet. Then the backlash would be even worse.

This is an oddball project and comparing it is hard. I don't mind being a trailblazer I guess.

When my shirt arrives, I will wear it all day every day and sleep in it. (random)

Steam users can piss off cause this game is in no state for having 200 million players. Having a high price means that only seriously interested people will buy it.
If you want a good game, wait till release.
If you want to be involved in the development of the game, pay 90 bucks.

Simple as that.

The fact that this game was funded by KS and has no publisher and is a very huge project is very unique.

Like I said in my stream, people are dogs. Whenever they see something unknown and strange they bark and bite without question.

So why exactly did you put it on the front page of the largest digital download system in the world for everyone to buy if you weren't ready for that?

Early Access IS the mass market, no matter how much boilerplate Valve puts on it to cover themselves and you.

Early access is confused for some kind pre-order service where you get a game before the stores.

When in reality its a place for devs to show a alpha game to those willing to play, and possibly gamble that the game ever gets finished.

One problem I see is that the current $89.99 Price tag may have scared a few new players away. I would of done something like this. Its just a quicky concept pic. I also don't know if this would be possible via steam.

People asked for the game to be available on Steam. Having a game on Steam is never bad, it already brought a lot of new people but also since people want to have everything for free, a lot of hate as well.
Who knows how many RTS fans Steam has that are willing to try the PA alpha but haven't heard of it before.


goodbean - Neutrino said that Valve didn't allow them to do that, otherwise they would have.

^ I like that.

I did not see that. I have got to stop skimming through the posts.

So I logged in and saw THIS little gem:

The hell? PA is most certainly not "now available"! It's just begun its alpha stage, with limited access. It shouldn't be listed as a finished title.

Do clarify the game's current state. It's more of a pre-purchase than anything.

You are skirting the point I made, which is If they didn't believe that their product was ready to be bought by anyone who had money and could click a mouse, then why did they put it on sale for said one-fingered hundredaire?

Also wasn't it that steam wouldn't let them sell pre-orders and give keys to kickstarter backers? I could be mistaken but I don't think any mention of multiple tiers was in said comment.

But it IS available, you can click on a button and buy it install it and (attempt) to play it. Under most definitions this qualifies as 'available'.

Because people repeatedly asked for it and uber, too nice for their own good, supplied.


Eh... wasn't that the answer you were allready given? :shock:

Time to blame GabeN then.

Early Access is Early Access. It is stated on Steam that such products are unfinished and likely to be different to the finished product.

Choose to believe what you want, but you can't argue with facts, or twist semantics to suit your argument.

EDIT: jeez louise these threads are moving fast. Several posts in the time it took me to make this one.