[Discussion]The consequence of releasing it on steam

I do agree this is awkward, we don't know the full story here, but from where I'm sitting Steam should have made sure to note that PA(along with other titles) are 'released" as part of the Early Access Program, that image and the context does nothing of the sort and is misleading.

Mike

Uber is free to show they have an alpha running.
You and al other steam users are free to buy it if you want to.

Uber cannot turn early backers down as it would not have been possible to even make this game without them. Uber has the highest respect for their early backers and they show it on a daily basis on this forum.
Steam users have to realise that nothing is for free in this world and options are limited.

Perhaps communication on Steam can be improved though ...

I would like to let the Uber Ent. team know that I have decided to buy the game. The choice was hard because I really had my doubts on how I could justify the value versus the cost.

The reason I chose to buy the game was because of the fact that I realised that I could subjectively count the value like this:

- The game itself is worth € 40-60
- The extra bonusses roughly € 5
- Alpha Access/Beta Access, Feedback that is actually being taken seriously. €10-20
- Supporting the Developers for their effort to make the game the best it can be can easily swallow up the remaining price difference.

I really do think this game has an awsome look to it already and has a very original and creative concept that I am really looking forward to.

this. If only everyone would have this guys brains, I wouldn't be sitting in my basement and working on chemical weaponry only targeted at stupid people.

to be honest, I did not expect PA to get on the top sellers this early. I figured that it would hit beta before I see it on top sellers.

it should be number 1, but the flaming/price point held it back. ksp for example is selling at more than 6 to 1. #3 definitely isn't a disaster though

PA don't need to be number #1 to be successful, it just needs good sustained sales and good reception. I am sure it will be fine.

So since there are many thread on this topic making it hard to follow everything I'll just quote developer responses for you guys:

For one they were ready for this w/out a doubt.
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viewtopic.php?p=742521#p742521

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viewtopic.php?p=743060#p743060

In defense of PA and Uber (as if there isn't already enough), Loadout is another example of early access being more expensive than the release version. As a matter of fact, Loadout will be free-to-play on release. So people are paying for a free game.

I'm sure there are other games using that model and I bet it will just grow in popularity.

A lot of people seem to think that it is bad, because steam is not kickstarter and stuff like that. Also many seem to think that because the game is already "funded" for 2.2milion on kickstarter, it doesn't required anymore money. So I wanted to ask the developers, because they have probaly sold more preorders after the kickstarter, what they are planning to do with the "extra" money.

Do they have any particular extra goals in mind, besides the things that were already announced in the kickstarter? Maybe they should try to make clear that the extra money is not simply profit, but also to enhance the game, if this is the case.

I felt like enough of a masochist to go peruse the Steam forums...

My God...

I think the Steam community by and large has the collective IQ of a housecat. :|
...
That might have been a demeaning comment, so I extend my apologies for insulting the intelligence of the cat.

Aside from stating that they roll Pre-order 'profits' back into the game they haven't said anything specifically, but there are lots of non-specific ways you can spend money when working on the game, them Extending the Production time by 6 months past the original estimate is a big one. Everyone has to be paid for all that time, so either they already have enough for that or they feel confident that between what they already have and what they get along the way from pre-orders is enough.

You also get things like Howard being able to record more tracks with the Orchestra, or artists being able to make More Units/Commanders more Biomes(and/or more doodad variety for the existing Biomes) and even things like getting servers set up, maybe focusing on areas like Australia or Africa that don't always get servers and what not with many games still focusing on US, EU and Asia.

Its not really about having a particular big fancy new things, but rather just being able to do more of the same stuff they were already doing before.

Darn right it was, you've insulted basically every cat ever, in particular mine that is 14 and still managing to survive in an area with hawks, owls, coyotes and much more! ;p

Mike

First: Excuse my bad english. I did my best - as usual.


I've made my thoughts. And I believe to understand the steam community better now.

Let's say, no one from steam knew about kickstarter.
Let's assume that most alpha games were offered for little money on steam.
And let us assume then, that many have seen that the game is available soon as early access.

So, the expectation was: Low price - as usual.

And then comes the high price, which no one has expected. And they start to flip out, because they can only think: "They only want our money!"

You know what I mean?

It does not matter what's been said about KS and the price. The expectations were, that the alpha will cost little money. And the reason why the price is that high doesn't matter anymore - for the steam community (or should I say: for some of them)

I don't want to excuse the bad behavior of some of those people.
However, I do believe that this is the reason which has caused the anger.

Let's leave cats out of this, yeah? :evil:

In general, the lower the IQ the louder the person.

That was Valve's decision, not Uber's. And the price ensures that most people won't buy it, which is what Uber wants at the moment.

No. It is not. The price, the description on the Steam page, and Valve's FAQ on early access all clearly indicate that it is not. No matter how much you may think that "Steam early access = general retail availability" it is just not true. This not Arma III or Minecraft. Those "boilerplates" are consumer notices, and they mean something in both a practical and a legal sense.

Overall I feel that the consequence of releasing the alpha on Steam early access has been a huge amount of free publicity. And since there is no such thing as bad publicity I think it has been a good thing overall.