Planetary Annihilation Alpha Information

The issue is that people who didn't care enough to back the game when it was "make or break" takes priority over people who actually committed to helping the game actually happen.
They are de-valuing their kickstarter backers by giving the Steam customers a better deal.
KS: $90 for alpha access
KS: less than $90, have to wait until beta
Steam: $20(or whatever the steam price will be) for alpha access

I would suggest against assuming the early access Steam price for the game will be $20.

maybe, but even if it is $40, $50, $60, steam customers are still getting a better deal.
and don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that steam customers should get a worse deal, just that people who kickstarted the game should get the same deal as steam.
so if the game costs $40 or $50, then people who backed the game for the same ammount should get access at the same time steam customers get.

Why do you assume $60 backers are getting early access?

I'm not.
The kickstarter pledges say that you need to back at least $90 to get alpha access, while Steam customers get immediate access on the 7th.

What I am saying is that people who pledged for the amount the game will cost on steam should get access when steam customers do.

I would think to get steam early access at this stage it would cost $90. No way to know until we get an official confirmation or June 7th.

This is a perfect opening for Round 2!

I feel as though you might be misinterpreting the 'cost' of alpha access. So lets look at exactly what you get at the 90$ Pledge level

That's quite a lot, lets try and break it down a bit more and throw in some 'values'...

So it's way more than just 90$ for Alpha/Beta Access. At this stage, Uber hasn't mentioned the extent of what is received by pre-purchasing via Steam, it could be JUST for Alpha/Beta Access and a copy of the game.

Mike

From what I understand

You can't get a steam key unless you get a uber net key which is then converted to a steam key.

So to get a uber net key you have to pre-order from the store or have backed the kickstarter.

I have a question.

I've heard that the AI will not be present in the first Alpha release and I wonder if there's a "sandbox" mode available? Like the livestream from 19th April where you can build your base freely without any opponents? To explore the game at your own pace?

The reason is that I don't feel comfortable playing multiplayer...

I don't have a problem with steam early access unless they pay less than we did to get into the Alpha/Beta. Anything else would be blatantly unfair to everyone who's paid for it so far.

Hope the devs encase their balls in solid brass before launching it on Steam though, there's a big portion of that community that will go berserk at the idea of a $90 early-access game.

It doesn't necessarily have to be 90$ thought, for the KS backers you got a LOT more then just Alpha Access for the 90$ Pledge level, see this post.

Mike

I get that argument, but look at the difference between the kickstarter $90 package and the current Galactic edition going for $90. Same price, but you get less stuff. Why? I assume it's because the kickstarter crowd pitched in their money when the game was merely a concept, and thus our contributions were more critical/influential as they literally made(x) or broke the game.

Kickstarter ($90):
A game key e-mailed to you & digital download
Exclusive wallpaper download
Exclusive PA Asteroid Pin & PA Asteroid Belt flair items for SMNC
Early download and access to the game during alpha & beta stages
Digital download of the soundtrack
Access to the exclusive backer forums
Limited edition in-game Progenitor commander, only available to backers
Limited edition in-game Alpha commander, only available to backers
Digital art book
Your name in the credits

Current store Alpha edition offer ($90):
Game key
Theta Commander
Soundtrack
Wall-paper
Digital Artbook
Beta
Alpha

So assuming the early-access Steam buyers get as much or marginally less extra stuff(don't see why they wouldn't get any of that) compared to recent buyers, how do you justify a lower price-point to the current pre-order buyers, especially since Uber is encouraging people to buy from their store right now (immediately before the steam release)?

I suppose depending on when the Alpha launches, Steam buyers may lose a week of play-time compared to backers and pre-orders, but that shouldn't really account for a huge price-drop.

By giving fewer Extras, that's pretty much my point, Uber hasn't clarified much about the Steam Early Access yet so we're all just shooting in the dark.

Mike

Well maybe not entirely in the dark, found this.

http://www.reddit.com/r/planetaryannihi ... ?context=3

I don't see the problem here... the difference is marginal and to be honest fair...

I was actually surprised to see Uber offer Alpha-access for the same price as I paid as a KS.

All in all, the KS people believed in the project, not very late joiners... and I don't say you are not very welcome... quite the opposite, but that there are slight differences is just fair... although the pre-order package is quite amazing, too.

I paid as much as I was able to when Planetary Annihilation was a mere concept on Kickstarter, and I paid that money so that the game could be made in the first place, not to get something, say alpha, before someone else does :|

So then maybe they'll be paying the same we did on Kickstarter, problem solved.

Mike

I am not interested into any shenanigans besides PA, alpha and beta access, so for me, i payed 90 bucks for that.
Anything else i dont need, i rather would like to not have it but more money for the game.

Just one question though:
We have two PCs in our house. I would like to install PA (alpha/beta/whatever version) on both of these and play LAN with a friend or so. Will I be able to do that if I decide to play PA via Steam? Because as far as I know, Steam games have to be launched via Steam, and that can only happen when you own the game and you are online. But you can't login to Steam on two PCs at the same time. So how will this work? Will I still be able to play PA DRM-free on two PCs on LAN once I activate it on Steam?

You may be able to do so when the Alpha and Beta ends. Until then Uber is keeping tighter reigns and will require you to be connected to their service.

You wont need steam signed in... you can play with steam offline... but you'll HAVE to be connected to Uber's servers, and they'll be limiting the number of connections.

One Key. One Account. One Connection at a time.

That's my best prediction anyway. LAN will not available until later on... That's confirmed.
My guess will be late Alpha for LAN enabled games. Steam won't give a damn about playing your games in offline mode. It's Ubernet that you'll have to be unconnected to, and we know that Uber isn't letting you play offline yet.

So No. No friend LAN parties yet. Wait for late Alpha when they add that feature.