[Kobrar44]

90$? It sounds "a bit" more than some recent high bugdet game. I hope the end product will be cheaper.

[Commander Zane]

On their site you have other options which include $60 for access to the Beta and Final release and $40 for just the Final.

[Scourge of Ages]

It will. Alpha access now is the same that KS backers paid to get it. Beta, when it's ready, will cost the same that backers paid to get it. Final version will be the regular price, $40 or whatever it was going to be, though I think backers who only backed for the final version get it cheaper than retail.

Dang, ninja'd

[Mikes]

Frankly, I find it rather weird that some people think they would be "paying 90$ for alpha access." That's simply nonsense.

One look at the page makes it pretty clear that you are pre-ordering a deluxe/collectors edition for your money ... and 90$ for a is definitely NOT uncommon for such an edition these days.
Heck, some of the games with first day DLC that were released recently may be just as if not more expensive if you want the definite edition.

More important however, at least as far as I am concerned, I also like to think that my contribution helps make a game that simply would not be made if it was not for the fans funding it up front.

The alpha access is just a bonus.

[Scourge of Ages]

Oh yeah. That'll show me for answering questions without doing research.

[Phantom Hoover]

$90 for alpha access sounds pretty reasonable for me; Introversion went for similar pricing on Prison Architect to encourage the alpha testers to actually participate in testing and development, rather than just going down the "sell the alpha on the cheap to fund the release" model that Minecraft popularised.

[carbine7]

The human capacity for entitlement never ceases to amaze me. Early access to the development of a game is a rare privilege and something quite special to watch, so you should by default pay less for it, right?

[TrashMan]

"Watching" the devlopment of a game could be interesting...or boring.
It's not like you have any menaingfull impact on game creation anyway. Acress to early builds? You get to play a buggy game again and again, never getting to finish it because of crashes and whatnot, and by the time a finished product rolls out, you're tired of it and never play it.

[The E]

The human capacity for entitlement never ceases to amaze me. Early access to the development of a game is a rare privilege and something quite special to watch, so you should by default pay less for it, right?

It's not an issue of entitlement, but one of communication, and the shifting meaning of the terms "Alpha" and "Beta" access.

[carbine7]

Well I agree it's a shift in terms of Alpha and Beta, but as Hoover mentioned, gamers now automatically think in Minecraft pricing terms. Thanks to its wild success, a lot of people now believe that Alpha automatically = cheap. I wouldn't have such a problem if people actually took a second to think about the situation.

And as for watching game development, I find its more of a personal decision as to whether its your cup of tea or not. If you want the complete game, sure just wait, I can appreciate that. However, I personally rather enjoy the process. Take Kerbal Space Program for example; I have been positively delighted watching the game grow over time. Whether or not you have an impact on game creation is down to the developer, and that should factor into your choice when you spend your money. Don't feel you have a say, don't spend it.

[Mikes]

Frankly, the only people I can see getting mad at this would be the ones who don't realize that this is a collectors edition (Galactic Edition) pre-order and the Alpha is just one (minor) feature of that edition.
I.e. people who refuse to read or understand what is plainly written all over the Steam Store page as well as the Uberent website.

If they had actually charged less on Steam and those people would have gotten it, they would probably right now be flaming that "the game sucks/TA/Supcom were better...." ...  simply because of the audacity of releasing an "Alpha" that isn't feature complete and perfectly polished.

And for that reason I also disagree that this isn't an issue of entitlement mentality. It is. There are enough people on the Internet who will raise a s***storm for no other reason than an Alpha or Beta release not being exactly like the full game except for "cheap".


I believe the PA guys choose wisely to not give a **** about those people and to instead use the same price-point they used for their early kickstarter backers... i.e.  their actual fans and supporters.
In the end... all publicity is good publicity... especially if any negativity attached reveals itself as nothing else but stupidity for anyone who cares to read up on the issue.


P.S.: If you want to name an ingame planet and have your name show up in the credits (for further supporting the making of the game) you can also get the 200$ Cosmic edition. If they had put that on Steam heads would probably have exploded.

P.P.S.: For people in Europe the Galactic Edition is actually 83 € on Steam.... but buying it for 90$ on the Uberent webpage-  I only ended up with a 67 € charge on my card. - and they will even convert keys to Steam later on as well. So if anyone wants to get this: Get it on the webpage.

[Phantom Hoover]

I completely understand why people might get upset at a developer charging a lot of money for the privilege of testing their unfinished game (I can't say I'd be entirely comfortable with it as an industry standard practice myself), but I think it works out pretty well for everyone when it's indie devs pursuing interesting new ideas doing it.

[Luis Dias]

As if anyone's forcing people to get the alpha release. I mean, it's the most ridiculous thing ever.

And then people complaint that the current games are silly and stupid, etc. Of course they are! Just look at the IQ of the people they are marketed to.

[Flipside]

I saw this, but the price-tag put me off. I don't mind paying that kind of money for a collection or a finished Collectors Edition, but when the game is still in development I'm not really prepared to pay that kind of money. The idea that it is, in some way, a privilege to give them a load of money and help test their game seems somewhat erroneous to me. I like something a little less nebulous for that kind of lay-out.

Maybe when the game is finished I'll look at it again, it does look like a good game, but too expensive at the moment for what there is of it.

With regards to Minecraft, I don't think there ever was a 'plot' any more than Dwarf-Fortress, Gnomoria or any other rogue-based game, part of the fun aspect of the game is the complete lack of 'paths' that you need to follow.

[Zacam]

Why is there less conversation about Planetary Annihilation in here?

I'd have liked to have seen, for the $90 Steam "backers" price the option for -something- a little closer to equivalent. At $90 on Kickstarter, you at least got a Commander, so either the Steam Alpha could have bet $80 and sans a Commander and probably been a little better off for it, or something else.

That said, if anybody comes across planetary body HLP-Z4-CAM, you're welcome. Use it wisely.

[Flipside]

Yup, I can see where the price is coming from with something as ambitious as this, but I guess it's a fine line between making sure you get funding enough to make an awesome game, making sure you get a fan-base and not irritating the fan-base that already exists by playing around with the price too much later on in development.

The annoying bit is, I know I will be buying this game. I'll make excuses not to for a few months, and then, one day, I'll crack

[pecenipicek]

Yup, I can see where the price is coming from with something as ambitious as this, but I guess it's a fine line between making sure you get funding enough to make an awesome game, making sure you get a fan-base and not irritating the fan-base that already exists by playing around with the price too much later on in development.

The annoying bit is, I know I will be buying this game. I'll make excuses not to for a few months, and then, one day, I'll crack

pretty much this. if the AI in spring was worth a damn i'd be reccomending it to people, but... its ****. and playing multi online is mostly suicidal.

[Flipside]

It's interesting because you are paying for promise, not product, at least not yet, so it becomes a question of trust. The more the outlay, the higher the level of trust required, and the more demanding the expectations on the company, so those factors all have to be balanced.

[Luis Dias]

I really envision a future where you have kickstarter projects of entirely open sourced games, so people stop complaining about this particular issue. As in, "If you all give me 2 million bucks, I'll be making this amazing game that I'm previewing right here, and then it will be free for everyone to play coz it's open source!"

And before you tell me this doesn't work, let me remind you that many documentaries and other stuff are already being done this way, so yeah I think it works! And for everyone who despises copyright and so on, it would be the perfect world: if the games are really something people really want, they will back the project up, and then it becomes part of our commons. If they don't want, they won't back it up.

I can dream...

[An4ximandros]

 What is this... this... communist BS, Luis?