A Games Journalist, a Horse and Nikola Tesla Walk into a Bar

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

I really don't trust early access, I'll wait until the next arc is properly installed before risking it.

 

[Darth_Payn]

Jam Strelong?

It's pronounced "JAAAAAAAAAAAAAMM", but you have to whisper it.

"Sorry, Erin. Just wait outside; we'll only be a minute."

/rimshot

Zing! You've earned a cut of the presales! Or Grey will sue you for idea theft. IDK how Early Access development works.

 

[Slash2x]

Jam Strelong?

OT: I went and looked at the early access section of steam today and I swear it has grown a page since yesterday....

 

[The Deadpool]

What's different between Early Access and giving people free access to Beta for Pre Ordering the game?

 

[TheRaggedQueen]

Ouch.

OTOH, can't you just not buy early access games until they are finished? Sure, the idea is stupid, but it's an option, not a necessity, right?

I think one of the bigger issues with Early Access isn't so much that it's immediately bad for the gamer, so much as it could turn into a bad habit for developers. If they can just throw together some half-assed project and work on it at their leisure why the Early Access cash rolls in, there isn't much incentive to really push for its completion, is there?

 

[6SteW6]

To which Tesla replied:

'I'm Shocked.'

I'll get my coat.

 

[Skeleon]

That is friggin' beautiful. I love looking for all the little details and descriptions on comics like this one.

 

[weirdee]

Thank God...for jam.

btw, what does the manual look like?

 

[Simon Leonhart]

Should've made the "Add to Cart" button clickable to see how much money people would be willing to give you.

 

[Frankster]

Every now and then Critical Miss scores an absolute home run of a comic in my eyes.

This is once of those times, it's funny cos it's true xD

 

[Rad Party God]

What's different between Early Access and giving people free access to Beta for Pre Ordering the game?

If you pre-order a game, you'll have to wait until it releases and then realize how shitty it is (I'm looking at you, Brink), but with Early Access, you get to play an unfinished turd right away, with the eternal hopes it'll ever get finished someday.

Features missing?, you can't complain, because it's stipulated on the front page (sometimes it doesn't) that it's unfinished... and the devs are indie, so somehow that gives them the power to not even release something "finished".

 

[BX3]

Okay, this one caught me off guard. Good show.

For those saying they don't understand the problem with Early Access: I think the main issue is it promotes laziness. Call it the Google syndrome (or Minecraft Syndrome, whichever you prefer). The developer is already making money on their game, so there's no need to hurry and finish the game. While that promotes a more bug-free game, it means folks who want to play the completed version of the game will have to wait forever for it to be finished.

I always found it interesting that when a new trend or policy in gaming is introduced, a lot of the game populous take issue with it on the grounds that something bad or undesirable might happen. Not to discredit these criticisms, mind you. In some cases (SOPA, underage purchase of M rated games made illegal), the fear is very real. Just saying that it's interesting that the main goal of gamers whenever stuff like this comes about is to minimize the amount of variables as much as possible.

Not making a statement, just an observation.

 

[Vrach]

Hahaha, isn't that cute. She thinks she's a journalist.

Anyway, nice comic so far. Has potential. Would wait for completion and perhaps a sale though.

What's with all that talk about Ealry Access lately btw? Not that I mind. because I think it's an interessting discussion, but Early Access isn't that new and I didn't hear anything about anything out of the ordinary happening on there. Yet you hear so much about it lately.

Basically everyone and their dog are jumping on the Early Access bandwagon at the moment. Particularly some open-world survival games that often involve zombies. Rust for example, has zombies for no particular reason, I believe they said something along the lines of them being placeholder until they can think of something more clever to replace them. The problem with the whole thing being that they're charging what most full games would cost (some at the level of triple A games despite being indies) when it's likely that you're gonna be done with everything you want to do in the game before it's finished and actually at the full stage of playable.

Think of it as "Damn, these developers are constantly rushing out games" thing, but with everyone happily paying full price for them as there's a promise they'll get better, cause they're in alpha you see.

OT: Pretty awesome, particularly the change log and the rest of the "Steam" page

 

[Shoggoth2588]

This is just crazy funny. I laughed out loud! and I'm so glad the resurrected Tesla finally got some exposure. It's about time. Now if only Erin would show a little more skin....

A somewhat-intoxicated little birdy told me there may be some 'provocative DLC' for early adopters down the line.

---

This was pretty awesome! Though I can't say I've given too much thought or attention to the Early Access...Ea...EA...OH MY GOD, IT'S BEEN EA ALL ALONG!

 

[themilo504]

I like this webcomic more than penny arcade.

I don?t really get the point of early access beside supporting the developer, which I guess isn?t the worst reason to buy something.

 

[Bloodstain]

When has this been greenlit by the community?!

And wait, is that Tesla as Two-Face I'm seeing here?

 

[Quantum Glass]

Figures that it's not available on the Mac.

 

[Crazy Zaul]

I was really trying to get the joke till I scrolled down.

 

[Infernal Lawyer]

Nice strip. Also a good excuse to rant a bit...

Guys, I really don't see the problem with Early Access games. If you don't want to buy an unfinished product, just don't buy it, and wait for it to be properly released. You only have a right to complain if the game you bought isn't making gradual steps towards being a completed product or if the developer isn't paying attention to feedback.