Elite: Dangerous "Premium Beta" Access Costs $150

[Tireseas_v1legacy]

Since there doesn't seem much in terms of defenders for this, I'll throw my at into the ring.

Ahem...

They need to eat.

No seriously. £1.2 million pounds is not a lot of money for video game development [http://kotaku.com/how-much-does-it-cost-to-make-a-big-video-game-1501413649]. Staff cost money, money that is normally provided by investors or publishers. That staff needs to be paid enough to make their jobs worthwhile (be able to pay rent, buy some food, pay off their bills, etc.[footnote]and that's if they're single and have no kids...[/footnote]).

Equipment costs money, some of which can be mitigated by reusing prior equipment, but there's still the costs of upgrades and maintenance.

Work space costs money, especially if you have special needs such as extra power consumption.

And on and on until you're out of operating costs. You can cut as much as you want, but cost cutting can only do so much.

 

[Kuala BangoDango]

This is the problem in a society where half the population is of below average intellect...

Ummm, that still leaves the remaining half of the population at average or above average intellect which should balance things out which means this has little to do with intellect. Further evidence of this is that people with lower intellect tend to earn less and thus have less funds available for such purchases (because food and rent comes first).

 

[Andrew_C]

Since there doesn't seem much in terms of defenders for this, I'll throw my at into the ring.

Ahem...

They need to eat.

No seriously. £1.2 million pounds is not a lot of money for video game development [http://kotaku.com/how-much-does-it-cost-to-make-a-big-video-game-1501413649].

They listed on the stock exchange shortly after the Kickstarter [http://www.frontier.co.uk/news/latest/?artid=323&pageNum=2&blk=12]. While they don't have the ridiculous reserves of RSI they are not short of money. Many consider that the KickStarter was at very least partly to demonstrate to the potential investors that their company was worth investing in. Which is why some people find the DLC and the continued high cost of alpha and 1st and 2nd round beta access rather obnoxious.

 

[Zontar]

This is the problem in a society where half the population is of below average intellect...

Ummm, that still leaves the remaining half of the population at average or above average intellect which should balance things out which means this has little to do with intellect. Further evidence of this is that people with lower intellect tend to earn less and thus have less funds available for such purchases (because food and rent comes first).

That may be so, but there seems to be a significant portion of that part of the population with disposable income to spare, given how well games which by all economic logic should have failed miserably have thrived (DayZ, for example, remained the #1 most sold game during the Winter Sale, despite being a full priced game that was massively overpriced and barley fuctional).

 

[Michel Henzel]

Sounds like the same thing with Planetary Annihilation as in it would not be fair to the backers if they priced it lower then what backers paid.

 

[thiosk]

I don't get irritated about early access schemes. I like early access a lot; project zomboid, star ruler, and don't starve being great examples of why sometimes it pays to get on board with an interesting game and interact with the devs. If they set up kickstarter levels and beta players had the 150 level to get beta, then well, thats fine.

But note that this isn't the new call of duty doing this, its not asscreed or prototype, its a weird niche game involving space combat simulation. Not a console market game. Elite isn't really my thing. If paradox was going to make a space-exploration themed europa universalis, though, you bet your sweet asscheeks i'd pay in 150 or more to get at that kind of niche title.

 

[mindfaQ]

It is to be expected as stretch goals in a kickstarter project. Nothing to be mad about. It is not like anyone gets employed as tester and has to report in, it's just a earlier access goody with the option to give feedback while still in development. People these days, complaining about stuff that doesn't even matter...

 

[kremlingrasso]

A sucker is born every minute.

This isn't any shock to me. After Planetary Annihilators priced their Alpha for a 40$ retail game (which was supposed to reach full release 6 months ago but still hasn't) and Elder Scrolls Online had its limited edition plus the 15$ monthly fee, and that both had their defenders, nothing shocks me anymore, because developers know they can get away with it.

This is the problem in a society where half the population is of below average intellect and the means of sending messages is threw money, get enough people to throw money at something, and it will act accordingly, regardless of weather the idea is one worth attempting.

I honestly hope this project crashes and burns to send a message to others who would try it to use the same business model. Lord knows we need more to after PA and DayZ didn't fail and showed there is no logic in economics.

I agree and also think you have a very positive outlook on the population if you think it's only half of them.

However half of the population can't be under the average coz the average would be much lower than

Anyways, i never understood spending more money on a game than what the retail price would end up, especially these alpha/beta crap, i mean it's not like you will get it faster? If they really need testers all they need to do is ask, why would i want to pay 3 games' price for it? I'm sure there are plenty of enthusiasts around who can't help with the coding buy happy to testplay for you, you don't need to rip them off too. Not to mention the whole idea behind kickstarter is that you already pay in advance to "get the game made for you", skipping marketing and distribution and retail and all the other stuff that's basically half of a retail game's price...you should get a discount not a higher pricetag.
I think some people are so in the need to be a part of something they jump on the bandwagon and commit all the way just to feel included.

 

[Laughing Man]

Paying for alpha/beta has always rubbed me the wrong way.

I have no issue paying for Alpha and Beta access in fact some of my most played games prison architect and KSP are Alpha and Beta products but the pay off for me is that I pay a lesser price and get to play some great games early. That's the thing though I do some of the developers job for them so I pay a lesser price. It's what's happening here that is the digusting side of this early access coin. They are making it out like you pay a premium price and the price is that way way above the price of a new game and you get to be one of the very lucky few to play their buggy Beta game.

Plantery Annihilation was another one that did the stupidly high price for the honour of early access and I really do not get that

 

[StriderShinryu]

I really don't see what the issue is. Obviously, if you're willing to pay the entry fee then you've got to be really excited about the game and interested in seeing it as it develops. Plus, if you do pay the fee, you get the completed game when it launches plus all future DLC. In total, the price probably isn't all that bad compared to what you would be paying all told anyway if you bought the game at launch price and then bought the DLC as it released.

This limits the beta to, in some ways, what Betas actually were originally instead of just the paid demos that they have become. This beta is a locked environment for testing except it allows really dedicated fans to get in to that locked environment early.

Will I be paying $150 for access? Hell no. In fact, I can't think of any games off hand that I would pay that much for early access to as I prefer to wait until the game is complete even if the game is one I highly anticipate. That doesn't, however, mean it's a bad idea even if it's not for me personally.

 

[BloodRed Pixel]

Premium Beta my ASS, David...

 

[IndieForever]

The number one reason paying for a beta is intolerably stupid is confirmation bias.

Best comment in the thread imho.

Absolutely, 100%, spot-on. We invite people specifically to test our code on the basis of their PC setup, their community involvement and a few other criteria which have bugger-all to do with how healthy their bank balance is. We try to get as many new people with as many different hardware configs as possible who are enthusiastic, but have no vested interest in blowing sunshine up our behinds. We don't want to be told 'it's great!' when it isn't, but we've lost sight of that fact due to tunnel vision/assumptions.

However... this team wasn't born yesterday either, and I'd wager you an early-beta-pre-access-gold-level-alpha-sneak-peak to Star Citizen that they have a second set of testers that fulfill the criteria I mentioned above.

This is fund-raising. I have no problem with that; it would just be more honest to call a spade a spade, instead of hiding behind 'make the paradigm, assist us in making the best product we can, be part of the revolution' kind of b/s I'm more used to hearing from corporations. I'm putting words in their mouths, but that's what they're doing.

I'm still going to buy it when it's finished though because, you know, Braben!

 

[wulfy42]

Thats 1.5mill right there. Seriously what is happening to games lately? Between the free to play games that actually charge people 10x what games used to cost, and the "pay for early access 5x as much) games, it's getting a bit crazy. I have more then enough games as it is, and all this price gouging etc is making me rethink buying many of these games.

 

[Nurb]

I knew it, I knew this would happen eventually. Charging people to play test your game is the biggest scam in gaming along with paid alpha access.

 

[luvd1]

Not surprised at this. I was villaified a few years ago some where for being a cheap skate coz I laughed at the idea of paying a dev team to test their beta game.

 

[likalaruku]

Well, if Jim Sterling hadn't already made an episode discussing preorders & paying to be & beta tester, then this surely would have inspired him to.

in this democracy you vote with your dollar. unfortunately, it seems there are a lot of fools with too many dollars. (User was suspended for: Elite: Dangerous "Premium Beta" Access Costs $150. (3 days))

This guy basically quoted an Aesop. Why was that a suspendable offence? Anyone?

So uh, what would I consider worthy of $150 at that stage? Well, it would need to not only come with all the free DLC & expansions released ever, but if they had a premium cash shop, I'd need to be able to get all the premium stuff with non premium cash, a statue of my favorite character or replica of my favorite weapon, a large high quality map, a soundtrack, a coffee mug, & 5 exclusive die cut keychains of different things related to the game.

 

[MetalMagpie]

in this democracy you vote with your dollar. unfortunately, it seems there are a lot of fools with too many dollars. (User was suspended for: Elite: Dangerous "Premium Beta" Access Costs $150. (3 days))

This guy basically quoted an Aesop. Why was that a suspendable offence? Anyone?

He was suspended for a different comment further down (follow the link). Looks like a low-content post.

 

[Richard Coghlan]

in this democracy you vote with your dollar. unfortunately, it seems there are a lot of fools with too many dollars. (User was suspended for: Elite: Dangerous "Premium Beta" Access Costs $150. (3 days))

This guy basically quoted an Aesop. Why was that a suspendable offence? Anyone?

He was suspended for a different comment further down (follow the link). Looks like a low-content post.

Yes he did.

He posted a link to the charity UNICEF as a reply to someone complaining about giving $200 in Alpha to this.

How could he drag The Escapist forums into such horrible and disgusting areas as considering giving money to poor/sick or underprivileged people.

We dont want any of that here do we.

 

[Richard Coghlan]

Double Post.

 

[MetalMagpie]

in this democracy you vote with your dollar. unfortunately, it seems there are a lot of fools with too many dollars. (User was suspended for: Elite: Dangerous "Premium Beta" Access Costs $150. (3 days))

This guy basically quoted an Aesop. Why was that a suspendable offence? Anyone?

He was suspended for a different comment further down (follow the link). Looks like a low-content post.

Yes he did.

He posted a link to the charity UNICEF as a reply to someone complaining about giving $200 in Alpha to this.

How could he drag The Escapist forums into such horrible and disgusting areas as considering giving money to poor/sick or underprivileged people.

We dont want any of that here do we.

*shrug* I think by the forum rules it's still either a low content post, advertising or possibly both.

likalaruku asked why he was suspended, so I thought I'd give my (best guess) answer.