This episode damn near killed me... Simply genious X3. Can't wait to see the finished product next week!
Sir Thomas Sean Connery said:
He was actually dumb enough to pay for the $90 Planetary Annihilation early access.
Actually, I don't see a problem with this. I totally get why people want to back projects they are interested in and want to succeed. I myself have payed more than my share for ships in Star Citizen, and lets remember that those ships can be gotten in-game anyway! The only benefit I get from buying them (for a whole bunch of money) is that they have some in-game insurance tied to them, and I get to play them from launch... But I didn't buy them because of those rather pointless benefits. I bought them because I want to support the game, and I want it to become the best game it could possibly be, and I believe that Chris Roberts is the man to do it.
When I pledged for Planetary Annihilation it was trough kickstarter, and in the same spirit. I wanted to be part of making that game happen. When I bought Space Engineers trough Steam Early Access I was still in that same mind set. I know I'm not getting a finished product when I spend that money, and I am perfectly aware that for all I know that money is lost 6 months down the line and no game will ever be released. Thats a risk I'm willing to take, and it is a risk people simply have to understand that they ARE taking when they back a kickstarter project or buy an Early Access game.
I think that may be the problem... People don't view kickstarter and Early Access the way I view them. I would never spend money on an Early Access game if I didn't KNOW that I could afford to lose all of it and never see anything in return. I wouldn't recommend anyone spend money they can't throw away on a game they are not sure about. For most people 30 USD isn't something one can just throw at any old project and hope it works out.
Of course I am in the rare position that I CAN afford to spend money on these projects and not worry about them succeeding or failing. For this reason I take great pleasure in backing something I firmly believe can become something truly great, and I still hold Star Citizen can become one of the greatest games of all time (and it wouldn't have happened without early backers!).