Poll: Would You still Early Access / Pre-Order a game today?

MHR

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It really depends on what the game is. Being unfinished certainly puts it in my "probably not" category, however.

My Steam friend bought me Don't Starve together, and that's just Don't Starve but with multiplayer, so that's good. Darkest dungeon is also probably something I would buy if I had unlimited monies. Nothing else really speaks to me at the moment.

Captcha: forget this

Right you are, captcha
 

deathbydeath

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Jun 28, 2010
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I just pre-ordered a game: Hotline Miami 2.

For me, it depends on who is doing it. If it's a studio I'm particularly fond of and a title I know I'm going to get (and it's not too expensive), they're usually getting a pre-order out of me.
 

deeman010

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I just pre-ordered Hotline Miami 2 because I loved the first to death and the current prequel comic seemed like a lot of effort was put into it. It really depends on the studio nowadays, like I love CDProjekt to death and I'd probably buy all their games anyway. Stuff from EA or Activision ... maybe when its in the bargain bin.

Edit: Dat post above me though.....
 

laggyteabag

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Depends on the studio. There are a few that I trust to make a good game, and one that works, but I shy away from early access as often as possible. To be fair, pre-orders and early access aren't bad things, it is just there are too many developers that abuse these systems to make a quick buck, and that gives pre-orders and early access a bad name.
 

Timeless Lavender

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I don't know. Maybe if I am really interested in a game I would probably preorder it (maybe even buying the alpha versions). Sadly I am unable to buy games on internet because I do not have a credit card and my parents would probably say no. So if I have a credit card or making my own money, yes I would buy it but for my current life, no.
 

Scars Unseen

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It depends. I very rarely pre-order anything. Can't remember the last one I did... Mass Effect 3, maybe? Early access I treat like any other release, both in terms of how I evaluate it as well as whether I purchase it. I read reviews, watch videos on Youtube, and then decide if what already exists is worth the money they are asking. I never assume that the game will ever be better than it currently is. The only games I can recall buying in a beta or earlier state are Minecraft, Mount & Blade, Terraria, and Starbound.

Kickstarter is a odd duck for me, as it's the only one I'm willing to consider based upon the developer's reputation alone. Even then, I choose carefully and try to restrain my hype. Broken Age and Star Citizen are the only ones' I've pledged to so far, but there are others I would have considered, had I the money at the time(Pillars of Eternity being the first that comes to mind).
 

Silentpony_v1legacy

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Jun 5, 2013
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At this point? No. I simply don't trust any game/game developers anymore. Early access games rarely get finished, and even the ones that do are terrible. Never played/seen an early access game I though deserved to be made. They're basically the fanfictions of the gaming world.

And I've come to associate the term Pre-Order with Over budget, but we're not willing to work hard. Give us cash!
The way I look at it, any game I pre-order should be perfect. Not like in terms of story, but gameplay and mechanics. If I bought a game during its development, alongside hundreds of other dupes, basically ensuring the game is a success before it even comes out, when it does come out, I don't want to see a single fucking patch! Devs who are raking in profit before the game even launches has no excuse why the mechanics aren't hammered to perfection.
 

Glaice

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Pre-order? Almost never.

Early Access? Rarely and has to be a game/genre I may be interested in.
 
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Timeless Lavender said:
I don't know. Maybe if I am really interested in a game I would probably preorder it (maybe even buying the alpha versions). Sadly I am unable to buy games on internet because I do not have a credit card and my parents would probably say no. So if I have a credit card or making my own money, yes I would buy it but for my current life, no.
there are alot of places that take paypal as a payment, and you can get your paypal account setup to take transfers from your bank account, so you can put money into your paypal account directly from your bank, and then buy stuff online like that.

(In case you didn't know.)
 

Pyrian

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No interest in early access. Indeed, I prefer to wait some time after launch, to minimize the number of bugs and issues I'm likely to encounter.

But I do occasionally pre-order/kickstarter, albeit only on tested properties and developers. Most recently I kickstartered Shadowrun: Hong Kong, mostly on the strength of Dragonfall.
 

OldNewNewOld

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Mar 2, 2011
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I voted depends on the studio, but I wish there was a depends on the game option.
Recently I bought Besiege. It's early access. I saw quite a few threads on a site I visit, gifs, images and people had tons of fun. I tested the game, saw it's a lot of fun and bought it. The game was around 7 euro if I recall correctly and I think the game as it was, in that state was worth the 7 euro so I bought it. That's the way I pick early access games. Not based on the promises but based on what they offer right now. I got burned with 2 early access games, I decided I would change my approach. I don't care what the developer promises or who the developer is. If the game is wroth the price as it is, right now, I will buy it. If it isn't, I won't.
Who the developer is means little. We have the Mighty No. 9 which is backed by a well known face, yet it's shaping up to be a complete mess and the PR girl is making everything only worse. But hey, can't expect much from someone who got the job only because of nepotism.
Genre? Means little since every genre can be fucked up. There is no genre that guarantees a good game.
The only sure way to judge if it's a safe investment is the current state of it.

As for pre-order. I mostly don't have enough money to buy full price AAA games so I really rarely pre-order. Last game I did it was Dark Souls 2 and I was genuinely disappointed. Dark Souls had a more alive online play several years after release than Dark Souls 2 at release. And the online was the only reason I actually pre-ordered it. I was hoping for the experience that everyone was talking about in Dark Souls 1. Getting invaded like 3 times during over 100 hours of playing it was just a huge disappointment. So yeah, probably won't pre-order anything any time soon. Maybe Zelda U if Nintendo makes it available on the e-shop since Amazon doesn't deliver games to my country.
 

StriderShinryu

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Would I buy an early access game? Honestly, I don't know that I would but that's not necessarily because I feel Early Access is always terrible. For me, it's about more wanting to preserve the experience of the game. I don't want to experience a game before it's even what the developer intends it to be and, assuming the game is good in it's early state, I don't want to burn myself out on the game before the full game is even there. Early Access is just a tool that can be used well or poorly by developers. I judge Early Access games individually and not as some homogeneious entity.

Would I pre-order a game? Absolutely. If I have developed trust in the developers and know I'm going to be buying the game anyway, or if I feel there is a legitimate chance of the game selling out such as with a niche JRPG or special edition, I will definitely pre-order. I don't pre-order every game I buy and I still do my research before making a purchase, pre-release or not, but I have nothing against pre-ordering as a concept.
 

DoPo

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gmaverick019 said:
Timeless Lavender said:
I don't know. Maybe if I am really interested in a game I would probably preorder it (maybe even buying the alpha versions). Sadly I am unable to buy games on internet because I do not have a credit card and my parents would probably say no. So if I have a credit card or making my own money, yes I would buy it but for my current life, no.
there are alot of places that take paypal as a payment, and you can get your paypal account setup to take transfers from your bank account, so you can put money into your paypal account directly from your bank, and then buy stuff online like that.

(In case you didn't know.)
So, you reckon somebody who doesn't have a credit card, and also relies on their parents for games, is likely to have a bank account? Or moreover, even if they have, it's one they have complete control over?
 

shrekfan246

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May 26, 2011
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nesbitto said:
Why are gamers willing to put up with purchasing unfinished products?
Well, I've bought a few Early Access games: Grim Dawn, Nekro, Invisible, Inc., and Divinity: Original Sin. I'm pretty seriously considering buying Darkest Dungeon as well.

Why?

I want to support those developers with their ideas. I haven't really played any of the games (except Original Sin because it actually came out of Early Access), but in all cases what they had already released was a solid product that showed a lot of promise to become something even greater than it was. In one case (Invisible, Inc.) there's also the fact that the developer has done an Early Access game in the past (Don't Starve) with some pretty fantastic results as well as regular full releases, so it doesn't seem like much of a gamble in the first place.

None of that means I'm guaranteed to ever get a full game, sure, but the sentiment matters just as much to me. These are games that are trying to do new things with established mechanics or bring back mechanics that fell by the wayside when big publishers suddenly decided that nobody wanted them anymore. That's something I want to support.

I haven't preordered anything since... erm... Final Fantasy X HD? I don't even remember if I actually preordered that or not. If I didn't, then the last one was Bioshock Infinite. I preordered that because my experiences with Bioshock left me relatively confident in Irrational's ability to provide another game I would enjoy, and they thankfully didn't disappoint. Haven't really preordered anything big since then, though, because I'm getting a bit more fickle with my spending and there hasn't really been anything interesting enough to me that I thought I had to ensure I owned it before it actually came out.

(Okay, that's not entirely true; I bought Valkyria Chronicles the day before it released on the PC, but that was mostly because I had already read the PC Port Report on it and wanted to preload it due to my slow internet.)
 

babinro

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Pre-order? Yes,
I have with Diablo 3 and Reaper of Souls as well as the StarCraft 2 trilogy thus far. I plan to pre-order the protoss expansion as well. That said, I almost never pre-order anymore and these games are really the exception rather than the norm.

Early Access? Never
I'm all about experiencing a game when it's ready. The prospect of playing a game I'm interested while it's still in the works only spoils the true fun of the game. I'm VERY interested in Darkest Dungeon for example but I'm not about to buy it until it launches.

Somewhat related...I don't ever buy episodic games until they are fully launched and complete. In my eyes this is is too much like early access and the idea of having to wait months in order to play another episode (assuming they even finish the game) is not something I'm willing to endure. As much as I love The Walking Dead series...I'll never buy those games until after Episode 5 comes out. Thankfully that means getting a huge discount :)
 

Sleepy Sol

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I've bought a few early access games, but I usually make it a principle not to ever do it unless I know for a fact the game is good and I'll find it worth my money. Darkest Dungeon seems like it might be that but I dunno if I really found footage I saw terribly interesting.

Pre-orders are reserved for games that I really, REALLY want. At this point, that's almost any fighting game outside of Netherrealm Studios games, any Atlus SMT game, and any From Software game. If something outside of those has a nice preorder bonus I'll go ahead and take the plunge at times as well.
 

TheArcaneThinker

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Why not ? Take a look at "Running with rifles" , that game Plays like a completely finished well made game with a really good amount of content , extremely fun to play and is still in early access . Nuclear throne , darkest dungeon , etc are still in early access and are just as good as most complete games , sometimes , even better..... In the end , it all depends on the game....
 

Odbarc

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Jun 30, 2010
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In general, I do not. But certain games you just know you'll be getting whether it's "good" or "bad" just because you know the developer and you've sorta been waiting for it (sequel) for a long time.
In which case, you've already decided to buy the game before it was even announced.