Support NeoGAF

[LectureMaster]

Don't wanna pirates to play the game ahead of you? No problem just pay extra 30 dollars!

This is beyond platforms, any publishers doing this should get called out.

 

[AJUMP23]

Yes it sucks. Just release the game don't charge more so people can play early.

 

[LectureMaster]

 

[KyoZz]

RESIZE FFS why no one can resize an image is beyond me. And no, mobile is not an excuse.

On topic: yeah it's terrible, and more and more games are doing it.

 

[mayham2199]

The main thing I hate about it is you buy gamepass and with the promise of getting it day 1. Then MS says oh but if you pay more you get "early access". It's kind of BS IMO.

 

[EdderTheShredder]

People who pirate don't buy games, they're not losing any sales, believe me. There maybe some rare exceptions, but this is generally the case. Also on rare occasions that some of these guys do pay, it sure ain't gonna be full price for a mid game like Avowed.

 

[struggler_guts]

Eyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

 

[amigastar]

It's tempting to get the game but i wait for the game pass version which will have DLSS support.

 

[Ozzie666]

That logo by Jed has really stood the test of time. Classic still going strong.

Early access for cash is a suckers bet. Companies praying on helpless addicted gamers.

 

[Hookshot]

We don't have to pirate it do we?

 

[Bonfires Down]

They should have used Denuvo instead.

 

[March Climber]

'Play it 3 days early' is also a roulette system, because you never know if the game you're buying into really needs that Day 1 patch.

 

[Dorfdad]

Yes it sucks. Just release the game don't charge more so people can play early.

I agree but it's free money! Hell we standardized people paying for betas! Back in my day they paid you to beta test games.

 

[adamsapple]

They should have used Denuvo instead.

My man LectureMaster would have made a thread complaining about that too

 

[xrnzaaas]

Don't pay for it, it's that simple. So many games get released broken these days and you may actually profit from starting a few days (and patches) later. Cosmetics are often trash and by the time you get the promised story expansions it may already be on sale.

The only thing you have to pay attention to is to avoid youtube recommendations, because they don't give a crap about spoilers.

 

[KyoZz]

LectureMaster Thank you

 

[LectureMaster]

My man LectureMaster would have made a thread complaining about that too

My man digging my posts be like:

If I had to take a lesser evil, I'll take Denuvo. But they could've just dropping both. Again this is beyond any specific platforms.

 

[BennyBlanco]

People were playing Mass Effect 2 like a week early on modded 360s. RE8 cracked version is still the very best version of that game I think. Pirates winning is nothing new.

Tbh Ive done this for a few games. I bought the dumb expensive versions of diablo 4 and DB Sparking Zero because it just lined up with my day off.

 

[Evolved1]

I'm not following... I will go to my grave in agreement that early access (especially in an industry that regularly ships broken games / fucked servers) is bullshit, but.... what does this have to do with pirates or the game being cracked? Seems like a non sequitur.

 

[kevboard]

early access is better than preorder bonuses or any kind of MTX.
so no, it's the exact opposite. it's basically the least anti consumer practice out of any of these modern money making schemes by publishers.

an early access edition on its own would have basically no negative impact on people not buying it. meanwhile MTX are often things taken away from the game in order to be sold separately at insane prices, and preorder bonuses do the same with the added shiftiness of exploiting FOMO because the preorder bonus goes away once it's out.

if a game only upcharges for a few days of early access, people waiting for the full release don't miss out on anything. in fact they might have a better experience as some patches might come out, improving the game.
now sadly, many games stack these things... so many games don't just have an early access version, but also bundle preorder bonuses with it, and might have MTX on top of that... but the early access part is not the issue there at all.

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

Shit gets pirated before release whether there is an early access period or not. Personally idc, seems like every publisher except Nintendo does it. If I have free time before release and want to play early I'll pay, if not I just wait.

 

[Hero of Spielberg]

Pirates play plenty of games before me, it's never really concerned me tbh lol

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

lol It probably runs better too.

 

[owandeseis]

I'm "fine" with it, or i can understand it, since it helps them getting some extra revenue, while us waiters get the game for cheap with Gamepass, i bought advanced access for Starfield too (i regret it obviously and haven't touched the expansion that came with it, forgettable as fuck game).

Well honestly i also bought it for Diablo 4 and pretty much every Fifa since ages ago, it sucks but...

I don't like it, but i prefer this and companies taking some extra money from cosmetics and shit like that over forcing price increases on their games.

This said, MS also overprices their games a lot, 80€ for Doom, 70€ for Avowed?! In a world where KCD2, Cyberpunk, Elden RIng and BG3 released at 60€? yea fuck them

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

i think this kind of early access (especially for mid games) basically kill all "viral marketing" momentum.

In this case, I could see the pirate version hurting Game Pass "engagement". sales? I don't think so.

 

[adamsapple]

lol It probably runs better too.

It's 'cracked' this early because it didn't ship with any DRM like Denuvo.

Don't think there's gonna be any performance overhead on this one.

 

[lmimmfn]

Good.jpg

 

[Revolutionary]

People love to shit on Ubisoft but at least their subscription service includes the Premium/Ultimate/Early Access edition by default. Even the Ultimate tier of Game Pass only gives you access to the peasant editions of new releases, with an OPTION to upgrade to the premium at a discount. How generous.

That said, it's typically better to wait for actual launch anyway because of Day 1 patches. You're basically paying extra to play a buggier version of the game for a few days.

 

[Darkmakaimura]

I'd much rather have Advanced Access than DRM or Day One required patches.

 

[bender]

I prefer it to content exclusive to pre-ordering.

 

[ReyBrujo]

People who pirate don't buy games, they're not losing any sales, believe me. There maybe some rare exceptions, but this is generally the case. Also on rare occasions that some of these guys do pay, it sure ain't gonna be full price for a mid game like Avowed.

That's not the point.

 

[Jaybe]

A day for every pronoun

 

[SlimySnake]

I think this early access thing is the worst thing ms has done. He's created two classes of gamers. Rich and poor. Fuck him. I'm glad he will be remembered as the guy who killed Xbox.

Imagine if some big story focused game came out and people finished it in a weekend then spoiled it for everyone before they even got to play it.

 

[EdderTheShredder]

That's not the point.

People are playing it regardless, either by paying or pirating. Pirates playing the game a few days early changes nothing, they playing many games before others because they never pay for games. The practice of early access for full release is stupid and one that is born out of greed, but it fundamentally changes nothing just because the game is being pirated early.

 

[T_T]

It could also be illegal. Microsoft promises that its own games will be available on Game Pass Ultimate on Day 1, but they objectively are not. To get what was advertised, you have to pay them the equivalent of an extra month's subscription. Maybe they think they can weasel their way out with a 'Well, technically...' argument, but with the right country, state, and judge, some false advertising charges could definitely be a possibility.

 

[demigod]

early access is better than preorder bonuses or any kind of MTX.
so no, it's the exact opposite. it's basically the least anti consumer practice out of any of these modern money making schemes by publishers.

an early access edition on its own would have basically no negative impact on people not buying it. meanwhile MTX are often things taken away from the game in order to be sold separately at insane prices, and preorder bonuses do the same with the added shiftiness of exploiting FOMO because the preorder bonus goes away once it's out.

if a game only upcharges for a few days of early access, people waiting for the full release don't miss out on anything. in fact they might have a better experience as some patches might come out, improving the game.
now sadly, many games stack these things... so many games don't just have an early access version, but also bundle preorder bonuses with it, and might have MTX on top of that... but the early access part is not the issue there at all.

Aren't you a pc gamer? Do you even know what "early access" is?

 

[IntentionalPun]

I just can't bring myself to give a shit. I don't pay for this shit, and I move on with my life. If there's a market for unlocking a game 3 days early for $30 than so be it. Has literally nothing to do with piracy though lol

 

[Loomy]

I wouldn't call it anti consumer. This is up there with pre-ordering games. We have a choice to spend the money or not. It's not like there's an advantage to playing Avowed 5 days before everyone else.

People need to stop spending money on that stuff for it to stop. Based on what's happened with Avowed, MS will 100% do it again and people will 100% buy it early again. This game was always going to be pirated. It happening 5 days early makes 0 difference to MS.

 

[StereoVsn]

The whole thing is dumb. It's not really Early Access either. They are delaying the game and you have to pay to access it at what would have been normal time before.

The other thing dumb about this is sometimes you don't want extra few days of user reviews unless you feel extremely confident. This could easily backfire.

 

[ReBurn]

Pay up cheapskate

 

[Kacho]

Doesn't bother me. Pay up or wait. Doesn't matter in the end.

 

[damidu]

thats the new xbox standard, they need these pathetic scams to try and make gamepass work.
spoiler alert; it wont help lol
whats funny is, they cant even release a not-broken game for the life of them. so its just some idiots paying to alpha test 5 days early.

 

[Kagoshima_Luke]

What's funnier is "Day one on GamePass!"

Only, Day one is not really the release day, you have to pay extra to play on release.

 

[Beechos]

While the practice sucks. Its not just paying extra to play day one only. That privilege goes to the ultimate edition which comes with dlc and stuff which is where the extra cost comes in. You are upgrade the gamepass copy to ult edition.

 

[N30RYU]

I'm not following... I will go to my grave in agreement that early access (especially in an industry that regularly ships broken games / fucked servers) is bullshit, but.... what does this have to do with pirates or the game being cracked? Seems like a non sequitur.

Mmm maybe what this thread is all about? you give pirates more time to pirate it... so the game is pirated even before it's true release date and they even didn't need a leak or a broken street date?

 

[baphomet]

Mmm maybe what this thread is all about? you give pirates more time to pirate it... so the game is pirated even before it's true release date and they even didn't need a leak or a broken street date?

The true release date is when the game came out.

You're referring to the poor rental release date, which isn't for a few more days.

 

[Spukc]

Self

Control

 

[Sooner]

The early date is really the release date. They just play with words so they can charge more the first week and still claim it's included "day one" on GamePass.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

Wow...

 

[Dacvak]

People who pirate don't buy games, they're not losing any sales, believe me. There maybe some rare exceptions, but this is generally the case. Also on rare occasions that some of these guys do pay, it sure ain't gonna be full price for a mid game like Avowed.

FWIW, I tend to pirate games when they leak super early. I pirated TotK, Mario Wonder, Echoes of Wisdom, Metroid Prime Remastered…

But to your point, I also bought all of those games on day one. So I apparently do both. Can't remember the last time I pirated a game that I didn't actually buy. Maybe something in the early 2010s? But I often feel like the exception, not the rule.