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[DryvBy]

Before Battlefield became a thing, an old Sierra game called Starsiege and Tribes were the big battlefield type games. Tribes has had some ups and downs but after a beta of Tribes 3, I was excited to get back into this series with one of my old friends. But as of writing this, the game is basically dead and the developers have abandoned the project so it seems. They're even working on a new game and they've also done this a time before, which shame on me for not checking this out.

I personally hate buying early access stuff and don't usually play them because of this reason. When Steam was fresh and doing their version of kickstarter with early access, I was ok with it in theory but I noticed most games were abandoned. The problem with digital is I have no way to sell this POS game or the others off. Concord, for example, if you bought the physical you can actually make money selling it to collectors. Insane, but that's how it is. Now I'm just stuck with a list of games that never were completed but they got paid regardless.


What's some early access scam games you paid for and felt robbed?

 

[Hrk69]

What's some early access scam games you paid for and felt robbed?

Destiny.

 

[Ribi]

Fallout 76 even though I got it at launch for $35 with a Target online glitch

 

[Laptop1991]

Never been a fan of Early Access, you shouldn't pay for anything that isn't complete or finished, once they have your money they don't care as much, which i knew would happen, it's human nature, some do but a lot won't.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Never done it. Never will. No different than doing kickstarter donations.

 

[jshackles]

I only buy Early Access stuff if the game is already as feature complete as I'm willing to pay for. For example, Hades II I was going to wait to pick up until it was out of Early Access, but then I saw that it already had more content than the original game, so I was happy to pick it up and play it. The same for another Early Access game I bought last year, Halls of Torment. Tons of content, really fun, well worth the asking price.

Don't buy games that promise features you want that aren't already in the game, and you won't find yourself disappointed. I haven't experienced it for myself, but this is doubly so for multiplayer only games.

 

[pudel]

Kerbal Space Program 2....but I didnt felt robbed. Had over 100h fun with it. But its just sad, that the project is on ice since TakeTwo layed off the whole studio.

In general...i am a big fan of early access. So many good games came out of it (or are still in). Just calling out the few projects which failed doesnt do justice here imho.

 

[Doczu]

I understand your point OP but a lot of great indie games wouldn't be funded if not the early access model, for example Minecraft (even if not on steam).
You just need to be careful in what you want to fund and have a bit of luck.
I would never be able to play World of Horror, aka Junji Ito: The Game if not for early access

 

[simpatico]

Steam gave us the most customer friendly refund system in the entire industry and it’s still not enough for some people. Pretty crazy

 

[TintoConCasera]

Mount & Blade: Bannerlord sure felt underwhelming when it came out. I dunno if it's any better nowadays though.

Not as bad as Cube World, probably.

 

[dottme]

I feel it’s ok and the promised is pretty clear. You’re taking the risk instead of some investor with early access. If you don’t like it, just wait for the game to be released.

 

[Calverz]

Steam gave us the most customer friendly refund system in the entire industry and it’s still not enough for some people. Pretty crazy

I think GOG is actually better.

 

[RagnarokIV]

What's some early access scam games you paid for and felt robbed?

Star Citizen

 

[Shake Your Rump]

Never buy early access, never will. My thanks to those who pay to beta test the game, though. It is my understanding that Hades, one of the best games ever made, benefitted greatly from early access.

 

[Shake Your Rump]

for example Minecraft

It is bizarre to see Minecraft labelled as early access. It was so long ago that the term “early access” wasn’t even in use. People who bought the game were simply… buying the game. Hell, it was free to play in the beginning. I remember playing it before sound was even added.

 

[Guilty_AI]

I remember feeling robbed more often with full games than early access ones tbh.

Or rather, i can't remember a single early access game that let me down, though i do tend to be more observant before buying those.

 

[chakadave]

If this was the case you would just see games come out that are not done and the developers saying they are done.

I'm sorry but EA is not being forced on anyone. You have to realize when you buy it the product may never get finished.

I bought Vampire Survivors and I think one other Indi game like it. Both gave me hours of entertainment. and in the Case of VS it beame a huge game.

 

[Euler007]

Because the drug dealers and strippers have the cash and don't want to give it back.

 

[Esca]

I've only ever bought like 2 early access titles (Star Citizen and Worshippers of Cthulhu) because of reason you listed (being abandoned) and I don't want to play through the game in stages.

 

[Zug]

Pantheon ...
I give this one a few months of EA, while milking the desperate decade-waiting fan with pre-orders bloated with overpriced microtransactions, before it finally shuts down.

 

[Last Hearth]

Early Access comes with a level of risk. You do it with the understanding that there is always a chance the game will never be significantly improved from the current state, you are betting on the developers. Which is why I've never done it.

 

[DaciaJC]

Mount & Blade: Bannerlord sure felt underwhelming when it came out. I dunno if it's any better nowadays though.

Not as bad as Cube World, probably.

It still lacks basic mechanics like a functioning diplomacy system. The devs have been treading water for a while now.

Such a shame, Bannerlord was my most anticipated title for years. I still think it's a fun game, particularly its combat, but it had so much more potential. The most disappointing thing is that it somehow actually regressed in some areas compared to Warband, especially if you consider expansions like Viking Conquest or even modpacks like Floris.

 

[TintoConCasera]

It still lacks basic mechanics like a functioning diplomacy system. The devs have been treading water for a while now.

Such a shame, Bannerlord was my most anticipated title for years. I still think it's a fun game, particularly its combat, but it had so much more potential. The most disappointing thing is that it somehow actually regressed in some areas compared to Warband, especially if you consider expansions like Viking Conquest or even modpacks like Floris.

It's very sad really, specially considering there's nothing else like it.

At least the mod scene is active, no? Heard about a LOTR mod that seemed quite promising.

 

[Doczu]

It is bizarre to see Minecraft labelled as early access. It was so long ago that the term “early access” wasn’t even in use. People who bought the game were simply… buying the game. Hell, it was free to play in the beginning. I remember playing it before sound was even added.

Well Notch did lay out a long term update plan and stated the game is in production. Yes, it was before the term early access was used, but the game was literally called alpha, beta and then it officially released. And i'm pretty sure the early access craze started mostly due to Minecrafts success.

 

[Holammer]

Early Access is no different from a kickstarter and it allows developers to reduce or entirely bypass the need for publisher/investor money. It's great.

 

[GHG]

Provided you haven't gone over 2 hours of playtime outside of the early access period you should be ok to refund it on steam.

 

[March Climber]

I understand your point OP but a lot of great indie games wouldn't be funded if not the early access model, for example Minecraft (even if not on steam).
You just need to be careful in what you want to fund and have a bit of luck.

It is bizarre to see Minecraft labelled as early access. It was so long ago that the term “early access” wasn’t even in use. People who bought the game were simply… buying the game. Hell, it was free to play in the beginning. I remember playing it before sound was even added.

I always felt that Minecraft did the pricing right. You could buy in earlier for cheap and the more the game grew the more expensive it became.

 

[FoxMcChief]

Early Access and Game Preview should always be seen as risks. I’m pretty sure that’s an agreement when you “purchase” the demo.

 

[Guilty_AI]

i think the rules to buying early access are pretty straightforward. Just ask these 3 questions:

a) Does the game has enough content to justify the asking price?
b) Does the developer have an established good track record?
c) Does the game have an active community with good communication from the devs?

If 2 of these have affirmative answers, its usually safe to buy the game. No offense but one look at Tribes 3 and i could've told you there was a high chance of that game not going anywhere.

 

[DaciaJC]

It's very sad really, specially considering there's nothing else like it.

At least the mod scene is active, no? Heard about a LOTR mod that seemed quite promising.

Yeah, there are some impressive mods in development. There's a total conversion for Warhammer Fantasy, one for Game of Thrones, another for feudal Japan, to list a few. Issue is Taleworlds occasionally puts out small, almost completely inconsequential updates that nonetheless have a habit of breaking mod compatibility, which is frustrating both for the modding community and users alike.

 

[dreamstation]

That's HiRez for you. They abandoned Ascend too. This is why I didn't buy into T3 - it had cash grab scam written all over it.

Loved T1 and T2 back in the day. The IP is dead as far as I'm concerned.

 

[dreamstation]

Steam gave us the most customer friendly refund system in the entire industry and it’s still not enough for some people. Pretty crazy

Nah. I very rarely refund games (maybe 2-3 in the whole time it has been available?) and I got knocked back on a game after playing 13 minutes due to poor performance. Admittedly I did forget about said game for a couple of months but after several attempts for a refund they said stop trying you're not getting your money back.

 

[KiteGr]

The reason you can't refund canceled/abandoned projects is the same reason we have tax write-offs. When you back, it's still an plan/idea that you become a partner of (thus you get your name on the credits), and those often fail. You can't expect to get anything out of a failed project, let alone money, so if the project failed, as a partner you loose your money.

What they could do is have a system in place to track wether the money they got from backers go into the actual project or in coce & prostitutes, and if the project suts down, the remaining money and work done can be shared back into the backers, like all good bankruptcies.

 

[Gp1]

It says "Early access" in the label with a description of what early access means
You know what are you getting into.

Way worse is a triple A charging full price and still be feature incomplete.

 

[CuteFaceJay]

Just a method of doing a rug pull while looking legitimate. That is all.

 

[poppabk]

All the early access games I have bought that I can remember were already worth buying and have gotten massive amounts of support going forward. Beam.ng and Beseige are the ones I know were early access when I bought them.

 

[Fabieter]

Is this a stealth star citizen thread.

 

[RCX]

Buyer beware.

I won't even buy Hades 2 until it hits 1.0 and that game is an absolute 100% lock.

 

[RCX]

It says "Early access" in the label with a description of what early access means
You know what are you getting into.

Way worse is a triple A charging full price and still be feature incomplete.

Couldn't agree more. Star Wars outlaws is fucking outrageous. They have a bug tracker open to public submissions right now and it was a full price release.

 

[The Cockatrice]

I never buy Early Access games, never will.

 

[Spukc]

Before Battlefield became a thing, an old Sierra game called Starsiege and Tribes were the big battlefield type games. Tribes has had some ups and downs but after a beta of Tribes 3, I was excited to get back into this series with one of my old friends. But as of writing this, the game is basically dead and the developers have abandoned the project so it seems. They're even working on a new game and they've also done this a time before, which shame on me for not checking this out.

I personally hate buying early access stuff and don't usually play them because of this reason. When Steam was fresh and doing their version of kickstarter with early access, I was ok with it in theory but I noticed most games were abandoned. The problem with digital is I have no way to sell this POS game or the others off. Concord, for example, if you bought the physical you can actually make money selling it to collectors. Insane, but that's how it is. Now I'm just stuck with a list of games that never were completed but they got paid regardless.


What's some early access scam games you paid for and felt robbed?

Clicker hero 2

 

[StueyDuck]

Someone has to pay you back...

I don't see steam wanting to take that hit

 

[rubik's dude]

Never been a fan of Early Access, you shouldn't pay for anything that isn't complete or finished, once they have your money they don't care as much, which i knew would happen, it's human nature, some do but a lot won't.

Yeah, there are hundreds of The Day Before type games for every Baldur's Gate 3.