With the current state of Alpha Testing/ Early Access will we see a price drop?

kidmo32 · October 27, 2014, 03:48:35 AM

I am one to say I fully enjoy testing games and helping shape them. but with Doublefine, Code Hatch and quite a few others burning the gaming community as of late using this model. I was wondering if it is a good idea to be selling the game for $30. Lower the bar of entry = more players and more word of mouth which leads to more profit. Mojang played it smart started at $10 for alpha and raised it as more features were added and word of mouth exploded. but I think the greatest fear is losing our hard earned dollars to a dev that could go vapor on us. 30 is alot to ask starting out of the gate especially when people see you have made at least a million at the current sales. The game looks great but the bar of entry seems a bit high in light of what other devs have pulled on us.

skullywag · October 27, 2014, 05:05:24 AM

Personally i feel the amount to do in the game is enough to warrant that price now anyway. However i do mod the game so am biased.

laston · October 27, 2014, 07:20:19 AM

By having a higher price you get people who want to play and help develop the game. Not just a bunch of kids who play for 30 minutes and give up. As it stands now the developer isn't looking for a cash in. He's looking for people who will give input of what's right and what's wrong about the game. It's a privilege to be in alpha and beta not a right of game developers. I like the fact that it is also not on steam as well because there is a right time and a wrong time to do that as well. Have to get the game to a proper state so that the first impression will get all of the customers.

RawCode · October 27, 2014, 10:12:08 AM

full mod support and not obfuscated game code cost much more then 30 bucks.

basically with average c# skill you allowed to create your own mod (including total conversion), and play infinite amount of user mods.

kidmo32 · October 27, 2014, 04:19:49 PM

Quote from: laston on October 27, 2014, 07:20:19 AM
By having a higher price you get people who want to play and help develop the game. Not just a bunch of kids who play for 30 minutes and give up. As it stands now the developer isn't looking for a cash in. He's looking for people who will give input of what's right and what's wrong about the game. It's a privilege to be in alpha and beta not a right of game developers. I like the fact that it is also not on steam as well because there is a right time and a wrong time to do that as well. Have to get the game to a proper state so that the first impression will get all of the customers.

Privilege LMAO there was a time you were paid to alpha / beta test or it was free. After being screwed now a few times I will not support this model of get money from Kickstarter and then for the hell of it milk everything you can from alpha and beta testers. Then when the money dries up slap a done sticker on it and release it unfinished. I have been a gamer for nearly 30 years and have never seen this level of greed from most devs.

skullywag · October 27, 2014, 04:33:07 PM

Normally I would agree with the above. But..

In this instance I've seen how much time Tynan gives his community, he helps the modders understand the code and builds in tools to help us, he even made his art assets available to all. I don't know many money grabbing devs who'd do that hence he gets my money...infact based on how much life I've already gotten out of this game/modders paradise I'm gonna go bump my name in game tier up to pirate king.

Haplo · October 27, 2014, 04:54:30 PM

Pirate King? Hmm, no. I'm happy with my colonist with backstory tier so far. He is more than enough for lil' ol' me

With all the new stories in there he appears more and more seldom, but you wouldn't belive how often I found him, back in the good old times of alpha 1, 2, 3.
Oh, yeah, the good old times

Plan9 · October 27, 2014, 06:40:02 PM

Quote from: kidmo32 on October 27, 2014, 04:19:49 PM
Privilege LMAO there was a time you were paid to alpha / beta test or it was free. After being screwed now a few times I will not support this model of get money from Kickstarter and then for the hell of it milk everything you can from alpha and beta testers. Then when the money dries up slap a done sticker on it and release it unfinished. I have been a gamer for nearly 30 years and have never seen this level of greed from most devs.

If you don't want to pay 30$ for the alpha, don't buy it.
If you don't want to support ongoing development and just want the game 100% safe, wait untill it's released.
It's that easy

ZestyLemons · October 27, 2014, 06:54:09 PM

You're totally free to buy it when it's out and on sale if $30 is too much

laston · October 27, 2014, 07:35:07 PM

Quote from: Plan9 on October 27, 2014, 06:40:02 PM
Quote from: kidmo32 on October 27, 2014, 04:19:49 PM
Privilege LMAO there was a time you were paid to alpha / beta test or it was free. After being screwed now a few times I will not support this model of get money from Kickstarter and then for the hell of it milk everything you can from alpha and beta testers. Then when the money dries up slap a done sticker on it and release it unfinished. I have been a gamer for nearly 30 years and have never seen this level of greed from most devs.

If you don't want to pay 30$ for the alpha, don't buy it.
If you don't want to support ongoing development and just want the game 100% safe, wait until it's released.
It's that easy

My thoughts exactly.

REMworlder · October 27, 2014, 09:55:25 PM

Considering how involved and reliable Tynan's been about working on the game, I don't mind the price point at all for Rimworld. I say this after backing several pre-retail games like Towns that the devs never really finished.

Though I don't like the paid testing trend that's been vogue lately in games, I'd have no problem with it if every dev was consistent like Tynan. If progress on Rimworld continues like it has, the final retail version will be definitely worth it. The ability of modders to experiment and improve the game is an added plus; more pre-retail games should support modding like Rimworld has.

stefanstr · October 27, 2014, 10:11:37 PM

I always divide the price of the game by the number of hours I have played it. Rimworld is one of the cheapest games I have ever purchased when I look at it that way. I have only started with Alpha 6 and have already played for at least a 100 hours. Which makes it $0.30 for an hour of enjoyment.

BTW. I am also very cautious when it comes to alpha releases. I have been following Rimworld since the Kickstarter campaign, but only with Alpha 6 have I felt confident enough in the state of the game to buy it.

Tynan · October 28, 2014, 01:11:26 AM

At this point, labeling it 'done' or 'not done' is a bit arbitrary. The main reason I leave the alpha label on it is just because we're still adding things, which means there will be bugs as the game is still changing. It's just my way to not get dinged for the bugs that inevitably creep in as we add more systems and content.

But you can end up in a weird situation if you keep doing this: what happens if, some day, the game is bursting with features - more than a typical "finished" game has - but it's still in development? Is it still an "alpha"? Are players taking a risk by buying it?

I don't feel like this kind of situation is comparable to SpaceBase DF-9 or other such early access games that really are missing big chunks of core experience. Because the game isn't deficient. It's just a bit unstable because it's still in flux. But at any time I could just wrap it up, do a final balance/bugfix pass in a month or so, and call it done. And it would be.

I wouldn't say the game has a 'complete product' weight of features in it yet. But I feel we're close. Compare RimWorld on features to Banished or classics like Theme Hospital, SimCity, or Dungeon Keeper 2 and it comes out looking not too far behind. You can play the game for 6+ hours and discover new stuff; some people go much much longer. I think within a few alphas we'll be at a weight of features that compares fine with the normal idea of what a 'finished' game should have.

Anyway, I guess my bottom line here is that the chance of a DF-9 style abandonment is basically zero at this point. The game is entering the full-featured territory already and will be in the middle of it reasonably soon and there are really no problems on the horizon on the development side.

I'm back to working alone again after ison went back to school but that was never a huge problem before (he only joined me in June). So hopefully velocity will stay good.

So I don't see any need for a price drop now or in the forseeable future. I really mostly want to sell to people who will really engage with the game and enjoy it; not try to grab pennies from someone buying a game they don't know much about and don't really care about.

The current price has led to good outcomes in terms of Ludeon's finances, the community, and development so I say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Fafnir · October 28, 2014, 01:34:43 AM

Maybe you can create an self-playing (so the player can't do or only minimum) version at a lower price?

stefanstr · October 28, 2014, 03:12:40 AM

Quote from: Fafnir on October 28, 2014, 01:34:43 AM
Maybe you can create an self-playing (so the player can't do or only minimum) version at a lower price?

I don't see how that would help. It would encourage random, unengaged people to buy the game ("cheap") only to discover they have a deficient version of it. A recipe for disaster, if you are asking me.