Just for discussion

[rdizz]

Something I have noticed with game development trends...

have you noticed it has almost become more profitable to sell the idea of a game rather than the game itself?

It seems almost everything these days are "early access" or pre-alpha and all of that but realistically maybe they are just full releases charging you to play a tester. How many games have you played in Early access and once they have gone release do you still play?

Like other space games out there with immense amounts of funding but seeming not to progress. Is it making more money to sell the idea then to push for a release?

Sometimes I just feel like gaming today is dying. It always seems like this wonderful mind blowing idea that just never comes together. Public funded projects with 0 repercussions.

What do you think? My tin foil hat too large or is this actually a thing that is happening.

I bring this up because I play ED for what it can become or what I thought was promised 2 years ago. But nothing ever seems to change yet I continue to spend money on expansions.

Same with some other space games out there.... We get so excited on what a game could or what they say it will be, but what game out there has actually done it and delivered the product that was promised?

Realistically ED devs stated that this game is a 10 year project I mean 10 years? Do you think you will be playing this in 10 years? Sounds almost ridiculous when you sit down and think about that. In 10 years this game will have everything promised or that maybe you wanted in a space game but will you even be around to enjoy it? Will you have moved on to the next biggest and greatest thing or even gaming at all?

eh

 

[bootsam]

Sometimes you need to plant your flag until the technology catches up with your dreams. 10yrs? Ok. *shrug

Or ED could plant a fire under the arses of his devs and sweat shop the lazy so and so's...banish holidays and subject them to a 7day week. The lazy ...

 

[Drumatiko]

Playing ED in 10 years? I will most likely.

Other then that i also notice a lot of early acces games that don't grow to complete games. I've already decided not to support starting games anymore until they show proper ingame gameplay (beta or higher).

 

[JetsonRING]

Something I have noticed with game development trends...

have you noticed it has almost become more profitable to sell the idea of a game rather than the game itself?

It seems almost everything these days are "early access" or pre-alpha and all of that but realistically maybe they are just full releases charging you to play a tester. How many games have you played in Early access and once they have gone release do you still play?

Like other space games out there with immense amounts of funding but seeming not to progress. Is it making more money to sell the idea then to push for a release?

Sometimes I just feel like gaming today is dying. It always seems like this wonderful mind blowing idea that just never comes together. Public funded projects with 0 repercussions.

What do you think? My tin foil hat too large or is this actually a thing that is happening.

I bring this up because I play ED for what it can become or what I thought was promised 2 years ago. But nothing ever seems to change yet I continue to spend money on expansions.

Same with some other space games out there.... We get so excited on what a game could or what they say it will be, but what game out there has actually done it and delivered the product that was promised?

Realistically ED devs stated that this game is a 10 year project I mean 10 years? Do you think you will be playing this in 10 years? Sounds almost ridiculous when you sit down and think about that. In 10 years this game will have everything promised or that maybe you wanted in a space game but will you even be around to enjoy it? Will you have moved on to the next biggest and greatest thing or even gaming at all?

eh

Oh, yeah. Rep. Back in the day if I volunteered to screw up my PC by testing software I usually got a free copy of the game for my trouble. Zip forward to 2016 where game developers charge me to test their software. I bought X-Plane 11 back in October because the web-site said it would be "released in November". They did not mention they were releasing a BETA, never mentioned until the "hey, go download the software" email appeared. This trend of game developers releasing half-finished products and expecting users to keep paying through the nose to play what is basically an extended test-platform for a video game is getting ridiculous.

 

[Jenner]

It's a very interesting trend in the gaming industry, for sure. I honestly do not know if it's a net positive or not. On the one hand you have fans funding games that might not have been even considered by publishers in the past. Those same fans often times get a lot of access to the developer, a direct say in development, and feel a sense of community and ownership in the project.

On the other hand, there's a reason why most people don't like to see how the sausage is made. Turning fans into venture capitalists brings with it all kinds of issues, not the least of which is financial risk. When devs are using fans as beta testers I think it diminishes the sense of wonder and joy felt when (in the past) you'd fire up a freshly released game without having any preconceived notions or expectations. Plus, as OP says, the era of Kickstarter coupled with the ease of content distribution online means that oftentimes games languish in development forever. With no publishers to crack the whip over devs it's obvious why they'd choose to keep iterating on their projects rather than just knuckling down and releasing a smaller, but finished, product.

Of course there are exceptions to this on both sides. As I said...I'm not sure how I really come down on this one.

 

[rdizz]

there's a reason why most people don't like to see how the sausage is made.

lol... What a perfect analogy.

I like the trend only because we see a plethora of games come out that we normally would not But I also hate this trend because it seems we are being sold on empty promises that never come to fruition.

It really almost feels like the biggest scam/cash grab of our time, and at the same time more creative ideas are being released. If you can call them releases. And I hate to say ED is starting to fall into that category as are pretty much all of the my eyes are bigger than my stomach space game ideas.

 

[Lianachan]

Something I have noticed with game development trends...

have you noticed it has almost become more profitable to sell the idea of a game rather than the game itself?

It seems almost everything these days are "early access" or pre-alpha and all of that but realistically maybe they are just full releases charging you to play a tester. How many games have you played in Early access and once they have gone release do you still play?

Like other space games out there with immense amounts of funding but seeming not to progress. Is it making more money to sell the idea then to push for a release?

Sometimes I just feel like gaming today is dying. It always seems like this wonderful mind blowing idea that just never comes together. Public funded projects with 0 repercussions.

What do you think? My tin foil hat too large or is this actually a thing that is happening.

I bring this up because I play ED for what it can become or what I thought was promised 2 years ago. But nothing ever seems to change yet I continue to spend money on expansions.

Same with some other space games out there.... We get so excited on what a game could or what they say it will be, but what game out there has actually done it and delivered the product that was promised?

Realistically ED devs stated that this game is a 10 year project I mean 10 years? Do you think you will be playing this in 10 years? Sounds almost ridiculous when you sit down and think about that. In 10 years this game will have everything promised or that maybe you wanted in a space game but will you even be around to enjoy it? Will you have moved on to the next biggest and greatest thing or even gaming at all?

eh

I played ED for less than one year, and the experience has made me pretty cynical about crowd funding game development, and trusting the developers.

 

[DoctorDanny]

I played ED for less than one year, and the experience has made me pretty cynical about crowd funding game development, and trusting the developers.

Indeed. The game is a far cry from the picture that was painted during kickstarter and early development (DDF).

 

[Jason S]

In the End the public will get wise to it all.

 

[Agony_Aunt]

Realistically ED devs stated that this game is a 10 year project I mean 10 years? Do you think you will be playing this in 10 years? Sounds almost ridiculous when you sit down and think about that. In 10 years this game will have everything promised or that maybe you wanted in a space game but will you even be around to enjoy it? Will you have moved on to the next biggest and greatest thing or even gaming at all?

Actually, they didn't say its a 10 year project. One statement from DB was that they have more than enough possible content that they could keep adding for 10 years. The other relevant one was that DB hopes they keep adding well beyond 10 years. So basically statements of what they think they could do and would like to do, not what is actually firmly planned. Everything depends on the players, funding, etc.

As for me, sure, why not? I've played other games consistently for well over 5 years, some of them over 10! I was playing NWN2 for 10 years. Frontier i was playing on and off for over 10 years. I still occasionally play Total War Medieval 2 (especially with mods). Hell, sometimes ill still play Chaos: Battle of the Wizards, and that was released in 1985!

Hm... Dungeon Keeper 2, that still gets played. Emperor: Battle for Dune - rarely, but its there. Counterstrike (the original), play that one with the kids.

Will ED have everything promised? Very likely, since FD have promised very little. Will it have everything expected? Probably not, mainly because people's imaginations often exceed what is realistically possible or cost effective for a company. Assuming no issues with funding, i would expect ED to last at least 10 years and by that point be a very different game to what we have today, but that wouldn't be surprising as the game we have today is vastly different from what we had back at launch.

 

[Agony_Aunt]

In the End the public will get wise to it all.

Oh sweet child of summer.

Watch this: [video=youtube;mKTORFmMycQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKTORFmMycQ[/video]

Best of all, watch the reaction of the audience at the end.

That's the reaction of people who have just learned they have been duped for years, and that despite having it all spelled out to them how they have been duped, they will return to their lives and fall for the exact same tricks over and over again, and they know it.

People believe what they want to believe. We all have out little blinkers that protect our fragile egos and minds from the reality of the world.