Prison Architect to have 'paid alpha'
Prison Architect to have 'paid alpha'
Stumbled upon this article on PC gamer
Seems like we'll be playing Prison Architect before the world ends.
Seems like we'll be playing Prison Architect before the world ends.
- shinygerbil
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jelco wrote:it's more "charging you money without having to give any guarantees".
How is this any different from a regular purchase? Buying a game on release doesn't guarantee that a game works, depending on the game and where you got it, you won't even have a guarantee of your money back if it doesn't.
While I admit that I am not hugely fond of the concept of "paying to test your game" I freely admit that in practice it tends to be a good idea. It gives the public the ability to try the game early, usually at a lower price point, and you get WAY more feedback than with a small group of dedicated testers (million monkeys at keyboard, etc...)
Besides, you should be well aware that even in the previous IV betas, only a fraction of the testers was actually active. Unless you're suggesting that IV actually hire someone to do QA, this is likely a better option than the previous method.
BTW, the bragging rights people were the ones that joined the old betas and proceeded to do nothing, there is nothing to brag about when everyone can get in.
jelco wrote:Anyone complaining about problems with it was basically told "you're expecting too much, it's a beta". Once it hits stable it's much more accepted to complain and people are much more inclined to listen to you.
That's the case with people outside the developing company. I don't care if random forums or websites listen to the complaints, so long as the ones doing the actual development do.
jelco wrote:More people? Certainly. More feedback? I don't buy it. (Harhar.) The fact that you pay for it makes people not care enough to report bugs, with the mindset that by paying they've done their part of the deal. Most comments will lack constructivity ("it's broken", "the game doesn't work", "you suck") and the small portion that actually helps you is not significantly bigger than it would be with a closed beta.
You're assuming that only the constructive criticisms are useful, that's not actually true. If you have a lot of uneducated trolls complaining about something, then it's probably worth checking if there's something wrong with it.
Also, you're working on the basis where the proportion of helpful people in a closed beta is significantly larger than in a open one. Personally I seriously doubt it, I recall about a dozen active people in the Multiwinia beta and by the end of it probably about 100 people were in.
- frenchfrog
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PC Gamer - Prison Architect “paid alpha” planned for later this year wrote:The paid alpha will give players the opportunity to pay for a pre-order to get immediate access to the build that Introversion are currently working on.
Looks like the article's title is misleading (Ah! Always trying to catch people into reading the article).
I think this move by IV is not about money but more about building up momentum for the game.
- tllotpfkamvpe
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Multiplayer? Do you know something about the game that we don't?
Personally, I would much rather they spend what little resources they have developing the game they have in mind, rather than adhering to the (frankly) silly fad that every gamer expects at least some form of multiplayer in pretty much every game.
Either way, they will definitely get my money
Personally, I would much rather they spend what little resources they have developing the game they have in mind, rather than adhering to the (frankly) silly fad that every gamer expects at least some form of multiplayer in pretty much every game.
Either way, they will definitely get my money
- shinygerbil
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