Unfinished: SNOW 02/03/2014

@xchairmandrekx: Comparing it to other games doesn't really make sense but I understand the sentiment of "don't charge for an unfinished product." I mean, it's why I personally don't ever bother buying into any early access stuff and I'm guessing you don't either.

But all the same, it's an established Steam-sanctioned practice at this point and it's not like they're falsely advertising the product or anything. It helps them out because they have guaranteed money, they have free testing, they have early interest, etc. It helps people interested enough to invest now because those people get to play early, get to support a smaller developer, and can actually help out development by reporting bugs and such. They still get the finished game at the end just like everybody else since they paid for it; they just got to watch it turn into that game bit by bit and gain new insight on how games are actually developed along the way.

It's a very weird time in the games industry right now. I just think it's worth taking this kind of stuff with a grain of salt and an open mind. This is not a finished product nor is it advertised as one and that's precisely why Jeff & crew made a new video category to reflect that.

Vinny had me on the floor in the first three minutes.

...God, I hope that never gets taken out of context.

Two things.

1. It's completely reasonable to release this at $15. Just because it's "not finished" right now, does not mean that somehow you should have to pay an enormous sum less for it, especially when you're going to be receiving every single update for the product as it is released. You're not paying for an alpha build, you're paying for an alpha build that will become a finished product for no greater charge than some of your precious time.

2. "[F]ull complete games on Steam sometimes launch at around the same, and sometimes cheaper, prices"? Okay. So what, exactly? Have you noticed that the prices of games on Steam are extremely varied? Are you suggesting that because some extremely cheap indie games launch at $10, somehow every other game should take that to heart as a kind of gold standard? Developers launch products at whatever price they think is fair, and whatever price they think they can sell it for. Whether or not you think it's fair for this particular game, or even whether I do (I have no interest in any skiing game, whatsoever) is irrelevant, because their pricing doesn't depend upon what OTHER developers charge for their entirely different projects.

Video games have become quite the fucking racket. $15 for a soundless, barely functional dev build, and people pay it!

An alpha usually refers to a release, one of a product that is in a somewhat functional, but yet feature complete state, that resembles the final product. So yeah, before an alpha, its just unfinished, a work in progress. The state of this game could totally be considered an alpha though, if they wanted to call it that. It is certainly not feature complete, but it resembles a game that the final product will probably look somewhat like.

licky boom boom

Started out awesome but quickly went downhill.

I'm kinda flabbergasted that Drew didn't get the reference. Now I feel old as dirt