Some of the opinions here are just impossible to agree with, much less see any reasonable logic in them.

It was the same story with getting Alpha access to ARMA III.
I got in for pennies, played the scenarios, tried maps, did MP and tested the editor - then I moved on to other games in the meantime and suddenly the full game was out.
What I did was basically wait for 50% of discount before getting that discount one year after the full release. (or whenever steam usually does a 50% sale)

That's the logic - whether or not you actually want to log bugs you find (as Gray stated)

Why whine about this model? In early access/alpha you can see whether the game even has potential.

At the same time whenever there's some cool footage shown somewhere people are going "ohhh I wish I could play this already!!"
Well you can play it for a smaller price than the full release, but just not the full content yet. You'll still get the full game eventually.

I just can't get my head around why this concept is so hard to grasp since it's not forced on anyone.


Personally I've lost interest in the SA, doesn't seem like a big upgrade - I got tons of gameplay out of the mod (fantastic experiences actually) and I'm too spoiled by ARMA III to go back to the clunkyness of the previous installments.

Also there's this for ARMA III:
BREAKING POINT
I have it installed, but haven't tried it yet (so don't blame me if it sucks, but forums indicate that it's currently better liked than the SA)

I don't see why it's considered testing, people aren't obligated to log bugs with the devs. Load testing perhaps, early availability is a nice option for those that want it. If not, wait for release.

This nonsense of paying for the privilege of testing their product is ridiculous. People who spend money on these so called betas are fools.

Prez wrote on Dec 17, 2013, 00:32:

DangerDog wrote on Dec 17, 2013, 00:19:
I don't feel sorry for anyone who buys this, Valve shouldn't issue any refunds, period.

Just out of curiosity, what makes you think people would want refunds? Is there something they are not being clear about on their store page?

It's the Steam community, there is always someone bitching for a refund!

JayDeath wrote on Dec 16, 2013, 17:59:
Am I the only one who has a problem with this early access bullshit? It seems many devs are jumping on to this way of development and I don't like it! I refuse to pay for an unfinished game, even at a discount. I don't get it.
I put well over 600 hours into the mod and I was so excited for the SA but this is bullshit. In this case, it isn't the price either. I want a complete game!
I'm very disappointed about this.

...then don't pay for it, and wait for the finished game?

The finished game is going to come at the same time regardless of whether they do early access or not. In DayZ's case, this may very well be never, but having early access available isn't going to change anything.

Apparently they sold 20,000 copies of DayZ in the first hour it was available. Hopefully that instant $850k-$1 million (depending on exactly how many people had gone for the $95 Supporter Edition on the BI website, which was utterly crushed by the demand this afternoon) gives development the shot in the arm it needs.

DangerDog wrote on Dec 17, 2013, 00:19:
I don't feel sorry for anyone who buys this, Valve shouldn't issue any refunds, period.

Just out of curiosity, what makes you think people would want refunds? Is there something they are not being clear about on their store page?

I don't feel sorry for anyone who buys this, Valve shouldn't issue any refunds, period.

Two reasons that wouldn't fly. The available server(s) would likely be overloaded into uselessness with no purchasing barrier in place and I doubt Valve would be willing to foot the bandwidth bill for those free client distros w/o receiving compensation.

Well Valve allows free Demo downloads, and some of them are quite large. Not to mention people are downloading free 2 play games off of Steam now. And bandwidth? Surely it wouldn't be any worse than on Steam sale days when Steam just quits working for stretches of time because it's massively overloaded.

Where's Primalchrome when you need him? I want to show him that DayZ is the top-selling game on the Steam and that 3 of the 5 top-selling games are zombie-themed. Pretty impressive considering that zombies are supposedly going out of fashion and nobody cares about them anymore...

We estimate that reaching Beta version with all key features present will take more than one year from current stage. All features and plans listed here are subject to change, we may add or remove features as seen fit during development process.

hah! so - its going to take them more than a (yet another) year just to get to beta? dont even mention the full release eh

how long has it been already?

what a joke.. these guys are smoking crack for real

Prez wrote on Dec 16, 2013, 21:37:
A Rogue-like where ganking newbs is the raison d'etre? Count me out!

On the subject of early access, I hear what the naysayers are saying but personally I think it's a great thing. What would make it even better though is if the first 24 hours were free, so you could decide if the game is in a state you are willing to pay for now or would rather hold off until release (or just avoid it completely, if you decide it's not for you).

Two reasons that wouldn't fly. The available server(s) would likely be overloaded into uselessness with no purchasing barrier in place and I doubt Valve would be willing to foot the bandwidth bill for those free client distros w/o receiving compensation.

zombiefan wrote on Dec 16, 2013, 23:10:
Ha! What a joke. Another alpha game, with less content than the free alpha, and with a $30 price tag. Holy shit, talk about fools and their money...you guys deserve to get taken.

7 Days trumps this shit on ALL levels.

Ugh, I was with you then you said "7 Days...", you bought a beta turd for $35 yourself?... fool you are dear comment author.

Ha! What a joke. Another alpha game, with less content than the free alpha, and with a $30 price tag. Holy shit, talk about fools and their money...you guys deserve to get taken.

7 Days trumps this shit on ALL levels.

When I got to the bottom of the page and it stated the expected beta was one year from now... I almost spit my coffee out.

We estimate that reaching Beta version with all key features present will take more than one year from current stage. All features and plans listed here are subject to change, we may add or remove features as seen fit during development process.

I bought ArmA II a second time on Steam for this Mod. I had fun with it back then. Since then a lot of great games have come out. Some better... most worse than the DayZ Mod. At this point not sure what you'd call this kind of creep but for me the ship has sailed. I doubt I will buy the SA version for more than ten or fifteen bucks at most. And then only to support their years of work. Because my guess is that after I've been ganked again for a dozen or so times I will be done with the game/mod one last time.

This comment was edited on Dec 16, 2013, 22:30.

A Rogue-like where ganking newbs is the raison d'etre? Count me out!

On the subject of early access, I hear what the naysayers are saying but personally I think it's a great thing. What would make it even better though is if the first 24 hours were free, so you could decide if the game is in a state you are willing to pay for now or would rather hold off until release (or just avoid it completely, if you decide it's not for you).

This comment was edited on Dec 16, 2013, 22:16.

DangerDog wrote on Dec 16, 2013, 17:25:

Frags4Fun wrote on Dec 16, 2013, 15:46:
What's wrong with the price? $30 is a steal! I'm buying this as soon as I get home.

$15 would be a huge stretch, in the end you're just going to be playing a slightly more polished version of the Arma II mod. They're not even using Arma III improved engine for the base of the game.

One person's junk is another person's treasure.

Have fun.

Completely agree, $30 is a slap in the face. I already paid $30 for this mod.

It IS GRITTY I tell ya! I spawned my first time, it was night, I was scared RAN RAN RAN and someone shot me. I re-spawned, dove on my tummy and started crawling until I made it into a barn (after probably 15 minutes of crawling). BLAM! Someone shot me and uninstalled it..... GRITTY!!!

Played a lot of DayZ; died a lot and killed a lot. The problem I have with the DayZ SA is they are concentrating too much on the stuff that doesn't matter to most people. DayZ mod you had a can of food you could eat it right away and be on your way. DayZ SA you got a can of food but now you need a can opener to open it and then you can eat it. So while you are dicking around trying to open a can of food in a building someone is lining up their pistol or gun to your forehead, boom you are dead... DayZ mod has matches and firewood and other stuff too but it wasn't the main focus of the game. Compass requires you to de-equip your main weapon last video I saw, but once you have played enough, compasses and maps don't matter much anymore; you know were to go. Items wear down, items you don't really get to hold on to anyway. So they have taken the fast paced PvP action most people like and added a bunch of mundane stuff most people don't really care about.

Plus now they have been dragging their feet so long releasing DayZ SA there are mods of DayZ mod with much much more stuff and addons going on that are just plain better and more fun. Take Epoch for example; money you can use to buy weapons/vehicles/etc at traders. Items you can use to build your own bases and stake a claim on an area. Randomly generated AI missions for loot and gear. Vaults, vehicle keys, and door locks to secure your items from others so you can reequip and get right back into the action when you die. $10 for Arma II with more stuff vs $30 for DayZ SA that still isn't finished.

I had high hopes for DayZ SA but it just seems like they are concentrating on the stuff most people don't really want and quite frankly they have missed the boat for a big hit. People will still buy it though and I hope it turns out to be fun for everyone but currently I don't see a real good reason to bother with it over the much better DayZ mod mods.

WoodroweBones19 wrote on Dec 16, 2013, 20:21:

grudgebearer wrote on Dec 16, 2013, 19:42:

RamataKahn wrote on Dec 16, 2013, 19:12:

grudgebearer wrote on Dec 16, 2013, 19:07:
Why in all holy hell does anyone want to pay a company to alpha/beta test their game?

No one is.

I guess I must be misunderstanding the part where you pay the devs to play an unfinished game and participate "in the ongoing development cycle."

If you had to pay again when the game was "Finished" then yes you'd be paying to beta test their game. However since the price you pay is actually for the finished game you are basically getting the OPTIONAL ability to play early access for free

and the devs are getting the OPTION to finish development since they already have your money...

omg lol j/k