We missed word last week that Line Of Defense is headed to Early Access, and that the upcoming MMOG from 3000AD is the latest game to go the premium route for this, as it will cost $99.00. An update on TwitLonger (more than 140 characters!!) by Derek Smart explains the reasoning for the high price (thanks PC Gamer) and shoots a laser across the bows of a competitor. Here's a bit:

The $99 EA price tag - which has a LOT of perks - ensures that only serious people who can provide meaningful feedback through their commitment, need apply. And for that they get a lot more than they would if they waited for the final game release.

We're simply not interested in letting freeloaders gain early access to the game, not provide meaningful - if any - feedback, while we foot the bill for the backend services, servers, bandwidth etc

We're a SMALL independent game dev making a MASSIVE game in a genre dominated and monopolized by SOE and their popular @planetside2 series. In contrast, from start to finish, LOD was developed by less than ten people. Including third-party contractors. Yeah.

And unlike those other guys, we don't take your money, then plonk you in useless assets (how do you like that hanger now?), a largely unfinished product or a product that may not even see the light of day. I don't even need to defend against that premise; go look at my game releases. While they may not be everyone's cup of tea, we still keep making them because we have and know our audience.