Never in my life. I want to read the reviews, at a minimum. Too many games with some booshit on launch day, if not at least several months after. I am incredibly psyched for the new Control game but it’ll be at least a few months before I pick it up.
Nowadays? Not a chance. Preorders nowadays seem to be more of a incentive to allow a studio to just not have a decent final product because people have already bought in.
What about Early Access Games?
If I really like the concept, yes.
Do you feel differently about Early Access vs traditional preordering?
Early access is not pre-ordering, and as such is treated extremely differently. Preordering tells me that the product will be finished on release, EA means that it’s going to need a lot of work for a finished product.
If you are open to the idea in specific circumstances, what are those?
I am extremly open to EA as it helps studios develop a product that otherwise may not be able to be created. Actual preordering is a strict closed door, there is very little reason in the digital world we live in to preorder a game.
How do you decide if a game qualifies?
I more likely will buy an early access game if I can open the page and not see:
Major blockers:
Lack of Linux support or compatibility
Reviews talking about the game being dead
Reviews talking about how the developer ignores the community
Update history either showing no changes or minor changes stretching back for a few months(the longer the gap the less likely I am to support the studio)
Opening the developer page and seeing they are actively working on a different game. (this is an instant deal breaker)
Minor Blockers
Developer responses in community pages saying “for support go to external site” usually discord. If you don’t want to support your game on the storefront, don’t use the storefront.
Update logs saying that they are actively working on DLC for their early access game. (free DLC gets a partial pass… but paid DLC for an Early Access game is a huge red flag for me)
No developer interactions in the community forums or an un-moderated community forum.
Toxic community in discussion forums or support channels (I understand this is out of the devs control at times but it still dissuades me from wanting to spend money on the games)
Thanks for specifying how you decide. I know most people don’t preorder at all and there is some skepticism toward Early Access. I expected most comments to just say that, which is why I really appreciate the detail you added.
Generally I wait for release, or more likely years after release before picking up a game to wait for thr cost to drop. There isn’t a need to preorder in a digital store, like steam, so there is zero rush.
Early access if someone I know and trust will vouch for it and play too. Valheim is the best example of this for me.
I have purchased the ‘higher tier’ for a few games over the last few decades to get specific bonus stuff if they are continuing a series and I know for a fact I will play it a lot. But I don’t do the ones where that must be done as a pre-order. It is possible I did those as preorders to download prior to the release date, but only if I could jave made the same purchase a week after release.
It’s a rare breed of game that gets me pre-ordering these days. It has to be something I know I will want, from a dev/publisher with a proven track record of making good shit and not being exploitative to customers, and be more about multiplayer than single.
I haven’t pre-ordered for any other reason since they stopped giving you physical swag for doing so (and it only was $5 down and could be cancelled for a refund while still keeping the swag and digital distribution wasn’t even a thing, so they actually could run out of copies).
Preorder, no. I don’t usually buy brand new games. FF Tactics remake was the most recent and I needed to see a few days of reviews to build the trust to buy it. Maybe if Fromsoft releases another one-player game I’ll consider that. I’m not sure the types of developers I usually buy games from tend to even do preorder, it seems to be bigger studios from what I have seen.
Early access, yes for a few select indie developers that I want to support. ATLYSS because it’s priced low and looks great. Into the Unwell will be a day 1 purchase once it reaches early access, since I have played the closed beta and know I want it. Trinity 64 will be another one I’m excited for if it gets an EA release. I’m ok with EA for these because they’re the types of games I yearn for and I want more of them, and I know my contribution makes an impact to the devs.
It kind of makes me wish we got some sort of “Dungeon Master” tools to make our own campaigns, but then again, at that point just run D&D with some friends i suppose.
That isn’t DM mode, it is a very nice set of customization optimizations.
In Neverwinter Nights there was a DM mode that let one player be the DM instead of one of the characters. They could drop in creatures and objects and control them in real time, which was awesome! That is what I was hoping they would be adding, something where we could basically play DnD in the world maps of BG3, but with on the fly encounters and pacing instead of being preset.
Even Warframe will run on that puppy (with low settings and without all the particles, other than that they’ve got the whole efficiency thing down pat)
I got to chapter 12 of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and can’t be bothered to finish it. I really don’t like how so much of the game feels like padding. There are parts that flow naturally, but they get interrupted by long wastes of time that usually force you to play really bad minigames. At some point the dungeons too started to feel samey. The open world is also Ubisoft-level bad, so I’ve been ignoring it.
The story also feels like a downgrade from the original version in some ways. I though some sequences had less impact (specifically Dyne’s story and Red’s trial. Shinra Mansion too I thought was ruined).
I’m not really a fan of remakes in general. I think they are usually unnecessary and a wasted opportunity to do something new, and it bothers me how they often try to “erase” the original’s gameplay. This one in particular feels like an excuse to sell a single game split in three parts. I doubt I’ll be playing the third one.
I’ve been trying The Last Remnant. Its gameplay is kinda weird and unique, although a bit too opaque. Not sure if it’s good, but it’s at least interesting.
I did finish the game, but it was a complete slog at the end. It was mainly because I still really like the characters and had invested too much time into the two games at that point, so I have to see this trilogy through to the end.
Like you said, there’s just soooo much padding, and I’d even say the world is much worse than Ubisoft stuff. It’s just empty, except for the same five copy & paste “events” in every zone.
Something must be wrong with me though, since I’ve actually been thinking about replaying the game lately. Dunno why, but the thought just keeps creeping into my brain every now and then.
Septerra core legacy of the creator, a pc turn based rpg i got in the early 2000s in some multi game pack at walmart or something. took forever for me to find it using the early internet. Its a unique title, but highly forgettable.
-Jagged Alliance 2, another tactical combat game, modern time, funny, realistic and really difficult.
Eh, realized that only the first one is free to play. But the other ones are old (or very old), so you can snatch them on sale on steam, GOG or Epic for less than a chocolate bar and get dozens of hours of enjoyment from them.
bin.pol.social
Ważne