Starbound

[DragonBlaze]

What? People pay for early access???

I sign up for betas to get free early access to game to gauge whether or not I like them... ESO for example, beta tested that and it seemed awesome, but I wouldn't ever pay extra to try it out early.

[Archem]

That's the world we live in. You pay for beta access. If you want to actually get your game in-full, wait for the game of the year edition. That's the real release.

[Prpl_Mage]

That's the world we live in. You pay for beta access. If you want to actually get your game in-full, wait for the game of the year edition. That's the real release.

Yeah pretty much. We have Beta, then early access, then the game, and then 8 DLC packages and then 1 big DLC expansion thing.

[SaiKar]

Yeah pretty much. We have Beta, then early access, then the game, and then 8 DLC packages and then 1 big DLC expansion thing.

With the amusing rare exception being Terraria itself, which has been ultra cheap since day one, frequently on sale for pennies, and has had multiple major free updates.

[Cerebus]

Indeed. Sort of the same with Minecraft. It's more expensive than Terraria, and I haven't seen it go on sale (although it was cheaper when it was still in Beta) but the updates it receive over time are always free. Well, except for skins/textures on the Xbox 360 version.

Things will probably change once/if they become huge, though.

[Archem]

On the subject of Starbound, a good friend of mine gifted it to me today. Looks like I'm gonna be playing Starbound.

Also, splitting this whole tangent into its own thread.

[drenrin2120]

I never played Terraria so I may end up getting this. But I'm a little reluctant to drop the cash on it for the same reasons.

[Archem]

Terraria is an amazing game, and it's constantly on sale for dirt cheap (usually hits $2.50). This game is debuting at $15, and it's in an unpolished, buggy, incomplete state right now. Given the way things are, if you're interested in a 2D MineCraft-style game, I would recommend Terraria for now. There's a lot more for that game to offer, and it's an absolute blast at a cheaper price.

[SaiKar]

I'm getting less and less sure. I have a couple friends that constantly grumble about the bugs and the lack of polish, say I'm smart for waiting for it to be finished or go on sale, how irritating things like a character reset were... but, with that said, they sure seem to hop on Starbound every night for an hour or two, and don't play all that many other games. I'm getting mixed messages here. I could see it that they're trying to recoup their money loss by playing the game now, but I'm not sure anyone actually thinks like that. I'm starting more to see it that everyone likes complaining about everything and the game is actually pretty fun for them, unfinished and buggy or not.

[Cerebus]

Unfinished, buggy game doesn't mean not fun. The bugs can be very annoying, but they don't make games completely unpleasant.

I'm pretty sure the game is fun and that I'd enjoy it a lot, but paying full price for an unfinished project is still ridiculous. Yet, as the same time, I feel like if you plan on buying the game when it's finished, might as well buy it now since you'll spend the money anyway.

Edit: After checking their page, I see it's merely a "Pre-order and you get access to the Beta". Now, of course, it's the same thing as just "The game isn't complete, but you can buy it now" but at the same time, it's still a bonus offered for pre-ordering, which (I think) some games don't even offer. Of course, pre-ordering a physical copy of a game ensures you get it, whereas digital games can't "run out of copies", so a little additional bonus would have been nice, since "early access" is now becoming sort of common.

So, I'll say again, if you do plan on buying the game when it's released, might as well buy it now since you'll spend that money anyway, and you'll get to try some parts of it, mess around, etc. until the final product is out.

I'm actually quite uncertain myself. Part of me doesn't feel like paying $15 for an unfinished game that doesn't offer any bonus (because "early access" isn't as much of a bonus as it was before it became common) but at the same time, it does look like a fun game...

I'd like some more comments from someone who's got the game gifted from a friend or something of the like. Preferably comments about the game itself and not a comparison to an already cheaper similar game that often goes on sale for $2.50.

[Prpl_Mage]

I think that Fruckert got it as well.

[drenrin2120]

The hard part is spending the cash now and wondering when it will inevitably go on sale. That's my gripe.

I know 2.50 is dirt cheap and I've been super tempted to buy it. My room mates been bugging me to get it too. But I just never did, no real reason.

[DragonBlaze]

So just checked out this game, I never was really interested in Terraria, but this game seems oddly much more appealing to me. I'm probably gonna be picking this up in the near future

[Cerebus]

So I changed my mind and decided to get it for both me and my brother.

So far, I love it. Looking forward to all the updates that will hopefully make the game even better. Not looking forward to the possible character wipes, but I'm aware it's a possibility and can live with it.

I must say, this game is much harder than Terraria at start. I'm not very far, so I'm uncertain how things go later on. But right now, lots of monsters can 3-shot me, some kill me in one or two strikes, the rest is variable.
Having multiple races is interesting, though they don't have any difference at the moment. I'm pretty sure they'll put in something, though. I should read their page some times.
The flashlight is pretty cool, and very useful. Stuff that is one-handed can be held with another one-handed thing, so you can wander around with a knife and a flashlight. Probably gun, too, but I haven't obtained one yet.
Having multiple planets, a whole lots of them, is pretty cool since you can switch between them when you feel you've scavenged your current one enough or just want a change of scenery. However, it can makes house crafting a little annoying. Since I don't want to build multiple houses at the moment, nor do I want to destroy every house I create to get everything back, I've put every crafting device in my ship, but it's getting jam-packed in there. Perhaps I should change planet less often...

But anyway, yeah, great game. I feel it has (or will have) more to offer than Terraria on many things. However, it's still an incomplete game at the moment, and still is more expensive. Don't get me wrong, though; Terraria is an amazing game and a superb alternative to this one if you don't want to spend $15 for an incomplete game, especially since it's often sold at $2,50.

Only thing, though, is that I have to host the game since, for some reason, I cannot join my brother's when he tries to host it, and while I'm not sure if it's because it's still in beta, or just because my laptop is getting tired, I get a massive FPS drop, which can be very annoying and can make using the bow a total pain. I'm assuming it's mainly due to it being in beta stage, but I do know my laptop has a hard time dealing with some stuff.

[Apex]

Sorry, there's a bunch that people have posted before this, most of which is debate on whether it's logical to pay into a beta or wait for the price to go down on an unreleased game. (Something about the Steam sale.)

My friend bought the four pack and gave me one of them, so that's my excuse.

Having said that, I've already sunk about 50 hours into the game, it's a blast. At this point it's not quite as sophisticated as Terraria in terms of content. However, it does something that Terraria doesn't seem to do for me, it creates an urge to keep exploring new things,
In Terraria, the randomly generated content that was 90% of the world really just seemed like filler to a few key areas after the first time you see them. There is a lot of un-notable stuff. Starbound has legendary weapons and skills (techs) that can be found just about anywhere
on any planet, in randomly generated dungeons based on about 10-ish (from what I've seen) templates that can be mixed and matched, or out in the open, giving reason to not just stick on one planet the whole time. Also, just about EVERYTHING is procedural generated content, planets
(to some degree) weapons, characters, monsters, and whole towns with vendors and leaders. It's a damn fun game if you like Terraria. I'd wait until the full release though, to be completely honest, because whenever there is a major update to the game, they wipe characters.