Memes

I've gotten bit by it a few times, and am generally annoyed at the incomplete nature of games lately.

It's at the point where I've sworn off Early Acess games. I don't dislike the concept, I just don't like using my free time on incomplete or in progress experiences. If I wanted to do that, I'd buy any AAA game that launches with a season pass...

It's not an experience everyone desires no matter how fun it can be. Really, Steam just needs to make Early Access games more visible as Early Access, and then hold them to a higher standard than the goons who ride it out for years and years with little progress. Or worse; constant ADHD change.

Leave the games-as-a-service thing to the MMOs, subscriptions, and donations, not ostensibly "normal", downloaded and installed games: Steam has allowed it to become too much of a crutch for those who aren't getting the ball rolling even after getting that Early Access money.

If they want to continue funding alpha-stage products or products without a vision, they need to make it feel less like buying a normal game, because that's what people will expect. It doesn't have to be drastically different. Just inconvenient enough to make it obvious you're not getting a complete product. Like the purchase doesn't download anything because it is quite literally a beta product that doesn't have a released version. Players could opt in to any released beta versions the normal way in the game's properties.

I say all of this as someone who both loves 7 Days to Die (a big offender of riding the status) and as someone who has sworn off getting any more Early Access games. They just aren't good enough experiences on average to justify being as easy as normal, complete games. Even the good ones you hear about early aren't worth it for me: I don't want to dig in and burn myself out on a game I cannot even finish, yet.