Wasteland 2 - Post-Funding Update #40

Couchpotato

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Well if you want to play the Alpha version of Wasteland 2 now is the time according to the latest post-funding update from inXile entertainment.

Building a Better Beta - Right Now!

It’s hard to believe we're finally at a place where we're ready to put a playable version of Wasteland 2 into your hands, but today's the day. What a road it has been to get here.

It has been an enlightening experience learning what is entailed with this new transparent development process. I admit it isn’t easy to release code before it’s complete, as I have hundreds of issues on my list still to be addressed, but it’s time for the next phase. All backers eligible for the beta from your original pledge (that is, any tier of $55 or more except the $60 late backer box) or an add-on can now log in to your Ranger Center account and retrieve your Steam key for the Wasteland 2 beta. You’ll find it at the bottom of your Donations page. I should also note that we've had quite a few requests to offer the game on Steam Early Access, which we will do after our backers have had first crack at it.

PLEASE DO READ THIS UPDATE BEFORE YOU START TESTING

Creating a deep RPG is a unique challenge, in that so many elements need to be working well together, with 95% of the game's underpinnings complete before beta can begin, which is what we've all been working so hard on this last month. Now, however, is the stage of development where the magic happens. With most of the mechanical issues behind us, now we can really start digging deep into the game and finding ways of taking it from good to great. No amount of prepping and planning can replace old-fashioned hands-on playing, testing and iteration time, which is why we are so grateful to have you, our backers, help us hone this process like never before. So thanks once again to all of you for giving us this opportunity to make your game in this new and open way. Your input has been, and will continue to be, critical every step of the way, and Wasteland 2 will be better because of it.

For your convenience while playing, we put together a reference card. This serves as a basic guide to gameplay and the game's interface.

All the game's major systems are now implemented, which allows us to expedite the amount of depth, fun and subtlety that gets in, but this is an ambitious game both in terms of scale and the amount of reactivity we have planned, so please don’t forget that we are not complete, and that there are still a host of issues that need to be addressed.
More information.
 
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10GB download. I played a little bit and it's good, very good. Not going to play any more though - i'm not even going to finish the first real zone.
 
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I'm often on here defending the Kickstarter business model as if I'm personally getting a cut of the profits, but here's one thing definitely bugs me: opening the beta only to people who coughed up $55 for the game. That's more than the final release will cost. What you're essentially doing then is charging people to beta test your game.

It's one thing to dramatically trim your Q&A costs by releasing a public beta. I think that's generally going to result in a better game. But to say, "Hey, for an extra $20 I'll grant you the privilege of bug-testing." that's pretty cheap. I also don't like reward tiers (like this one) that grant extra gameplay options to people who happen to be richer.
 
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I'm excited about this because it means that the final game is that much closer to release :) I didn't buy the beta tier on the kickstarter, and only paid enough to get a copy of the game, because I don't really get excited over betas :) At least this means that the final game is probably only a few months away!
 
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I would agree that the pricing on this game is ridiculous considering it's crowd funded (actually, it would be ridiculous for any indie game).

I have a lot of alpha/early access games and pretty much all of them are indie type games with low price tags and no extra fees to pay in advance for an unfinished game.

I'm very interested in this game but not really liking the way it's being presented sales-wise, especially for a game that was crowd funded. Seems a little (or a lot) greedy.
 
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I would agree that the pricing on this game is ridiculous considering it's crowd funded (actually, it would be ridiculous for any indie game).

I have a lot of alpha/early access games and pretty much all of them are indie type games with low price tags and no extra fees to pay in advance for an unfinished game.

I'm very interested in this game but not really liking the way it's being presented sales-wise, especially for a game that was crowd funded. Seems a little (or a lot) greedy.

The pricing is ridiculous? If you pledged on Kickstarter you got the game for as little as 15$. That pricetag is a joke, considering we regularily pay three times that for AAA titles (and I actually don't care how it's funded, the price of a product is always what people are willing to pay no?) Now, if you're only talking about the fact that they charge for beta access sure, maybe a bit greedy. On the other hand you don't have to play the beta, and you don't miss out on anything in the game because you choose not to.
 
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The price is an absolute steal. Anyone who thinks otherwise must be comparing it to F2P games or 99¢ iPhone games….

Now if you are judging the early beta access as the actual game price then just be patient and wait a little bit for the actual release, not the beta.
 
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What you're essentially doing then is charging people to beta test your game.

Game companies have been doing that since the 90s you know, especially MMOs.
 
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The pricing model of this game is fine by me. And I paid $500 for it. But Wastleland is one of my all time favorites and it is the least I can do for a man and company that gave me so many great childhood memories.

I am not even going to beta test it because I want my first play thru to be magical :)
 
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As someone who beta-tested this, it certainly still needs some work (but hey, it is the initial beta release, so of course it does)!

My settings might be wonky, but the text is difficult to read right now, even set to "large" in the menu. The map is a bit unintuitive to navigate properly and the camera, even when adjusted, feels a bit "off" for lack of a better word.

The combat is set at a nice level where you are properly challenged, unless you go for a completely combat-centric build in which case it will be a cakewalk (but you'll miss out on a lot of sidegoodies).

There are bugs galore, mostly happening when you do stuff "out of sequence" for this constricted beta build, like trying to call into the ranger center before being given the prompt from the center after arriving at the main map for the first time. That can lock the game up, for instance. Or trying to loot bodies after canceling a loot attempt suddenly making some bodies impossible to loot, at least in random encounters.

There are a small number of typos. Some of the UI still needs tweaking, like how sorting through your inventory for stuff is such a chore.

Despite these issues I'm having a lot of fun with the game. Even as someone who didn't play the original for more than a few minutes before growing frustrated.
 
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Wasteland 2 isn't doing anything that anybody else isn't doing when it comes to charging more money for a beta in their Kickstarter pledges.

And really, I think it depends on your perspective.

With crowdfunding, we are all investors to some degree. One could argue that those who have pledged more should be able to get some glimpses into the work-in-progress, to make sure that their investment is on track.

If I play the WL2 beta (still undecided), am I going to be looking for and filing bugs like a mad-man? Hell no. That sounds like work. But I will certainly check it out and give feedback if I think any aspects are going in a different direction than they promised. Getting access like that and being able to give feedback into the game is certainly worth paying more, IMO.
 
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Why are you not going to play any more ?

I normally wait about 6 months to a year until a game is fully patched so I can enjoy it at its best.

I really liked what I played so far, despite the issues/lack of polish, the core game is exactly what I expected it to be. If they can get everything ready for release I think it has the potential to be a bit of a hit for inxile.

I pledged several hundred and I consider it money well spent. My pledge was not for the game - it was so the game could be made, it was to send a signal to inxile and others like inxile that there is still a market for these kinds of games.
 
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I don't think of it so much as charging for Beta access as simply limiting the number of people involved in it. You don't need 70k people beta testing. Limiting it to the most dedicated backers seems pretty reasonable to me - those people have more invested in the game are more likely to be good testers.
 
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I don't think of it so much as charging for Beta access as simply limiting the number of people involved in it. You don't need 70k people beta testing. Limiting it to the most dedicated backers seems pretty reasonable to me - those people have more invested in the game are more likely to be good testers.

I doubt very much this small development team even has the manpower that would be required to go though that much feedback, let along analyze it and act upon it. My guess is they've got a small list of people they're relying upon as actual beta testers.

This early access thing is a pretty good idea for them, in my opinion. Since they're fairly sure it's going to be well received, they get to generate a lot of buzz and be paid a premium price for the final product at the same time. Wouldn't work for everyone, but I don't see any downside for Wasteland 2.
 
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My pledge was not for the game - it was so the game could be made, it was to send a signal to inxile and others like inxile that there is still a market for these kinds of games.

And that's a message devs need to hear, as other mainstream markets are drying up and dying. At least on the PC. As the PC market becomes niche, again, maybe we'll be able to have some quality titles released by small teams, as we did in the olden days. It sure would be nice if that concept could be proven. Maybe a niche hit can't sell well enough to cover payroll when a company is employing hundreds or thousands of people, but a niche hit damn sure can nicely compensate a couple dozen.
 
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And that's a message devs need to hear, as other mainstream markets are drying up and dying. At least on the PC. As the PC market becomes niche, again...
Pardon me? The PC games market, at least in terms of pure dollars, is just as healthy as ever. RPS reports regularly on the myth of The Dying PC, but as far as I know even the myth is dormant right now.
 
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