Here is another poll from Luethar, asking if you participate in Early Access (not closed beta) releases?

Sometimes.

Until last year, my general stance was to wait until long after release, to avoid hosting nasty antivirus software, and to make sure most bugs were fixed.

Recently I was less into AAA titles, which I find more and more disappointing, and more easily lured by indies' EA or equivalent: Solasta, Encased, WotR, Colony Ship, and BG3 (arguably more AAA than indie). It's fun to participate to, and usually the community is more interesting - it was the case of most of them except BG3 (too crowded) and Colony Ship (Steam, enough said).

I say "rarely".

I did it for Grim Dawn since I had heard that the makers of Titan Quest were involved and that was enough motivation for me to give it a try. It was a good decision since already the early access version alone was worth the money for me and I still play it today (in fact I am in another play through just now).

Since then I never had a reason to seriously think about early access for other games, because there were always enough complete games to play.

For example I would do it for Baldurs Gate 3 but have too much else to play right now.

In the eighties and nineties, I did it all the time. Any chance that came my way, I took it. The best experiences I had was doing Darklands, and a few years later, Everquest. Now I no longer seem to enjoy it, so I don't do it. I found it detracted from my enjoyment when the full game actually came out. The one exception to that at the moment is Pantheon. Would I consider doing early access for a particular game these days? Maybe, but for now I'm just doing the one and that seems enough for me.

To make it clear I consider early access to be equal to testing. For me it's a clear distinction, either a game is done and complete, or it is not. There is no grey. In the end I picked rarely, as that seems to cover both my past and present rather well, as far as this situation goes.

Yep, quite a bit. There are thousands of early access titles that are already fun but will probably never reach full release. 7 Days to Die, The Long Dark, SCUM, etc. I wait till I start seeing several reviews where someone has played for dozens of hours and has detailed comments. This is a good sign that the game has enough content to be worth the money. Hours of content is my primary criteria. I'm not going to pay for a 4 hour game ever.

I usually don't but there are some exceptions. Usually I would buy a game to help the devs and try it out once or twice, but not for very long.

Games like pathfinder wrath of the righteous is one.

On the more extreme end, I really liked age of decadence so I got the Colony Ship RPG and played it a lot.

Other than that I don't usually play early access.

I went with rarely as I have found that I burn out on a game and it is years if ever before I get back to play it. The few games that I buy in early access are mostly to support the developers, like in the case of Solasta. Though I did spend a bit of time with the character creator and I am looking forward to it's release.

Another caveat: I also see sponsoring via kick starter, or whatever other means, as a viable alternative to actually participating in early access/betas. I don't do this very much anymore, at least not for video games, yet for a solid decade I was pretty nonchalant about kicking in on many projects. Others also might consider this a way of contributing to an idea/project that they hope will turn out something wonderful. Of course this also can be a direct channel into the entire early access phenomenon.

Nope. Never, I only play games when fully released.

Yes. If it's a continous narrative game, that has backfired for me at times (Torment: ToN, Sunless Skies, etc), but for others it's been great (Griftlands, Slay the Spire, Hades, Caves of Qud, etc). If there's an element of randomness to it and not one long story, it works a lot better for me.

Btw, I wonder if more people would vote yes if it didn't say "I like to pave the way for others." I couldn't care less about paving the way for others.

I've voted for never but I don't entirely hold with it being an industry travesty. I know some people enjoy participating in early access. I suppose I benefit from their participation when I buy a completed game.

The word 'participate' is ambiguous … I will *buy* Early Access games to support developers … but I don't play them.

Yeah, for anything like an RPG, I don't want to play it until it's truly finished, and they've stopped messing around with it. I occasionally buy just to support a project, if they look like they've got their act together.

I will play early access for games that are more about giving a short blast of gameplay when you're in the mood, and they add stuff over time. Things like Door Kickers 2, which suit me nicely for a quick tactical scrap.

Originally Posted by txa1265
The word 'participate' is ambiguous … I will *buy* Early Access games to support developers … but I don't play them.

That's exactly my case. I just don't know what to answer in the poll.

I'll only occasionally buy an early access game. Usually with RPGs I'm only interested in playing once they're "finished". I'm not interested in replaying the game over and over just to see what has been added.
Most early access games I play are the more sandboxy type, where it doesn't matter (i.e. it's usually only a plus) if extra content is added as you play it.

Hmm..used to lean towards rarely only for games I back or just can't wait, but in recent years I lean towards it's an industry travesty, and I refuse to pay to test their game.

It was a good model when it was introduced now it's just another overused gimmick.

I'll kick in for early access for reliable developers and if I see enough of an interest from the community at large, then I'm more confident of it being completed. I don't play early access RPGs unless they are highly anticipated (bg3) but will play base building/survival sim games in early access because they prove quite fun even in early access.

Depends on the genre; I never will for an RPG with a heavy storyline (such as Solasta or Pathfinder), but don't necessarily harbor the same resistance for titles such as Factorio and Slay the Spire that don't rely on a narrative as much.

I only play final releases. Not even if the game was free I would playtest a game in Early Access, especially if it is a game I intend to enjoy when released. I hate spoilers, and Early Access is nothing but a muddy ball of unpolished spoilers.

Only if I was paid a decent rate I would consider playtesting, and only games that I don't intend to play at release.

Just for the record. There is no intention to make the polls scientifically correct and cover all possible options. Even if they are ambiguous, you can still select a yes or a no and explain what you mean with it. They are supposed to be fun and give you something to talk about.
So don't worry, we are not going to use this in any scientific way