Discuss! ‘why would I want to play a story-driven game before it’s finished

As Early Access becomes increasingly common, I’m becoming accustomed to comments on articles like the Pillars Of Eternity news from earlier today – ‘why would I want to play a story-driven game before it’s finished?’ I am as one with the people who make those comments. It’s strange to work as a critic in a creative field where unfinished work is constantly and eagerly exposed to you. Imagine Stanley Kubrick inviting a pack of critics to the set of 2001 and then sitting with them as they watched early rushes of key scenes while trying to justify himself in the face of weary questioning.
Link to RPS article

 

If we have ever read a trilogy of books as they were being developed, chances are we were immersed in a story before it was finished. In that sense, what is 'finished?' A page, a chapter, a book, or the trilogy? Playing SoTA early may be like reading a page or a chapter, then waiting to turn to the next one.

 

We're just checking out mechanics and visuals then learning how to survive in a world so we might stand chance of experiencing the whole story.

 

Well indeed this could be a double edged sword for some, but not for me. I really enjoy the work that is being put in from the community on the development of the game and the influence we have on the dev team. We are not merely playing a story before it is written, we are writing the story along with others. We are co-authors of this Epic Novel. Where the novel ends from the Devs, we also in game at a later date keep on writing the story for years to come.

 

I have friends who will read the same story over and over and over again. My girlfriend has probably read the Harry Potter series at least thirty times. Another friend of mine goes back to the Lord of the Rings series whenever he's struggling to find something new to read. He's probably read those books at least a dozen times. And I have another friend who has a very specific selection of books by Terry Pratchett which she will read over and over again--in order. These people obviously love those books.

That's something I don't understand. For me, a story is something I can read exactly once, except when enough time has passed that I've forgotten many the details and intricacies of the plot. The problem for me is that I retain stories in a holistic sense quite well, so revisitng stories for me is stupendously dull. To me, a story feels like a sort of introduction for me to its characters, the things that happen to those characters, and the big, bad world in which those things happen. Just like in life, I feel no need to be introduced to the same story twice. After the first time, that holistic impression of that alternate reality presented through the story sticks with me, and rereading a story just gets me feeling like I'm replaying a memory more than experiencing something new.

I guess that familiarity is comforting to some people. To me its burdensome. In life, we don't have a choice but to experience new things, simply because we can't rewind time. But there is not a single good or bad moment in time that I would ever care to revisit because it's already done and because what's done is already part of me.

 

I don't, tbh. I haven't read the books either.

But we're here trying to help them flush out the mechanics of the game and that means trying things, getting frustrated, and showing the devs where we get frustrated.

 

This is just a pre-alpha systems testing. Very bare bones storyline.

 

The wiping-after-a-single-weekend is more of a discourager to me than the fact that it's supposed to be a story driven game. I get in every release with much excitement, run around for four or five hours checking out the new stuff, find a house plot, then... meh. Why work my fingers off accumulating things that will be gone in three days?

 

It is frustrating, I agree. But I think it is to give a fair chance for other backers to have an opportunity to place a home and decorate as well.

 

Think some people are missing the point over Alpha/Beta testing.

 

It's called "testing"... You're not suppose to play it... It's not finished, Doh... I hope that reporter was fired...

 

I think some people aren't being paid to do said testing.

 

People have been chomping at the bit with the desire to play games before they are released for at least as long as there have been online gaming forums. (Seriously, twenty-five years ago on USENET and years before that on BBSes it was hard to find a forum where someone was not asking why they could not get an early copy still in development in a series they loved to play before it was ready for the general public... I think the sentiment there is obvious.) Now that it is actually possible for the customer to do so, some drawbacks have become apparent... but unlike what the quote from the original post in this thread supposes not for the developer (who greatly benefits from the early feedback and increased testing), but rather for the customer. If story is the main driving force for playing the game, replaying the same sections over and over again to properly alpha/beta test (enforced by incompatible saves between versions) loses a lot of the appeal for playing the game. Some companies are fine with that as long as it improves the testing process. Others have offered different solutions, recognizing that while customers are volunteer testers, they are still customers. Project Eternity is planning to wait until the game is beta (actual content complete) before letting customers play. Lord British has said more than once that he is going to try to hide most of the main story until Shroud of the Avatar is near release (while still allowing the players to explore the setting and side quests during the monthly releases). Some newer Kickstarter projects have talked about releasing in an episodic manner (and Shroud itself is broken into five major episodes). There are many different potential solutions, if you personally feel this is a problem. (You would have wanted to stay away from the Wasteland 2 and Divinty: Original Sin early releases, though, as they made you play through the same main story content each release, and start from scratch).

 

To be honest people should know what Alpha/Betas are about. They are not there to 'play' as such, it's all about helping development.

I know several people who have chosen not even to log onto the game because they view it as a possible spoiler and they would rather have the suprise at launch.

Those who want to test....keep doing. Those who want to 'play', give it a go, but be aware that the game isn't finished. Those who want to complain that it's in test and gets reset.......don't log in, wait for the finished game.

This is one of those threads that amazes me.....why does it even exist.

 

Honestly I think actually the forums have driven some amazingly good feedback into the game that would probably have never been there if it wasn't for those of us who thought of it.

The player owned cities, making your city a PvP zone, having a real 3D map (hehehe....) these are all things that come to mind...