Paid Alpha/Beta Tests: Good or Bad? .

As ArchAge flies into paid Alpha/Beta, the time old question of whether or not it’s ethically “okay” for companies to offer such a product begs to be answered. With many other MMORPGs, as well as games in other genres, offering paid “Early Access”, it is becoming increasingly common place for a game developer to offer Alpha or Beta access to their game for a small (or in ArchAge’s case big) cash sum. But just because more and more companies are offering such access, doesn’t mean its okay… or does it?

ArchAge is but one of the many MMORPGs to offer paid early access.

For people who are out of the loop, recently lots of video game companies (whether they make MMORPGs or not) have been offering consumers the chance to pay money and get access to their game in its current state. The consumer will be paying for the development of the game, and will also be getting the latest builds of the game as it’s been developed and worked on. When the game is eventually released, the consumer will also get access to the final product. Games on Kickstarter frequently use this method to raise funds for their games, and many good games have come from such a funding method. This model also allows customers to have their say on how the game is developed, with paying customers usually having a direct line of communication with the developers.

What’s the problem with this model then? It sounds awesome. Players get to tell developers what they want, developers can get instant feedback from their fans, players can get access to their favourite games quicker and developers get money which goes to funding their game. In all honesty, it’s a pretty awesome model and one that works well for indies and small games.

The problem with the model comes when MMORPGs use it. MMOs require constant funding so that the developers can create more content for the game, as well as keep their support staff and any cover any server costs which might come up. For this reason alone, paying for Early Access for an MMORPG doesn’t really work. You’re paying to play the game early, and to help fund the developers, however once all is said and done they’re going to need you to keep giving them more money. In most cases of “Early Access” for MMOs, you won’t get the full game when the developers are done. Yes, you might get a couple months of subscription, however after that you’ll need to keep paying in order to play (be it in either in a subscription or premium free-to-play capacity).

If you pay for early access in ArchAge, you’ll get a flying mount. Neato.

This is a stark contrast to paying for “Early Access” for small/indie games, because these games generally only need one round of funding to get made and then you get the final product afterwards.

ArchAge raised a lot of questions with regards to its “Early Access” for MMORPGs. The game is getting released in the West thanks to Trion, the creators of RIFT. Along with its Western release the sandbox game is also getting some translation updates, as well as a few other updates to make the MMO a little bit more accessible for Western gamers. For a game released in 2013, a lot of effort appears to be going into its release in the West.

Trion announced their Early Access/Founders Pack/whatever you want to call it pack, allowing players to pay for access to the game’s Beta and Alpha phases, as well as some extra goodies. Fans quickly went to ArchAgeGame.com to pick up these “Founders Packs”, only to realise that they were incredibly expensive.

ArchAge gives players the chance to build a huge Kingdom…

The most basic early access pack will set you back around £37/$50, and gives the player Beta access, £11 worth of currency that can be spent on the cash shop, a flying mount, 30 day subscription to the game (baring in mind it’s free-to-play) as well a “Founder” title which adds +1 to all of the player’s stats.

Now I don’t know how much there is a dependence on stats, and how much +1 to a stat is worth, so I couldn’t possibly comment on whether or not that’s selling power or what the monetary value of the stats is. However, paying £37 for £11 pounds worth of in-game currency as well as Beta access (something which will be given to some lucky players for free), and a (presumably) £9 subscription doesn’t seem all that worthwhile to me. You’re paying £37 for £20 of stuff, that’s ridiculous!

(Just a note for my readers: sorry for using pounds and not dollars, its just pounds is the currency that my country uses and therefore it’s easier for me to comment on it’s worth.)

In order to get Alpha access to the game, you’ll need to fork out £109! This £109 will give you a 90 day subscription, £50 worth of currency to spend in the in-game store, as well as five locked boxes, a premium mount and armour set, as well as a some ingredients for crafting (which I don’t know the value of) because I have yet to play the game. For £109 you’re getting £77 worth of stuff, as well as a whole host of digital goodies which may, or may not, suck.

The pricing on these packs are more than a little bit ridiculous, they’re simply ludicrous.

… only to have other people destroy it.

Of course the apologists will argue that no one is forcing anyone to buy any of the Founder Packs, and they’re right. However just because no one is being forced to buy the Founder Packs doesn’t mean that we should just roll over and accept the pricing. To put the pricing in perspective, for an extra £250 I could purchase a Playstation 4 and a game. Once more this Playstation 4 will be culturally relevant for (at least) the next seven years, and can be played on whether or not I’m connected to the internet. If I want to get the most out of ArchAge, then I have to keep paying (presumably) for the premium subscription, on top of the £109. The asking price for these founder packs is a bit too expensive of an investment for one game, especially when you consider that said game could go offline and be unplayable at any point in time. Heck, Trion could even decide to stop supporting the game in a year’s time.

This is the main problem with Early Access MMORPGs, they’re a risky investment, one which you may or may not get a valuable return on. We need to make developers/publishers know that if they want us to get involved in funding their MMO, then the least they could is make the deal a little bit more favourable.