I have been staying away from my PE emails mostly because I want everything to be fresh and surprising. I really don't need to be updated, but caught that I hadn't finalized my pledge.
Anyway...through the process I noticed that I could get access to the beta...for additional funds ($25).
"Can't wait to play Pillars of Eternity? No problem - add on the early access beta key and you can play it before everyone else! The beta key is digital only."
Now...I like the idea behind Kickstarter and getting companies setup while taking out the middle man, but really. Besides Horse Armor has there been a more obvious attempt at sucking as many dollars out of the customers before? 4 million dollars from the Kickstarter alone, and god knows how much more from other sources and future sales, and Obsidian is looking to hit us up for additional dollars?
I was slightly disgusted by this. The business decision is almost EA like. If people are willing to pay that's one thing, but does everything need a price tag? The sale of beta keys is an evil practice. The purpose of public beta testing is that people are willing to give you their time, something more valuable than $25, in order to help you finalize your product. I remember beta testing previous games and companies sending me a final copy of the game, for free, along with other cool things...like t-shirts and whatnot. How has this role been reversed into a developer, not a publisher, hitting me up for additional funds to aid in fixing their mistakes?
Give it away for free to the people willing to give you their time. It's extremely unflattering Obsidian to immediately become the beast developers have been blaming for many years (the evil publishers). The community has fixed your problems before (KOTOR2) for free, maybe rethink this one.
For those willing to justify a price tag on bandwidth and whatnot? It's nowhere near $25.
