Early access?

[Gözcü]

Early access was going to be given, why wasn't it? State this but don't implement it. Streamers on YouTube are flying. 

[AdrianL]

Early Access starts May 21st, for everybody.

Some streamers have gotten access to a preview build to start showing features off, doing initial tutorials, etc.   

Edited May 17, 2024 by AdrianL

[Punkmonkey22]

9 minutes ago, 141st_Gözcü said:

Early access was going to be given, why wasn't it? State this but don't implement it. Streamers on YouTube are flying. 

A small group of popular streamers got it early to help promote it. 

It comes out in 4 days, I'm sure you'll survive the wait....

[ricktoberfest]

28 minutes ago, 141st_Gözcü said:

Early access was going to be given, why wasn't it? State this but don't implement it. Streamers on YouTube are flying. 

The release on May 21 IS the early access 

[Gözcü]

The purpose of early access is to use it before anyone else. It will be distributed to everyone on May 21.

[ricktoberfest]

1 hour ago, 141st_Gözcü said:

The purpose of early access is to use it before anyone else. It will be distributed to everyone on May 21.

That’s the old definition of early access. Now it means a module that is still under development. 

[Stackup]

1 hour ago, 141st_Gözcü said:

The purpose of early access is to use it before anyone else. It will be distributed to everyone on May 21.

I'm confused, where have you been the last decade or more?  That hasn't been the purpose of early access in gaming as a whole for a long time now.  The purpose of early access in modern gaming is to allow customers to use an early version of a product before it is completed and to allow the developers to get cash flow to continue development of the project.  In other words, there's no gaurantee you will ever recieve a finished product if you buy early access because you have only the word of the developers that they will continue to develop the product and eventually finalize it.  So, if the devs are true to their word, eventually the product will be considered "feature complete" and you'll have everything you originally paid for.  If not, and development stalls or becomes uncertain, the Strike Eagle for example, the product may become abandoned and you're stuck with the last version they gave you.

In DCS alone, we have the F-15E, F-16, F-14, Mirage F1, Apache, and multiple other modules still in the early access release state as they are not considered finished products by their developers.  Many other games use the early access model as well, this shouldn't be some brand new revelation to anyone.

Edited May 17, 2024 by Stackup

[JayTSX]

To be completely fair there are still some publishers (for example EA or Ubisoft) who will sell you a stupidly expensive version promising like 2 or 3 days of access before the "poor" people... Mostly on consoles I think... And I'd say we can be glad that Heatblur isn't offering something like a 150$ packet only for that

[Punkmonkey22]

20 hours ago, 141st_Gözcü said:

The purpose of early access is to use it before anyone else. It will be distributed to everyone on May 21.

Why does it matter?