They must have put that up in the past few days. Don't know why anyone would really pay to play in a Alpha version of any game? Beta I could see because most of the content is in the game and they should be in tweaking mode. But Alpha, games are usually incomplete and functionality is lacking.

Personally this is one huge mistake for Keen Software House. Because regardless of NDA's and paying for pre-alpha software word good/bad will get out and too much bad press will effect the game sales. They should wait until beta to do pre-order access. I have seen too many games do this and shoot themselves in the foot.

It’s a strange business model but I guess you do get the full game at the end of it, ❓ should have made it a flat tenner for it.

Here is some updated info on 70% buy in on the Alpha:

This is an interesting opinion for me to read. For my project, I'm of the same mind as you, Darkone. Don't release anything until it's ready to be played.

Of course, there are different considerations for a single- vs. multi-player game, so maybe Keen Software House isn't so crazy here.

Playing the devil's advocate , here's what I would say. Building a community is one of the most important parts of developing an MMO. Why not give players the chance to contribute directly to the development process by letting them play an early version of the game? If they are allowed to communicate directly with the developers (via forums), it may help create a significant, hardcore fan base. Especially if you put effort into listening to the players and implementing some of their ideas.

Plus, both players and reviewers will have drastically different expectations of a smaller indie developer than they would for one of the major MMO studios. Sure, if there were obvious problems in a public pre-alpha/alpha/beta for a Blizzard, Cryptic, Turbine, or Sony MMO, everyone would be talking about it and gleefully predicting doom and gloom across the internet. But for Miner Wars? The expectations are different and nobody really is going to care. As long as constant improvements are being made, and the game is somewhat fun, pre-alpha players may be very patient and constructive towards the whole process.

And a last point - the earlier you can stress test your servers and network code for an MMO, the better.

I'm not sure if I would make the same decision were I creating an MMO. But I can understand their logic.

I agree this is definitely a good idea and you do start to create hype and early adopters of the game will see their ideas getting implemented. If I remember Keen Software's timeline correctly they are going to put out a single player game and then work on the MMO. So in all aspects they are going to use the SP game to fund the MMO, least that is what it seems. So a SP game will need to be fairly polished game for the MMO to see the light of day imho.

Game development is a lot longer these days and people have time to actually watch a game take shape and see input gathered from the community and implemented. That is all good, but you also get to see the flaws of a game as well. Do people generally follow the NDAs in closed alpha/beta not always and you see info good and bad start to creep out. And I would think for a indie developer wanting to charge for any game will want to make sure they minimize the bad press as much as possible. Since Miner Wars first release will be the SP game, imo that takes a lot of effort as you know to build all the content, campaign, missions and so forth. And with giving so many people access to the alpha you leave yourself open for the bad comments about being unfinished to start filtering across the web. Yes most people do know that alpha build means unstable and feature missing build of a game, but a lot of people form opinions early on.

I am a big fan of the indie developer and try to help as much as I can. Because the indie devs usually build unique concept games and or build games the community is looking for. And sales (unless its free) of that game really do impact further development, sequels or projects down the road. You read about development houses closing down all the time and its only because something didn't sell well enough. I just get wary when a developer of a game that you will pay for lets you see to much to early 🙂

I agree with this, that the right community can really help game development and get the word out. And developers should use the core/die hard fans for testing to really make it solid. I know even with todays connections that your server your hosting on is a big deal and can make or break you. I am in a closed beta now and the server is overseas and it makes the game very hard to play and it is a huge turn off for the game itself. Yes, they say a NA server is coming but it hurts testing because you cannot truly test the game with lag killing you. Especially a space combat game 🙂

You make some good points. It'll be interesting to see what happens with Miner Wars. I wish them all the best - MMOs are exceedingly difficult games to make.