Is early access the right thing to do for the game?Follow

I'm trying to understand the global logic and strategy behind this early access feature. I will preface this by saying I have early access and still don't understand why I am getting it.

There are three kinds of people in this system as far as I can describe. First, people who never bought the first game. SE is going after them, because yay new players. They can get early access if they pre-order the game. Makes sense. This happens all the time for people buying a game. Second, legacy players who bought the game and paid sub fees. SE is trying to keep them. To lose legacy members now would be a truly dropped ball. Early access makes sense for legacy members: you can't exclude them from any active game by any right.

But the third player base are people who bought the game and quit because it wasn't up to their standards. SE is going after them, because if they hadn't quit the game would have never shut down in the first place. SE is going after them because they already tried the game once and SE almost had them in their reach. And it is with this third demographic that I fail to see what SE was thinking when they did early access. They don't get early access.

Why are we having early access at all, is my question. It risks further alienating players who are the most likely to net new subscriptions to this game:
They will probably not net very many from group one by this early access thing.
They have the second group as paying subscribers of the game.
So why would they design the relaunch to look like it is excluding perhaps the most important sector of the game's potential players by doing early access at all?

The alternative is that everyone starts the re-launch at the same time. Where is the down side? Will new players complain if old players get to start with them? No. Will legacy players? I should hope not. These guys already own the game. This is early access to a game 2 years old! Nobody makes a re-subscriber wait a week to return to a game they already have an account on is what I'm getting at lol...

I don't think early access should happen :( On the bright side, the superior alternative would just be that everyone starts a week early. What's done is done, but I wish SE didn't set up the scenario where an owner of the retail version of the game sees others playing it, and not them, and uses it as an excuse to not try the game out again.

I can't justify the early access feature logically, even if I have it. To truly pick up as many players as possible, they shouldn't give people a single reason, legit or not, to not pick the game back up. That week where they own the game but can't play it is a potential reason.

As a guy that haven't played 1.0 i fail to understand why its bad for people that played it before to have an early access. I can not understand your logic.

I shouldn't have drunk that last beer >_<


edit : Ok after i re read it, if i am reading this right (and no i am not sarcastic i am a bit drunk) i would say that i kinda understand why they wont get early access. Its like they bought the game for a normal release. Legacy players are rewarded because...well they've been playing it for a long time.

Again i might have read it wrong but i blame my english the time and my beers.

Edited, May 30th 2013 6:56pm by Teravibe

This isn't what SE's thought process was, but let me try..

Group 1 (New players) - Yep, simple promotional benefit to draw new players in
Group 2 (Legacy players) - These are people who fulfilled a set of conditions specifically to become legacy. You aren't losing them.
Group 3 (Non-legacy 1.0 players) - ...

Group 3 players are the ones who bought the game initially, but for whatever reason decided not to continue playing it (to be fair, it wasn't very good). They did NOT qualify for legacy, probably because they dropped the game early, or at least as soon as SE asked for money. These are definitely players you want back, but they're also going to (by and large) be players that are going to look at 2.0 very cautiously. They've already done this once before, and they probably aren't looking to leap headlong into the same thing again without some assurances.

While I don't think it's strictly necessary to DENY them early access, I also think it's the group least affected by the lack of it. These are players interested in reviews and first impressions (especially from group 1 players), and they'll generally wait until they have those before they even consider XIV again.

Btw, I WOULD be a group 3 player myself, but I abandoned the game in late beta when I realized SE didn't care what state it released in.

I think you're reading too much into it.

I'd have to agree. When I read over who gets early access and who didn't I definitely raised a brow and was like....well that's an interesting decision. Haha. Shame is I think you're right too...it's really too late to change it now that some have paid for the new game to get themselves the extra week.

Personally, I think SE was just hoping to help make up for some of their losses. They know the truly avid and unshaken fans will probably drop yet another dollar amount buying the game again just for that extra week. And those of us who aren't quite so avid in our devotion probably won't care enough to worry about the extra week of play time. I won't lie...it crossed my mind to pay for the game again. Tempting...very tempting. But after the first disaster with this one I managed to stop myself and was like...fool me once, shame on you...fool me twice...well....

My only guess is that it's a calculated risk. They figure they can't upset the already shaken devotees all that much more than they did with the original release and afterall...we do get to try it relatively cheaply if we are willing to wait. We'll probably consider at least *trying* it with or without perks. And the fanatics will give them more money. Sort of a win/win for SE.

SE is being an ***, they should have given early access to anybody who bought 1.0 legacy or not, the number of people who bought 1.0 and are not legacy far outnumbers the one that are, they should be doing everything in their power, to grab those players and show them the new game.

Tho that is kinda irrelevant since beta phase 3/4 is open XD!

I'm sorry, but I don't think getting in a week, even 2 weeks, early will make a big difference. This isn't a race to level 50. The only advantage I see would be securing a name that you want. It'll take a couple of days to get the markets stocked by crafters.

Then whats the point in an early access? I mean if we say that 3 out of 4 people are already in and only 1 out of 4 (the new guys) are not its not even an early access anymore.

I have a 1.0 code and i don't mind. Its like i bought the same game like someone would buy it now.


Now that i think about it though, if someone bought the CE for 1.0 should get an early access or so i think.

Im also in Group 3 along with my b/f . I really wouldent beable to handle playing phase 4 than have to sit back and wait.. omg the wait for head start to end. With being a addict I could not see myself living without early access so I pre ordered two copys one for me and b/f and we both own 1.0 CEs.

Also they messed up with the pre order items.. i dont feel so bad about spending 30$ for items and early but Legacy players have to justify paying 30$ for ingame items if they want them.

I suspect SE have thought less about who will be happy and who will be annoyed and more about the best way to stratify users across zones to avoid server meltdown. By giving some early access they would have moved on to later zones by the time the others start.

This will take load off the opening maps and decrease lag.

Every MMO at launch has had massive issues with crashes, lag, queues etc. early access is a way to try and limit this. That said, the first two weeks are still likely to be painful.

I'm in the third group. I quit playing before the sub. It did get better when they incorporated some of the company quests (or whatever they were called) but leveling was like pulling teeth, and I just couldn't take it anymore.

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Although I bought the CE for 1.0 I might pre-order 2.0 for the extra goodies. I'm currently on the fence about that.

As far as early access, I don't really care. I did apply for the beta but didn't get in yet...

Ironically even though I couldn't wait to play 1.0 (and was in the beta for that) I don't really need or want to "spoil" the first moments of ARR with early access of any kind. It's weird. That means no Phase 3/4 for me...

I think there's something to be said about mystery and leaving things to the imagination. I know it's especially difficult (especially since I'm always on ZAM) but I think to be a bit disoriented when you first log in and in the shadow of information, can make for a better experience.

I don't care who gets early access it doesn't bother me any one way or the other. Like other posters have stated, if the game is good, then I'm not going to race to the cap. I'll take my time and try to enjoy myself. And in a few months early access won't mean anything at all.

I understand what he's talking about. He's referring to it as a marketing scheme. They offered early access to 1.0 which was actually a cluster****. Because not all the retailers knew that the early release existed. So some refused to sell their physical copies before the official everyone play date because of fear of retaliation of breaking street dates. While I'm sure they've cleaned that up a bit, it still allows for some confusion.

The marketing gimmick is to attract new players and avoid unsold copies sitting in warehouses and store shelves. Have you been to your local Best Buy and seen 5-6 Collector's Editions sitting around for several games that were released months ago (even years like an older WoW Xpac CE). But like the OP said, the place Square really needs to attract players from were the people that bought 1.0 in the first place. That likely represents the best demographic they have a chance of converting to actual players. By ignoring that demographic, it makes the re-release redundant, because the people that played before and quit should have some incentive or hook to come back. The only reason I came back to 14 was because someone I played another game with knew I played 1.0. He got back into the legacy campaign and kept asking me about it. Had that player not put the bug in my head, I might've never came back to forums, applied for and got into A/B and would've been missing the boat entirely.

To anyone who has ordered the PS3 CE from the Square-Enix store: have you received your early access code? I purchased my CE while I was at work and did not download the software (i.e. the link to the early access page to type in my email address). I did find the link through here and enter my email, but I'm already hearing about people who have received their codes. I don't think not downloading the software messed me up. I do want to make sure though.

edit: never mind, I solved the issue.

Edited, Jun 3rd 2013 7:21pm by Atkascha