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So, why have people been treating the released alpha like a demo?


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I've been following the comments quite closely on the Xenonauts kickstarter page, and comments made by people who have come here since the kickstarter began, and there seems to be a common thread throughout them - that people are treating the released alpha like either a late-stage beta, or a release-candidate demo. Now, why is that?

(this isn't a retorical question. I have spent too long playing the alpha to think of it as anything else other than an alpha. I don't know how people could see it as anything other than an alpha, but comments lead me to believe that they don't think of it like an alpha. Anyone cleverer than me got any ideas?)

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Well, it's been called a demo officially, hasn't it?

And it certainly feels like one! An alpha usually has way more bugs and instability; this game looks nearly complete and quite polished. (The fact that they're going to polish it so much more is wonderful.)

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I've been following the comments quite closely on the Xenonauts kickstarter page, and comments made by people who have come here since the kickstarter began, and there seems to be a common thread throughout them - that people are treating the released alpha like either a late-stage beta, or a release-candidate demo. Now, why is that?

Pretty sure the major reasons are that 1) it's called a demo on kickstarter and that 2) a lot of people showing up on kickstarter through other sites do not know what an alpha build is. The difference between alpha and beta isn't that clear to most casual gamers due to them never getting in contact with alphas. "Closed and open betas are early access to the game" That's what the more casual gamers are used to.

And Kimberly mentions the reason that it doesn't feel like an alpha, making it 3) "It's plays way better then alpha builds usually do"

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Point 3 is a fallacy, just because some other companies are foolish and don't give bug squishing much attention until later on in development doesn't mean alphas have to be unstable or massively buggy.

Although, yes, I think Chris made a little bit of a mistake by calling it a Demo on the KS page. Should have called it an Alpha or Work In Progress (WiP) Preview to avoid confusion.

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Not feature complete, AI is terrible, buggy (I've found at least 3), lacking important content.

Sounds like the diablo 3 stress test beta to me (which wasn't even described as a demo)

I think most people expect more CTDs in alphas. More game breaking type buggs, rather than the vaulting animation beeing a bit off. It's a subjective matter that varies from person to person really.

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I need new AAA batteries, now that folks mention them...

But isn't a demo just a demonstration version of the game? I might have my understanding of the term way off, but does it have to be a finished product?

Ehh, nevermind, I just shot myself in the foot. My bad, public alpha and demo = not the same stuff.

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Technically anything that demonstrates the game, or part of it, is a demo.

A pre alpha tech demonstation, a level from a finished game etc.

It is just that normally the term demo is used in relation to the latter rather than the former because traditionally the gaming public have not had access to an alpha or beta stage.

Most people just aren't interested enough to have bothered to find out the difference between alpha, beta, and release.

Just because they are interested in playing games doesn't mean they have any interest in the dev process.

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