Every sins game has had a pre release tech/alpha beta phase. We didn't call them early access back then, but it was not hard to get in early to test the game.
This is not a triple A studio. So Im not sure what you are expect. My advise is to curb your expectations.
The team has been talking to the community in forums and on social media for years trying to understand what current players liked and wanted to see. So yeah of course the ideas you've seen in forums are being incorporated, thats why these pushed so hard to get feedback.
You are literally complaining that they listened to their player base and are trying to earnestly correct issues and expand the game in a manner that was consistent with the desires of their players. how is that a negative thing?
I wish every game company on the planet did that.
If you were around in the last five years you would have seen the massive teases they have been dropping about whats chasing the Vasari. Its probably pretty safe to see that all those teasers and comments are probably leading up to the reveal of a fourth race, which again you would have known if you actually participated in the game and its community in the last 5 years.
And for the turrets, they flat out said they redid the way turrets work so it absolutely makes sense that they would be more prominent, they are a new feature the devs want to show off.
Your only real complaint is in the title, and that basically boils down to the current artists on their team have a different style. Even that's not a complaint though because one of the very first mods in this game will probably be a re-texure to return the original gritty look. Mods are the only reason sisn survived, the devs promoted modded play, its highly unlikely they have changed their tune their. They can be more risky with their art direction because they know how their ships look wont matter when they all get swapped for starwars or star trek ships in futures mods. The game play is the thing they actually need to nail right or modders wont come to the game.
Heres an idea, if you want to be productive, play the early beta and provide actual feedback like real players did back during trinity and rebellions pre release.
I'll do you a solid and convert your asinine complaints into something more useful for you.
What you should have said is:
"I'm a big fan of the game, I've been playing it for 15 years, I'm glad to see some news on a sequeal as it brought me back to it after a long hiatus."
"Its cool you guys are listening to the fans in forums, are you still open to feedback though, some of these changes are outdated compared to modern strategy games, or new technology has made it easier to do some of the cooler things we wanted in old sins games"
"The new research and weapons system looks interesting, definitely different than the past games. I'm interested in trying them out in the demo that way we can see if its fun to play with. How much have weapon systems changed though o we still have fixed forward cannons, broadsides, target banks and such from the old games? Does ship orientations and target tracking matter in the sequel as much as the old games? Has that been upgraded in anyway?"
"The new art style seems to be a noticeable departure for the previous games. Could e get more clarity on why this approach was taken. You FAQ mentions their will be placeholder textures in the early demo, how open is the team to feedback on this art direction? Can we have a compromise between the more cartoon galatic civ style and old sins style?"
"It looks like you guys made some decisions on funding this game that are concerning with pre-order early access, I wasn't around for the trinity and rebellion pre release did they do that to? What can we expect from early access? Your faq says just one race will be playable with old models, does that mean we are a ways off from the final product or are you just planning on release that all at once?"
See how easy it is to express your concerns and not come off ans whinny and entitled? We literally have a trailer a FAQ and a few pictures to go on here, we need to be getting more information and trying out the new mechanics on the 27th before we start bitching about changes.
Theres no nda so if you are hesitant to buy it, thats okay, on the 27th their are bound to be tons of streams and youtube videos of peoples first impression just watch those. We will have a better idea about whats actually changed then. They made a deal with epic that will likely keep the devs financially secure during early access even with low sales, so we can expect constant work on the project. Given that they are still regularly active on the old sins games, updating, and providing new content for rebellion its safe to say this isnt a pump and dump for ironclad. Their devs love this game and have engaged with the community for years.
