Can I truly trust these developers?

[Mr. Repp]

So I am very interested on this game, but I have had many problems in the past with purchasing games of sketchy, and shady developers. That I why I love steam, because I can trust the source. I would love to purchase the game, but I would like to hear feedback from others about the developers so that I can decide if the developers are trustworthy, henceforth making this game is worth purchasing. Hopefully positive feedback

[FishSandwich]

These devs are neither shady nor sketchy. They post on these forums all the time, they listen to their customers with regards to new features/bug fixes etc, and they bring out bugfixes for game breaking bugs very quickly. I trust these devs a lot.

Having said all of that, that is the risk you take when buying into an indie game, the devs might leave you with an incomplete game. But to be honest, this game feels complete already. You can already get 100s of hours of gameplay out of this game, and there are also so many mods that only increase the amount of hours you can sink into it.

To summise, and in my honest opinion, either way you are getting your money's worth.

[SHiRKiT]

So I am very interested on this game, but I have had many problems in the past with purchasing games of sketchy, and shady developers. That I why I love steam, because I can trust the source. I would love to purchase the game, but I would like to hear feedback from others about the developers so that I can decide if the developers are trustworthy, henceforth making this game is worth purchasing. Hopefully positive feedback

First and foremost, you can't trust games published on Steam. Early Access is EA in any platform, and no developer need to deliver a specific content unless they signed a contract with you to provide you the content.

Second, the game is relatively cheap. U$15 for a game that you can find player with 100+ hours of gameplay is really really cheap. Average gameplay for a win in a map currently it's about 30hours. If you like to replay and improve your designs, then you'll find this going over 300+ (like me, I have over 100 hours on a single map, not counting many other maps).

Third, the developers over here may not be the most expert ones, but I can assure you they are friendly, fun and hard working. They work their ass out to deliver us a great game. They din't do it any faster in the past because they didn't have the money to invest. Last 2 months were a blessing AFAIK. When I bought the game 4 months ago it had less than 1/7 of the current's game sales. So now they have some more money to invest into the game (hiring another 3D artist and another programmer, as we saw in Friday Facts). But they do come to the forums all the time. They used to do it more, posting everywhere, but the amount of work has increased due to the increased responsability, but they still come to the forums every day.

Fourth, the game itself is outstanding. If you like automation, factories, strategy, planning and rebuilding, this game is really awsome.

Fifth, although modding for now is not outstanding, the devs really try to make everything cool for modders, granting them a space to post mods, granting them interfaces and implementing stuff that they ask. They have future plans for mods as we saw, increasing their power, but that's future.

Sixth, as a player, this is one of the games I enjoyed the most on my life. Minecraft, Kerbal Space Program and this all share a common idea. If you played one of those games, you'll prolly like this one.

[Mr. Repp]

wow guys.. i know this is only 2 replies, but this information really helps me out a ton, thank you very much.

[_aD]

You'll find out how much you trust Steam when you have to ask Valve for help :-)

I can most definitely vouch for the developers. Take a read of the past Friday Facts posts, check out the bug report sub-forums. You'll see how good the support is here. Join us!

[Khyron]

OPs comments suggest he is considering purchasing the game based on what it eventually might become rather than what it currently is. There is no way to guarantee this, even if the developers have the best of intentions.

My advice is that you buy the game based on what it currently is. In my opinion the game currently represents excellent value for money in comparison to other games of a similar price, and particularly in terms of cost per hours of enjoyment you're likely to get.

Then, if and when any future changes improve the game you can consider it a bonus.

Alternatively, if you like this type of game and aren't terribly constrained money, you can consider supporting Factorio's development by 'donating' money and as a measure of gratitute for your donation they will offer you a copy of the game.

So to avoid future disappointment, just be clear on why you are buying the game. This is my general advice for buying any kind of crowd-funded/pre-release/kickstarter/beta type game.

In terms of getting an insight in to Factorio's development from the community... Recently the Factorio team has grown (which is a good sign) but there has been a general slow down in the frequency and magnitude of new patches & new content (which can be a bad sign). But I think in this case it is accounted for by the fact that there has been a serious push to get multiplayer working (a major change) as well as taking time to get new staff up to speed and some staff taking well deserved holiday time. I think a major version release is on the horizon, probably in the next month or so.

[darkminaz]

I tend to buy early access games and look at it as a "done" game. All the new features are like "free dlc".
sadly most of the good games nowadays are from small companys. Call of duy 51, football version 400 and assasins creed 81 are just copy of the original.

look at the game in it's current state and if it's something that you feel comfortable spending your money on. do it, i bet there are a lot of games in your shelf that you woudn't buy again. (atleast i do)

[SHiRKiT]

In terms of getting an insight in to Factorio's development from the community... Recently the Factorio team has grown (which is a good sign) but there has been a general slow down in the frequency and magnitude of new patches & new content (which can be a bad sign). But I think in this case it is accounted for by the fact that there has been a serious push to get multiplayer working (a major change) as well as taking time to get new staff up to speed and some staff taking well deserved holiday time. I think a major version release is on the horizon, probably in the next month or so.

I also agree that after Multiplayer and endgame content, the game is pretty much complete. They can revist graphics (since I feel that's an ongoing plan), but there's not much else to do besides allowing modding to have more power over the game. Then the game will be literally infinite.

[Xterminator]

As many others have said, this is a great game, and in my opinion the developers are great. They post Friday Facts every week, even if there isn't any major game update, they post anyway and say stuff about their life, which to me shows they care. There are other indie games I have played where the devs just won't post anything if there is no major update, and it could be weeks before you hear from them. The Factorio devs aren't like that.

Also, by your original post, it seems you are mostly worried about buying the game and then having the devs abandon it, and your left with an incomplete game. Honestly except for a solid end game, and multiplayer, I would say this game is pretty damn complete. Like if the devs just quit and stopped all work on the game right now, yes I would be sad, but I would be perfectly content with the game I'm left with. As others have said, you can easily put in over 100 hours into the game, and that s without mods... Mods such as Dytech or F-mod could probably add another 50 easily, probably more. Just based on looking at what like Dytech offers (I currently just started using it), I would say it easily doubles the content and length of the game, probably more.

So to answer your question, yes I think they are trustworthy and it is definitely worth it to purchase Factorio.
I have payer far more for "complete" games and got far less enjoyment and play time out of them. Also just wait till multiplayer comes out (probably not that far away), and that will add tons more ours of enjoyment.

[ssilk]

I can also assure, that the plans are not to make money fast. They enjoy this type of work and want to continue it; they want to have just a small company, few people...

And who can say what's in a year?

[Darthlawsuit]

This game was great back in Alpha V.1 and was leagues ahead of Rome 2 total war with 1/6th of the cost. It is even better now and I have gotten my money's worth out of it. The only reason I don't play it more is because it will devour my life if I let it.

[ssilk]

Too true.

[cpy]

Trust noone! Better hide in cave, just to be sure!

[FishSandwich]

wow guys.. i know this is only 2 replies, but this information really helps me out a ton, thank you very much.

So did you buy the game?

[Zombiewhisperer]

I don't even care if the DEVS are even human.....

They have made a fantastic game that keeps getting better and better....

You can start a new game if you want to try a different approach or you can keep playing your week long save game....

I have and do play this game for hours on end....something that I didn't even do with GTA V or Call O Duty games......

AND

This game is not even finished yet.......

What I am most eagerly waiting for is the Gates so that I don't have to keep demoing the walls eveytime I want to leave my base....

[cpy]

a. COD is game for braindead people
b. game developers are actually biters that hate humans because we kill their environment
c. can't stop playing factorio because i can't

[SHarper]

Just to be honest.

Trust is a very great WORD in these times...

Can you trust the Big Game Devs ?
For Example look for the Devs of Anno (i think it was 1503) promised multiplayer... never published it...

If the question is can i buy this Game ?

Then the Answer is definitively "YES and you MUST!!!"

I started playing the Demo (from Advice of a Friend) then i bought the Game.
Now i am very deep into it, the modding support is awesome!
I spent about 3 Day playing the short Campaign, and now my SaveGame with DyTech has abaout 140 Hours and going.
I took the big GamePack (e.g. 35€)
My total Game Time is now at 126 Hours divided by money / hour this makes = 0,25 € / Hour
Comparing that to the latest Mainstream Games i bought:
AC BlackFlag = 50 € / 100 Hours (and done) = 0,5 € / Hour
CoD MW = 50 € / 12 Hours (and this is for MW1-MW3) = 4,16 € / Hour

To summarize, this Game is truly worth its Money!

AND if i encountered during the whole Time just to Crashes... so i would call this Game pretty stable right now...

[Nova]

Just ask yourself: What is the worst thing that can happen if I buy the game? The devs immediately stop the development and disappear. Would that be tragic? Yes, because the game should be finished. Would you lose your money without getting anything for it? Nope, because the game is already worth the money.

[Psycho0124]

the game is already worth the money.

It really is. For the number of hours it's entertained me, it's easily one of the top 3 best value games I've ever purchased.

As for the developers, they're the best in the industry. They listen to and communicate with the community, they always smash bugs before adding features, they don't load their game down with intrusive DRM, they don't chop features or dumb down the game chasing the "wider audience" mirage. I've been gaming since the early 90s and I've seen plenty of cheap cash grabs over the years (Just came off of Elder Scrolls Online.. Bleh..). Factorio is clearly a labour of love for the devs. Buy it twice, then tell everyone who will listen to do the same.

[RMJ]

Yeah.

Nothing shady here, its an amazing game already. You can already spend 50-100+ hours. well worth the money.

They post here, there is blog updates. Just got this new skin a while back.

Game might not be widely spread out or known, but so who cares. its a real gem. and highly addicting.

If they wanted to make fast money, the game would already be on steam. So thats pretty good evidence. I mean if they put it on steam they could double if not triple the amount of sold copies so far, in probably a few weeks.