From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action
On Fri, 20 Feb 2026 09:35:29 -0700, "rms" <
rmsmoo@moomoo.net> wrote:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4261860/REPLACED_Demo/
This one caught my eye for whatever bladerunner/cyberpunk reason. Anyone >going to try it out?
Because I do like the setting, maybe I will try it? Once released?
Usually on a single player game like this I prefer to wishlist it and
let it sit, let the bugs get worked out, let the game become what it's
going to be, and then wait even longer until it goes on sale. At that
point I "demo it" in the form of taking advantage of the return policy
if I don't like what the game turned out to be.
I learned decades agao there can be such a thing as moving too early
on a game. Back on Mplayer (late 90s) they released an early
Daikatana multiplayer demo. It was a lot of fun up against the other
online shooters available at the time, very immersive. By the time
the actual game came out 1.5 years later, it was nothing like the
demo, completely lost the feel and I didn't see anything worth
playing.
Thanks a lot, John Romero with your well-conditioned fashionista-lush
hair and lazy fucking eyeball, that was a nice move to make people
your bitch like that :)
Anyway for me, it was one event in a long line of gaming experiences
that taught me the best demo option is the modern return policy of
Steam.... that is, after the game is finished, when it comes to single
player games.
With multiplayer games you have to weigh everything a bit more...
...because there can be a number of early mover advantages there, both
in terms of early skill acquisition and being a "real" part of shaping
what the game ultimately becomes.
Single player gamers don't really have as much influence on what agame
becomes in the long term, because the publishers don't regard them in
the "MAU" (monthly active users) count. They're just regarded as
consumer couch potatoes who either make a decision to purchase or they
don't, so their opinions don't count as much as those who engage
regularly online.
Promise I'm not intentionally shitting on anyone on that last
sentence, it's just the hard reality that comes with knowing the
inside of the business.
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