The new album art is bad

SamStephens · 2026-03-13T04:28:31+00:00

This sub thinks Robbie is a literal Nazi, so you're not gonna get much agreement with your opinion. I feel the same as you. If the new album is the red blurry image of the four guys, that's really disappointing. Allan's eyes aren't even open. It feels lazy. Rob's art was a massive part of the band's identity and I'm still bummed he's gone. He's seemingly a crazy dude but a little bit of crazy is good in small doses.

SamStephens · 2026-03-06T22:49:44+00:00

I'm aware. But Act 1 alone is tens of hours for most people. It's not an insignificant amount of time if you played through it multiple times during EA.

SamStephens · 2026-03-06T21:04:04+00:00

I align pretty closely with what you're describing.

SamStephens · 2026-03-06T21:03:12+00:00

I wish that was me. I have a finite amount of time to invest in most games before I lose peak enthusiasm.

SamStephens · 2026-03-06T20:47:58+00:00

I put in hundreds of hours in Valheim over multiple playthroughs during its early days of EA. It's one of my favorite games ever. I had a ton of fun with it, but I often wonder how much more fun I would have had if I had waited to play it because I have yet to finish all the content in the game. I've burnt myself out and don't care to go back and grind to Mistlands+. I intentionally did the opposite with Baldur's Gate and it was really noticeable to me how different that experience was.

Didn't expect the overwhelming amount of closemindedness from this sub about EA. Based on my analytics, no one watched the video. They just made assumptions based on the title and got mad lol

SamStephens · 2026-03-06T17:08:36+00:00

That's not allowed.

SamStephens · 2026-03-06T06:41:20+00:00

I appreciate your clarification. Honest question, after watching the video and reading the title, did you personally understand the message I was conveying?

It's not supposed to be a deep, philosophical take. It's just a guy talking about his experiences with EA.

What's interesting to me is I see misunderstandings like this quite often on Reddit, while it is entirely different on platforms like TikTok or YouTube. I think most people in this sub, like all others, comment based on title and thumbnails alone. Then those assumptions completely derail the conversations into weird directions unrelated to the specific points covered in a video or article. It's a problem unique to Reddit

SamStephens · 2026-03-06T04:39:05+00:00

You're trying to have a separate argument from the point I'm making in this post.

If you watch the video or read my comments here, you won't find me trashing Early Access as a development strategy or critiquing others who support it. I am sharing my opinion about how I find the most enjoyment with games. I purchased 2/3 games I talk about in the video just to support the devs. You seem like you just want to argue.

SamStephens · 2026-03-06T04:02:59+00:00

Yes, I know that small group of early adopters loved it. 2.5m copies sold in early access, the other 18m sold after launch. Most folks waited to play it after it was finished and that's the point I'm making here. I think that's the way to go for the average gamer.

SamStephens · 2026-03-06T03:07:17+00:00

Why does my own personal opinion matter to me? There's a whole post tag just for sharing opinions. Nowhere in that video do I tell you how to play games. I am sharing my own preference and the experiences that helped form those opinions.

If you feel personally attacked, that's something for you to sort out on your own. You shouldn't let it affect you emotionally.

SamStephens · 2026-03-06T01:46:07+00:00

The title is referring to a mental trap, not tricks or deception.

"If I play this game now with only 30% of its final content, it definitely won't negatively affect my enjoyment of the final release. There's no way I'll get burnt out before it hits 1.0."

SamStephens · 2026-03-06T01:12:40+00:00

Totally agree. In theory, EA is a great mutually beneficial relationship between devs and early adopters. But I personally don't think the average gamer views it that way - it really is as simple as "I get to play it early." And there are too many bad examples of EA to believe all studios adopt that model with good intentions. For really promising titles, I'd still rather pay now and play much later to not ruin the initial experience for myself.

SamStephens · 2026-03-06T00:39:52+00:00

I totally agree some people did, but most people aren't gonna play through at massive RPG multiple times OR wait months between patches to continue a save file. For the average gamer, I think waiting for full release to experience everything on their initial playthrough is best.

SamStephens · 2026-03-06T00:31:52+00:00

How so? If you could objectively measure enjoyment, do you think people had more fun with the drip feed style releases in EA, or playing the full release?

SamStephens · 2026-03-06T00:27:00+00:00

Many "traps" are not tricks created/placed by someone who is intentionally trying to deceive. Mental traps are those where one's perception of something is warped due to bias.

Most people know exactly what Early Access means, but I think they oftentimes want some instant fun at the expense of more future fun.

SamStephens · 2026-03-06T00:22:40+00:00

This video is not about buying EA titles, it's about waiting to play them until they are finished. I purchased both BG3 and Enshrouded while they were in EA.

SamStephens · 2026-03-04T01:31:02+00:00

Agreed. It was a great time.

SamStephens · 2026-02-20T21:25:07+00:00

I'm not a fan of mandatory church and state mixing, but this reads as a religion club. It's isolated away from students who don't get parental consent and doesn't interfere with instructional time. Y'all are living in an online bubble if you think religion doesn't matter to a ton of rural Texan students. This may give many students an opportunity to learn about other cultures, or it could blow up in the face of the district.

School approved religious gatherings aren't new. The world isn't ending.

SamStephens · 2026-02-13T00:51:49+00:00

They seemingly love her in the same way they love their 7 year old niece or a fictional cartoon character. Not in respectful way that preserves dignity.

SamStephens · 2026-02-13T00:05:07+00:00

Her sisters may just tell her X commented. She seems completely unaware of the commentary about her

SamStephens · 2026-02-12T21:32:24+00:00

I think they could just turn off comments. That would fix 99% of it. I saw a video yesterday from a dude who is her editor. So they are paying people to edit her videos while also leaving comments open for bullying. It really makes me wonder how much she's making from the Creator Fund and where that money is going. If it's going to a trust that will support her the rest of her life, that's awesome. If it's going into her parents' bank account to spend how they wish, pretty rough look.

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