There's a lot of history to Starbound that isn't obvious from a cursory glance of this title's description. This game has been around a lot longer than some people on Steam believe are privy to. In fact, this game has been in development as early as 2013 for as long as I have been involved (some say even as far as 2011), back when the devs made enormous money (if I remember correctly, millions) via pre-purchase. My personal recollection of the game in alpha was a lot of fun, especially with the added hype of believing that the real game, the expansive and detailed world we were promised would be at it's 1.0 stage now going 2-3 years ago. Lots of people are going to tell you that Starbound has been in development for a really long time, and some will also tell you that supporting a game in alpha is an investment. That you need to be patient, allow developers to work, and remember that your purchase is just going toward making a better game come out faster. But I want to warn you, I've seen this title's progress pinball all over the place for years, and I've seen a lot of simple mistakes pile up on the developer's end long enough for me to believe that this game will be nothing more than a partially-realized concept for years at least, if not forever. I wouldn't be surprised if it ended up vaporware if it isn't that already. Which is why I'm advising that you should ignore the advocation that this game is in development, and that you should make your purchase as if it were in it's finished state as of this very moment. It's empty, and the only real end state is a kind of vacuous boredom, but it's kind of fun for the initial ride. Just don't expect any expectations you have to be fulfilled.
