Treat the alpha purchasers of your game well. It should be obvious, but sometimes it may be hard to remember some good business practices and prioritize. We are all human, after all. Lately, I've been reading stories and comments all over the web that contain complaints from players about the lack of developer progress on purchased alpha and pre-alpha indie games. This is incredibly alarming for a number of reasons, but the main concern is that such bad business practices that may be in play here could actually can hurt the indie community in general. I've listed two issues below that I've been thinking about and want to ensure I don't make the same mistakes.
1. The developer is not staying in contact (or "disappears") with purchasers of the game.
I've read a number of places about developers going AWOL and leaving players of the game completely in the dark. The players simply don't know what has happened to the game or if it has been canceled. I've read that the developer of somewhat known indie game seemingly disappeared with no contact for a few months. Players were genuinely concerned that the developer had ran off with their money. They were furious, and I would be too.
My take: Even if you aren't actively developing (art, music, code) the game, you owe it to the purchasers to let them know that you're moving, dealing with legal issues, dealing with personal issues, whatever. You should also let them know when you expect to be back at it. Another suggestion is to not "update the game in bulk", but instead offer smaller but more frequent feature updates and bugfixes. The purpose of these smaller updates is to keep contact with players.
2. Not giving purchasers a "playable" game.
From the game buyer's perspective, the idea in buying an alpha is to buy a playable game with more features to come; not give the developer money for a game that doesn't work. I've read that some developers sell a game in alpha, only to work for months on tuning graphics while the rest of the game is unplayable. Imagine paying $20 for a game that crashes upon start, but the developer won't fix the bug because they are too busy working on character models for the game. I would be furious.
My take: You need to get a playable game in the hands of alpha purchasers. These players will likely form the "core" group that not only gives you bug reports and feature feedback, but they will likely drive your later sales. In the simplest terms, a developer should never sell a game until it is reasonably playable in some form.
To conclude, I believe both of these situations are hurting the developer in addition to the purchaser. Without positive feedback and a positive following, you can't expect your game to succeed. If you don't treat the people that buy your alpha well, things likely won't go well for you. On the other hand, not treating the customer well hurts the entire indie game development scene, as fewer people will risk paying for an alpha. Once they feel they've been "fooled" or "taken advantage of", they are increasingly less likely to buy another alpha. To finish on a positive note, connect with your target audience and alpha purchasers every chance you have. Prioritize them... and give them a (playable) game that you're proud of!
