The new “Pokémon-MMO” Temtem has landed in Early Access on Steam. The launch was quite bumpy, but apparently, that doesn’t bother anyone. Not even reddit can be mad at the game.
How is Temtem doing right now? On January 21, 2020, Temtem was released on Steam in Early Access. Since then, bugs, errors, and some problems have plagued the game. Players report that they have to wait forever in queues or that the game crashes constantly.
Our editor Leya also tried Temtem and apparently had some issues. Yet she had fun – thanks to the community.
Now, several days later, there are still problems. But the community remains just as cheerful – even on reddit.
The community reacts with joy and memes
This is how the players react: The general consensus among players at the release is now: “This is how Pokémon should have been.” Temtem is well received, and not even the bugs can dampen the good mood.
Players react to the bugs with memes and a lot of self-irony. One player, for example, laughs at himself for being kicked from the game after opening a chest – and five seconds later makes the same mistake again.
Another player makes fun of the users who constantly complain with a meme. There are plenty of comments from dissatisfied players demanding their money back because Temtem is “not finished.”
Exactly that is what “Early Access” means according to other users: The game is not finished yet, and there may be bugs. This is not a scam, but rather part of the development process.
Some are critical, but remain fair: There are also players who are quite critical of the bugs. User Ardee92 writes:
I can understand both sides. This “It’s an Early Access!” has been used as a free pass to make huge mistakes and then expect the crowd to understand, because “it’s an Early Access game.”
They [the Temtem developers] are asking quite a lot for an indie game, so players also expect more than what it currently is. But the developers are really working their butts off and are offering refunds for people who can’t wait.
The User -SammyP6 partly agrees. He is waiting to see what players say before buying, does not want to deal with the queues. However, he notes that Temtem is not a full-price title but at most “half the price of a AAA game.”
It may be more expensive than many indie games, but it is still an MMO without a subscription.
That’s why this is so unusual: Reddit is usually a place where users immediately tear apart bugs and poor quality in games. Here, you often encounter unbridled anger from players towards a video game or its developers – as can be seen in the case of Fallout 76.
Even if this is sometimes justified, the tone is often a bit harsh. The fact that Temtem can so excite its players despite technical deficiencies is rare.
