[Corsair]

Thks, it's always good to learn how it goes from people with inside knowledge. Although I have no intention of playing this game I am sure the people interested by the PTO will have a fine sim in 6 months / 1 year from now. Seems everyone forgot how long it took for SH3 to become the great sim it is today and should know that the thousands of man hours from the modding communities are only possible because they do it for free.
But still, if it is working as you describe as a general rule, how come some companies (and not the biggest and richest ones) do it right most of the time and other do it wrong and don't learn from past experiences.
In the end most potential customers who now know the drill will wait quite a few months for the game to be fully enjoyable and will probably by then buy a cheap re-edition and it will be a revenue loss for the publisher. There are a few companies from which I would buy a game on release or soon after (like Microprose in the old days) otherwise I will wait for reviews, comments on forums, and until patches are done.
I am lucky I don't always need new things to keep my interest in PC games since more than 20 years and when I really like a game it stays a long time on my drive...