Gyson, those who bought the game through Steam Early Access knew they were getting a digital-only game. That's the nature of Steam. They could have done research or asked if a physical CE was happening.
It could be that Larian didn't do any EA bonuses to avoid annoying Kickstarter backers, but perhaps also to try and make sure that those who wanted EA were diong so for the intended purpose - to give feedback and bug-test, not because it was cheaper or for a fancy bonus.
Just to reiterate, I was specifically hypothesizing about a pre-order/digital deluxe incentive through Steam, not an early access bonus (as the former are typical, although SEA bonuses are fairly common also).
However, on the topic of making sure SEA people were buying for the intended purpose (I'm sure making money for additional development was also part of the intended purpose, but let's leave that aside) : you mentioned
"those who bought the game through Steam Early Access knew they were getting a digital-only game. That's the nature of Steam. They could have done research or asked if a physical CE was happening." - Well.. that's part of the problem.
1) The question regarding CE's had come up before when SEA began, but Larian Studios only seemed willing to touch on it much more recently.
2) There was no way for someone to be a fan "collector" with the physical CE *and* join SEA "for the right reasons" (to help provide feedback on an project they liked) without paying for the game multiple times.
See, if we are to assume that people were using SEA
"for the right reasons" (to help a game idea they loved), and if we are to assume the SEA backers
"knew they were getting a digital-only game", then we can argue that perhaps these are Divinity: Original Sin's biggest fans. Because apparently they still came for the right reasons *despite* the fact that they knew that, ultimately, they were going to get the short end of the stick on CE pricing come launch.
So, let us at least take a moment to both applaud and pity Divinity : OS's biggest fans.. the SEA backers.
Heh.
