Buy vs Free?

[TitanSkylaw]

i was on my steam account today and i noticed that the game was on there for $9.99. so i started to wonder whats changed since i last played on the first thing that came to mind is whats the difference between buying it right now and playing it for free? in time i know i will need to buy it and i also know i will be buying it from here not steam. but as of right now is there a difference between the free version and the bought version?

Second i have not played in a long time because last time i played i moved three months of gear onto a new ship of mine and the server crashed, when i got back on my ship and gear was gone... a little disheartening to say the least. But what big upgrades have happened since this time last year?

 

[Sven_The_Slayer]

There is currently no difference between the paid and free version, even on Steam. Buying early promises you all future updates as well as helping cover development costs. The price will also increase over time so buying early saves you money.

Additionally it does not matter where you buy the game as you can link your accounts and play it how you like. I use the my Steam version to play survival and my original version as a creative sandbox/test world.