Great article man, been missing these from you!

I personally see two different kinds of alpha versions - the ones you mention at conventions - but those are usually very specific, those are almost uniquely built for the convention because the devs just have to show something

Then there are public alphas (or restarted to like streamers) and those are a bit better way to showcase the game, even though you still need to understand that there will be a lot of bugs.

Great post! Would you mind if I included it in today's "best of gaming"?