3161

Brad’s actually gone as far to say he doesn’t care if his company fails because he’s already set for life. Heh.

3162

Does anyone really want the business of someone that thinks you’re a disgusting individual? He was being candid, to his own detriment, definitely. But I would wager most of us would feel the same way and keep it to ourselves. This topic, of course, was different. He should want to keep those customers that felt the game is an early beta in order to win them back over through patches, support, expansions or future games. But if someone thinks I’m a despicable scumbag, would I still be expected to want their business, and want to provide those people with hours of enjoyment and entertainment?

3163

Seriously? Maybe I am naive, but I think that the large number of posts and comments from those who have bought and cannot really play the game is enough to know it is ready for ship.

3164

Hookers. Hitmen. Politicians.

3165

True, but clearly Brad would not like us making the decision on hearsay, and I pretty much agree. You can’t speak to a game’s quality until you’ve played it, but apparently I’m supposed to know whether or not the game is shipworthy before I plunk down the money for it on launch day. Given the only way to play the game before that point is to purchase a non-refundable preorder that gave access to the beta, I’m confused as to how a customer was supposed to know one way or the other. Or does it mean that if I purchased Elemental and found it sub-optimal in that regard, I should never purchase another Stardock game? Because many other Stardock games have been perfectly functional at release, so why should I judge all Stardock products by Elemental?

I guess what I’m getting at here is that Brad’s comment didn’t really make much sense and I’d lay odds on it being a heat of the moment exaggeration rather than actual consumer advice. Thus, maybe people should cut the man a little slack for being human rather than writing news stories about how Stardock’s CEO wants us all to get off his turn-based RPG lawn.

3166

If you wait to play the demo, at least you’ll know the state of the game at that time.

3167

I would way rather take money from my enemies than my friends. That way, my enemies have less money and my friends and I have more. Pretty simple arithmatic, really.

3168

To clarify, I have actually played the game, as we have review copies, but I’m trying to make a point about the statement Brad made that seems to be taken as a reading from the Book of Wardell rather than a frustrated and ill-advised comment made by a guy on a forum upset about his product being attacked. He shouldn’t have said it, but some people seem to be taking this as an opportunity to attack his company as a whole and their reputation, and that seems extreme to me. It’s a computer game, not a plague vaccine. Nobody’s going to die because Elemental wasn’t worth $50 at launch.

3169

Just like a hooker!

3170

Whether someone dies or not is a pretty high bar to clear in order for someone to be justifiably upset that a company sells shitty products. Why shouldn’t putting out a poor product (and a CEO’s unapologetic attitude) be an adequate reason to attack a company’s reputation? It seems like a perfectly valid reason.

I’m not saying Elemental is bad, but just if that’s someone’s impression and that’s Brad’s response, it seems like a perfectly valid reaction. Whether to turn that into its own news article which amounts to just gossip, that’s another thing.

3171

I don’t really look at it that way when it comes to the exchange of goods. You’re not just simply taking money, you’re engaging in trade, in this case, providing them with entertainment. It would bother me to know with certainty that people that find me despicable are enjoying themselves thanks to my work. I probably wouldn’t go tell them that, since it’d just be more fodder for them to hate me, but it’s definitely a perspective I can understand. I’m not going to want to sell my old car to a man that spits and curses at me. Perhaps if I’m desperate.

Of course, in Brad’s case, he should keep it to himself, because it ends up turning people that don’t find him despicable away. But in terms of feeling that way, I don’t find it objectionable. We can’t all be Data.

3172

This is really what I’m getting at, although I still think an argument could be made that a good number of people in the Elemental community (not limited to this thread) need to take a step back and get a grip for a minute or so.

Edit: Ninja, please.

3173

Yeah, that’s possible. And I realized I didn’t want to contribute to hashing it out forever so that’s partly why I deleted my post. No worries. :)

3174

My complaint is simple.

Because I paid Stardock more than a year in advance, I’m not eligible for their return policy, despite the fact that the product launched in a state I (as a paying customer) find completely unacceptable.

All it takes to make me happy is a refund.

3175

Taking vyshka out of context for effect, this is exactly what happened.

I understand both sides, those who feel the game was rushed out incomplete and those who enjoy the game: I simultaneously feel both of these things. I pre-ordered the game a thousand years ago and yet avoided the beta because I didn’t want to see the game as a work in progress, something that has tainted a number of games for me since beta-testing went public.

I am a huge fan of Brad’s and Stardock’s and don’t regret my pre-order. There is a ton of good in this game. It did very obviously need more time/passes/improvement in a number of areas and I despair at whatever drove them out the door with this now, Civ 5 be damned.

The game is sluggish enough for me to pause before starting in again. I still will but on turn 381 or whatever, it crawls @1920x1080 other than closely zoomed in. Clearly, though, this will be a fantastic game at some point in the future.

I don’t think Master of Magic when I play this. These seems much much more like Kohan to me.

Edit: I have started logging the issues I have experienced/things that I feel need improvement/etc. Sitting back, it really seems that it might have been better for Stardock as a brand to have waited as long as necessary to stamp some of this stuff out.

3176

What is this ‘special relationship’ of which people speak, because I want in on some of that action.

Edit: As for the quoting issue, imagine writing an article where you ran that quote, then defended it or put in context using terms like “that’s not what he really meant.” Now replace Brad Wardell with Bobby Kotick.

3177

It’s a damn shame that the multiplayer community for Demigod died such an ignominious death, because for my money, it’s the best of the DotA-style games. By a lot. Just a really brilliant design, and the best thing that Chris Taylor has done since TA. :(

3178

I love Demigod. To pieces.

Alas, I am having performance issues in Elemental 1.05. I think I need to update my graphics drivers, but I’ll note these are the same drivers that were working ok in the previous version (1.01). The UI is really unresponsive/laggy now, for me.

3179

I keep hoping it will make a comeback. It could be the Eddie and the Cruisers of games. If Demigod II ends up just being Demigod I but on Steam, I will be happy.

3180

For the record, the post was a group RPS effort. Quinns did the initial leg work and then we all piled in and made it vaguely work like we wanted it to. Even if we didn’t, we’re all Quinns’ editors and so the buck stops with us. With hindsight, we should have made the post be under the RPS group-name header to avoid throwing the lad to the wolves. It wasn’t his idea.

It struck us as news. The quote was the secondary part of the story - the fact that there’s so much teeth-grinding over Elemental’s release state when they previously published bill of rights saying such release states are unacceptable is the story - but it certainly seemed like part of the story.

So, please Tom, aim that Fuck You’s all at me. And Jim and Alec and John. But give me John’s, as I’m less likely to cry.

And welcome to the Internet.

In related news, finally, now that I’ve got some Elemental review code* RPS will bring almost certainly bring something on the game in the nearish future.

KG

*Apparently. I’ve yet to check my Impulse account, but I’m assured it should be there.