I am definitely close to sending an Email for a refund as well. I didn’t want a GalCiv2 inspired MoM. I wanted a game that was inspired by MoM. Where are the aggressive early spells overland? Where are the layers of summon types that you can customize for more defensive or quicker mobility? Why is it so quick to research a spell level and such a feeling of letdown when you actually get a new spell level? Why are magic types chosen at the beginning worth so little value vs other abilities? Is magic so one dimensional that they gave it so small a role?
Jorune
3762
And I predict it will be your most dl’ed podcast. I hope Tom will be in attendance…and maybe a Mr. Ben Sones?
just got this email from Stardock:
Notice the line that says my purchase include’s a year’s worth of FREE updates. Only a year? It’s a weird wording that there marketing dept. came up with…
Jorune
Quick glimpse of the future of Elemental from Brad:
http://forums.elementalgame.com/394104
- In September we will release v1.1 which will be the first major revision to the game that takes into account the feedback we’re getting from players. This will be a pretty substantial change. In particular, character creation, magic (think, shared mana pools),
- We are going to go ahead and make a more traditional tutorial. I’m not a fan of tutorials but some of my grognard friends have had trouble figuring out the mechanics which means to me that we have to do something about that.
- We are going to move Book 2: Magesa out of a future expansion pack and into the base game in a future “mega” update, likely late Fall.
- As mentioned on the forums back in July-ish, we plan to make a new DVD gold master available to those with limited Internet connections later this Fall.
- As discussed (I think) last Winter, I will be taking a sabbatical this Fall specifically so I can dedicate time to AI and modding so that others, long after me, can use the Elemental engine to create other things (you will need to know Python to really go crazy with it).
- I will NOT be ceasing my postings on other forums. The guys on Qt3 and Octopus Overlords and elsewhere are my friends. I’m no more going to stop posting there then I would stop going out with my friends to movies and other “public places” where, heaven forbid, someone datamining my comments might find a “gotcha moment”. Those people are my friends both on the forums and outside the forums. Interacting with you guys is a major reason I like making games in the first place.
- To those reviewing the game: I would urge you to review the game prior to v1.1. I say this because v1.05 (the release day version) is the version of the game that was originally released and if that version of the game is considered flawed then my view is that Stardock should suffer the consequences for that. We appreciate the kindness and patience many people have shown. I just think game studios, including Stardock, need to be conscious of what they release and not expect to “patch themselves out of trouble”. I do believe Elemental is, by far, the best game we’ve ever made but I also agree with most of the criticisms I’ve read too. The state of PC entertainment has changed since 2006 (when we released GalCiv II) and it is our responsibility to stay with the times.
Pretty much, yes.
You want to find a spouse very early and keep that unit with you for a long time, but DO NOT WED until the plan has matured.
A quicker/simpler/less annoying way to do it is to research legendary characters and the hero trade tech. The legendary character tech will spawn recruitable channeler NPCs of both genders with 20+ intelligence and ~30 essence.
Also, arguably the best career is royalty, and assuming you can do without it for the first 50-75 turns or so, you can pick it up by marrying someone with the ability.
ioticus
3765
I can’t believe they have the gall to put a time limit on the updates for the beta they foisted on paying customers. I’m outraged!
Teiman
3766
Nah… you can read it more like “No less than 1 year of full support”. You are reading it like “Never more than 1 year of fullsupport” and thats is reading too much from it.
Funny. I’m reading it like a game I should get a refund for, and then pick up a year from now. If I get a year’s worth of updates, then I get to choose which year, and it sure isn’t this one. Next year might not look so hot either.
I think this shows that they are going to support the game for a long time. I just wish it did not ship in the condition it did.
Presumably they mean a year worth of free content updates, and not that you stop getting patches and support after a year. Stardock has always been great about providing new content for their games, and I think it’s very likely that this is what that ad is talking about.
dbd1963
3773
That’s a good tip, thanks. I have been skipping that path while I try to hook up other things.
someone datamining my comments might find a “gotcha moment”
I wonder if this implies that in the future Brad will resign as CEO and President of Stardock so that he can further Stardock’s interests without the burden of leadership or harassment from the liberal media.
That year of free updates wording is really odd. I was in the beta. Do I get a year of “free” updates?
Cal
3776
Not really, im guessing they have an X pack planned for release in roughly a year?
Sebmojo
3777
In his defense, I think Brad’s handled this whole silly foofaraw pretty well - he said something stupid, acknowledged it, grumbled a little, and is moving on.
The size and vitriol-level of this thread if he were vigorously defending himself does not bear imagination.
Bonus tips: channelers can be levelled very fast by nuking spider stacks. Just get an AoE spell and solo the eight-legged XP bags with your future husband/wife. Also, getting political capital early is very handy for trading heroes (otherwise it can get prohibitively expensive).
ckessel
3779
Stardock has always been pretty vocal about post release enhancements that are free, vs. mini-payment DLC stuff. I think this is just them playing up that support. Being self published, they can commit to this where other development houses can’t and have rely on the publisher to make that kind of commitment (and provide funding).
Well, if there’s one thing I’ve noticed it’s that Brad has a tendecny to word things oddly. If there’s a second thing I’ve noticed, it’s that a lot of people endlessly dissect his terminology for some heretofore unknown reason. If you’re curious what it means, why not ask Stardock (whether via brad or someone else)? My guess is that it means if you wanted them to patch the base game until you’re old and gray, you’ll be out of luck - they want to get it working right and then move on to begger and better things like an expansion for it (which they would then patch and support as needed, etc.).
