Elemental all-purpose thread

Phydeaux · 2010-09-08T08:29:08.000Z

Yeah. This is not the forum’s high mark by any means.

Mark_Asher · 2010-09-08T09:00:45.000Z

Yeah, I don’t see any entertainment value in this thread at all. It’s just sad.

Kebooo · 2010-09-08T09:44:00.000Z

Blackadar:

That’s fine Alstein, but that also shows that you have some sort of emotional investment with Stardock. You seem to feel somewhat obligated to fund the development of the game - hence your “free rider” comment. I sincerely wonder if you feel like that with any other publisher. Personally, I don’t feel that way about any publisher. I’m not an investor, I’m a customer.

I look at it more than just on a publisher basis. I feel the need to support as many TBS games as possible, so long as they ultimately turn out worth playing (I enjoy Elemental as is, and think it’ll be a great game down the line. Probably not worth $50, yet). But should Elemental fail miserably, Stardock may be disinclined to keep creating TBS games. There are indie TBS games, but usually very low budget and considerably less ambitious. Will other developers look at this and wonder the same thing? It used to be there were TBS games coming out all the time - now we talk about Civ5 and that’s about it. I don’t expect others to feel this way, but for some of us, plunging in head first and not wanting refunds is more about supporting the genre than specifically Stardock. Seeing Disciples III get universally panned, now this, is definitely disappointing.

Blackadar · 2010-09-08T09:53:32.000Z

Kebooo:

Seeing Disciples III get universally panned, now this, is definitely disappointing.

Civ V is out in less than two weeks. Maybe the third time will be the charm. Let’s hope…for all of us TBS fans. When there’s a good TBS game to be purchased, sellers can count on me to purchase it but I’m not even going to try to prop up an entire genre. :)

Telefrog · 2010-09-08T09:59:35.000Z

I want future games made in the genre of my choice, but I’m not willing to fund the industry when they release turd games. Rest assured I will not be preordering the next game from Stardock.

Scotch_Lufkin · 2010-09-08T10:07:33.000Z

Telefrog:

I want future games made in the genre of my choice, but I’m not willing to fund the industry when they release turd games. Rest assured I will not be preordering the next game from Stardock.

I’m going to agree, but not entirely because of Elemental by itself, but by the fact that when trying to get a refund I’ve been made to feel like an idiot for even asking. Sheesh.

azzl · 2010-09-08T10:08:39.000Z

Mark Asher:

Yeah, I don’t see any entertainment value in this thread at all. It’s just sad.

It’s admittedly a schadenfreude-type of entertainment value. YMMV

Blackadar · 2010-09-08T10:11:05.000Z

Phydeaux:

Yeah. This is not the forum’s high mark by any means.

Tyjinks:

I just do not see this as the “best thread ever at Qt3”. Whether viewed as a can’t look away trainwreck or not I, honestly, wish it had never happened at this point. To each his/her own. :)

Yeah, I don’t see any entertainment value in this thread at all. It’s just sad.

Your magnificent contributions to this thread are duly noted for the record. :)

Damien_Neil · 2010-09-08T10:15:11.000Z

Blackadar:

That’s your opinion and you’re entitled to it. It doesn’t get anywhere close to a B+/A- game with me. I’d give GalCiv2 nothing more than a C+ and only a B- with the expansions due to the fact that I grow bored very quickly playing GalCiv2. I simply don’t get much enjoyment out of the product, especially one I’ve dropped $100 on. Since I play games primarily for the entertainment, a game that fails to entertain qualifies as mediocre in my book. As such, it’s certainly not “hilariously wrong” as you phrased it or “BS” as another poster said. It’s not like my statement (or that of the other poster who called it mediocre) is factually incorrect, it’s a simple difference of opinion.

It’s been a long, long time since I last tried GalCiv2, so the details are fuzzy in my memory, but it definitely didn’t click for me. The setting just didn’t seem to have any soul–I didn’t like the races, the tech tree was aggressively bland, and the random events were uninteresting. But the one thing that really killed the game for me was the impenetrable game mechanics behind the economy. I never really grasped what the effects of various actions were, and the remainder of the game didn’t have enough appeal to make me fight through the mechanics.

I’ve been told that the expansions improve the game substantially, but I’m not really interested in dropping an additional $40 on a game that I didn’t like in the hopes of it improving.

GalCiv2 has its fans, so I’m wouldn’t call it a bad game. It isn’t for me, though.

Damien_Neil · 2010-09-08T10:19:33.000Z

azzl:

It’s admittedly a schadenfreude-type of entertainment value. YMMV

I found a certain amount of guilty shadenfreude in watching my expectations for Elemental play out. (It was glaringly obvious that the game was being pushed out too soon. “Don’t worry, beta testers; we have a day-0 patch that fixes everything” is a classic anti-pattern, and my sympathy for anyone who falls into it is limited.)

Add in MattG going completely insane, layoffs at Stardock, people suddenly acting as if Stardock had run over their dog instead of releasing a bad game, and the influx of new forum accounts shitting up everything, however, and I just feel sad now.

Raife · 2010-09-08T10:50:45.000Z

If the drama wasn’t mostly contained here, it would be scattered over the rest of the forum.

forgeforsaken · 2010-09-08T11:39:02.000Z

How long until Matt shows up at Brad’s house?

Anaxagoras · 2010-09-08T12:02:56.000Z

forgeforsaken:

How long until Matt shows up at Brad’s house?

Probably not for some time, since he’s not nearly as obsessed as some of you dipshits imply. (or state outright)

As a corrollary: if you honestly think Matt’s actions are “creepy” (as opposed to using that word in the spirit of Internet Hyperbole) you’ve led an overly sheltered life. Get out a bit. Meet some genuinely skeezy people. The perspective will do you some good.

Tyjenks · 2010-09-08T12:16:12.000Z

Blackradar:

Your magnificent contributions to this thread are duly noted for the record. :)

I have contributed plenty. My post was to counter the people who were praising this thread’s contribution to Qt3, which I tend to view as a blight rather than a bright spot.

Not sure if the misspelling of my handle is something I should be concerned about. :)

TurinTur · 2010-09-08T12:21:17.000Z

Three moves Ahead - with Brad Wardell
http://threemovesahead.libsyn.com/episode_81_elemental_post_mortem_with_brad_wardell

But more insightful is the last preview of the next patch.

*  Multiplayer turned on
* Weapons balance pass
* More performance optimizations
* Bug fixes
* [B]City Manager screen (maybe in for v1.08)[/B]
* AI updates

Something so basic as a city manager screen, which should be in the 1.00 version, will be included in the third post-release update (or maybe the 4th). It speaks for itself.

JM1 · 2010-09-08T12:34:43.000Z

This is true. Tyjenks did contribute massively to the overhyping of the game prior to release :P

Dan_Theman · 2010-09-08T12:41:57.000Z

Naeblis:

City Manager screen (maybe in for v1.08)
… It speaks for itself.

Sweet, they hired someone to do voicework for it? Bravo!

For those who are humor impaired: yes, I’m joking

victrix · 2010-09-08T12:44:43.000Z

Hearing him say “We listened to the beta testers” repeatedly is making me cringe.

I don’t want to pile on a hatefest, but I’m feeling a real disconnect here.

edit: also his conception of ‘spoiling the game’ for the beta testers. Yeah, that worked out real badly for WoW and SC2.

edit again: wtf, he’s going to the MoM mana system now?

Tyjenks · 2010-09-08T12:44:57.000Z

JM:

This is true. Tyjenks did contribute massively to the overhyping of the game prior to release :P

I would say aiding in the raising of expectations to insane levels would be more accurate. ;) I would further say everyone prior to the latter Beta test phases and/or anyone throughout the intertubes who called it the spiritual successor to MoM was guilty of that as well.

MatthewF · 2010-09-08T12:47:40.000Z

RickH:

What makes you think these are equivalent things? Staffing is a hugely expensive item for companies, and your assumption that Wardell pays himself exactly as much as however many people need to be terminated were costing the company has no basis in fact.

If I had to guess, Wardell could cut his salary to the bone and have almost no effect on the bottom line.

You’re insane. Say Brad pays himself $250k/year. One of the developers that was let go was being paid $60k a year.

$250k - $60k = $190k. He takes a pay cut. Someone still has a job. Are we clear?