6361

I’m probably still bitter from never being able to get a refund, but as I see things since August, it’s just awfully sad really. We had diehard defenders saying they wouldn’t give up and they’d turn Elemental into this legendary game that they promised all along. Admitting they screwed up was going to fix it. Incremental patching was going to fix it. Bringing in new blood was going to fix it. GBoR is a joke from my perspective as I said, never given a chance at a refund. Flatly told nope, never going to happen after reading them their own policy.

For my part, all I’ve seen is Stardock deflect saying they were just honestly shocked that what they dropped in August was a turd and that they really couldn’t tell that from all the months previous work where they were bragging on their forum about how great it really was in comparison with what the beta players had. I don’t buy it, I never have. GC wasn’t my cup of tea, but anyone that could create that would just laugh at the garbage that was Elemental coming up on release. They would have noticed how completely broken nearly every part of it was and said hell with an August release, we’ll release it when it’s done. Especially when we’re repeatedly reminded that they don’t rely on their games as their main income. If it’s not so important to pay the checks, why push it out in such a state?

Now here we are and Elemental is being pushed aside and the more ardent supporters are once again shouting down those who criticize by asking what else they could do. Sure, it’s valid that giving away free stuff is nice, but how about actually doing something to figure out how things went so horribly wrong and canning those that let it? Mostly out of disgust and disinterest I’ve stopped paying attention, but is this standalone expansion being given a large separation from Brad himself? Or is he writing weekly posts again talking about how excellent everything is about it? If so, it really gives the impression that nothing was really learned and they’re just going to hire some new folks and hope the new ideas and lack of introspection and self-criticism turn out differently this time.

I’ll admit I’ve pretty much written off Stardock until I hear some dramatically wonderful things backed up by evidence, but I genuinely am interested in what others less pessimistic and burned out about it have to say.

6362

the more ardent supporters are once again shouting down those who criticize by asking what else they could do

Just FYI, I was very actively criticising Brad and Stardock at the time, so don’t pretend this is a fanboy thing. It really, really isn’t.

Sure, it’s valid that giving away free stuff is nice, but how about actually doing something to figure out how things went so horribly wrong and canning those that let it? Mostly out of disgust and disinterest I’ve stopped paying attention, but is this standalone expansion being given a large separation from Brad himself?

Um, they’ve hired some major industry names and turned them loose to design and create a new Elemental game, because the old one is beyond saving (something I was saying at release, pretty much). In my opinion, you fix Elemental by ditching pretty much everything and starting from scratch, with someone who has a clue in charge of the design. This is seemingly what they’re attempting to do.

6363

From all accounts, they did so rather inconsistently, and only by putting up barriers to it. I didn’t bother going that route, hoping that the game would eventually be patched into something passably enjoyable, but saying that “plenty of options” existed is a bit of a stretch. The option was wait and hope, as I did, or fight with Stardock’s tech support and hope to get a refund. That’s pretty binary and hardly what you describe.

6364

Which is the problem. If you read the Stardock annual report linked above, if nothing else, they do address many our your points. They have changed the way they make games, they have brought in experienced game developers to help with that and given them power, and so on. Will it work? Who the hell knows, but this is definately not a case of Brad sticking his head in the sand and pretending that Elemental was a one-time screw up.

6365

Right, because things were taken out of context. It was a failure but not entirely because the game was “complete”. Elemental was a complete launch despite having features published not available on launch day. It didn’t violate their GBOR because it functioned as designed. They functioned under a pay for beta model.

Under the spin coming out ahead of FE’s launch, what exactly can you believe at this point because every step that claims responsibility is followed by another the downplays the problems the game has/had.

6366

Well, Brad’s obviously not stupid and knows as well as anyone else what a disaster Elemental was at launch. For us, that meant $50-70 dollars chucked out the window. For him and his company and family, it meant potential economic ruin. And realizing the disaster occurred under his watch and with his current team meant bringing in some different people. And here with some of his hiring choices is where I think Wardell has made some smart moves, though whether or not their design talent can gel with Stardock’s existing team remains to be seen. I hope so for both their sake and for the chance of finally getting something I enjoy for my $$.

6367

I guess the problem for me is the disconnect between what Stardock says and reality. I’m far more interested in what people here at QT3 have to say because they have no financial interest in it. I fell for the company line last time about what an epic game was coming down the pipe. Something else flowed out as we all seemingly agree. I was loathe really to post in here again as all it seems to bring up is some pretty harsh feelings from last year, but I can’t help myself, I’m still interested to see what’s going on.

I’m not so sure about Brad having extricated his head from the sand as you are, but it’s possible. It’s really mostly irrelevant to me as I was hopeful he was stepping back to a business side position and letting these more respected game designers do what they do considering his attempt was such an abysmal failure.

6368

As you point out, though, it was inconsistent. A lot of people posted here that they were able to get a refund without much of a problem. Others did have issues. That doesn’t reflect well on Stardock, to be sure.

6369

What can I believe? I can believe that FE will be free to myself and many others. I can believe that some highly-respected people have been put in charge of the game. I can believe that it’s not a band-aid to a terrible game.

What else do I need, exactly?

6370

I wasn’t aware that highly unrespected people were in charge of Elemental at it’s release, or that what was coming out of the Stardock camp advertised a terrible game. Your costs are sunk. If you are getting something free, you’ve got nothing to lose and every reason to want to believe everything said.

6371

Jesus. I’m done wasting my time with you.

6372

I didn’t even bother trying for a refund after listening to my buddy’s story of trying to get one. They basically told him to go fuck himself.

6373

What do you people want Stardock to do? On the one hand you claim Elemental is broken beyond hope (or at least can’t be turned into something worthwhile), but on the other hand you moan about them branching out to trying to deliver a better game and giving it for free for anyone who bought the 1st one. Perhaps Brad should turn time back and hire Derek Paxton and Jon Shafer a year and a half earlier. Yes, Brad is a marketing guy and sometime quite an annoying one, but there are not too many game developers out there who would do what he is doing now.

6374

Oooh. Lets get some people fired for making the bad game. Then we can all feel vindicated knowing our $$ were not lost in vain.

6375

Sorry. Accountability should never take place. My bad.

6376

Your’e right. We can’t let such crimes against humanity go on unpunished. Get out the tar and feathers?
Get over yourself.

6377

You’re right. Suggesting that anyone in life might need to get fired for failing miserably is the same as suggesting they committed crimes against humanity and should be killed.

Yeesh.

6378

You really would like to see some people lose their jobs over failing to deliver you with your excellent MOM clone. I suppose you never ever failed at a task at your work?

6379

…are you really going to keep hounding me about this? That I suggested that when a company turns out a product it’s going to lose money on and alienates its userbase that maybe some dismissals are in order?

6380

No. Carry on.