Lol, still loving "Bring Forth The Imp" spell.

That is a desperate marriage alliance indeed.

I undoubtedly agree with you.  Two gentleman marrying each other is way over the top.  In thinking about it, I do not think this is the only issue about the social and political statement the marriage system seems to be making that I think should be revisited. 

First, the Empire, not to cast aspersions or to take sides or show my prejudice... but let's face it... the Empire is evil.  Their terrain is all black and funky and their name really says it all... I mean, c'mon, have you ever heard of a "good" empire.  I doubt it.  So, then there is the moral conundrum about marrying off your fantasy offspring to some evil empire that's out to destroy the world.  And that's supposed to be ok? Computer games should not allow players to make dubiuos moral choices.  We should only be able to marry our offspring off to "good" cultures.  I can define what "good" means for the player community.  Clearly we cannot trust Stardock to make such weighty moral determinations on our behalf.  They have a poor track record with this - Exhibt A.  the Drengin slave pits. 

Second is the whole idea of a mixed species marriage.  Now, I am all for mixed race marriages.  But the Kraxis, Urxen (Goblins), Trogs, and whatnot - well, let's face it were are not really talking about races here are we?  I mean, some of these Fallen are downright demonic.  I think what we are really talking about here is inter-species marriage.  To me, that is a far more alarming idea than even the two gentlemen marrying.

Finally is this whole "arranged" marriages thing.  Certainly, some cultures still embrace arranged marriages, although typically in most Western civilizations, this is considered antiquated.  I mean - shouldn't the bethrothed-to-be have a say?  I think the idea of the player being able to arrange a marriage for his/her offspring should be revisited.  The children's wants and needs should be taken into account - perhaps with some kind of random survey, or some clever XML coding.  Or perhaps a human proxy stand in? On the other hand, I might support arranged marriages if there are certain "good" critiera hard coded into the game...

I think what we realy need is to be able to only marry offspring only to "good" civilizations, and only to another human (or member of the same species), and of course the offspring should have a say (are they really in love?  will the pairing make them happy? - unless you go with my hard coded idea in which case all these sorts of detrminations will be made for the player using a hard coded values system which I can provide) and finally, of course, only to a member of the opposite gender.   

So, I absolutely agree that all this strange inter-species, arranged marraige, to evil Empires not be pushed upon us because we don't want any of these morally ambiguous messages sneaking into our fantasy game and offending our delicate sensibiilties.

Thanks.  Now... I am off to dominate and destroy the world with my army of bone golems. 

Wow...are you prejudice against "Evil"? I think so...

Some of us don't like playing goody two shoe, Dudley do right, stupid kingdoms. I like playing evil characters and I like making evil choices in my games. It's fun. Besides, chicks like guys with a "dark side" . Not that I have to worry about that now that I'm married. As for every empire being evil, that's all a matter of perspective. Japan was an Empire, China was an Empire, then of course there's the Roman Empire and the Persian Empire, even France and England could have been considered "Empires" when they had a monarchy. History is full of non-evil Empires. Elemental how-ever is a Fantasy game, so they made the Empires evil and the Kingdoms good. This is also a Strategy Game, and in politics between nations ruled by Lords, using your children to cement a political alliance was quite common in almost every civilization on Earth and thus is represented in the game.

Don't take the game "realistically", it's not meant to be. There are Tons of other games on the market that do way worse then this from a moral standpoint, just look at Grand Theft Auto where you deal drugs and kill hookers for money, not too mention all the stealing and shooting people. Then of course there's the expansion, "The Ballad of Gay Tony".

I can understand a person not wanting to play a "evil" character, just like I usually don't enjoy playing good characters, but don't force your views on the rest of us, ok, thanks. You're ideas here would gimp the hell out of the game. Also, if you don't want to marry off your fantasy offspring to a evil Sovereign, you don't Have To. Marry them off to a good Sovereign. You can even pretend your offspring said no and decide not to go through it.

Don't force your goodness where it isn't wanted.

Evil will Always triumph over good....because good...is dumb!!! ( <------ So says Me and Lord Helmet)

Go Evil!!!!!

Hey, Raven, did you read the "Wanted" comics by Mark Millar? It has the most hilarious evil quote I ever read:

- You call me a fascist as if it were an insult but people like fascists. Have you already seen a woman fantasizing about being bound and raped by a democrat?

Actually, being good requires lots of intelligence, patience and cunning. After all, it's not as simple as going smashing people if you don't like them. Evil triumphs only because it's "Easy mode", much like high level characters PKing lower level ones, or one of those chinese MMOs where you buy with real money your levels/stuff, or...

I'll concede that they get hot chicks (In humanoid cases. Mostly.)

More choices aren't always a good thing and following through on a choice doesn't override common law. The majority always wins over the minority in a democratic society when determining law..

Winter, you should rename yourself to Obi-Wan Kenobi!

Hell yeah, I was playing on an emulated server called TAR [The Alter Realm]. It was fun to visit the PK towns...

I have a question, I've been playing for a couple of days without a crash (yah!!!!!) Now when I go to design my own unit sometimes they will be a male and sometimes a female, is there a way to choose this? I have not found a way so if I'm missing something please let me know thanks. If there is not a way then I would like to suggest allowing us to choose the sex of the unit.

Is the Quest screen going to be improved?  Need better way of organizing the quest such as a completed section and active section.  Also better descriptions as to where the quest is located would be nice.