For everyone who has Elemental whether you love the game, hate it or somewhere in-between we now have a poll up to see how the community at large feels.
https://www.elementalgame.com/journals
I admit I "Love it!" because of the modding possibilities. It's like a big, fun, fantasy sandbox that I can explore and create my own world in. Sure, it has some bugs and performance issues (most were fixed with the patch and then updating my video card).
If you don't like something, MOD IT
Just kidding, that really shouldn't be an excuse for a game but it does stand as an option. And that's going to be my favorite thing to watch... lets see what changes and is created over the next couple months.
I'm addicted to it atm. It feels rushed. It WILL be a great game.
Very few people said they hated it, but 40% of the 300+ people who responded felt disappointed by it, I know I was one.
I admit I am somewhat "disappointed" in the game's current state, but I have faith in Stardock that in 30-90 days this game will be SPECTACULAR.
I have enough faith in Stardock that I would not accept a refund even if they offered me one - I'm content to wait for the game I know Elemental will become.
I pre-ordered becaue I wanted to support Stardock while they developed the game, so I really don't mind waiting a little longer.
I sure hope they going to make the AI way better then it is and this game will realy be one to last a loooooooong time
Myst say that im a little disapointed, (Have the latest Patch) have trayed the campaign and got stuck with afther getting the both and cant continue..... Then started up a large map with 8 AI and afther 2 hour play sudenly almost every square is filled with Quest and places of interest, half of them working and the other half not doing anything other than block places in my cities from building structures. There is still mutch polishing to do and another 6 month with beta testing would have been worth the wait for me. ATM it's not playable for me and hope that the bugs gets fixed so i can play it for real....
I agree. I want to restrain myself from being too harsh on Elemental as there is a fun game in there, it just needs a little refinement to bring it out.
The potential is there and there's a lot of good ideas, but there are major balance issues that need looking at. In particular the combat system and how damage is calculated. It's just too easy for units in the mid to late game to one shot anything anytime a bad defense roll happens.
Also, the AI on normal doesn't seem to expand or defend itself at all. It just sits there with one outpost waiting for me to come smack it.
So at the moment, disappointed. But the problems are fixable and the core idea of running around recruiting heroes and trying to beat the other guys to the master quest is a lot of fun.
Ahahah same here!! The only reason I spend money on it it's because I think hard-cash is the best way to tell them to keep going lol
I'm undecided yet. I want to know the game better, yesterday I started the campaign. Otherwise the game itself seems to be interesting, but not so challenging yet (in the beginning of the campaign).
I'm missing the full random maps, and I don't understand some game concepts well. For example: are the resource handling simplified to using global stocks like in standard games?
And how about the the different attack types (cutting, piercing etc.) and the appropriate defends? Like in GalCiv2. Are these eliminated? Because I see only Attack and Defend values among the unit stats.
So, I have to wait a bit to say an opinion.
Great so far in the little I played it last night after getting it. I will say I did not experience any of the technical gaffs I have read others having. Perhaps the benefit of not having money until last night to buy it? lol
But the game ran fine for me for about 2 hours. I started playing the Campaign to get a feel for the game...struggled with some of the ui interface items....I think the whole action bar thing on the bottom of screen needs a serious overhaul. Its just not intuitive and you have to do too much searching for stuff. Its like a puzzle game built into the main game (which is not a complement). It took me forever to figure out how to buy stuff, how to equip my characters etc etc.
I just think the interface needs help was my first impression after 2 hours. Everything else seemed promising so far. Tonight I plan to start a non-campaign game whatever that is so I can monkey around a bit more learning.
Voted 'i like it'.
Game needs more polish tho, both technical(out-of-memory errors) and gameplay-wise(balance, world feels unneccessarily empty etc.). It's a very solid foundation for a great game. Fun even in current state, looking forward to future patches.
I want to play this!
I love the game and I see its future. I have been waiting for a great turn based title like this for a long time.
That being said it needs some love and I know you all have been working feverishly to give it that love. I am sure you are overloaded with little bugs, fixes, suggestions, and tweaks.
I would fix the "swing and a miss" thing. I know it it part of the mechanic of tactical combat but it is a little annoying.
Anyway, doing a large blog piece I will post inspired by you and the way you did your journal entries leading up to launch.
for now I'm disappointed with it. but i hope with some patches i will like it
"Disappointed" is the closest poll option for me.
Really, there should be a "I like it, and will stick with it because I know Stardock will do right by Elemental, but I can't really recommend it right now" option.
absolutely - except for modders who I would unreservedly recommend it to.
Im a bit dissapointed but i see the games potential, and im sure SD and not to forget this community will make it a great game
I have a bit limited playtime as it crashes frequently that also puts down the score for me.
I didnt vote
I should properly have picked the "im disapointed" but then again im not really because i know how stardock work with there games.In 6 month to a year from now the game will be completly different just like GalCiv 1+2 was it. If it takes expansion packs then thats fine with me.
Count me in under "like it and having fun, but it needs more work and hard to recommend it yet."
Lacking that option I went with "disappointed" - as much potential as I see in the game and as confident as I am that Stardock will continue working hard and perfect it in time, I have to vote based on what I'm playing right now; and it's not really there yet, particularly in regards to balance/general polish (gah fix squads already! and weapons making guys run and cast faster/slower! and all the oneshotting, i.e. balance of damage vs. hitpoints, and.. you get the idea).
Edit: I should clarify, I do not at all regret preordering the limited edition, Stardock more than deserves the $80 (or whatever it was) for past and future hard work. Call me crazy but I enjoyed the beta from day 1, and I continue to enjoy playing a game that is a massive improvement over the beta; I'm just saying the game isn't quite where I hoped it would be come release, hence "disappointed" or "like it but needs more work."
Its like a massive, gorgeous, mesmerizing but completely rough gem. Just like such a gem, its easy to see what the bugger could be cut into and is still impressive to gawk at, but someone needs to get out the chisels to finish her up like she deserves.
For my part, I've encountered a few things disconcerting. At first it was CTDs that have turned into out of memory crashes. They have gotten (somewhat) better, occurring about every 20 or 30 minutes (as opposed to 10 to 20 pre-0 patch). Balance and design issues, as I see it, round it out to make it feel even rougher than I'd like.
The utter lack of documentation is also upsetting. Digging through the XML files is the only way to conjure up even useful scraps. For example, did you all know that Pariden has (or suffers, perhaps) from a "Distrust Bonus?" I didn't. I still don't even know what it means. So far as I can tell the bonuses are hard-coded, but the Distrust Bonus is listed right next to the Civilized and Influential, oh ... and the "Benevolence Bonus" too. Hell, I couldn't figure out which faction lined up with what race (such as Wraiths and Resoln or Capitar and Mancers) until I confirmed any suspicions in the XML.
I also find that the Unit Design tool--while very promising--has too little and too similar of content to suit my more creative bent. The way units can sometimes look like blocky football players or odd-looking elves wrapped in padded foam, well, its off-putting and not very slick.
Frankly, and mostly because of stability issues, I haven't actually made it through an entire game. I end up getting too flustered and put it down for a while, only to come back again later to "re-roll" a new sovereign and give it another run.
In all, almost from the start even, I found myself having many of the same feelings and thoughts that I did when the original Neverwinter Nights was released; soooo much promise thanks to the engine/tools/etc. that I wish I had a fast-forward button to jump ahead about six months. Even on the modding side of the equation, and I admit I haven't inspected it too deeply yet, I have a sense that it isn't quite as expandable as I or some others would probably like. Certainly not quite as easily as we might like, I should say. Then again, I've always been over-ambitious when it comes to modding. *Shrugs*
Still, something keeps drawing me back despite the flaws. There is a true gem underneath it all and I can't wait for Stardock and the modders (potentially myself included) to wrangle this game into the amazing thing it will end up being. For now, its promising and thats enough to hold my attention. Looking forward to the ride-to-come ...
I can honestly say I feel very disappointed. The game feels less polished than some early betas I've played. Balance is wrong. Feel isn't nearly as immersed as I expected. Roleplaying and Quest elements seem underwhelming (more is not necessarily better). Magic system is less thought out than in most games I've played in the past.
Honesty, playing this reminds me of the first few times I played "Lords of Magic". It tried to be 60% like "Master of Magic" with 40% originality... and the 60% is implemented badly, with the other 40% "fun, but nothing mindblowing". Elemental seems to implement closer to 80% like "Master of Magic" (but mediocre) with 20% originality.
I don't feel immersed in the wasteland culture when "oops, I don't have (or have enough) of this resource near me..". I restart.
To sum it up (in more words than my explanation):
I don't feel a uniqueness or growth to cities like I would if buildings were a more challenging decision (and not with artificial limits, but with the idea that the buildings are expensive and numerous). I don't feel much variety in the races, almost identical with a few minor quirks. I don't find much balance in the combat system. I find heroes to be vastly disappointing and almost completely useless (except as being necessary for quests...artificial importance). I find the magic system to be the weakest (in depth and usability, more than raw power) in any magic-themed game I've ever played. I don't care about the backstory or loyalty to it when the game isn't fun. I want to be immersed, and I'm just frustrated.
I'd like an option for less and less every minute. The more I think about it the more disgusted and frustrated I feel. Many people voiced concerns that we weren't allowed to test the "finished" code. People voiced concerns that despite the fact we were assured they were taken care of we kept experiencing the same bugs over and over, on beta version after beta version. We were assured that everything would work out fine by release day.
Now everyone is telling people that they just have to wait six months, or that modders will fix it, or some such nonsense. And there's nothing I can do but sit here and feel disappointed that I've enjoyed Elemental less than any piece of software ever on release day. I have never, ever, been so disappointed in a piece of software. And I'm not someone who can't handle bugs, even game breaking terrible bugs. I enjoyed Trespasser, and according to reviews it was one of the buggiest pieces of software ever released. I absolutely loved the Pools of Radiance remake (I think that's a crime in some states). Vampire the Masquerade : Bloodlines? Played it, overlooked the bugs, had a great time. Stalker? I enjoyed it so well I had already beaten it by the time most of the bugs were fixed. I played Neverwinter Nights 2 from start to finish, and when Mask of the Betrayer came out I picked that up and enjoyed it even more than I had the original game. Both had their fair share of bugs that made a lot of people dislike them. I played Heroes of Might and Magic V even though the series arguably jumped the shark with IV. Then I played not one, but both of the horrible expansion packs to that glitchy title (what can I say, I've played ever Might and Magic universe title since Might and Magic III with the exception of Dark Messiah of Might and Magic and that arena shooter they came out with, and I'm heavily invested in the storyline). I guess it could be worse, Elemental could have repeated the mistake of Battlecruiser3000AD and Stardock could have shipped a disc full of code that wasn't even compiled.
So far it's interesting.
There's a big problem, though - no tutorial, and a really lackluster manual. Hell, a day after the release and the manual already seems outdated. It would show options in it that aren't even in the game. I mean - they couldn't even update a manual for release? That seems really poorly managed to me.
I'm trying to figure it out, though. I like the concept of the game - I just have no idea what I'm doing. I'm trying to figure it out as I'm going, but there's so much to do. I can't even figure out how to build a freaking farm so that my city gets to the next level.
Also - I only heard about the game 2 days ago, but I expected a little more randomness from it. So far I've played the beginning of 3 games. I've met all the same people and been given the same damn quests (like that compass one). I just expected more variation, like coming across different people and different quests. It feels like I'm playing the same game each time but in a different starting location.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:
Sign in or Create Account
