Well, hearing about Stardock being in difficult waters, I feel I wanted to say that. You have my support. I bought the game, and even tho I feel atm it isn't really playable and needs much extension and rework for some months to come, I won't sent in refunds and won't write bad reviews. It's a decision of loyality.
Why?
Stardock has brought us good games in the past, and I don't want them to perish. I know they can make good games yet, and they have been honest and open about the situation. Which is more than we can say about most big studios. I want those small, creative studios like Stardock to survive.
I wish you folks at Stardocks the best. I will let Elemental rest and come back playing it in some months, so I hope you all keep working on it. The idea of Elemental was great, it just need some more work. And I am willing to wait, even tho I would not be so "generous" with bigger studios. Call it an investment in the future. And that's what I ask of you, my fellow gamers. Be patient, give them a chance. Do you really want everything being owned by EA in the end? I think not.
Keep up the faith and work, Stardock. Yes you can!
+1
Supported, I eagerly await the patches
Where have you heard that "Stardock being in difficult waters"?? That's total BS. Elemental the game is not doing so well, but the company is just fine.
They just laid off a bunch of people.
Interesting, I'd agree about giving up if it were any other company. Haven't bought a command and conquer since that garbage CnC 3, though it used to my favorite series. The big companies release and forget, I prefer to keep my many with the more dedicated companies.
I too support them, I wouldn't say the game is unplayable, I mean it crashes less than Starcraft2 on my system anyway. But I think they did underestimate the system specific issues that all PC games have now because of the diverse software and hardware environments.
As for , balance, system bugs and broken functionality, yes there where more than expected. But since I've been in the beta since the start and since I know how stardock constantly look to improve there games I'm not really upset about it, I look forward to easch no update and in the meantime still find the game to be fun in it's current state.
I also have faith that Stardock won't stop working on it until it's reached it's full potential.
They are certainly still my favourite developer.
I am still here, and will be for quite a while. I actually can enjoy the game currently, and also see its vast potential. Best of luck to those let go, that is no fun, and I wish I had something to offer for them, other than condolences.
Stardock, stay on target!
As mentioned elsewhere, you've got my full support as well! I assume some idiot manager is responsible for forcing you to release much too early, but hey, I'm willing to do more Beta-testing.
This game looks very good indeed, and - after a while of fixing bugs and improving things - will be a certain classic
Stardock, Froggie, Boogie & other devs as well!
PS. Mark my words people....EWoM will be amongst the top3 fantasy TBS games after the gameplay mechanics will be enhanced/polished. [Side note: The remaining bugs and system specific CTDs will be fixed very fast, so no worries. ]
Now my other favourite game APB from RTW now that is in trouble
I wish Stardock Impulse had an easy friend system like steam, or maybe I am too fail to understand it (>)
But yay stardock has a lot of awesome game I love =D
Brad's the CEO and owner of the company. When he said in his journal that it was his decision, it really was.
It was a stupid move to release the game in the state they did. They know it. They have the ability to make great games, as we've seen in the past and I think they can get this game to the "great" stage. The real question is did they really think the game was good enough to release, or did they rush it out for another reason. Stardock's reputation will save them from this turning into a company killer, but they've just used their one pass...next game had better be polished or they are in for a world of hurt.
I have done my best to always purchase stardocks inhouse produced games because I believe in the way they operate as a brand and as a measuring stick for the rest of the industry.
Matter of fact I found my entrepreneur CD just the other day. It's still shrink wrapped.. I guess I had purchased it to play it, but the last 13 years have been rather busy.
Elemental may not be perfect today, but it will no doubt get there. I don't regret giving stardock my $56AUD if it helpskeep things moving along. At the end of the day if I went to the pub I'd drink more than that in a night.
So really computer games are cheap entertainment when compared to how quickly I could spend that money in the outside world.
Stay on target!
(stardock)
i bought the game at beta 2
that says all
After having read both Frogboy's post on the thread about Elemental's launch status and on Shacknews' rumor, I feel I have to say a few things.
First of all, I have sympathy for Stardock and Frogboy. Brad can't have been the only one who saw no flaws in the wonderful baby ("It burps! How cute!"). Then to have it kicked and screamed at when shown to the world. ("Ewww! Kill it!").
I also note that it has very few critic reviews. (4 listed on Metacritic, none of which give it high scores.) I think, or hope, a lot of reviewers are doing it a favor that way, because they wait with a review until a review would say something of what you'll actually get. Unfortunately, that means that initial impressions are going to be very negative in general. Stardock's forum presence, and Frogboy's, is virtually unique and does help build up a very favorable customer group. Or fans. Depending on how you want to call it. But Stardock in general is often coming off as one of, if not the, most principled developer(s). THe problem then, of course, is that people tend to aim at the guy on the high horse.
But the launch was disastrous in two respects. First, very bad publicity for the game, and secondly, it showed (certainly to Brad) that internal routines failed. The latter is not really my business, it's something Stardock must work out. The bad publicity for the game is a done deal; it can't be undone. I suspect there must be a relaunch of sorts combined with a meaty update, to underline that, it's worthy of a second look now.
Because it will be; right now, even, it's somewhere it could have been launched without the same reaction... there would still be complaints, but right now, it's playable. Not as in 'well, I guess it's POSSIBLE to play it', but it's fun - you CAN build an empire, and you can have fun doing it, and it is occassionally challenging. But it's not the favourite game I play all week (even if I put the occassional day into it).
I think Stardock is not in TROUBLE, but it is not going to be a time for wild parties either. It's sad that they had to cancel a game development plan, I'd love to see what that was, but as long as they have a steady revenue - which they do- that's better than risking the company on a gamble.
Yeah, I just Googled "stardock layoff" and got a nasty surprise. Very tough time for all of you. Your biggest asset remains. Your loyal fans who have loved the Galciv series, Sins of a Solar Empire, and of course Impulse! Not to mention your Windows application software.
A loyal fan base and industry goodwill count for a lot. With those, a studio can screw up now and then and still roll with the punch, bounce back, and win! Paradox released Hearts of Iron III way too early, eventually managed to fix their game, and recover.
So, what now? You have to devote some resources to fixing EWoM, but not the bulk of them. Think of another way to make money fast and devote the majority of your resources to that would seem to be at the top of the list. My own suggestion for doing that would be to do something with what you already have, with what you know already is going to sell well.
If Ironclad Studios is not affected by all this and still with you, it would seem a good idea to bring out Sins of a Solar Empire 2 as quickly as possible. Everyone would be satisfied with an updated engine more suited to current technology. Engine doesn't have to be multi-core although that would be nice; just get rid of the 2 gig RAM barrier with the annoying dumps. Then, look through the popular mods. Incorporate the best and the coolest stuff. Add a few new features beyond the mods, perhaps, but nothing that is going to eat your time and resources.
But why am I giving advice to the Frogboy? I'll bet you already have ten ideas better than anything I can think of.
much love.
/hugs
AND
/$$ for Elemental (already given, heh)
No regrets!
Just giving time and hope about the future.
This is the first game from Stardock that i've purchased. I never had the chance to play GalCiv or Sins or any of the other ones. I'm enjoying the game so far, and after seeing the support on the forums that things will get better i'm confident this will be a great game in time.
I doubt there is anyone here who doesn't want Stardock to succeed. I just don't want them to succeed at the expense of whitewashing reviews and the public buying $50 games that collect dust. Lord knows I've got PLENTY of those. The best path to success is to have a game that really does addict and cause massive reductions in worker productivity to our economy. Sugar-coating is counterproductive to that end.
Ironclad shouldn't be affected given how well Sins did (I hope!), but I think this is a really bad idea. After a bad launch, the LAST thing you do is rush another game to launch.
Ironclad gave Stardock's publishing arm their last great launch in Sins. Give them the time they need to put out another gem. The best thing right now for that part of the business is another successful launch.
(And the engine DOES have to be multicore. The performance gains are too important considering virtually every PC sold in the last few years is dual core.)
I shouldn't need to post in this thread but just in case, somehow, someone doubted of my support to my favourite company...
Altough I'm sorry of all this "Elemental Incident" and the lay offs for the second development team (for the now unemployed and for Stardock Entertaiment), I still believe in Stardock and their ability to deliver.
Just so long as you don't write any good reviews either or present the game to your friends or others as something worth buying in its current state as that would, given your stated opinion of the game, be dishonest of you.
Apart from that, I am not so certain that withholding honestly meant and truthful information from somebody else, who could profit from that news, just because it is "bad news" counts as loyalty towards the party you are protecting. It seems to me to be demeaning and, pardon me, downright insulting to try to protect others from the consequences of their own actions as if they were children, mentally incapable, or otherwise not responsible for their own actions. As a serious games developer, Stardock deserves better from you than that. They aren't the "dumb but well loved" family member that needs your protection.
Be loyal to Stardock by supporting them in tough times and buying their products for as long as your loyalty lasts. If you feel that your money is better spent by Stardock than by you (for whatever reason), send them more money. Heck, you don't want to send in for a refund, but there's nobody preventing you from buying say eight or ten copies instead of a measly one. Buying more than you need, now that could be seen as an expression of devotion and loyalty.
But don't try to protect Stardock from bad news. It is demeaning to them and it lessens yourself.
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