Other than the Alpha build, you get lifetime expansions. Traditionally, this brakes down to 1-2 expansions with the base game. So, we're paying about $20 for the alpha access and the ability to name a star? (figuring $40 for the pre-order and 2x expansions for $20 each.)
Are you planning on anything more that we should be looking forward to?
I'm NOT saying that this game won't kick serious arse. I'm NOT saying anything negative but, with previous deluxe packages, there was always some extra goody that made me feel giddy. I like the lifetime expansions but, by putting in that line you're already promising that the game will ship feeling incomplete and will be patched. One of the main reasons I haven't picked up Civ 5 is the complete lack of enthusiasm of picking up a game and then getting the full experience delivered piecemeal via rather expensive expansions.
If I decide to pick up the cheaper version will there be an upgrade to the deluxe version later? Maybe the initial alpha forum posts might push me to get fully invested in the testing and heartache of the alpha. Maybe I'll need to name a star after a niece or a fiancé.
Pardon the rambling, Long day at work.
If Legendary Heroes is any indication (given that it is their most recent major game) there will also be periodic content DLCs for $5 each.
I figure it is worth it for me as I was an original Elemental Supporter so between the 2 free games there and the 2 to 3 hopefully more DLCs I think they will come out for this I think it is worth the Elite to me. Plus I have enjoyed all there other games and have faith in them.
I can see how people can have this attitude (I disagree though, you pay, you get a game - what you get has not changed if you find out a few weeks later their is to be DLC released.. ), many companies have abused the DLC capability with rather shallow and relatively expensive expansions, which just fuels the "I'll wait for the Ultimate/GOTY version" attitude.
However, I think having that attitude towards Stardock is unjustified - they have looked after their customers and don't nickel and dime them. Gal Civ II was a great game, I certainly didn't feel ripped off when the two expansions were released, both expansions were quite significant and did take some time between releases (around a year each) - releases of Elemental & expansions is roughly the same. To me that indicates more than just 'finishing the game' or not getting the full experience at the start. To say "you're already promising that the game will ship feeling incomplete" is really absurd IMO - or are you saying that you would prefer them to say "we'll release the game, then that's it and you're on your own"?
I'd expect that in the long run, we'll get more than $99 worth of content - though even if we do not, I'd still not expect to have any regrets about it - the game should be well worth it. Each to their own though
How much DLC they plan to release really determines how much money you save as an Elite Founder IMO. Since if we assume the base game is 40 dollars. And that the game will receive the average of 2 expansions priced around 20-30 dollars each. Then you barely break even. But if they released frequent DLC campaigns, or ship parts, or whatever then you might save some money in the long run. Of course you could also wait for Steam/Amazon sales, and probably save money buying the game at 50% off.
So given this I don't think Elite Founder is worth getting for money saving I think it's more for people that want to support the game early. Also to the guy saying he didn't want to get Civ 5 because of DLC/Expansions. That's not really a healthy attitude to have these days since almost every game gets updated post release with more content. Civ 5 was a functional game at launch. These days it's much better one thanks to the additions. If GalCiv3 is the same then you can't really ask for more.
This depends on what criteria you use for "worthwhile". If we ignore interest and inflation, $60 is worth 6-12 DLC packs at $5-$10 each, or three expansions at $20 each, or something midway between those numbers. If we don't ignore interest, then assuming a 5% annual return on investment compounded monthly, that extra $60 is worth about 1 $6 DLC pack every 5 months for the next 5 years, with ~$10 left over at the end of that period. Another equivalency over the next five years would be 2 ~$34 expansions released 21 months apart.
Essentially, if you want to work out the value of the additional DLC packs and expansions that they must release, you need to bring the value back to the value in present-day dollars (I suggest assuming an interest rate of 5% per annum; you can compound it however you want and as long as you aren't assuming things go on too far into the future it won't significantly affect the results). Finding the break-even point is done by what's shown below:
$60 = sum(DLC1/(1 + I/100)^n1, ... , DLCN/(1 + I/100)^nN)
where DCL# is the cost of the #th DLC, I is the interest rate you're using (5% => I = 5), and n# is the number of compounding periods between now and whenever the #th DLC is purchased. You can do this using annuity formulas if you assume that you get 1 DLC per compounding period, too. When the right-hand side of the equation equals the left-hand side, you've found a break-even condition. Since we aren't guaranteed that all additional content will have a uniform price, you have multiple potential break-even points. I chose to assume that it would all be $6 DLC packs; if you assume that there will be three equally expensive expansions released at 1-year spacings, you're going to find a different break-even price, and if you choose to assume a mixture of DLC packs and expansions, all of varying prices, it's quite a bit harder to calculate.
What it boils down to is basically that $60 now is worth ~$77 dollars in 5 years, assuming 5% annual interest. Therefore, if we assume that we get everything we're going to get within 5 years of game purchase, the net future value of all of the stuff we get has to be ~$77 at the end of the five-year period, or the net present value has to be ~$60, for the deluxe edition to be economically worthwhile (this is not including the base game, only the cost of the add-ons, so I'm calculating these things based on the price difference).
Considering that you get Alpha access and the future DLC included with your purchase, I don't see how it's a bad deal.
Which is why I said "it depends on what your criteria for worthwhile is". I then proceeded to give an economics-based breakdown of how to decide if it's worthwhile, which requires you to make several assumptions about how the game expands after the fact.
If your criteria is more of an "is it fun" kind of deal, or "access earlier is worth X", it's harder to quantify unless you're willing to put a dollar amount on X. The only really quantitative measure is economic, especially since the original question is specifically as regards the price difference between regular and elite; qualitative measures like "fun" can't be predicted beforehand in a fashion which translates easily to the economics.
My concern is it sounds like the Beta access one requires you to still purchase the game.
Granted, I'll be throwing the $99 their way anyway. I'm just curious.
You are right. It's very YMMV.
You are paying $40 for the game now, plus early access. The price will be $50 later. You only buy once whichever way you go.
This is my take as well. Stardock has delivered a 4x game series that pleased me like no other in Galactic Civ I and II. They even exceeded my old 4x gaming standard set by the original Master of Orion game that hooked me on 4x turn-based strategy gaming some 20 years ago. Even when they produced a game that fell short in Elemental, they stepped up and completely remade the game, for free! I purchased the Founder's Elite for Galactic Civ III because of my absolute faith in Stardock based on their stellar track record to deliver a superior product. I don't get nearly as much time to game anymore due to family and work responsibilities. So I want every hour I spend gaming to be as rewarding as possible. Stardock has delivered that for me like no other active company I can think of. I'm beyond happy to be on board at the first opportunity for this release and am giddy about the years of enjoyment that lie ahead.
I suppose I should have mentioned that the interest rate in the formula I gave has to be the per-compounding period interest rate, meaning that if you compound monthly at an annual rate of 5%, I = 5/(12*100).
I read it as being just like the advertisements which tell you the price you pay with the special deal being offered, and then compare that to whatever they say is the regular price or the real value of the thing that they're trying to sell. "Pay $40 and get a item worth $50 dollars - you save $10", rather than "pay $40 now for beta access and then another $40 for the finished game".
I have to admit - not three days ago, I swore I'd never pre-order again, after feeling disappointed with a game I thought would be a sure thing.
Now, not even a week later - well, you see the badge...
However, in this case:
1) I am a HUGE fan of 4x games
2) I am in desperate need of a good TBS game - and hopeful this will be it
3) I feel Stardock has been trustworthy in their dealings, and I've had a lot of enjoyment from their other games.
...so, though it's a bit of a gamble, I'm hoping this one will live up to expectations!
Really, the elite package may be a bit of a wash - it kind of depends on what DLC is available in the future, etc. But in this case, for me, based on my love of the genre and my overall satisfaction with Stardock, I felt it was a worthwhile gamble.
I had assumed that's how it would be and I found it almost impossible to believe Stardock would screw people like that.
But, ya know, the world has made me cynical.
And bald.
So very, very bald.
I'm happy to pay the full amount to get the future releases.I feel it is a safe investment.
Stardock is a company that focuses on delivering good quality rather than just trying to take a dollar where they can. They are willing to admit mistakes and rectify them as they did with Elemental. They didn't compromise on that when the easiest thing would have been to shelve it early and move on. Instead they took the hard option and made a great game that they can be proud of.
Similarly with GalCiv2. Each iteration came out of 'lessons learned' and it just got better and better each time. They wouldn't have been able to pre-empt where they ended up and I'm sure GalCiv3 will have a similar growth. A journey I'm really looking forward to.
It's kinda hard to say since there's no clear indication of how much DLC or how many xpacs there could be - but this is StarDock.
Base game will be 50 (preorder now for 40). Alpha/beta access is neato. There will likely be multiple DLCs. Saying expacs will be 20 is...a wild guess since SD's xpacs are usually substantial and probably higher priced. 100 seems like a fair price to me.
I'm not one to buy collectors editions or even to preorder all that much but for this game I bought the 100 package without even blinking or thinking. Stardock owns, GalCiv owns, I've been waiting to hear about GC3 for ages, and even if by some unlikely chance there aren't lots of xpacs and DLC, to me it's worth throwing 100 StarDock's way to show appreciation for one of the best companies in game development, for all the hours of GC2, and for the way they handled the elemental to FELH ascension (and all the free versions I got as a pre-purchaser of that game).
This is my take...
If you plan on actually playing the alpha and beta versions a lot, then you are in a position to give feedback and affect (however slightly) the final product in a way a post-beta player could not...
It's not that I expect them to listen to everything I have to say...but as a GalCiv fan it's nice to know I was one of those "in the beginning" that saw the game transform over time and evolve into a polished product...
SD has a lot to be proud of and I don't have any reason to think my money upfront will go to waste...
I'm quite sure that they will listen to everything you have to say. That what you say fits their concepts, can be done or other stuff is a whole different story.
While I dont have the money to buy the 100$ version, I am however pre ordering the basic one, despite my rule of never pre-ordering (Simcity fiasco hurt after 80$), I will only do this because its stardock, best PR ever, and great corporation behavior, I know it will be a great game, and if not, they would fix it, I trust them enough. Something I do not feel for most game companies.
Amen.
I pre-ordered Diablo 3 and X-com and am still flinching about it. Stardock I feel more than comfortable with (come to think of it, I may have pre-ordered Elemental, the one after) and Star Citizen...well...that tugs at every li'l boy string I have.
Wait, I was going to write about how I'm done with pre-orders yet I also pre-ordered/supported, like, five more games.
Really, I just wanna bitch 'bout the bad ones.
I pre-ordered the Elite, only because I've loved StarDock games for quite a while now.
I'm looking forward to Gal Civ 3 Been waiting for this since they stated Gal Civ 2 was complete.
Civ V had two expansion, and some smaller DLCs that just added scenarios or Civs (no features).
Civ IV had two expansion.
CIV III had two expansion.
Civ II had two expansions.
Are you REALLY going to tell me with a straight face that Civ II, III, and IV were shipped "incomplete"? Or is the exact same model used for nearly every game in the franchise suddenly bad when Civ V came around?
Give your head a shake. That there's planned expansions isn't because the game is going to ship incomplete. It's an entirely normal business model in a world where a game has to ship at some point to pay for development, and not every feature that the developers want to add in can make that first date.
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