It isn't. The comment was regarding the level of post-release service, and not the justification of a poor release. Stardock has a history of supporting games post-release, and this is where the appreciation is stemming from.

I agree. However, from a consumer's point of view, having dealt with the bad, you tend to appreciate the better. On top of that, Stardock is one of the best game development companies when it comes to post-release support, so they do very well in that category by comparison.

Jeez, now I know why people always accuse me of being a fanboy. But it's just hard not to note all the cool things that this company represents, despite the failings in some areas. But then nothing and no one is perfect.

Please add the ability to invert x and y camera movement!  Please add the ability to invert x and y camera movement!

This is a recording . . .

I just had my first war...

Failed to note the turns, but one empire smothered me with those golem things and warriors.

So yeah, it was a defeat by wipe-out.

Score of 2.  That's one thing I DO remember....that "2" popping right out at me.

Ooh, maybe it's that guy that made FfH2!

Expecting modders to build the game that the community was promised and therefore expected is even worse than the paid beta we are going through now. If modders do create a really great new game, so great that noone plays the original Elemental it will be a testament to how mediocre 1.0-1.1 is, even if stability is 100%.

Perhaps a more economic method should be made available.

I think I vaguely recall the Alchemists Lab name being taken already, but the old premise of Alchemy was to turn things to gold from lesser invaluable things.

Maybe we should make a building that converts x gold to y metal, noting that the ratio should be off a fair amount, reverse the order so to speak since "Gold" is the purest element it can be transformed into Iron.

Just some thoughts on the AI Metal Dilemma.

Indeed.

I said this back in September but it's important even after the success we've been seeing in the past few weeks:

EVEN if Elemental had been delayed to February it still would have been a disaster.

This is important: The problem with Elemental's launch was not an issue of not having enough time. It was a problem of Stardock still operating like a tiny studio while trying to make a AAA title.  Our "logistics" failed.  If it had been delayed until February, it would have still been a disaster.

As sucky as it is, Stardock needed this shake up. If you're going to make AAA titles, you can't make them like a hobby shop. Most long time people know that Stardock's main business is enterprise software. That's what pays the bills. Our software. But with Elemental, we decided to make a "real game".

The very idea that Elemental was seen and designed to content with games like Civilization (which had over 10X the budget of Elemental) should have put the company on a different track. It should have been making its games the same way it makes its software. Full time project managers, organized QA, and lots of other basic processes that just weren't done because our games were usually just a few people working on them.

So after Elemental launched, the best way for Stardock to build the studio to being where it needs to be is to go out and begin attracting the world's best talent.  Kael was the first person I turned to (not just because we're friends but also of his qualifications). Kael's day job was as an ENTERPRISE project manager working with Fortune 500 companies.

The next key position is to bring someone on board who can design games and knows what modding is inside and out. 

Do you guys remember me talking last year about ME learning Python so I could begin putting that into Elemental? Think about how misguided that is. The CEO of Stardock picking up python and trying to learn "on the job" on how to integrate deep modding like that? No. Wrong. The correct path is to find people who are already gods at this.

Not to mention, if we're going to move back to having a second studio team, we will need to bring on an experienced designer/PM from the game industry who is familiar with our genre.

Modding with Python was one of the things that initially got me interested in the game (that and the real-time battles). I know you answered this somewhere else already and I understand if you don't want to commit to an answer - but when are the Python tools going to be released? At least a year from now was your last answer - am I right?

EDIT: oh wait, there's a thread for this over here: https://forums.elementalgame.com/402208

Don't doubt for a second I had my "WTF!" moments when I first purchased the game. However, my attitude changed when I perused the forums and witnessed some open and honest discussions about what happened and the go-forward plan. In the end we can choose to cry over spilled milk or clean it up and pour another glass. It's refreshing to know that user's ideas are at least read and considered here. I fully realize alot of ideas won't make the final product but to know the developers are considering them is enough for me. They have a business to run.

"You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time." - John Lydgate

Really like the direction the latest builds have taken, great work.

Speaking of Ships, their movement is painfully slow.  Hopefully there will be a pass on Ship animation.

Currently playing "Kraxis" on a Medium map at challenging difficulty.

Recruiting Heroes needs a pass.  Early in game I found a couple, then nobody until way late in the game.  Actually flooded with heroes now.  The problem seems to be that Heroes are only spawning in uncontrolled territory.  Would be nice if some Heroes were recruitable in addition to chasing finding them around the countryside.

Food generation is still a bit of an issue.  In the current release I was thinking it would be great if you could get 1 food generated on building a Harbor.  I imagine the expansion will have fisheries and all, but that doesn't help me now 

City Building has been vastly improved but still a bit clunky.  On building to level 4, there are problems with expanding the cities due to some tile constraints.  Not sure what the max tile area is allowed, but it's very difficult to develop level 5 cities right now.  In the same vein, when clearing forest area around cities, you are unable to clear enough area to place a 4-tile building.

The enemy AI has yet to cast spells at me