I notice the article talks about "lost faith" and such. In my eyes I never really lost too much faith in Stardock even with Elemental. Why? Because like many Stardock fans, I've been with them and their games for years. They've done a lot of good things. Every person, and every company, makes mistakes. Not every person and especially not every company actually go out of their way to make up for past mistakes.
Most companies, like EA, or even other smaller indie companies, would just write off their failed project, do something else, and wouldn't even bother to even try to make amends to their customers. Brad has proven he puts his money where his mouth is in my eyes. Stardock is eating a huge cost to make their customers happy and to earn back the trust they may have lost with new customers or others who just weren't as devoted to Stardock because they're weren't as invested in their games as others.
I think with FE, Stardock will reap the benefits of what they're doing by giving it to their customers. The positive feedback and the gesture made by the company will earn them dividends in future success.