Yawn.

If you didn't know you were an unpaid beta tester who pays t beta test from 10 years ago then you sir have been living under a rock. Nothing has been hidden and only idiots would be unsuspecting of buying a new game an expecting it to not still be in beta form. Look at HOI III even CIV IV and even Starcraft 2. Everything is unfinished and there's no levels just like a sin is a sin there's no level 99 sin or level 1 sin it's still a sin. There's no 1st degree or 3rd degree sin it's just a sin. So Stardock has done nothing that every other publisher/developers out there haven't done before them. SO quit your bitchin as you're being just like the bitchers 10 years ago as well and nothing has changed and nothing is going to change.

Hey I want to know how the sewage project went?  Is it all good now?

Exactly.

If you were doing this job for a customer instead of your parents, would you mislead them into believing it was working and make them pay in full when it was only 80% done?

Considering that a few years ago Stardock paraded around their "Gamers Bill of Rights" as though they were the champions of gamers, I think we have a right to be upset that Stardock release such an unfinished game.  I'll quote the "right" in question.

"Gamers shall have the right to demand that games be released in a finished state."

The fact that Stardock has now taken down said "document" from their site says alot about the company, and while I had much faith in Stardock previously, with this turn of events that faith has been shattered.  Clearly Stardock is just another game publisher who feels they can release half finished products and fix the issues later.  I don't think calling us idiots for asking for our money's worth, or much less, asking Stardock to practice what they preach, is really called for either.

I already have one friend who was on the fence about getting this game, and after hearing about it's current state, said that while the game sounded intriguing and promising, he had no interest in purchasing it in it's current state. 

While I do hope that Stardock's history will hold up and in a few months the game will actually be a decent game (and my faith in this is enough to keep me from demanding a refund), I doubt I will continue to purchase Stardock games in the future, at least not until several months have passed since the release date and I have seen user reviews indicating the game is worth my money.

As a side note, while I was search for the "Gamers Bill of Rights" I discovered that I wasn't the only one who spotted the apparent hypocrisy.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/08/25/stardock-rescind-own-bill-of-rights/

And to be fair to Brad, he did issue a public apology for his outburst:

http://www.gamepolitics.com/2010/08/25/stardock-ceo-apologizes-public-outburst

The majority of the heavy labor is past (relative to the project in full ;~p).  I've trenched along the electrical main far enough that I gained the slack I needed to raise the line a few inches (and still be within min depth and also add some protective measures that were previously absent).  I also dropped the entirety of the leach trench depth a couple inches to keep the electrical main above the leach field.  So thats all good.  At this point I've dug all the leach field trenches to depth and backfilled with aggregate (rock) up to the perf pipe level.  Next step is to final dig the trench leading from the tank to the D-box (about a foot of depth to final dig there).  Then install the D-box and then installthe perforated pipe for the leach field.  Then I add a few inches of aggregate on top of the leach pipes, then some filter fabric and then I can backfill the leach fields with a small fraction of the dirt I took out.  Then I install the solid pipe leading from the D-box to the tank and leave a few feet of pipe unlayed just short of the tank.  Then I again uncover and crack the lid on the tank and use a well filtered pump to evacuate some of the liquid into the completed leach system so I can drop the tank level down a few inches so I can install an outflow filter in the tank (the old system didn't have this critical part) and then connect that assembly to the solid pipes leading to the leach field.  At that point the tank will be connected to the leach field and we've got a working system.  Then I backfill the solid pipe trench with dirt.  Then I replace the sod I carefully took out during the trench digging.  Oh, and I have to reconnect, and also redig some new trench for the basement sump pump pipe I had to cut into to complete this project.

...Then I find places to put the mass piles of dirt which is left over since I replaced so much of the earth with aggregate.  That will take some time and will occur over the winter (as the snow allows).  I have land preparation (blackberry and stinging nettle removal +) to do before I can disburseall that extra dirt in the appropriate places.  I have other more critical priorities to resolve before I can get to deep into the land beautification projects for which that dirt will play a part. 

Those pics posted earlier were somewhat recent, though delayed.  I'm putting in 10-12 hour days and had help the last two weekends + a fewweekdays from my brother.  My Father has played a significant role as well despite his emphysema (like my nephew, I can't keep Dad away from the work).  The pics of moving the rock occurred about the day of Elementals release.  The "rocky start" bit is what compelled me to post the metaphor of my project vs the Elemental project. ("Irony and Serendipity are the signposts on our lifes highways" ~ w.e.) And all that lol.  Another tidbit of Irony and Serendipity... that rock was uncovered right where the distribution was set to go.  One solid line leads to the D-Box which then distributes the liquid effluent equally to three perforated pipe runs.  The rock was a bear to move.  But it couldn't have been placed better.  Being at the center of a trench crossroads there was minimal extra digging to get at the rock; and I wanted to dig a bit deeper under the D-box to place a nice bed of stable gravel anyhow.  A Serendipitous obstacle indeed!  Same with the electrical main... I feel a bit better knowing Exactly where that thing runs and will have the opportunity to place the required Western Red Cedar planking (with my own precaution of painting it caution colored ~ black and yellow stripes) a few inches above it to warn of its presense.  The rain... well thats just something we deal with in this part of the country.  The sore muscles... just indicate the building of more strength.  All in all this project has been enjoyable despite a bit of stress.  I've passed the halfway point and completed most of the labor intense work.  Its all downhill from here.

Despite wanting to, I didn't take many pics during my various projects.  I just get into the jobs and regret the lack later.  Hehe I like seeing peoples pics of the things they do.  And I like looking back on my own experiences.  Will take a few before the start tomorrow.  Will try and get some with the big dogs in the pics as well.  Heres one I took when my Nephew got his first wheelbarrow (hehe he'd told us he needed a "little big wheelbarrow" ~ meaning one his size, yet big enough that he could do really work with).  This is my brothers family including the little dog. His wife is the one taking the cell phone pic...

I stand corrected on half that point then, as I see that they removed completely the "finished state" one on the new page. 

i bought this game right before beta2.  i had no idea what would come out of it.  after galciv2 i trust stardock, and it would take quite a bit to destroy that.  elemental's release hasn't even put a dent in it, and its not because i am some fanboy, its because they've proven themselves to me.

What is the Carrot ?