To Brad Wardell

Stardock did not develop Demigod. And seriously, stop blaming Brad personally. 

I don't see the value in kicking people who are already down. It doesn't add any value to these forums, it doesn't make anyone feel better, and it doesn't contribute to a positive atmosphere.

Brad has already claimed responsibility and admitted to mistakes. Going on and on about it doesn't really change the past, but it may very well make things worse in the future.

I wonder...

1)  Did you just wake up on the wrong side of the bed?

2)  Did you stay awake all night furiously thinking up this post?

3)  Did you buy a game or two that you should have researched a bit more before buying?

Personally, I think (3) is your problem.  I believe it is Buyer Beware when it comes to software/games.  What you want a game to be, and what the game is, is often two worlds apart.  Hell, if I wrote a nasty-gram to the man in charge of every game I was disappointed with, I would have likely died from pessimism years ago.

@op

Come over here, let me give you a hug. Its ok, there there, doesn't it feel nice? It's ok don't be shy you can hug me back, don't just stand there with your arms stiff. Do you feel better now? Has the anger subsided a bit? Its fine the more you practice hugging the better you'll get at it! Now I'm sure there are some people that could use a hug so go out and practice them skills!

I'm thinking it's a troll post...

1.  Comment on "Unoptimized",  either he doesn't know what the word means,  or he's trolling.  You couldn't tell if the optimization switches were or weren't on during compilation without a guaranteed unoptimized build to compare against.

2.  Beta tests were useless?  There were plenty of fixes and/or changes from the Beta.

3.  Neither game was hyped,  I didn't see an official article anywhere until I saw 1 on firingsquad two weeks before release.  If this is overhyped,  we need a whole new word to describe the Fable and Black and White series.

It's gotta be a troll,  it's just too far off base to be anything but.

Lacko, you should do a bit more research my friend. The reasons why NA is the focus has been made perfectly clear in previous posts by Frogboy himself. As for the gamer's bill of rights..Well, it is up to the viewing individual to determine what a "finished" product is, and is not. Since I know you do not speak for everyone, as I am someone who paid for the LE and am quite happy with what I got, and will be getting (future updates will do for this game what they've done for the other Stardock games - make them more awesome).

Also, Demigod and Elemental are not even in the same ballpark, let alone the same problems. I own Demigod as well, and while I don't play it very often (it's rough on my computer) it was still very fun, but that is neither here nor there..I see quite painfully the flaws within Elemental, but..I also see what can be done with it, the directions it can go and the depth of awesome that it can achieve. I very much look forward to seeing what Stardock does with this game.

To recap.. If your going to criticize, one should strive to be constructive in ones criticism, and be informed of all the facts. Stardock has my trust, at least until they sell out to EA/Activision/Sony or some other evil force of game ruining mayhem masquerading around with an expensive suit and cheap smile. That gleam in their eyes, it isn't charm, it is their very essence focused on stealing your soul.

You're a moron.  No fooling around, no joking, no puns or funny pictures - you are a moron.  Please leave.

The developers themself admit the product is unfinished. Please stop defending people who have already admit they are in the wrong because your blind dedication makes you look quite silly.

Whether the OP was trolling or not, he did make a few valid points. Although if he previously beta-tested Demigod he should have been well aware to steer clear this time around. There was nothing i wanted more then to participate in the development of this "Spiritual Successor" to a game that i have and still am playing for the past 15 years, but from the terrible experience that was the beta/release of Demigod, i was well pre-warned to not get involved this time.

I wanted to be proved wrong and for Elemental to be a great experience on release, or at least something that i would gladly pay money for... but alas it is not the case once again. It seems like the same scenario as with the beta of Demigod, throughout the beta process it was empty promise after empty promise until the game was released as a result of all those empty promises and was not what anyone (including Mr Wardell) was hoping for.

There is clearly a malfunction in the way they have recently been beta testing and releasing games and i hope so much that they can sort it out because Stardock have created some great titles and still are creating great concepts for games, but concepts mean nothing when the game itself is sub-par, even in the creator's eyes.

Evanescent, you do not know me, so do not presume to think that I am defending anyone with "blind" dedication. I made no such statement. They stated that the game was unfinished in hindsight. They thought the game was ready for release, ergo they released the game. All I did was merely state the facts to the best of my knowledge.

Elemental has flaws, zomg. They'll be fixed in time. Probably.. Did we deserve to get a complete(PC games are only complete when patching stops -imo) / polished game upon purchase? We certainly did deserve it. Did we get it? Nope. Am I worried that I wasted my money? Not even slightly. Does that make me a "fanboy" or "blindly dedicated"? Nope. I see quite clearly the issues in Elemental, and the features that I myself would have made differently, only to piss off some other group within the community. Stardock has its reputation, and that is what I'm relying on. Blind dedication..pfft. More like eyes-wide-open informed dedication, based on empirical evidence from their past games.

i will also make post to smack the devs upside the head, because this is a productive area of discussion and i agree wholeheartedly with the op that they haven't been griefed enough already. personally attacking froggy certainly helps

To op

Actually Brad did not make 'excuses'

If you read his reply, he admitted he made a mistake so what's a big deal, everyone make mistakes. The important thing is honesty. How many CEOs you see in this world would modestly and honestly apologies and stick up to mistake he'd make? Not anyone I knew of till now

Aha! You are so uber wrong you won't believe it!

Stardock didn't develop Demigod!

Fanboyism will never die out .

I know,but isn't the publisher's responsibility to check the product before the release date ?

That's not a Stardock logo on the box?

They published it. They're involved (in fact they touted their involvement at the time). They're going to get attention from what happens with the game... especially when they go and make the exact same mistake all over again. Where is multplayer in Elemental? It's nowhere.

After the nightmare they went through with Demigod's MP issues, I just can't fathom how they could launch a game featuring MP that doesn't actually have working MP again.

YAWN

Can this endless cycle of grandstanding please stop so that the community can come together and provide the developers coherent and concrete descriptions of bugs, exploits, and game system issues?  At this point, no one cares what you personally feel about the release of Elemental.  If you want a refund get a refund.  If you're gonna stick it out, threads like this simply dilute the pool of focused critique that some of the community would like to be able to provide.

I seriously have trouble wrapping my brain around what's going on.  I mean, I am probably the most critical person on the board.  I think the game is tripe right now.  I also think it can and will be fixed, and the endless cycle of contentless "IAMMADABOUTVIDEOGAMESONTHEINTERNET" threads and the responding "SOMEONEONTHEINTERNETISWRONGABOUTVIDEOGAMES" posts that keep these kind of threads at the top is insanity.

lackoo1111 I agree with you. And I can't believe how many fanboys are here on this forum? The paid 50$, get buggy beta and they are still happy. Jesus....

If I was a game developer I wouldlike you fanboys to by my customers

Yeah, let's rediscover hot water again. Sorry to sound rude, many of the things the OP said are hardly questionable, but really, do we need such threads appearing on a daily basis?

By now I think everyone knows wich kind of issues the game has, you can either stick with it, put it on the shelf and wait, or try and get a refund (again, I don't want to sound rude, but those are the only options in my view, unless you're the greatest modder out there and manage to turn E:WoM in a masterpiece all by yourself)

If, on the other hand, you went and bought the game without even reading something about it, well... It is your fault, really!

Remember that Brad, as ony other CEO, is still interested in making money for his company, should SD put a big yellow "this game is unfinished" sign over Elemental?

So, in conclusion, much of what you said can be agreed with. And has been agreed with by lot of people on the last days. No point in reiterating, either stick with the game, give it some time or move on.

How Original! You made this up all by yourself? Wow, man!

Seriously, in my view, me sticking with the game is more or less a bet:   "I bet in less than an year Elemental will be a great game, easily worth the 40e i spent on it".

You agree? Great! You do not? I couldn't care less! No need to be a Fanboy in order to take your chances...

I doubt anyone is "happy", but many here are actual adults with families, jobs, and a bit of life experience. One of those things you learn when you are around for a while is that whining and complaining and nonstop criticizing doesn't yield positive results. People don't like that, and it will only get you resentment. Who really enjoys the company of someone who is never happy, finds fault in everything, and is generally quick to blame everyone but themselves?

Stardock knows that the game was released too early, they had to lay off people, Brad took responsibility and apologized.

If you think you wasted your money, and don't believe that there will be a constant flow of patches and updates, then cut your losses and move on. Ask for a refund, if you feel strongly and don't agree that the game is quite playable and fun even now. But sitting here, on the company's forums, and attacking people, whining about the same thing over and over, and trying to make everyone else feel miserable isn't very enjoyable. Not for you, not for those of us who are here for mature discussion, interesting exchange of thoughts, and following the game's development.

If getting tired of the same immature whining and pouring the same old salt in the festering wound makes me a "fanboy", then so be it. I'd rather be that than an opportunist who enjoys kicking people who are already down.

A mistake was made.  People make mistakes.  It's really not constructive to point fingers and rant and rave.  The only constructive thing to do is to forgive and move forward.