Stand alone expansion

Founders will receive the expansion.  Stardock has clearly stated that this is part of the GC3 founders package.

Only the elite founders.

Make fun of us now that we paid $100 up front

My money well spent.

Okay.  You overpaid and people can get the game for a quarter of that.

Yeah but will they get the expandable three, or four expansions. The base game, and all the dlcs for that.

Your shiny little founder's medallion isn't really all that shiny.  I tried polishing mine.  Now I have tiny scratches on my LED screen.

LMAO thanks for that one!

Okay let's break this down, shall we...  If you've been playing since release because you wanted the game then and you purchased all DLC's/Expansions as then were released or with-in a couple of weeks.

Galactic Civilizations III core game sale after release $29.99

Ship Parts Launch Pack / Designer's Toolbox (unreleased founders only value $9.98 - matches cost of 2 DLC's)

Map Pack DLC $4.99

Mega Events DLC $4.99

Revenge of the Snathi DLC $4.99

Soundtrack (Passed), however, founders get this at value $9.99 - sale $4.99 (Passed because no extra value to core game)

Precursor Worlds DLC $4.99

Mercenaries Expansion Pack $9.99 (sale)

Builders Kit DLC $4.99

Rise of the Terrans DLC $4.99

Altarian Prophecy DLC $4.99

Expandalone (now expansion per interview) sale est $19.99

That is a total value of $104.87 to $109.86 for those that would have purchased everything as released and have been playing everything since the beginning.  

Now for those that just go for the gold version, yes you could get everything currently out with good sale for about $45 but, that would not include upcoming (expandalone) and if you paid $19.99 for that you would be already at about $65 and that's not including the extras that the founders already received plus a product that is 18 months to 2 years removed from release.

Good Value for the $100 Elite Founders Edition.

I'm 100% happy with my purchase. Would do again, if given a time machine. Erm. And some other stuff, no doubt.

Only if you agree that these things have that value.  Some people won't care about having a star name, or being in the credits, or a forum badge, or beta testing.  Some don't consider this game to have any significant value until it is "finished" (as to what that means depends on the person) so missing out on EA or even a year+ post release doesn't matter to them.  So while the decision might be right for you it doesn't necessarily mean it is right for everyone else.  Basically, no matter what there will always be people who will find fault with others getting the Elite Founders regardless whether they should care about it or not.

There is something you really can't put a price on and that is the time of your enjoyment. I spent 100's of hours in Alpha and Beta playing the game both to find bug and just to have fun. That was of HIGH value to me. That alone was worth the price of the Elite Founders price. It is still funny that folks are complaining about the price of that. These are the same folks who want ALL of the expansions and ALL of the DLC to be considered 'done' and worth 'regular' price at release. 

I wasn't even referring to the star name, the game credits, forum badge or beta testing.  All my information was based on after release items.  When I quoted the extras that the founders received that haven't been released, I was referring to the two DLC's that the founders received that haven't been released for general purchase.

Ship Parts Launch Pack / Designer's Toolbox (unreleased founders only value $9.98 - matches cost of 2 DLC's)

These were not included in the approx $65 that someone purchasing the game now on a good sale plus purchasing the "expandalone" as they can't purchase them.

Enjoyment like Larsenex talked about is what is all about.

Enjoyment is an arbitrary belief. Not a monetary value.

I also found looking for bugs and going to the forum was almost 3/4 of my enjoyment.

With that figure did you get the game and all DLC etc for only $25. If you did then great for you.