I am ignorant about the actual game, of course, but it now sounds like you are in danger of running a crusade. This limits objectivity, and considering that they appear to work very hard to release patches, I think Stardock is not the best target.
Personally, I am directing my disappointment at Obsidian and Sega for not even bothering to release a patch for Alpha Protocol
Oh, my crusade is pretty broad
I see what you're saying, but there are certain things that "get to me" about this industry, and when objectivity goes out the window and "rockstar" personalities get to smear the truth, I get VERY annoyed.
It probably sounds like I'm mad with anger and have fire in my eyes - but really, I lost that passion a long time ago.
Now, I'm just jaded and slightly pissed - but I tend to word my dissatisfaction in ways so no one can doubt where I'm coming from
As I said, Brad (and likely Tom) are probably nice guys in real life. But they're contaminating the industry with their ignorance. Sorry, but that's really how I feel.
You may think I'm not objective about this, but I give you my personal guarentee that Elemental is exactly as I've described it. It's just that it takes some people a while to remove the rose-colored glasses and realise that what they just paid for, and waited for - for years, is completely hollow and broken. Can it be fixed? With mods, yeah, I think it can become a DECENT game. Not a great game, but a decent game.
I give it 3 months, and then it will be release ready. I just happen to think that's utterly unacceptable, and Brad's eternal boasting simply makes me react this way.
Besides, I've done enough coding to understand that releasing patches every other day, for a game this size, is being totally naive and incompetent - OR deceitful and lazy. You have no chance of testing stuff thoroughly. They're WILLFULLY letting the community suffer this, and the last patch even broke save games. In effect, they're actively exploiting the people who ALREADY paid, so they don't have to bother testing themselves. Sure, they can sound nice on their forum and in public, and be jovial about the whole thing. That doesn't make it "ok", and my primary concern is the precedent they're setting.
People are eating it up anyway, and that's why I get pissed - because that can't become the new standard!
About Obsidian, I very much doubt it was their choice. AP was a mess, but I think they have their hearts in the right place - and I respect them as game designers AND developers in general.
Looking forward to Vegas and Dungeon Siege 3!
