Elemental: War of Magic - Day 0 Preview

Sigh…

Tom "I'm a rockstar, with zero understanding of the history of gaming." Chick went and wrote a blatantly apologetic review of the game. This game deserves to be decimated for the state of release, coupled with Brad's stubborn insistence of it being very release ready. It's a con - and people should stay FAR away from it for a long time.

I find it disturbingly harmful to the industry, that people have become so very forgiving of deeply flawed products.

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
Sigh…

Tom "I'm a rockstar, with zero understanding of the history of gaming." Chick went and wrote a blatantly apologetic review of the game. This game deserves to be decimated for the state of release, coupled with Brad's stubborn insistence of it being very release ready. It's a con - and people should stay FAR away from it for a long time.

I find it disturbingly harmful to the industry, that people have become so very forgiving of deeply flawed products.

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

Originally Posted by coyote
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!

Originally Posted by coyote
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

+1

Alpha Protocol was a massively disappointing game. It came as no shock to me when they pulled the sequel.

As for Elemental, I've found a few bugs and they are annoying. My units hitpoints keep fluctuating. One moment my knights will have 135 Max HP and the next turn they're down to 30 Max HP. I do not understand what's going on there. The controls need a lot of fine tuning as well. You can't try to move to somewhere too far away or you'll deselect your unit. You'll have to find him again and click somewhere closer.

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
Didn't he just say he tried that and the moderators removed it?

Maybe I got it wrong.

If true, I think that's pretty telling of their attitude, though.

Hmm ok. Guess i didnt see that.
If its true then that is a serious problem (in my eyes).