Right. Aesthetics are always going to be an individual preference thing.
Heh, I am doing the opposite. I won’t be getting Elemental until it get packaged with its expansions. But that might be years, and I think I may be missing out too much. But USD 50 is rather expensive for me, considering that I am also getting Civ5.
I’m interested in Civ 5, but won’t buy it until I hear what kind of DRM it’s got.
I guess the question is…why are you getting Civ 5 when you could be getting a game that’s entirely different instead of iterative? Is it just because you wouldn’t feel ‘safe’ picking up War of Magic for $50 regardless? If so, that’s understandable (I’m at least waiting until I see some real reviews. I have some concerns about the title at the moment.), but has nothing to do with Civ5.
My feeling is that at this point, new Civ games are what’s not worth $50. I’m just not interested in paying full price for refining a formula.
Not to turn this into a civ vs elemental thread, but it’s not just civ you’re getting when you buy it but the whole world of mods that comes with it. Given that the civ developers have said that for 5 the modding aspect will now be integrated into the game itself, it’s only going to be better this time around too.
I don’t think you know what you’re going to be missing.
The devs of Elemental have an entire modding tutorial out, and there are already mods written. Given that Civ 5 probably won’t have that many mods at launch, I sincerely doubt that he’s ‘missing’ anything by not buying at launch.
Not to say Civ 5 or Elemental are superior, I just don’t see the logic of the ‘mods’ argument for which one to buy at launch.
I’ll the one who made the ‘missing out’ comment. Just to clarify (because things seem to be rather mangled), I am afraid if I get Elemental later in a ‘battle-chest’, I might be missing out a lot.
I wasn’t thinking of mods, but there’s a sense of discovery when you play a new game along with others and there aren’t any FAQs around.
I wasn’t talking about at launch, I was talking about generally. It seemed that people were saying Civ 5 wasn’t worth getting excited about because it’s just another iteration of something we all know very well, and I was trying to point out that I think there’ll be more to it than that.
But I should probably continue this argument in another thread.
Well - being ill today and looking for something to keep me occupied I bought elemental, it’s downloading right now. Will feed back when I’ve had a chance to play.
To put an end to this so it doesn’t need another thread:
I WAS talking about “at launch” hence my comments of “I’ll buy it in 18 months when it comes with an expansion” because by then, these magical mods you believe are going to make it more than an iteration might actually exist. I have no interest in spending $50 on an iterative release with the hope/promise that it might turn into more if some fans put in enough blood, sweat and ideas.
This is about buying the games at launch.
All right all right, no need to get shirty! So you’re not going to buy Civ 5 out of the box, I get it, jeez. I wasn’t intending to have another thread on the subject, just saying I wasn’t going to hijack this one any more.
Anywho, back to Elemental, my thoughts on it having played for a few hours yesterday are as follows:
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This is definitely an early version, it’s not 100% stable and I’ve encountered bugs, but nothing major and certainly nothing that should stop anyone getting it. It’s already at version 1.05 so it’s been updated since going gold and this build is very playable.
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The lack of a tutorial is kind of disappointing but not a game stopper. As with Galactic Civilizations you can learn to play the game through the campaign which slowly introduces you to game concepts as you progress through it. Of course the very best way to learn how to play is just to throw yourself in and have a go.
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The variety between the different factions are pretty significant and I can see a lot of need for strategy and potential for replayability as a result. They’re not all just graphical variations of the same thing which is good.
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Overall the mechanic of the game is a big draw: building your settlements, researching tech and spells, exploring the world, questing and dealing with your neighbours. It is, however, a little overwhelming to start with and you have so much potential to do things you’re not entirely clear what it is you should be doing.
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On the whole I’d give this title a big thumbs up, it was fun and sucked me in for hours at a time. I think there’s definitely a lot of room for improvement though, and no doubt later builds will provide that. I was watching a series of tutorial vids by the devs and they were already referring to things they want to change or add in later updates. Given that this is one of Stardock’s real strengths, making its products significantly better over time through post-release improvements and alterations, I think we have a lot to look forward to.
That’s one thing that I really loved about GalCiv, and which makes moving back to Civ kinda difficult for me. With the Twilight of the Arnor expansion, not only did each race have its own strengths and weaknesses, they didn’t even share a tech tree. And then you go back to Civ 4, and everyone’s just the same, barring a graphic change and a pair of unique items (which you probably won’t be using anyway).
I’ve also been enjoying this a lot. The biggest problem I’ve had is that there are so many techs and things to keep track of that I haven’t really been able to settle on any kind of strategy yet. It’s still a lot of craziness. 
There are definitely still issues. Some people are having crashing problems, though I really haven’t, and there are still some performance issues. As mentioned, though, Stardock is updating with quick patches regularly. They released 1.06 yesterday night.
I’m looking forward to seeing what else gets done with this. There looks like a hell of a lot of potential for even more to get added and improved in the game, and it’s already a fun game.
I’m not doubting that those who say they’re enjoying are telling the truth, but the few reviews available are making me leery of a purchase.
Suffice to say, after reading through the game’s official forum, I am glad I have not put money into this game…yet. It’s more like a paid beta. Or paid alpha.
I don’t mind bugs, but the game mechanics seem to be poorly put together and they are still designing it, after launch.
The whole “paid beta” phenomenon is the most frustrating aspect of PC gaming. It seems like Blizzard and Valve are the only companies that can afford to release finished products anymore. In Stardock’s defense, though, I think they purposefully released the game in a somewhat unfinished state to screw over the software pirates, as there was a patch available on the day it was released.
That said, I’m intrigued by Elemental: WoM. I’m keeping an eye on it.
Had a whole reply ready and then my computer froze on me. Grr.
Suffice it to say that I disagree with many of the people on the forums that the game mechanics are poorly put together and need further designing. The fact that game doesn’t match some people’s expectations or preferences does not translate to the game being a Beta that people are forced to pay for.
Now, I will agree that there are bugs that need fixing. Performance issues, AI problems, and crashes all need to be dealt with, but as much as some people are complaining, I have not found the game unplayable. Many other people are playing the game and enjoying it, too, so it’s not just me.
I do expect that Stardock will make improvements and even changes to the underlying mechanics of the game to satisfy more people. Unfortunately, in some cases I expect changes to be made that I disagree with because the people pushing for them are just louder than those who don’t want them. Like the global mana pool that is currently being discussed, and some of the mods that people are experimenting with for spells and items.
Bumping to ask if anyone thinks the game is holding up.
Timely bump, Tom. I’ve recently played a couple of games with the 1.09 patch and was thinking about this.
The answer is no, this game is not holding up. I can definitely see the potential in it, but Stardock needs to do more than fix certain performance issues. They need to completely change certain aspects of the game. To their credit, they’ve admitted as much, but at this juncture they haven’t come close to addressing all the problems with the game.
I may give it one more try when the 1.1 patch is released, but otherwise I’m waiting until they’ve completed a couple of expansions.
Haven’t gone back after my intensive set of plays since launch, not convinced that a 1.09 patch is going to be enough to be honest and I’ve been pretty much living in Civ 5 since it came out, so…
I agree with MOIDALIZE, probably wait a bit longer. I’m loathe to buy an expansion pack to make the game playable though, unless they’re giving it away free.