I recently bought Capitalism 2 and was looking into Capitalism Lab while it's 50% off during beta.

Pretty much, the website sums it up to me as "we've added a lot of stuff to make it more realistic" but I mean, it's added a lot. For all I know, it could make the system extremely complicated.

So my question is: has anyone tried it? Is it worth getting?

You have to wait a little bit. CapLab isn´t finished yet. Although there are in beta now, some things can change until release.

Most of the changes are inspired by the fanbase, so I would assume, that they make sense.

This one is gonna get a great game for everyone, who loves eco sims.

Yeah, I'm aware it's in beta. It's also 50% off during beta, which is why I ask if it's worth getting right now.

Plus, I thought you get the beta instantly if you pre-order.

But it's good to hear that it's mostly based on feedback from fans. Gives me hope that it will be good. Might have to pick it up.

Upon reading some of the initial posts on their forum, it appears that when the game is finally released out of beta, you will have to have a persistent connection to the internet in order to play the game. Mind you, they are still pondering this aspect, as the game is, afterall, in beta.

As anyone who has been following the Diablo III saga, you might agree that this is a very very bad idea.

To add insult to injury, upon further reading of the forums, the game will not even have real time mulitplayer support!

Too bad really, I was looking forward to this. A persistent connection to the internet for a single player game is a non-starter.

I hope they won´t do it.

But until now, it seems they haven´t decided definitly how to protect CapLab.

I wrote in their forum, that the demand of a persistant connection is a no go for me.

I won´t buy it, if they do it this way.

Capitalism Lab is available now. You can find the details over here:
www.capitalismlab.com

It seems quite an extension, for a small target audience.

Wow, this looks absolutely cool... I wonder if there's an option to buy it without the bundled games? (Or are they free gifts to the game and if the "Special offer" period is over, will it be sold separately for $20?)
It'd be great to see this on GOG...

Don´t forget CapLab demands permanent internet connection.
Correct me if I´m wrong...

I haven't seen that yet... granted, I was only checking the many new features so far.
If it's so, then scrap the GOG part - it won't come here then.
Also, I'm *not* enthralled myself by the always-online concept, so I'll have to check if it's still worth it with that serious drawback.
Thanks for the warning.
EDIT
The system requirements *do* include "an internet connection" so you may be right...

I've checked the forum, and there's even a thread where the site admin explains that they understand that they will lose a few customers due to the online DRM, they can live with that.
Too bad, it looks a great game, but in this regard I'm very rigid - I will not but the game if it has online checks.

It was me (nebogipfel), who started some time ago this drm thread. I was glad to get such a honest answer from david (the site admin). But it put me off and haven´t cared about caplab since then. Some day maybe there will be a drm-free release and then I´ll buy it.

They'll come around eventually and release it on GOG.com. At that point, I'll be waiting to scoop it up. Now I should go back and master Kism 1+2 in the meantime.

So you must have internet connection to be able to play it every time? Why would they base the game that much online?

Yes, you have to be online while playing.

Why ?

There is simply no reason for that drm issue. I don´t think Capitalism customer are a crowd of teenies, not willing to spend little money for the game. I don´t think they would have sold significantly less caplab games, if they wouldn´t demand online connection.

By insisting on the always online drm, they made sure to lose me as a potential customer and I'm sure they lose more than just me. Hating your customers is simply bad for business. It's ironic how developers of a financial sim can be so blind