Not originally (and their retail discs don't have any DRM). The first few patches were distributed from their website as well, but once Impulse got up and running, that became the only way to get patches.

Pretty obvious that even if the game is fixed, Stardock is not going to the have the level of sucess with Elemental they did with The GalCiv series.
Fact is, nowdays it's pretty hard for a game to overcome a bad launch..which Elemental did have.
And the luke warm critical reception did not help matters. That the game is apparently not nearly as deep in strategy as the GalCiv games were is big factor why I did not buy it.

You're right. I know. Can't help feeling irritated though. First I eagerly wait for the game to be released thinking it will be something like a modern MoM. When it wasn't I wait almost as eagerly for it to be extensively patched so it might THEN be more similar to MoM.

Now I learn that it might be tolerable good but they'll release it as a new game. I feel cheated!

They're doing the same that was done with Shadow Magic, I don't see the big deal, in fact... I prefer that they make it a new game instead of an expansion pack then I won't need to buy the first elemental.

I don't when it means I have to wait even longer for it to drop in price. :(

See, and this is why so many forums turn into ghost towns. You spit your internet hate with all the self-righteous entitlement of someone who's forgotten that the world wasn't made for you. You don't even own the game. You're basing your loud opinion on the disproportionately loud opinions of those with nothing better to do than rant about a game that wasn't written just for them. I get that you wish it had been better, but I remember MoM when it was new and all the wishing that it had been better, too. People compare it to MoM and complain Elemental has no free multiplayer? MoM didn't have *any* multiplayer until some modders hacked it apart.

I got it when it released, and didn't play it after the first week, because it needed a lot of work. It was on rails as far as strategy went, combat spells were too weak and overland spells too strong, and the campaign (designed to be incomplete) felt, well..incomplete. Coupled with Brad's bad attitude about the beta testers who were trying to fix the biggest problems, it was nice to put it down and come back to it. With 1.1 and 1.11, it's a really fun 4x. It's not MoM, and isn't meant to be. But it would be awesome if the people hating on it didn't all have to admit they haven't bought it, haven't played it, and are just assuming it must suck because someone on the Internet says it does.

So if you have any interest in a fantasy 4x with a beautiful and whimsical graphics engine, all the replayability of Civilization or Master of Magic, and a lot of room to grow, from a developer with a more or less solid track record of supporting their games for years after release (GalCiv II being the most excellent example of that), you could do a lot worse than buying the standalone 1.1 game. I couldn't recommend the 1.0 - 1.3 releases as I played them, but I have played them.

The delicious irony is that the loudest Q.Q comes from those who wanted it to be more like Master of Magic. Master of Magic almost flopped completely on release, was unplayable, and recovered years later to be one of the finest games of its genre. Get it? They got exactly what they said they wanted. ^_^ I love that.

Typical. For once I stick my nose out and behave like a lot of other internet users and I get picked on.
Let me be angry about the whole thing and don't come here sitting on your high horse. I'm sure you've never behaved in a irrational way on the net because you're angry about something.

Oh you said something about the game? Yeah I've heard that speak before. You do know that you're in the minority? Yes the haters scream the loudest and get the most attention but honestly, how often do you hear someone say they like the game?

Yes it might be a good game now and yes it might get better. But why should I buy it now? Let Stardock bleed some more so they really get the point that they are screw ups and need to get their act together.

Bah. I hate blowing off some steam. Makes me feel better afterwards though.

Buy the gold version for the inevitable christmas sale 5 dollar, if you like to be bored.^^ Or better buy Master of Magic from gog.com The original is the best. Civ 4 has a nice mod called Fall from Heaven. Its a spiritual successor to MoM. Perhaps this could suit the need for better grafics and new gameplay options.

Nothing bad about releasing some steam, its better than exploding to space.

Have a nice weekend everyone.

Sincerly your Space Nut

Edit found an amazing error. It is not christmess, its christmas. Sorry. In german there is the word christmess, there for i changed the words.

When I was following this game closely, it was clear that there was a much deeper problem than bugs. That those problems are being rewritten out of the discussion is not a mirror of the terrible decision making, design, and even startling total public meltdown Brad exhibited and was helped along in by his likely bewildered and terrified employees, but it does sweep too much, that is of too much importance, under the rug.

I also don't think comparing this game to Gal Civ 2 before independent research trees were designed is anything remotely comparable. Gal Civ 2 was and is a very good game that managed to get even better.

Note the Fall From Heaven guy Darek Paxton is now working on Elemental, as well as the Civ 5 lead designer Jon Shafer.

Speaking of it... when are Civ3 and 4 coming to GoG? ;-)

War of Magic 1.2 released .

http://forums.impulsedriven.com/408299

looks like the game is still too fast paced for for tactical nation building, too slow for pure combat, and too unbalanced with the fallen getting early access to the tech boosting research as well as earlier access to advanced military units. (a double whammy that just makes archer zerging all that easier for one side)

I also despise all the "improvements" to the game's UI because all they have done is make navigating the game menus even more difficult. it's really sad when I preferred the game when it was broken ...

all in all the game's pacing and structure trips all over it's self trying to be everything and ends up being a brutally slow action strategy game with a ton of features that never get used because the most efficient tactic is to send wave after wave of disposable units into opposing nations territory until you break their unit production ability through attrition.

it's nice that they hired the worlds greatest Civilization modder to "save" the game, but when I ordered the collectors addition of this game I didn't really sign up for a Post-production conversion into a civilization clone. if I wanted a Civilization game, I would have bought one.

one of these days I'm gonna go through this thing and mod the tech trees/ tech research rate into an acceptably balanced offering that matches the game play speed, if for nothing else so that I can justify my investment in this title ...

p.s. when was that development split between tactical/sandbox and RPG/plot line supposed to kick in, I'm still waiting on my my "early adopter" free DLC and story line continuation.

(yeah I'm whining, but I really can't believe that this game was more fun when it was broken. After picking up the collectors edition on good faith that the game would get better over time AND the novel tie in, I think I'm justified in proclaiming "where's my gravy, bitch!")