Astax told it like it is. But like it is, is not good enough. New players are used to better treatment than this. Let's look at the problems for new players who just got the retail box and have gone home to install their new game.
1. Well, first to get up to version 1.12 they need to get Impulse installed. Not a hard task, but it may not be intuitively obvious to the ordinary buyer of games that they need to get Impulse, or even where to get it.
2. Looking around for inspiration, they find that they got a manual that mostly tells you everything except what you wanted to know to get started.
3. The tutorials skim the surface pretty quickly. "Ummm, yes. Lot of stuff here, wonder how I'm supposed to rememver all that?"
4. So, maybe watching a replay would be a good idea. But, mysteriously enough, there aren't any to be found! Because replay is "broken." Assuming the new player has found the forums and taken the time to skim the threads. The new player may wonder if "replay" is broken, what else is broken? Not a good sign.
5. Well, ok, then. The new player decides to hop right into the campaign, maybe learn something there. But, ho ho, surprise surprise! There is no campaign! Well, so much for that idea.
6. New player decides to hit the forums. There are some good posts on how to get started here and on gamefaqs. New player reads and makes notes. Or doesn't.
7. New player wonders if going online and finding someone to help them would be a good idea? Which it might or might not be, but most new players are shy and probably won't try that anyway.
8. While reading forums new player discovers that some kind of expansion is coming real soon. Apparently, it is going to cost another $10 on top of their purchase price to keep their game up to date and nothing seems to be said about a campaign being included. Not good news. Another $10 on top of the purchase price for a game that they have not yet learned how to learn to play may seem depressing.
Really, I hate to say it but it is what I think. Sins still feels like a beta in many ways and remains hard going for new players. Stardock and Ironclad need to address some of these issues. At least fix the replays and post some carefully commented learning replays.