I don't post much, but I have a little gripe.

from Stardock Forums
Yes, that right there is enough for no one to read this. But still, guys, I"m sorry for saying this, and I know I'm not the only one, but paying 30 Bucks, for a *"Free"* expansion, can be compared to the word Ludicrious.

Look, I know Brad isn't trying to win an award for Greed, I'm aware of that, it just seems to me, and even my dad when I told him thinks, that to pay 30 bucks to get something for free, well... Adolf would be proud. I mean no offense, but really, It's Nazistic, yes, that'a a real word, don't know if I spelled it right though.

Look, I"m 20 years old, and I have a form of Autism, the mental disorder I'm sure many of you have heard of. I hae a high functioning form, in other words, I am mostly like you, except in a few areas, and it's just this, it just irritates me, that's all. If you have a free expansion pack, you should make it free to anyone, and everyone, even in beta. Public Beta tests are the best possible ways to get any bugs out of the system, and yes, I know you had the public in a way by all the people that use Dregnin.net. But look, I don't expect to pay money for a game I already have, you know?

So, I'll shut up in a moment.

It just makes no sense to me, and I know some of you should agree, someone here at least, one person even should agree with me. I know two people, maybe even four won't change your mind, it's just that, It's almost just obscene in a way. So, I apologize if any of this sounds insulting. It's just my two cents, so I leave now, to lurk in the shadows again, waiting to be firebombed...:)
DAvid, A loyal beta tester since, oh, Beta 2B? THat was a buggy version. :)
878 views 32 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top
It's not like the beta is all your getting for that $30. You might not want any of the other stuff you get but you get alot more than the beta.

~SDC~
Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top
1. Calm down. In a few weeks, the expansion will be available for EVERYONE WITHIOUT PAYING 30$.
The members of Drengin.net only get it earlier. That's all. So your what you're complaining about isn't exactly true.

2. Your remarks about this being Nazistic and comparing it with Adolf Hitler is the most stupid thing I ever read. The Nazis and and Hitler were responsible for millions of death. I'd like to read an apology for that from you because comparing Brad&go to them is just disgusting.
Object Desktop - Get all of our enhancement utilities in one suite
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top
My own $.02, I agree with Ares that we should not have to pay to become beta testers, as is the trend now in the industry. So I refuse to do it, and I will sit and wait to get a hold of the new expansion pack. But it's not like anyone is forcing us to pay $30 to get Drengin.net, and those who do know what they are getting into and are generally cheerful. I think if you don't want to pay to become a beta tester, then you shouldn't get drengin.net. And if you don't mind and want the latest version of stuff, then pay for it.

I am very happy that the expansion pack will be free, but i also wouldn't mind paying like $20 if there was alot being added to the game. So i don't feel like we are getting ripped off in any way, and in general Brad & co have done an outstanding job on this game as far as after-release support and updates, which is better than 99.9% of the games out there.
Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

As Geoffrey Montgomery and Yellow Sign said, you don't pay to become a beta tester.

You pay for a subscription to drengin.net, which allows you to have all stardock games, and as a bonus one might add, you get to have patches and in this case the ex-pack a bit earlier. This means you can also help developpers, and therefore be a beta tester.
Everybody gets the expack free when it's completed.

I just took the drengin sugscription to support brad&Co for their great work and unbelievable level of support.

Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top
As Geoffrey Montgomery and Yellow Sign said, you don't pay to become a beta tester.

You pay for a subscription to drengin.net, which allows you to have all stardock games, and as a bonus one might add, you get to have patches and in this case the ex-pack a bit earlier. This means you can also help developpers, and therefore be a beta tester.
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And given the experiences of past betas, you get to directly influence the development of the game earlier on, when it's easier to work with more drastic changes.

Starbases (and by extention, Terror Stars) were never part of the original plan for GalCiv--they were suggested by the beta testers nearly a year before the game's actual release.

~SDC~
Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top
All comments made, not by just beta testers, affect the future direction of this game by Frogboy & Co. Upgrades and patches occurs almost on a bi-monthly basis, which are all free. The fact that a company like Stardock would go out and develope an expansion and ultimately release it for free that other companies would charge you dollars for is unheard of in the gaming community.

That said, how Stardock chooses to do conduct their business is, well, their business. I daresay with the evidence of their current gaming support made know to all the users here, they are going to become a very sucessful business enity regardless of the few who complain over trivia.

I also am considering getting the Drengin script just to say thanks.
Reply #7 from Stardock Forums Top
I will also seriously consider a Drengin.net subscription, to say thanks. If I weren't so broke :( Maybe in a month or so.
Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top
Let me get this straight: knowing that you have to wait a few weeks to get something for free is so tortuous that you feel compelled to gripe that you don't want to pay for it now? Who is more at fault in that scenario: the guy offering a free ride later down the line or the customer who wants it all, right now, absolutely free when it will be that way anyway in the end?

If you want to pay for Drengin.net to get all the neat games, the latest betas, and/or to show your support to Stardock that is fine. But to use concepts like Hitler and Nazis to describe what is really your own lack of patience is out of line in my opinion.

I am sorry if I seem like I am coming down a bit hard here, but the company seems to be playing quite fairly, especially when compared to the norm of the gaming industry, and a customer is coming across as being an impatient type who wants it all right now.
Reply #9 from Stardock Forums Top
All comments made, not by just beta testers, affect the future direction of this game by Frogboy & Co.
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Well, yes.

My intent was to note that comments early on that involve significant changes are easier to work with simply because most of the rest of the system is still more maliable. Beta testers would have access to the game much earlier than end users, and would be able to make such suggestions at a time when they are more likely to be considered simply because of the lesser extent of snowballing changes it could create.

Suggestions of the magnitude of some of the ideas that came up during the GalCiv beta would require rewriting of large parts of the game, possibly delaying the implementation of anything else for a good while if they were to be added now. (The often requested multiplayer, as an example (disregard the existing note that it won't happen anyway), would practically entail writing the game all over again. It's far too late for something like that in GalCiv, and would be held off for a sequel, at best.)
~SDC~
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Reply #10 from Stardock Forums Top
I have to chime in here.
Just don't pay the $30 and wait until the expansion is fully tested and available for FREE. Nobody is twisting your arm to become a Beta-tester.
The dedication and support that comes from the "Precursors" (the game designers) is truly unique. Try looking for the same level of help and interest from, say, a Microsoft game (like Age of Mythology, which I'll sell to the first person with $15).
So, Ares, sit back, enjoy playing the version you've got, and hold tight. The expac should be available soon.
As for the whole "Nazi" thing; CHILL. I don't know that this is the place for that; and to compare anyone to those goose-stepping, Heil yelling, mindless monsters is just unfair and completely wrong! Save it for those truely doing evil in this world. >:(
P.S. Let's all try to be nice to each other here on the board. :HOT:
Reply #12 from Stardock Forums Top
Have you seen the price of gasoline lately???

LOL Couldn't resist!
Reply #13 from Stardock Forums Top
Well, I say comparing people to Hitler definitely was wrong. Maybe it would have been appropriate to compare them to Scrooge. I'm having trouble on my computer getting through to Stardock, and since my key code is at home, I can't do it at work. But once I get through, I will pay the $30 that is currently being offered. But I will refuse to pay $60 for that service, unless it is a life-time subscription. That's a little too much for me on an annual basis. Can't wait to check out that beta.
Reply #14 from Stardock Forums Top
man, that is funny. "they are giving MORE stuff SOONER to people who PAY stardock for that service! not only that, but -I- get the same thing for free in a few weeks! this is so unfair! nazis! commies! fascists! despots! genocidal maniacs! telemarketers!"

Reply #15 from Stardock Forums Top
Actually people who "pay for it" still aren't getting the "official" expansion pack. They are only getting the beta of the expansion pack. I presume that everyone will get the final version of the expansion pack at the same time and for free.
Reply #16 from Stardock Forums Top
I believe saying to expansion is totally free is not the whole truth .In business nothing is free .A business got to make a profit to continue . how many of you will work a week without pay!!! no i didn't think so. Stardock also has to pay it's employees and bills.So think of this way ; future customers who will buy the game and those gamers who pay for Drengin.net makes it possible the make a free expansion for the rest of us who cant (or dont want to) buy the expansion pack . For all gamers who pay Drengin.net " Thank You !!!! for supporting startdock so rest of us can have a free expansion."
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Reply #17 from Stardock Forums Top
I have to put my 1.89 cents in this one.

Personally, I prefer to wait until I can get a FREE expansion, thats also as close to bug FREE as the beta testers can get it. I'll take a "double-free later" over a "pay-for now" any day of the week.

Adolf(Hitler)?!? Nazism?!? That's beyond "insulting!" You are free to have your opinions, and that's all well and good. But I think labels of that magnitude requires an apology, at the VERY least.

Reply #18 from Stardock Forums Top
being a Beta Tester sounds like work to me :p .
im assumming a beta tester would have to answer some questionnaire or something, while keeping close track of details while trying the program out.
Reply #19 from Stardock Forums Top
Hey Ares1001, don't be afraid to speak up. People make mistakes and the best thing to do is say, "aw poop! sorry 'bout that one." Besides, as far as public beta testing, no one can prove your opinions are wrong. Maybe you're right about how it should be offered. :)

Now about those gas prices, I don't think it's so bad right now. It's always cheaper in the U.S. so we don't have much to complain about. As long as it doesn't get back up to $1.98/gallon anytime soon in my neck of the woods I'm happy. Remember when it went back down under a buck for regular unleaded? And I thought I'd never see the day again. A friend of mine told me we had the Russians to thank for that one, but I never researched her comment to find out if it was true. Anyone have any details on that price drop?

Kit aka Topic Hijacker!
Reply #20 from Stardock Forums Top
I remember that price drop. I wish it had lasted longer. Unfortunately, I don't have any details. :(
Reply #21 from Stardock Forums Top
I once made a similar mistake to the one Ares1001 has made about Nazism, and the comments I made were out of pure ignorance and frustration. Ares1001, I empathize with your condition and hope you listen carefully to what the others have stated. You might learn how to express your frustrations in a better way by remaining calm and thinking carefully before complaining. Just my 2 BC. :)
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Reply #22 from Stardock Forums Top
how many of you will work a week without pay!!! no i didn't think so. Stardock also has to pay it's employees and bills.
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Most of Stardock's income comes from the Object Desktop suite. This is, more or less, a diversion for the crew (or at least was: GalCiv's success may make this a more significant part of their buisness in the future).

That said, I'm sure that Brad and Co. doesn't mind the extra income from the occasional user that wants to play with the slightly buggy stuff a little earlier instead of waiting for the final version.

A friend of mine told me we had the Russians to thank for that one, but I never researched her comment to find out if it was true.
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I don't have any concrete information, but I seem to remember similar comments.
~SDC~
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Reply #23 from Stardock Forums Top
I agree with some of the above posters. Stardock's post release support has been amazing to say the least. Now they are releasing a FREE expansion.

So what if you have to pay some money to join the Beta. Most companies would relese the retail version of the expansion for $30.

Reply #24 from Stardock Forums Top
I think a "gift horse in the mouth" adage comes to mind here.

What an ingrate...

~SDC~
Reply #25 from Stardock Forums Top
Holy smokes! Look, Drop Bear, it's Mr. Pink! This pirate actually exists! Well I think you owe him an apology. ;)

Mr. Pink! :D Come on over to the G.R.O.S.S. thread and say hello to the crew!