Quote Originally Posted by Puzz3D
Why shouldn't I wait until the fixes and improvements are in place? You can only play a game for the first time once.
Do you want the idealistic answer, or the more practical ones?

The idealistic answer runs thusly:

Stardock are going against the flow of the industry with this game. They are doing something incredibly brave, very different, and they are doing it with a high quality product. No copy protection; a game which launched in far better shape than many big budget and name titles; and constant updates which address everything, from bugs to suggestions and additions. They deserve to be supported for that, and the better this game does the higher the chance of others taking notice and following their lead. I for one would love to see more companies doing this, rather than the usual 'messy 1.0 release, 2 incomplete patches which take months to appear, then game dropped and sequel announced' approach. Oh, and I love a game not demanding I keep the CD in the drive all the time! Love it.

The more practical ones:
This is not a release a la Paradox, the other company famous for patching and updating games long after release. The game you buy on the shelves is not missing features and so buggy it is nearly unplayable. You will not be waiting half a year or more before it gets to be sound. It is a damned fine release as it stands now. I've passed over games I wanted for being buggy, dropped others for the same reason, and waited so long between patches that I have lost interest. GalCiv2 doesn't need that.

I don't see the fuss over playing a game for the first time. If it's a complicated game it takes hours to find your feet and begin to understand it, so those first few hours are rather poor. If it's a simpler game then usually the best things start to appear some distance in. The first time playing any game is usually one of the less enjoyable play sessions for me.

As has already been said, this game is going to be updated for a very long time to come. It's the method of copy protection: updates, of high quality and containing content people want. You must have a legitimate CD key to get them, so pirate copies are stuck with 1.0. If you wait for it to be done then you will be waiting for potentially years. The content is approaching the more usual add-on territory, and much is by player request or suggestion. Stardock are listening to their players.

I also don't really think this game needs those updates. With the sole exception of the problems I had with the CD key during installation and the first update, this has been a very smooth experience for me. Which is more than I can say for most games I have played recently. No crashes, no slowdown, and I'm only spotting a few minor bugs. As an aside, the 1.1 beta is now available, and those bugs are fixed. By beta they do not mean the usual partly tested, potentially unstable programming. They mean a patch which contains all the fixes and features they have tested, but does not yet contain everything they wish to put in for the version number. You can see the 1.1 beta changelog here.

I feel that I am not going to play one GalCiv2. I'm going to play many editions of it. The future changes I've seen talked about will alter this game immensely. It's unlikely I am going to tire of this game in the same way I tired of Civ 4 and others. Why play just one game when I can play many flavours of it?

Heh, and another: The AI. It's got tougher with 1.1 beta, and it will continue to get harder. Which means it is improving alongside players. It's already a damned fine AI, and doesn't rely on cheating. Assuming the AI updates stop in a year and you pick up the game then, well then you get one AI only and when you have learned how to beat it that is that. Whereas those of us with the game have had a year of changing AIs to play. A year of potentially extended playtime; I don't know about others, but when I can win too easily I lose interest. I also don't like playing against cheat-heavy AIs, such as those on Civ4's higher levels.

Perhaps you want the price to drop? GalCiv2 is already cheaper than the standard new release, even with the edition you find in shops. The downloaded version is even cheaper. I doubt the price is going to drop for a long time, especially when you look at the sales figures; this game is topping the charts and doing better than was ever expected.

Actually, maybe I'll just ask this: why wait? Why pass over a fine game when the usual reasons for waiting (bugs, more bugs, missing features, potentially not very good, cost) do not apply?



Didn’t you see the little smitten geisha smiley, Martok?

Seriously, this game took me completely by surprise. I hadn’t taken any notice of it until I had to read this thread. The setting is one I don’t care for (prefer classical and medieval). It’s by some company I have never heard of, and a sequel to a game I didn’t play. It’s being touted as a spiritual successor to another game I didn’t play (MOO2), and the game yet another I didn’t play (MOO3) should have been.

I don’t have time to play it. There are other things I want to be doing more than playing games. Yet I find myself cramming the game in to whatever time I can spare from those things, and occasionally pinching a half hour or so from them. I find myself plotting strategies and thinking about aspects of the game during quiet spells at work …