should i buy this?

The crashes and bugs are being removed pretty fast. Still the AI is lacking and lots of stuff are there to be improved. I like the game, but I guess if you are in no rush then wait for feedback from version 1.1 due in September.

This game feels more like Civ series than HoMM or AoW.

Yes. Definitely.

But when? I'd still say now, but if you're the type that is not willing to put up with potential issue (I say potential because I don't have crashes..yet), then wait until the 1.1 version, otherwise, I'm loving the game right now, and 1.07 gave me biiig performance boost. 

So I'd say get it, but get it with some patience in mind. 

acutally i am very critical 'bout games - but i go to really like it. there should be some more improvements and elemental will be great.

Wait for 6 months.

I am glad to have purchased it.  Will you be? I have no clue.  There are still some issues but the game is fun.  All of the win condition boil down to having a superior army to the AIs which bothers me, magic still needs some work, and there are plenty of other issues, but as I said, it is a fun game.  I enjoy elemental more than I enjoy 70-80% of games I buy and it is constantly being improved.

Prior to last night's patch, I'd have said wait.  After the performance tweaks and changes so the game runs better, I'd say yes, pick it up, but there's a caveat.  You need to understand that there are still some so so mechanics that need to be improved.  They will be, but it won't happen overnight.  The game as is is enjoyable, but consider - you can either start playing now while there are still some rough edges or wait 3-6 months after its more polished.  Personally, if I used my time machine for selfish reasons, I wouldn't have bought elemental at launch and would have waited 3-6 months. 

yep work's alot better now so you can buy it

I don't regret having bought it, but it does need some fixin'. Having said that, I know this is a labor of love and Brad wants to actualize his vision for it. So it will one day be not good, but great...

In short-

No. At least not yet.  If they fix the plethora of problems (past experience tells us they will over time) then yes buy it then.

Currently it feels like I'm playing an alpha.  There are literally so many glaring reproducable game crashing bugs that it makes me wonder if they even tested this before pushing it out.  Not to mention key features of the game just flat out don't work.  We're talking big riggs type glaring features missing.

Stardock is a good company though and I have faith they will fix the problems.  Currently the game is hardly playable though.

I'm loving it, even in the pre .07 patch state, that said... I crashed regularly, and noticed several 'near' game breaking bugs... inspite of it all, I pulled an all nighter, ending up (because of having to work and all,) staying up for 33 hours straight, I blame the addictive nature of the game for my all night 7 hour Binge. heh.

BUT! if you want polish - WAIT 3 to 6 months! 

if you know your getting a beta, and ok with it, the StarDock Track record speaks for it'self as to how they care for a game after release... it will get there, I plan on having fun along the journey... and that's my take.

Wade Hone.

If you are a fan of TBS then i would suggest getting it. Especially since 1.07 had apparently fixed a lot or most of the performance issues. There are so few TBS games so being able to play a new one I have found to be extremely enjoyable. Even with the balance and feature issues that need to be addressed. Even with those I am having an awesome time playing. Took today off from work just to play all day.

No.

Crash bugs, memory leaks, and performance issues are being dealt with swiftly so that's not why I'd say don't buy. The problem is in the gameplay itself. The spells are boring, underpowered, lacking in flavor, and too few. Same with items and champions. There is absolutely no balance and worse combat mechanics themselves are fundamentally broken. In short the game is severely lacking in content and polish. That may be a different story 3-6 months from now but as of today it's simply not worth it.

I too have the same question. I loved GalCiv, Sins, and the AoW/HOMM series (I never played Master of magic); this is my genre, and I have worshiped the ground on which Stardock walks to this point. After seeing some gameplay videos I've been rather underwhelmed with the graphics and visual elements of the gameplay: for example, the worlds do not look nearly as rich and detailed as those in HOMM-V and AoW Shadow Magic, despite those games being far older. Add that to what is evidently a large number of bugs and I'm not sure I want to buy this just yet.

I gave it a while after release to scope it out; now that we're on 1.07, is the game relatively stable and enjoyable? I know I'm going to buy this game at some point, I'm just not sure whether I should do it now, or spend my money on something else and buy this in a month (or six--sounds like things are pretty rough right now). 

Also--how much of the negative backlash would you say is related to 1) the game just not living up to inflated expectations or 2) people playing versions they got when the release date was broken before the early patches?

No. Save your money and wait until they finish the game. Buying now will just be frustrating. The underlying game mechanics are completely broken and retarded. It doesn't matter if it now runs at 60fps, it's still broken and lacking. You might enjoy the illusion that your playing a real game, but that will be shattered once you figure out the glaring holes in the game which you will in about 30 minutes. There's many who have already drank the $50 kool-aid who will tell you otherwise, but trust me, you'll enjoy the game more if you wait to play it in its finished state, rather than sitting here waiting for Stardock to dribble out meager fixes that will some day add up to a real game.

If you're hoping to play multiplayer, then no. That still isn't enabled.

No.  You should wait.  I got my pre-ordered retail limited edition at launch date and regret it.  Especially the 2 weeks vacation I put in at work for this....  Brad said he was going to roll the expansion pack in for the people that bought early so I'd wait until that's been bundled in.

My opinion is that this game was not release ready.  I think they rushed it out the door to appease some executive.  There are too many bugs in the game, the AI logic is weak at this point and if you have WIn7 64 bit OS you might get out of memory crashes evertime you play. (I have attempted to play about 40 times and crashed everytime at various stages of the game) Wait until they work the bugs out 3-6 months then buy it.  It is going to be a good game.

If you absolutely loved AOW series then this is like that but on steroids...  More fixin to do from SD but they seem committed to do the fixin so I give my most emphatic yes buy it and work through the UI learning curve that any game has and you will become addicted to EWoM too. 

Ever since I bought civilization for my Amiga in 1991, TBS 4x type games are my favored type,  I play them alot.

This one is good, real good.

But im sorry to say Ive never seen a worse AI

So buy it to have some fun but not if you want a challenge.

I say go out and get the game.

Yes it has some problems (crashes once in awhile and AI needs work) but overall I love the game!
Its just tons of fun and some great ideas. Yes the AI needs to get much better but thats about it for me!

AoW shadow magic was probably my favorite TBS aside from HoMM...i really want to play this game and i KNOW it will get fixed properlly i guess the question that begs to be answered for me now is "Will the price 3 months down the road be reduced and will there be an expantion that i can get both at a better cost"

aww, I thought this was going to be one of those games where people gave crazy answers to try to top the previous post.

"You should buy this because:
        you might be held hostage by aliens, and in need of a distraction" 

"You should buy this because:
        Stardock is an independent company and you support independent publishers"  

"You should buy this because:
        Some computers are too weak to handle Starcraft 2"  

"I should buy this because:
        You need to spend money and Elemental is a good substitute for drugs"  

(on an unrelated note, why arn't they counted as 'indie'? just because they make lots of money?)

Because they're big enough to get retail distribution and shelf space, they're also a publisher of other peoples games, and they own a digital distribution platform. For a start.

Use the universal answer...

Q: Should I buy game X?
A: Play the demo and decide for yourself, only YOU !THE CHOSEN ONE! can tell if you like a game or not!