+1

Where have you heard that "Stardock being in difficult waters"?? That's total BS. Elemental the game is not doing so well, but the company is just fine.

Interesting, I'd agree about giving up if it were any other company.  Haven't bought a command and conquer since that garbage CnC 3, though it used to my favorite series.  The big companies release and forget, I prefer to keep my many with the more dedicated companies. 

I am still here, and will be for quite a while. I actually can enjoy the game currently, and also see its vast potential. Best of luck to those let go, that is no fun, and I wish I had something to offer for them, other than condolences.

Stardock, stay on target!

 Stardock, Froggie, Boogie & other devs as well!

PS. Mark my words people....EWoM will be amongst the top3 fantasy TBS games after the gameplay mechanics will be enhanced/polished. [Side note: The remaining bugs and system specific CTDs will be fixed very fast, so no worries. ]

Brad's the CEO and owner of the company. When he said in his journal that it was his decision, it really was.

I have done my best to always purchase stardocks inhouse produced games because I believe in the way they operate as a brand and as a measuring stick for the rest of the industry.

Matter of fact I found my entrepreneur CD just the other day. It's still shrink wrapped..
I guess I had purchased it to play it, but the last 13 years have been rather busy.

Elemental may not be perfect today, but it will no doubt get there.  I don't regret giving stardock my $56AUD if it helps
keep things moving along.  At the end of the day if I went to the pub I'd drink more than that in a night.

So really computer games are cheap entertainment when compared to how quickly I could spend that money in the outside world.

i bought the game at beta 2

that says all

Yeah, I just Googled "stardock layoff" and got a nasty surprise. Very tough time for all of you. Your biggest asset remains. Your loyal fans who have loved the Galciv series, Sins of a Solar Empire, and of course Impulse! Not to mention your Windows application software.

A loyal fan base and industry goodwill count for a lot. With those, a studio can screw up now and then and still roll with the punch, bounce back, and win! Paradox released Hearts of Iron III way too early, eventually managed to fix their game, and recover.

So, what now? You have to devote some resources to fixing EWoM, but not the bulk of them. Think of another way to make money fast and devote the majority of your resources to that would seem to be at the top of the list. My own suggestion for doing that would be to do something with what you already have, with what you know already is going to sell well.

If Ironclad Studios is not affected by all this and still with you, it would seem a good idea to bring out Sins of a Solar Empire 2 as quickly as possible. Everyone would be satisfied with an updated engine more suited to current technology. Engine doesn't have to be multi-core although that would be nice; just get rid of the 2 gig RAM barrier with the annoying dumps. Then, look through the popular mods. Incorporate the best and the coolest stuff. Add a few new features beyond the mods, perhaps, but nothing that is going to eat your time and resources.

But why am I giving advice to the Frogboy? I'll bet you already have ten ideas better than anything I can think of.

/hugs

AND

/$$ for Elemental (already given, heh)

No regrets!

This is the first game from Stardock that i've purchased.  I never had the chance to play GalCiv or Sins or any of the other ones.  I'm enjoying the game so far, and after seeing the support on the forums that things will get better i'm confident this will be a great game in time.

Ironclad shouldn't be affected given how well Sins did (I hope!), but I think this is a really bad idea. After a bad launch, the LAST thing you do is rush another game to launch.

Ironclad gave Stardock's publishing arm their last great launch in Sins. Give them the time they need to put out another gem. The best thing right now for that part of the business is another successful launch.

(And the engine DOES have to be multicore. The performance gains are too important considering virtually every PC sold in the last few years is dual core.)

Just so long as you don't write any good reviews either or present the game to your friends or others as something worth buying in its current state as that would, given your stated opinion of the game, be dishonest of you.

Apart from that, I am not so certain that withholding honestly meant and truthful information from somebody else, who could profit from that news, just because it is "bad news" counts as loyalty towards the party you are protecting. It seems to me to be demeaning and, pardon me, downright insulting to try to protect others from the consequences of their own actions as if they were children, mentally incapable, or otherwise not responsible for their own actions. As a serious games developer, Stardock deserves better from you than that. They aren't the "dumb but well loved" family member that needs your protection.

Be loyal to Stardock by supporting them in tough times and buying their products for as long as your loyalty lasts. If you feel that your money is better spent by Stardock than by you (for whatever reason), send them more money. Heck, you don't want to send in for a refund, but there's nobody preventing you from buying say eight or ten copies instead of a measly one. Buying more than you need, now that could be seen as an expression of devotion and loyalty.

But don't try to protect Stardock from bad news. It is demeaning to them and it lessens yourself.