the Gorgon

[quote]Channelers can also imbue their minions with some of their essence to make them far more powerful. To learn more on this concept, see the Wikipedia entry of Morgoth.[/quote] Yes, this is a really cool addition! [quote]Q:How is good and evil handled? A: Rather than using the terms good and evil we have elected to go with factions that either align themselves with life magic or death magic. The Empires make use of death magic and the

Another strong vote for both male and - if you dare! - female nipples plainly visible in the game. As European I don't expect to have to worry about nudity censorship, but would rather think sales could increase this side of the Atlantic as a result! [e digicons]:D[/e] By the way, a question: can you choose the type of nipples of your Chaneller when launching a new game? [e digicons]:grin:[/e]

I love the art direction. And thanks for showing us those wonderful Mucha pictures again! [e digicons]:D[/e] I'm sure the style will work very well in the end. The only thing I'm a bit worried about is how the units will look when they move in combat ... I must say that the tactical combat even in the latest version of Galciv 2 doesn't really look that nice, so I hope Stardock can make some better graphics on Elemental.

The city looks awesome! Maybe we could just fill in some more details on the plains and the coasts. Overall really cool!

Can you tell us a bit more about the factions? How is alignment (good and evil ...) handled in the game? What types of magic are there? Are there also priests (with divine powers) in the game?

[quote]If Leia were dressed in green and Darth Vader's outfit were maroon, I'd have enjoyed the movie as much. The attraction lies in the uses of classical archetypes, an interesting story, interesting characters and interesting mechanics (the Force, pretty much). The movie didn't do well because Darth Vader wore black. Yes, white is more linked with good in Western culture than black, but that's beside the point. You're the one saying you want to get away from realistic views and conceptions

sorry about the quotes all messed up above, I'm going to sleep now! :)

[quote who="pigeonpigeon" reply="9" id="2274929"] Quoting the Gorgon, reply 8Of course it could happen, you just say "this vampire is good". But it does not make it a good idea. And quite frankly, you just wrote a paragraph about this character from the Coldfire trilogy that I haven't read, and I'm sorry but I don't get turned on. So, for me it doesn't work. This is a strategy PC game, and you won't have the time, nor the inclination to hear a backstory about each and every unit you rand

[quote]pigeonpigeon[/quote][quote]We discuss first and foremost a game and not literature - in Elemental it will be difficult/impossible to have a new well-thought out background and explanation to why, say, a deathmagic-wielding vampire on the map would join a good army. So, it will in my view not work. I actually disagree. You kind of just described one of the protagonists in the Coldfire Trilogy (which I mentioned before), and it would take a matter of minutes to come up with a

The good/evil debate has apparently gone off in all directions. And if you ask me, the many examples (evil unicrons, good demons ...) just show what was brought forward in the earlier posts: there is a reason behind archetypes / clichés, so don't break them without being sure the new idea is really a good one. (and that demands good backstory) We discuss first and foremost a game and not literature - in Elemental it will be difficult/impossible to have a new well-thought

Has "Locust" been mentioned yet? Like in the Bible but an even bigger locust of ravenous insects pours forth from a tile on the map and starts advancing on the map into enemy territory, consuming everything in its path. The terrain would get transformed back into its "ruin" state like just after the Cataclysm. The locust would be so powerful that only a dragon or the like would have any chance of stopping it - any normal troops would be eaten along with the farms and plantations ... The locus

[quote]If you add in hordes of goblins and orcs and elves, they stop being something exciting. There's almost no point in adding them in because they just sort of fade out into being regular run of the mill units and you don't pay a second moment's notice to them. [/quote] Well they would still be as exciting, personally I would say probably more exciting, than the same number of human footsoldiers we have seen even more times than the orcs. The point here is that you need both common

[quote]Games where fantastical units are so prevalent to the extent that they are as common as or more so than 'regular' units makes the fantastical units become regular units. It's more exciting to see them (wandering, in your army and even in opponents' armies) when they aren't common. Being uncommon and uncommonly powerful makes them more significant, I think, than making them the mainstay of the game.[/quote] Yes I totally agree. So in that sense it's good that the fantastical cre

[quote]ake even LoTR, for example. Yes it has lots of races, Men, Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits, goblins, orcs, etc. But what are the creatures that really inspire awe? The Balrog. Sauron and Gandalf (maiar). The Nazgul. Galadriel (most powerful Elf in Middle Earth). The Ents - a dwindling species of ancient and powerful guardians of the trees. If you took out those, the world of LoTR would be a much less intriguing place - it's the rare but powerful fantastical beings in LoTR that make it really e

The delay to September is too bad, but no surprise ... but anyway what is important is to get the final game right. So just keep up the good work. [e digicons]:dur:[/e] The various victory conditions, and especially the terrain-wrecking magic, rule! Give us some Silver death please! When it comes to the basics there is only one complaint: no different races/creatures can be produced. Sorry, but modding in your own races is just not good enough and it's just too bad the

I love the idea that you start with only one person and then build your own empire! [e digicons]:D[/e] Also very good, and fresh, idea that you actually have to attract people from the countryside to your civilization. Will we be able to choose abilities and looks of our sovereign before starting (hope so), or does each faction come with a (more or less) preconfigured sovereign?

Sounds very ambitious, giving a lot of freedom to tailor-make your own armies. But I would plea (personal preference) for not focussing only on the ultra-realistic equipment of your troops, with magic and other creative elements just as as a rare add-on. There is certainly pleasure in upgrading from leather armour to chain-mail, but I must say it's more exciting to upgrade an 'Initiated ranger' to a 'Forestmaster' with power over animals and the ability to move invisibly through any f

In any case, this is just the ruling of the court of first instance, and it certainly won't go unchallenged. So the final verdict might take some 2 years. In any case, in the end it is a political issue that asks for a political settlement: and as such it will be settled firstly on the European stage and then implemented on the detailed level in each EU Member State. Piracy and a free Internet could be a major issue in the coming June European Parliament

This is good news, in particular after learning that there wont be any fantasy races in the basic game. But if Stardock would like to make some extra money (to use for developing further games) I for one would be willing to pay 50-100 $/€ for an expansion with several factions of elves etc, so that you could really play your D&D campaign or Silmarillion that was referred to at the start. [e digicons]:d[/e] BTW, Archon was soo cool! [e digicons]|-)[/e]

Good news! I love the D&D link and also the possibility to put your own names on the map.

[quote who="Insanetitan" reply="6" id="2121901"].....So the arguement is "it's not as fun since all the races look human regardless of other differentiating factors"? Seriously??[/quote] Well this comment is hardly serious since this is not what has been said in the earlier posts and replies. Reread with attention please ... The graphics is one point (not to be scoffed at by the way), the "hard facts" like abilities (ghosts floating through the walls...) i

[quote who="NTJedi" reply="10" id="2122594"] Quoting Zubaz, reply 9 I'm open to having more races for more players. It will maybe make more sales and I love it when SD makes more money. The fact is though that I'm in it for the gameplay. I can fake whatever I need to float my boat if I have to if playing is worth it. /snip/ Well you might be able to fake orcs if your knowledge of them is limited, but some races cannot be faked when ALL recr

[quote who="b0rsuk" reply="3" id="2121524"] Quoting the Gorgon, reply 1 Two human factions could indeed be programmed with the same statistics as a human faction and an orc race. But the game would feel completely different playing the orcs, because fantasy is about your imagination, living in another world for a few hours - and games are about enjoyment (not mathematics, for the players at least!). Being a real "Sauron" leading an empire of drooling, screaming orcs is a very differ

[quote who="BoogieBac" reply="17" id="2119138"]The amount of magic in the world will have much to do with how YOU spend it. /snip/ And there'll be plenty of monsterous creatures roaming the land from the war of the cataclysim, so I think there'll be enough 'fantasy' in the game for everyone [/quote] This calms some of our - hopefully completely unfounded - fears before the beta. That Angels and dragons should be rare is also ok, even

While waiting for some hard facts revealed (in the beta or earlier) I couldn't agree more with the post. The thing which is most difficult to understand is the limitation to only humans and Fallen in a Fantasy game. Weird choice in itself, but even weirder considering that Stardock has put a lot of emphasis on the "Spore-like" option of Elemental that should make it possible to create a ny number of worlds . But if such variety and flexibility is to be a basis of the game, then