According to the universal code of PC game launches game developers must ensure:

All games, products, and or services that are distributed or rely on a digital/on-line component (e.g. the "Internet") must have a disastrous first few days of availability to ensure that the entire release is tainted.

The level of disaster and general failure of said service must be inversely proportional to the amount of time, effort, and testing that went in to trying to avoid the mandatory fate.

However, the rules do not specify WHEN this disaster must occur.  So there's some wiggle room.  So rather than having the "disaster" and "nightmare" be on Galactic Civilizations II's release date we would like to move it back to be a week BEFORE the release.

Specifically, what we want to do is allow users who pre-ordered it to be able to download the bulk of the game (everything basically but the EXEs and key DLLs).  That way, it'll be the same effect as you'd get on release date -- thousands and thousands of people trying to get the same files at the same time from around the world but still allowing us to keep the retailers from being upset at actually releasing the game before it's available there.

And in this way, all the horrible problems that seem to always happen on these kinds of things can be dealt with before the actual release.  In theory, it should work fine.  But my friends at other game companies have told me the same thing -- they were sure they had made sure everything would be fine and then it was still a cluster..

Stardock will provide the appropriate threads to respond in. We will title them with names like:

"Stardock sucks!"

"Where's my *^%& game?"

"MORE server woes! Hello, Stardock?!"

"Why I will never buy another product from this lame company again"

"Didn't they test this thing?"

By fulfilling the letter of the on-line release policy even if not the spirit, we can hopefully make February 21st much easier.