Please see my Thoughts and analysis on TA as of beta 4b for changes I would like made to the Thalans.

Great work as always,
~ Wyndstar

Niiiiice, now no one dam well better torrent that editor!

I don't know if it's appropriate here or not, but why not.

While not directly economics, I'd like to see a building that reduces the effect of population on morale. Call it archology.

Why it's appropriate: the reason for the pop cap was that people were abusing the game and putting 100 billion people on a rock and milking them for coin. The archology concept allows you to have more people on a planet comfortably, but makes you pay for it. It takes away a building space and it costs maintenance.

Further, you can relate the concept back to real life (I like to do that with games). With too many people on a planet living space is scarce and people get unhappy. So, the government can build massive projects to alleviate the housing problem.

Please comment on this or my other hair brained ideas, here or here
WWW Link

Thanks!

Comment deleted on further consideration.

So you're suggesting that the 95% of us who are honest people should pay for the, as you put it, "numbnuts" out there? SD can withhold the editors, of course. Technically they have the right to refuse to continue working on the expansion and just release it as-is, too. What they can do is not always what they should do to keep a loyal customer base.

If they refuse to release the other editors because of the actions of a few a**holes out there, they are doing the same thing other companies do: punishing the honest majority for the sins of the dishonest minority. You're right, Luckmann, they can do that if they choose. And other software companies are perfectly happy doing just that. It is of course 100% their choice. But if this turns out to be the first step toward the "customers are all thieves" attitude, I won't be the only one who gives up on what has otherwise seemed to be the last bastion of customer-oriented software.

Sorry for being a dope, but what may I ask is a torrent site? I've heard of bit torrent software, but what is a torrent site?

Simply put... A gateway to a network of home computers... to participate, you agree to host, so each one holds a piece of a file(s), so it's distributed out among alot of computers. Stuff goes on and off your computer and everyone else's, creating a huge network. It also incorporates a "give to get" model, meaning you have to host stuff and allow download from your PC in order to download from everyone else's, technically. You can DL without hosting, but you get far less performance ( supposedly ). In any event, as it relates to this forum, it's a difficult topic to bring up at best, as it is generally considered an avenue for pirated files to make their way around the internet.
It makes tracking illegal files difficult because they are spread all over creation, not hosted on any one machine. This is not to say that all the files they host are pirated, but it does make it a convenient vehicle for it. That being said, and trying really hard not to sound condescending... I don't engage in piracy of any kind. I choose instead to pay the companies that do good work. I don't want to go into it any farther, so as not to incur the wrath of those who think differently. People are just that, different. Some consider what they do as a crusade against companies that don't support their products, some think there's nothing wrong with what they do. That's for them to decide, not me, not here. Suffice to say piracy will happen, making support of companies like Stardock all the more important... and that is the road I wish to take. I would hope I am not alone on this road, and that the wishes of Stardock would be honored, no matter what the level of understanding on anyone's part as to why.

I will be very happy to have one of the editors to play with...

I also hope to be able to go back to my custom race, and to have the ship maintenance/economic cap tweaked. Limits on funds means limits on ships means limits on gameplay, and the only thing that needs limits in my book is political offices.

Please scale the economy limits with galaxie size, and install realistic ship maintenance costs... or make these editable for modding purposes ( which they already may be... )

Thankyou Stardock for remaining active, both with the game and in the forums.

T

I'm not a big fan of turn based strategy games, but GC:TA is GREAT ...
I've been spending most of my free time playing it. Plus a few hours
of Sins when I have time too.


Looking forward to its release ...

So it's like P2P file sharing? Like Kazaa or LimeWire?

Not entirely. This also isn't the place to continue talking about it.

Read the Wiki article if you wish to know more.
WWW Link

You know what, I never said I would release it on torrent. They said they don't want it so I would never do it. So don't start accusing people of something that you think they are going to do when you have no prove dumbass.

I 2nd that emotion.

Another question about the Thalans, I tried them under Good and the Gaia Vortex doesn't seem to be working. It's meant to be a 10% to PQ bonus/Morale Bonus/Econ bonus/Food Bonus. I planted it on my homeworld (PQ21 after teraforming) and gained no tiles. The food/morale definitely worked though. Also, what bonuses were a empire wide vs just the planet it's built on?

Speaking as a long-term fan of stardock, I have to say the current attitude is puzzling. Stardock have gained incredible amounts of goodwill amongst their customers, and deservedly so.

Now, we're being threatened with dire consequences if something's leaked onto a torrent site? Yes, piracy is bad. Why the sudden turnaround into threats and paranoia? Inevitably, it will be uploaded onto a torrent site. This is more or less guaranteed. I thought Stardock's entire philosophy with regards to piracy was "If we don't treat the customers like thieves, they won't act like them."

To be honest, reading this kind of thing makes *me* want to upload it. If someone's going to assume I'm a thief anyway, why should I stick to my principles? (Obviously I'm not going to upload, I'm just pointing out my immediate reaction).

I'm very, very disappointed. If you're going to treat me like a criminal, you can keep your editor, and I'll find something to do that doesn't involve being insulted.

If you don't want it to get uploaded to a torrent-site, don't put it in the beta. I'm pretty sure 99,99% of the people here would not do something like that, but there is a good chance that someone will. And the way it is put know, 99,99% of the people will feel offended.

Personally I agree with Luckmann, anyone who puts the editor on a torrent site is a numbnut. Anyone who desperately wants the editors is most likely a huge fan of this game, in which case they already have access to the editors via their purchase of the game. Therefore putting the editors on a torrent would only benefit people who didn't buy the game and most likely have no interest in creating their own content for it. Eergo there is no good reason to torrent the editors, especially given the warnings by SD. I am confident the fans of this game have the common sense and desire to support SD and the GC series of games and will not do anyone the discourtesy of disregarding the wishes of the staff at SD and the GC community.

I'm not sure that the idea of it appearing on a torrent site is to prevent piracy. Maybe Stardock believes that people downloading from these types of places might give a false impression of an inferior end-product in the eyes of potential customers (i.e. misguided pirates).

I hope Stardock clarifies their position soon as this thread is getting out of hand.

Lets not jump to conclusions, I have no doubt Stardocks position re pirating has not changed one iota. Doubtless there is a Beta related issue with the editors, and they are just being cautious for the moment. It is a Beta .... lets not set a bandwagon rolling based on assumption and suposition. Its only the end of life on Earth as we know it if you let it be so ....   

Regards
Zy

That's a good point (SD may just not want people to get the wrong impression of the quality of the beta), but the fact is they made what amounts to a "we'll punish everybody if this happens" threat. I respect their position and it would suck to see their work torrented half an hour after it's released. But the fact is, most of us are honest and don't deserve to even hear the threat.

O-Kay, lemme jump into the scramble here for a minute.

Whatever SD decides to do with ITS code is just fine with me. Protecting my investment at the same time while worrying some "editors" might creep up as torrents out there is another sign that THEY care about our-soon-to-be-our-very-own-and-paid-with-real-cash products.
That says a lot about this corp - they actually would take any steps necessary to satisfy ME and anyone else who pay for the game and its expansion(s).

Sure, i'd find some use for the map editor and plenty more while i am actively developping the X-Worlds mod, but i'll be honest... i WILL wait for that pleasure when i order and, once again pay for, the genuine stuff. Call it karma, call it honesty. I don't mind.

SD is proving once more, the value of GC2/TA is beyond any price we should afford or by a great length - supplemental features worth the mere 30 some buckaroos.
Pirates would always find "a" way to hit the market. Their fault, their troubles, their mood.

I will buy it in March and be-come absolutely sure it has what i want or wish for(!?), and more.

Just the editors will be extremely useful to expand X-Worlds and its assets, will allow me to work efficiently, will essentially cut the work-load by huge percentages. I can't imagine creating specific aspects (X-Com tech-tree(s), campaigns & scenarios, etc) without these. Besides, i heard gameplay itself has gone wild some. Between two tasks, i play also - ya know.

Thus, anti-piracy is a business matter. I'm only a customer.
Who pays.
Willingly.
For incredible value(s).

- Zyxpsilon.

It may just be me, but when the original post talks about this week - and they usually release late in the thursday-ish (right?) ... my point is I dont see new a update: have you been working late again?
or was 'this week' a short for 'the coming several weeks'? ... sorry I just like your game and I thought the last couple of releases was, uhm - not enough to satisfy my hunger.

I hope it is out before Friday morning because I am moving that day and won't internet for a bit.

NiklasInSpace, it's still not "late Thursday-ish". Normally on a Thursday release it's not out until about 6pm EST, so you have about 10 hours to go yet.

Yes ... I am puzzled by this turn of events as well. They know this is the internet, right? There is ALWAYS a griefer in any group that will do whatever they are not supposed to, and if it wrecks havoc among innocent bystanders, so much the better.

But I agree ... lets wait for an official response before we accuse Stardock of turning into EA

Dano

It's a 'dire consequence' to have to wait 4-8 weeks for the market release of the product? If your life is so cushy that THAT is considered dire...I'd like to trade lives:P

It's THEIR beta, they can release how much and what they chose for pre-release. At the time of the release date, you will get the full package you paid for.

Stop acting like you have a right to have these editors now. You don't. Not until the release in March. Anything they give you now along those lines is a gift.

Last time I checked, PQ bonuses only work on planets you actually colonize. As such, if you colonized every planet before you built it, then the Gaia Vortex is practically useless.

However, Stardock has made changes to creativity in the TA betas, so its possible that they may make changes to PQ bonuses as well. It would be unfortunate if they didn't considering that the description of the Gaia Vortex suggests that it will boost the PQ of all the planets that the empire owns.