Congrats, Kael!

Congrats, but don't completely abandon your roots whatever you do Good luck at Stardock!

Okay i might consider buying this game now... Congrats to you Kael, dont forget us :\

White Elk said:

I see the opposite Dirty. I see Elementals success without Kael as being in the ninety percentile. I see Kael joining the team as icing on the cake. And I see Stardock as champion for those of us who seek 4X games of old school depth. I'd say the same for Firaxis if not for the vampristic monkey on their back. Stardock is fortunate to be a private company unbeholden to share holders. Stardock has an increased freedom to create niche games. And they have the ability, desire, and track record to continue perfecting their games long past release. I see Stardock as saving the 4X genre as other companies streamline and simplify their games.


But nevermind all that.

I think it very cool that Kael has meet a dream and is getting paid to do something he enjoys. I am happy for his oppurtunity, and I admire his efforts which afforded him this chance. I think he is fortunate to work for one of the good companies, and I look forward to enjoying his contributions to what I am sure will be a game I enjoy for many years.

Click to expand...

I fairly disagree with your assessment of the odds. Far more sympathetic to Dirty's version.

Just go down the list of features on their main page...

• Randomly Generated Maps.
  • ........Made up of non-random land masses. Yes. Oh so random indeed.
• 10 Unique Factions.
  • How on earth do you call those unique?
• In-Depth unit and character design.
  • Which is unfortunately generally uninteresting, and riddled with issues... Potential for greatness, sure, but is that potential realized? In no way.
• Massive modding support.
  • 

As I've said before... Elemental DOES have some potential. On paper. Buried under broken, unoriginal, and uninteresting mechanics.

Give Kael the ability to change those mechanics, and even I will buy the game. If Wardell does not allow him that room, though... Well, we've seen his idea of 'Design'. Elemental is basically his earlier games with a new engine and a new setting. Wonderful design sense, that. Truly original.

tom2050 said:

It's amazing 2K and Firaxis paid no mind to Kael after he, with ffh, probably made both of them alot of money from the mod... and Stardock comes and swoops him up. Depending on how it goes, Stardock = smart; 2K = dumb and broke.

I wonder if 2K games will offer a free expansion to everyone that owns the game already...?? Oh wait, n/m... Hell hasn't frozen over yet for that to happen.

Click to expand...

Completely, blatantly untrue. You do realize that Kael was one of around 80 beta testers for the game? For well over a year? Where he took part in discussions, and arguments, with the devs, and contributed to the game's design? I do not call that ignoring him.

And 2K will not offer a free expansion, no. It doesn't have to; CiV players were not tricked into purchasing an abortion of a game for full price, for the privilege of becoming alpha testers.

Zechnophobe said:

Derek. Mr Paxton. Home bro. PLEASE stand up to Brad Wardell. Stardock is a possibly great, but not yet so, company that I think is hurt by the odd idealism of its CEO. If you can change that, and add good flair and flavor to their products, it will be a true coup.

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White Elk said:

I don't think Elementals success is going to be PR and marketing driven. Kaels task is to realize, and expand upon, Brads existing vision for the game. And Kaels success rides on the shoulders of the talented work that Brad Wardell and the Elemental Team has already brought to the game. The potential for the game is obvious as stated by reviewers and users alike. Look past the construction debris and see what they have been building!

Click to expand...

In my view, Elemental is like a building made of rotten cement. In order to fix it, you must tear down and rebuild much of what is there. Given the opportunity to do so, I believe it can be a good game. Without that opportunity (IE, if Wardell continues to treat it as his baby), it will never be a game worth what it costs. Maybe I'd get it if it was in a $5 bargain bin somewhere.

I am going to seriously mull buying Elemental over the next week. It looks like poorly executed fun, while civ V looks like well executed boredom. I don't particularly care for the art style, but I can live with it, and I like the user friendly modding tools.

I also see a tactical map, and Blender compatibility already, and hiring Kael, to me means serious business.

I bought Galciv II the day it came out and played it for about 20 minutes until I was bored... (civ IV was sooooooo much better), however I bought it for the lack of DRM commitment.

So yeah... I'll come back around if civ VI looks any good. Wardell's strategy worked on me.

GalCiv2 is quite fun now (after 2 years of patching and 2 addons), I'd even say it's great. It's usually the case with 4X games anyway, require a lot of tuning post release.

However as Valkrionn said, the bases of Elemental are very very poor, let aside the early game engine memory leaks and crashes that should be fixed by now. It's not only the AI which is always fixable to an extend but it's most of the design, poor buildings, very unappealing magic that need a full rewrite.

And when i think, I bought it for its "wonderful modding opportunities", what a joke.

Maybe in 1 or 2 years, as it took that time to Stardock to get GalCiv2 from a "decent" level to a "very nice" one.

All OT above.

Maybe in 1 or 2 years, as it took that time to Stardock to get GalCiv2 from a "decent" level to a "very nice" one.

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I'm honestly willing to wait that long. it is rare to have a developer talking to his fanbase as much as Wardell does. Him and Kale should make a great team.

Congratulations, Kael!

Being a long time fan of both Stardock and FfH, I am quite excited to see what this relationship will generate. I am quite certain it will be an enjoyable experience.

At least i've hidden my OT in Elemental stuff
edit: you did too

You guys aren't giving Brad Wardell enough credit. if there's on developer on the planet that listens to player feedback more than anyone else - he is it. I think Kael and him will be great for the game and the company.

Though Brad's political policies are not one I agree with, Brad as a gamer is nearly without equal. He cares a lot and with his small team does the most he can. People often forget their development AND publishing arm are TINY, compared to the development team at Firaxis and the muscle Take2 has on markets.

I can only see great things in store for this collaboration, and Brad's decision to bring on such fantastic new talent speaks volumes about his candor.

jpinard said:

You guys aren't giving Brad Wardell enough credit. if there's on developer on the planet that listens to player feedback more than anyone else - he is it. I think Kael and him will be great for the game and the company.

Though Brad's political policies are not one I agree with, Brad as a gamer is nearly without equal. He cares a lot and with his small team does the most he can. People often forget their development AND publishing arm are TINY, compared to the development team at Firaxis and the muscle Take2 has on markets.

I can only see great things in store for this collaboration, and Brad's decision to bring on such fantastic new talent speaks volumes about his candor.

Click to expand...

Yes... Totally listens. That's why he banned Dale, of all people, for 'being a troll'. In english: Posting criticism. Not criticism of him, not criticism of the team, but well-deserved criticism of game mechanics which were broken at the time.

Yes. Totally listens to people.

Honestly, that is the main reason I dislike Wardell. The guy soaks up any positive comments like a sponge, but flames, bans, or both, anyone who dares to be negative.

Thanks to everyone for the kind words. I enjoyed being a modder, but the thought of focusing on game development full time just about blows my mind.

Valkrionn that happened in the flurry of emotion, and if you weren't aware, not too many developers write up whole blog posts of everything they screwed up to publicize to the world. Criticizing and flaming themselves. It took a bit of time but it happened, and not recognizing the change of attitude is unfair.

And this is about looking forward - I can't think of a better move.

So do all the Fall Further devs come together to build FFH for Civ 5?

.... I'm game...

and congrats Kael!

jpinard said:

Valkrionn that happened in the flurry of emotion, and if you weren't aware, not too many developers write up whole blog posts of everything they screwed up to publicize to the world. Criticizing and flaming themselves. It took a bit of time but it happened, and not recognizing the change of attitude is unfair.

And this is about looking forward - I can't think of a better move.

Click to expand...

See... I don't view it as a change. I view it as a "Oh , best say something that makes this look better!"

We'll see if the change of attitude is real or not based on how he behaves in the future, not how he behaved in a single post. Even if it is a true change... It doesn't do much to rectify my impression of him. The fact that he'd do that in the first place is pretty damn bad, IMO.

All devs get flamed. You do not flame back. You ignore it, or you answer it calmly and rationally. To do otherwise simply confirms their views.

Hell, Wardel wasn't even flamed. I've read Dale's post. It was quite well written. It deserved a rational response, or at the least no response. Not a ban.

notque said:

So do all the Fall Further devs come together to build FFH for Civ 5?

.... I'm game...

and congrats Kael!

Click to expand...

I would personally say no to that... FfH without Kael just feels wrong. FfH was a wonderful game... But that does not mean we should recreate the same thing. Move on, make your own setting, create something new and original without relying on the lore produced by others.

For that matter, Xienwolf is supposed to be working on Eden.

Well i'd say yes to it so i could remove my 12gb installation of Civ4 that I keep for the only purpose of playing FFH and its variants.

Create something new and original? Did you see how many leaders I created!?

There's a ton of original work from all of us, it was a community project. And it doesn't depend on Kael (although there were many things he was great at which made the project so successful.)

I will agree though, we'd have to have Xienwolf to survive without Kael. He really keeps things moving...

notque said:

Create something new and original? Did you see how many leaders I created!?

There's a ton of original work from all of us, it was a community project. And it doesn't depend on Kael (although there were many things he was great at which made the project so successful.)

I will agree though, we'd have to have Xienwolf to survive without Kael. He really keeps things moving...

Click to expand...

Well, that wasn't what I meant at all.

We can embellish on FfH. I've added many leaders as well. As well as some civs, new mechanics, etc.

None of that qualifies as what I meant, though... I meant, we should develop our own settings. Leave FfH entirely. It is Kael's setting; Without Kael, it just feels... Wrong, to continue on in it.

Plus, to truly create FfH you MUST limit yourself to the lore. It is no longer a modmod; You have to follow the lore to the letter. I want my own setting where I am not limited in what I do. Hence, I will be working on Eden. As will Grey Fox, Opera, Xienwolf, KillerClowns... Once we get the DLL source. Of course, some of those people may end up not working on it, and others may start, but hey, that's the current list as of our forum.


So ultimately, my point is: It is Kael's setting. Without Kael, it feels wrong to develop within that setting.

I certainly understand your point. Perhaps I should just work on Eden too.

Congrats! Until last year, I worked in the technical park a few doors down from Stardock, on the other side of Compuware Arena, and the area is real nice.

Walking distance to some quick eats and, if you drive to lunch, good restaurants downtown only 5 miles away (heck, if you're willing to drive to Ann Arbor Road or Haggerty Road, both within 10 miles, you have even more places to eat.) However convenient, I'd never suggest fast food since it's usually not good for you, the tradeoff for being right next door and already prepared ).

I used to walk to the park less than 1/4 mile north of there on my lunch break, with quite a few ball fields and a good fenced-in dog walking area in the back. (I worked there for years before discovering how big and well kept that park was. Not everyone likes it since there aren't many trees, but it is what it is.)

Pretty good school districts in the area if you have kids, and real affordable housing for what you get, much cheaper than just a few years ago during the bubble.

Once again, congrats.