I had heard about the issues that Stardock was having with the launch of Elemental: War of Magic, so I had held off with buying the game.

Reports had come in that the game was incredibly unstable and that there were possibly problems with the user interface. Concerns with user interfaces can sometimes be in the eye of the beholder, for example I know many people who love the Age of Empires UI, whereas I preferred the interface for Civilisation.

So, when it was announced that with patch 1.06, the game was now stable, I decided to give a vote of confidence in Stardock and give the game a fair go.

Positives

The basic theme and idea behind this game is gorgeous. It essentially tries to meld together games like Sid Meier’s Civilisation and Heroes of Might and Magic. If this idea was executed properly, it should have been hugely accessible to a large number of players. It should have attracted large numbers of casual players.

I give Stardock credit for trying something ambitious.

To Stardock’s credit there are some elements which have been well designed, and have been designed to be simple to use. For example, navigating your Ruler across the screen engaging in basic combat is relatively straightforward point and click exercises. There is even the option to AutoResolve combat. The screen where you equip your character is well designed, and you are able to equip your character via a simple drag and drop.



The music is also lovely and is well-appropriate for the game.

Elements that could be improved on

The biggest issue in the game is a lack of in-game tutorial.

The earlier Total War games, the Civilisation series and the Sims all use in-game tutorials to great effect. They’re crucial if you’re trying to get someone used to a new game.

I spent a large part of my first hour or so in the game totally lost and asking myself “what the heck do I do now?” I only persevered due to the amount of money I’ve spent on the game, and the fact that I really wanted to be fair and make a proper attempt at getting into the game.



When you’re not sure what you’re supposed to be doing, you find yourself mildly panicking and start randomly pressing buttons in the faint hope that you’re going to find the button you need. Which leads me to my next point:-

The game suffers massively from a confusing user interface that uses symbols that don’t have a great deal of meaning for most users. Elemental is badly in need of pop-ups to make the interface less confusing. As at patch 1.07, there were a few more pop-ups or some sort of labeling, but they only scratched the surface of the level of confusion the interface causes.

Basically, if you can’t find something you need within three clicks, that’s an issue.

There are a number of points in the game where I would discover really lovely features by accident. For example, I accidentally found the Store about an hour into playing the game. It took me another hour before I accidentally found the screen which allowed me to equip my character.

It would have been helpful if I had gotten a message at that point stating “You have just bought some equipment, would you like to equip your Ruler with that equipment?” leading straight to the equipment screen if you chose to say “yes”.

Serious issues

The storyline in this game appears fairly week and badly thought out. Stardock would likely have benefited from hiring at least one professional writer to write the storyline as Bioware did for Dragon Age Origins. With a more compelling storyline, the interface would have been less overwhelming, and players would have had a stronger reason to continue playing. I am unsure as to how they will be able to overcome this issue.

Most seriously, I had the same serious bug three times (both with patch 1.06 and 1.07) where I got stuck on the cloth map without the user interface and without the means to escape that screen. In each case, I got stuck on that screen for about ten or fifteen minutes before the game flicked back to the normal play screen.



The game should not have been released in this state, especially not from the game company who stated that we have the right to deserve our games be delivered in a finished state.

In Balance

As at this time, I have asked for a refund from Stardock due to the issues I experienced. I’m not entirely sure I will buy a game produced by Stardock again. Only time will tell.

I would not recommend you buy Elemental at this point. Brad Wardell has a large update planned sometime in the future (1.1) which may fix a great many of these issues. Until that time I would suggest holding off, as Elemental in its current state, is more stressful than fun for most players.

Editorial review written by saraswati

Hey Guys,

Two weeks ago we made an announcement to let everyone know where we stand on (invasive) DRM in PC Gaming and where we want to take the PC Gaming Industry with our vision and our plans. Today we are happy to announce that all our members will receive a condensed form of our business proposal within the next 10 days that will encompass our story, our vision and our plans for the immediate and long-term future. With this, our members will be able to discover:

1. Who we are as Consumer-Focused DRM Evaluators for the PC Gaming Industry,
2. What we provide in our line of services catered for our members, Consumers, other DRM vendors and Gaming Publishers,
3. Why our presence and why our solutions are sorely needed in the PC Gaming Industry,
4. When we can achieve our goals and tick off key milestones,
5. How we as Consumer-Focused DRM Evaluators can go about providing our products and services to the Industry, and, more importantly
6. Where we can go from here.

Most importantly, members will be able to see where they fit into the model and why we are determined to help not just our staff members, fellow Gamers, Consumers and the Industry, but also in other parts of the Community through:

• Our Values
• Our Mission
• Our Goals, and,
• Our Vision for the future.

Some of our members, Interested Parties, as well as our current and prospective staff members have already received a comprehensive version of our business proposal. Without their inspiration, timely advice and patience through our rebranding process we would never have completed the business proposal. Without them, we would never be able to show you, the members, what we have in store for you.

However, there’s much work to be done.

Over the next few weeks RYG will reform and redesign its DRM Testing Regimen, Project RYG. More Testing Questions, Categories and enhanced testing guidelines and methodologies will dominate the revision process. We will also start to investigate PC Games marketed for children, something which Parents may be interested to see. Members and the Gaming World will start to see these changes as we begin our self-financed independent tests and analyses on all DRM schemes and Digital Distribution systems within the PC Gaming Industry. We will include Steamworks, Ubisoft’s “Online Delivery Service” as well as revisit some household DRMs, such as SecuROM and StarForce.

Our goal: set the record straight on each DRM scheme and show just why DRM, as a whole, have been getting worse (and not better) within the PC Gaming Industry.

While we continue to improve our DRM evaluating services, we will also target our members with relevant DRM news and content on our website, reorganise our forum to coincide with our rebranding process as well as start spreading our message outwards to other DRM Vendors, Developers and Publishers.

For now it is pretty much business as usual. If you have any questions or queries regarding the raft of changes and future projects you can contact Martin via. email (martin.pham@reclaimyourgame.com).

For now we’re letting each and every one of you know that RYG isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Our focus is to keep Publishers honest with better DRM services from Vendors. We want Gamers to enjoy playing any PC Game they choose without the hassles of badly-implemented DRM.

It’s what we promise to deliver. And a promise we intend to keep.

From all of us at RYG, we thank you for your patience and understanding.

The RYG Staff

As we all know, digital distribution is on the rise. What we don’t know is the consequences of this development. Is digital distribution really a threat to brick-and-mortar stores? Will PC games be available solely via the internet in the future? And which is better, digital or physical distribution?

No question about it, digital distribution is gaining ground. According to an article on Be Very Afraid, the two distribution methods are now nearly equal when it comes to sales numbers. In 2009, 21.3 million PC games were purchased online in the U.S., while 23.5 million copies were purchased at retail stores. The largest digital retailer, Valve’s Steam, now has 25 million user accounts and 1.100 titles available for purchase.

How do gamers feel about the shift towards digital distribution? As with most issues, there are those who are for and those who are against. Some swear by physical discs, some like it digital. Judging by the sales numbers, many gamers have discovered the advantages of the digital format, the most important one being that no disc is needed. This removes the hassle of having to change discs. There is also no risk of the game disc being lost, broken or stolen. Plus, the condition of your copy doesn’t deteriorate with time and frequent use and there are no game boxes cluttering your living space.

Moreover, buying a digital copy is fast and easy. You can browse at home, find a game you like and be playing it in 10 minutes. Small games studios are particularly fond of internet distribution, since there are no costs of manufacturing, printing and shipping. For these reasons, the profit margin is normally higher than that of physical copies.

On the other hand, physical copies do have merits. For example, there is no requirement of a fast and reliable internet connection. Many gamers don’t have access to such connections and cannot download anything the size of a game. Also, as computers have a tendency to crash, many gamers trust discs more than digital files. Furthermore, there often is a feeling of nostalgia and collector’s pride connected with game boxes. In a blog post, Sydney Morning Herald journalist Corey Lee asks himself a question. “Would I rather want a file on my console or PC or instead a tangible copy that I can see, smell and touch with my own hands?” Lee chooses the latter. A poll on The Escapist’s forums suggests many agree with him; over 45 % say they prefer physical copies for all their games.

There is also the matter of second-hand sales. The reselling of a physical copy means that a game box and some bills change hands; it’s a very straightforward operation. Sadly, only a few digital retailers allow resells, for instance Stardock’s Impulse. Some people argue that, with second-hand sales not allowed, we are moving towards a market where games are not sold, but rented.

Furthermore, used games are a huge market, although this business is admittedly bigger for console games. In an interview, Gamestop’s digital-busines manager Shawn Freeman told IGN that physical media will remain important in the future. "Our core business is still very strong and we're still very excited about the advances in that side of the business," Freeman said. It seems the physical copy still has a strong ally in Gamestop, the world’s largest retailer of videogames.

Any way you look at it, it is digital distribution that is the wave of the future. As new technologies improve it, it will no doubt gain even more in popularity and importance. However, physical distribution is unlikely to disappear entirely. The traditional disc still has many supporters and is certainly not defeated. As both systems have their pros and cons, which is better depends on what qualities you value. For now, let’s just enjoy having different options and play whatever way we like.

Discussion HERE on our forums

Hey guys,

First of all we would like to say thank you for staying patient with us.

As you know the migration, along with the rebranding process of RYG has been difficult. But it wasn’t impossible. Our team have been working tirelessly to get RYG back on its feet. Most of you keeping a close watch on RYG would have noticed:

• Ruben’s (Sblade) efforts to transfer our data from Joomla over to vBulletin, which has benefited our Communications Team
• Mary (MaryH) and Anna (Choklad) and their contributions with growing our Twitter base as well as their well-written articles
• Kath (saraswati) coming on board to assist in the functionality of RYG and ensure our members, as well as our readership, have easy access to our source of DRM-related information

Their handiwork will become much more noticeable in the coming weeks leading into September where we will begin our ‘Soft Launch’ into the PC Gaming Industry as Independent DRM Evaluators. Lisa (Calipip4) and Martin have already begun laying the foundations with the registration of RYG within Australia. We’ve also found 4 new staff members with 3 potentials to add to our ranks. And with our current staff we’re rebuilding RYG from the ground up with the aim of delivering our products to Consumers, DRM Vendors and Publishers. As many of you know, they include our:

• DRM Testing, Advice and Evaluation from an end-user point of view, as well as
• Our DRM-related news service and content

We will keep you abreast with what’s going on as we continue to make final preparations in the coming weeks. There’ll be updates regarding our DRM Testing Service, which will feature new Testing Sections. With more Questions and Testing Sections ensures that we test every aspect of any DRM based on its end-user qualities. DRMs now will have an even closer eye to watch thanks to our updated Tests. We’ll also let you know with where RYG is heading and, most importantly, how it affects you as a Gamer. If you would like to be involved in some way with RYG please email myself at martin.pham@reclaimyourgame.com and we’ll see what we can do for you. For now we’re letting each and every one of you know that RYG isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Our focus is to keep Publishers honest with better DRM services from Vendors. We want Gamers to enjoy playing any PC Game they choose without the hassles of badly-implemented DRM.
It’s what we promise to deliver. And a promise we intend to keep.

From all of us at RYG, we thank you for your patience and understanding.

The RYG Staff