Well, no, DRM is not illegal, it is tradionally just not protected by law (but nowadays we have DMCA and EUCD). Traditionally, copyright laws simply don't protect DRM, and you simply have the right to use your property in any way you like.

By the way, Stardock does NOT use DRM in the traditional meaning of the word (=allowing only trusted hard/software to play the content).

I've been patiently waiting for your Turn-Based Fantasy game for I think over a year now, since I first heard about it.

I've seen what you guys have done with Galciv, and I can't wait to see what you come up with.  Thank you THANK YOU for making these types of games.  No one else is doing it nearly as well as you guys, and with such enthusiasm to boot.

I'm hoping that if I order the game in advance I might be able to play the Beta in June, like how you've released the GalCiv expansions in Beta before their release?

Have I been obvious enough with how excited I am for this game?

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Me too me too.

I can't wait for that game....  I want it now now now  (I know I'm like a baby! I have three at home who give me a great example on how to throw a fit when I do not have what I want )

The report is nice and all, but I find it interesting that Linux was an option for what people want Stardock to focus on, while actual Linux users couldn't honestly complete the survey.

If I remember correctly, there was a question on what operating system you use.  But it only listed Windows OSes.  I tried to leave it blank, but it wouldn't let me.  So I chose the last version of Windows I used, which was Windows XP.  There was another question that asked what non-gaming Stardock utilities I used.  Since I use Linux, I don't use any of them.  But even though it was a "Check all that apply" question, it refused to let me go any further until I checked at least one of those options.  Since I don't use any of those products, I couldn't possibly answer the poll honestly, I would be forced to lie and say I use a product I've never even seen in action.

I own GalCiv2 and both expansions, and I attempt to run them in Wine (though they're very buggy), and that's really the only Stardock product I've ever owned.  I would love to make it clear that I want more Linux support, and I wish I had the chance when it mattered.  But the poll I was sent was very much broken in the sense that I couldn't be completely honest and complete it at the same time.  It just wouldn't let me.

Interesting - yea... Surprising - not really.

The most interesting thing for me was this:

Another note - It appears that I am a part of the majority in like 90% of the cases.

So with me considering myself a typical and knowledgeable user, I'd say the survey is pretty indicative and accurate on just about every point.

And I agree with Murrdox - Stardock is just about the only company that makes high quality turn based strategy games on a regular basis. And also supports them actively.

I have to say that is the ONE thing that this poll lacked A LOT

no, no, no, no I'm not talking about linux at all... I mean that if you had something which wasn't in the poll answers you couldn't answer at all, or some answers were approximations

I said it multiple times before: Providing "OTHER"options in a poll or survey is a necessary evil, so that people have the ability to fill the poll (or survey) without errors... (that doesn't mean that people won't make errors though...)

you guys forgot this in the legitimate complaints : if a program needs to install additional "something" on your computer, the user should : know about it, prior to buy AND upon installation, this "something" should NOT in any case pave the way for hacks/cheats/viruses/trojans and malware in general, and this "something" shouldn't in any case be able to make the stability of the computer at risk (which in turns makes data loss a possibility)

if you want to know what I'm referring to, I'm referring to the known SONY entertainment case with a certain CD AUDIO copy protection which included a rootkit  + drivers with unsafe uninstalls, and said rootkit was used by others to hide things from other programs/games (like World Of Warcraft "cheats") and other malicious uses ...

see : http://www.f-secure.com/v-descs/xcp_drm.shtml

http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/11/sonys_drm_rootk.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Sony_BMG_CD_copy_protection_scandal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extended_Copy_Protection

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/10/sony_drm_trojan/

and finally the original blog from mark russinovitch : http://blogs.technet.com/markrussinovich/archive/2005/10/31/sony-rootkits-and-digital-rights-management-gone-too-far.aspx

(an independant expert which developped powerful windows utilities like process explorer, rootkit revealer... and his talent was finally recognized by microsoft so he's now employed there (and his tools remain free) )

Mark's blog highlights another reason to get a 64 bit version of Windows, and this is true for Vista as well as XP: Kernel patch protection.

By the way, if the Wikipedia is accurate most antivirus vendors, including Microsoft's own Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool, will detect the Sony rootkit and remove it.