Updates are tricky,

i feel making only one spell per turn, was a little harsh.

punishing players is not fashionable. the hero aspect is my favorite, and hiding the essence("mp's") whatevr it is called is weird.

if all heroes buffed the spell, so it affected a larger range and did more dmg with a greater chance of success...

thats one thing.

but you just nerfed my favorite part of the game, casting spells.

i want alot of gorgeous spells.

a spell editor would be awesome.

it is getting hard to play the game.

BTW, this game is gorgeous,and the engine is stunning.i think it is exactly what the genre needed.

more customization freedom, that is easy to access. i would cite games that have such editors, but with out expressed intrest from a forum mod, it is not polite.

I think this game is a wonderful start, focusing on the elements the make it run smooth and without memory leaks is essential, next is making the game with a strong out of the box game, including:

1. tutorial. your already rolling your eyes... but make it the most comprehensive, with rewards contained through out(good ones), tutorial ever!

-a. Elemental:WoM is a mystery!. this is awesome and bad. demystify some of the inner workings of the game in this tutorial, in the form of what NPC's say. but i am lost on what to do every turn, besides explore the countryside(hoping for more goodies or monsters, monster spawning lairs!!!make practice monsters for lvling heros(usually large maps 5 opponents) ).

--I. if an npc, or better; a villager, said hey, why don't you build a inn, and here is why===> put this into a xml journal(or whatever is easiest.) with a nice interface for checking later.  i would be enamoured.

--II. if this info is recorded from the game it adds a level of understanding for everyone involved, thus informing a decision. i feel this would be monumental for the genre, not just elemental

2. advanced scenario: ive read about people playing on medium and hard, but i get stumped on easy, if a scenario cryptically explained, through making the player do it, using a reasonable strategy for a normal game, leaving hard to figure for ones self.

-a. this would allow players to enjoy the layers of the game that are virtually invisible(to some, not all). this is a complex game with beautiful graphics, and i want to enjoy it, but it scares me away before it pulls me in.  i need a fun scenario with great rewards(if i am a dog, gimme bacon before you gimme a milk bone...)

3. an editor comprehensive enough to spawn other projects. the entire tower defense genre was spurred by a game's editor.

-a. battle screen, is under utilized. if i could enter the battle screen as an interface for my city squares, and find secrets, items or ways to play the game more efficiently(even better the choice between the two. 

--I. could the battle screen be used as a separate dungeon map that could be randomly generated with a different set of, say 5 - 10, but what ever) minor enimes, sub boss with item, and boss with nice item. the whole map could be like a hundred squares.

--II. more interaction with the sovereigns and Champions/Heros/Main characters, the battle screen could be used for the closet view of a city, and while stationing certain champions would result in special bonuses, and useful conversation.

(bring the player this close to the city would be immersion at an intimate level)

-b. spells. more spells and a spell editor.

-c. i might be an idiot, but how do you make weapons or items?

-d. options for play, where the only concern is in not having an option is stability. then releasing when the feature is stable.

4. tile immersion. if every turn is a season, every tile in the game should have a story. and that story should have dangers and rewards along the way.

-a. why cannot a tile have several quests, that can be taken or ignored, but an option to later return and complete. A color system would show you the difficulty, and thus the reward. technologies, sovereigns and champions should uncover "layers" of the tile. some quest completion should be rewarded with the tile discovering a resource. if it is so barren , meeting another civ should be a big deal and both should have a significant army, so epic action ensues. making it harder expand and build new settlements, but finding everything to find in the areas that one already owns, i want the world of elemental to be brought back to life when i cast a spell, and then that has an effect on the world, sometimes a chance for positive or negative, other times static. 

simple chain reactions, that can be reproduced, and complex ones that are more difficult.

--I. something to do on every tile, with infrastructure(or in the zone of influence(with stationed champions settling combat)), of every turn. with one of the major resources being the reward, or exp for units, trade routes in zones of control could be policed for a battle with units stationed in the town, with the caravn being the enemy target and the player having to defend it.. i want monsters summoned, demon portals opened, unlocked based on certain, tech and champion conditions. success or failure of a quest.

all-in-all

i would continue purchasing expansions, if the game was significantly enhanced and new features, that are stable, are implemented.

i hope the next update adds more options, because i am not running to play elemental as much as i want to.

i would also spend the amount i pay for games on the editor.and i would pay .30 a minute. that is $18.00 U.S. for support on making things happen in the editor, especially if it contained a scripting language. i think this is fair to the software developer, and the client. hold time is not charged. plus this should cover the cost of tech that is answering the calls.

elemental is a amazing start, i hope it only continues to improve, and stardock is rewarded for bringing a game to the community that was missing. This is an excellent example of what a smaller company should bring to the table, and the fact that improvement is on the horizon speaks loads for what the game will be in two years.

boxed games should have free and excellent customer support. editor support should be purchased.

I feel I would enjoy the game very much if I could get it to work for more than a half an hour...  Maybe my computer just can't handle it I keep getting errors that bail the game.  I should be replacing it soon so then hopefully I will get to enjoy the game!

Players who purchase the game by December 31, 2010 are eligible to receive the first expansion pack free of charge.

Do players who purchased the game before October 31 still receive the first two expansions free of charge?

Yes.  If you bought the game before 1 November 2010, then you get both expansions.

If the game is bought on or after 1 November 2010 BUT before 1 Jan 2011, then those people get only one expansion.

As for me, I qualify for only one, but I would have purchased both anyway.  Why? Because I'm loving this game.  Still, I can see where some improvements can be made but overall this is probably the best game I have ever played in the last 10 years.

-.-

What expansions?  Are they out or in the future?

i purchased the game as a preorder through gamestop early this summer. my computer is a brand new toshiba satellite running windows 7 (64bit) it came with directx 11. their is evidently some compatibility issues. next stop i finally got that fixed. now game only lasts for like 30 mins to 1 hour then stops. i am a soldier in Afghanistan. it is near impossible at my location to get wifi to get a patch, and or get internet anywhere i go to get issue solved with my laptop. some help would be nice especially since i am out here and getting these expansions would be nice too. any ideas on how to get those out to me?

Hey Frogboy and devs!

Thanks for the update!

I have some suggestions

1) hotseat

2) why humans are as evil as other races? They should atleast be more kind to each other

3) option to give towns to other factions

In short... get rid of the late game crashes and this is one #$%#$%#$@% of a game!!!!!

Talk about "one more turn" addiction... I couldn't stop playing last night and am paying for it today!  However, today is full of frustration.  Let me rewind...

I bought the game on the day it was released, and it was just unforgivable.  I tried it for a fews days, was completely disappointed by it's lack of polish.  I've seen much better "indie" games with editable DAT files, etc.  You know what I mean, very basic and mostly unbalanced play.  It seemed so "unoriginal"... when it worked.

Fast-forward to today, and man--THIS is the game that should have been released.  Yes--it's still riddled with late game bugs, but up until late in a huge-map game, it absolutely and completely draws you in.  There is absolutely no way to be a master of evertyhing at first, so you really have to think, plan and react to what you see on the battlefield.  Exploration is tireless, and there's something new around every corner.  You can't just build everything available to you... you have to plan and build your cities logically.

To everyone at Stardock:  THANK YOU for staying with this game, and for all of your hard work.  IT IS AWESOME!!!!!

Now--back to the bad.  I have a game with the largest map going, and I'm trying to clear off all of my enemies for victory.  At least every 3rd turn it crashes for seemingly no reason (the error just says "out of memory"), and FORGET completing an upgrade that affects several things like housing upgrades.  It completely obliterates the system.  I don't have a crazy gaming system, but it is competent:

Intel Core2Duo 8400 processor, Vertex2 Solid State Drive, 4 gigs Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800 mhz RAM, EVGA GeForce GTX 460 Video Card running at screen res (1920x1200). 

Again--up until the end it's running great and nary a crash. I'm not a computer guru--more of a tinkerer--so I have no idea if the out of memory is due to RAM, Video Card RAM, or swap drive space (can't be that... got over 100 GB's left on the HDD). 

Anyway, fix up these late game crashes and you've got an Editor's Choice game IMHO, and I've played just about every game this genre has to offer.  Definitely a groundbreaking game.

Wishlist:

1) Fix the late game bugs!! 

2) Didn't see it, and mentioned it months ago:  Random opponents (you select difficulty of opponents and # of opponennts, and it chooses the opponents based on this criteria)

3) Agree with above... you should be able to offer cities and/or units and vice-versa in negotiations

4) More spells would always be nice.  After researching the diff fields (aire, fire, water, etc.) I gained absolutely no new spells after level 8 or so.  All I could do was research spell levels which gave no new spells and seems to have no new effect on current ones (at least make some spells dependant on spell level... like make fireball 8 damage plus 5 per shard controlled plus 1 per caster level or something). 

Oh--and a big, big thanks on randomly generated maps coming IN THE BOX.  Many games these days don't seem to hit the random map generation thing until an expansion comes out.

What I've noticed.

Four hours well entwined last night w/ Elemental; crash free - this time. 

I was, however, asked repeatedly (every 5-8 turns or so) if I wanted to form a dynasty -- again -- with that same kingdom.

Previously, I had given away 3 females and received one male from them.  The thing is, I had 2 grown males remaining, and that kingdom also had 2 grown males...but the leader kept asking me if I wanted to marry mine to them.

"That arrangement will not leave us with any heirs..."

lol

Are we trying to do the same sex marriage bit here with Elemental?  Or is this a bug?

After my repeated refusal to marry my grown men with their grown men, they waged war on me.  "I don't like you anymore...Now you die."

I was conquered shortly after.

Hello

Been playing around since the patch, does the enable turn base thing work?  Granted the game flows alot better but its playing like a real time simulator not a turn based game.

Sorry, Good holiday