Thanks for testing this out Tridus!  GalCiv2 was the first thing on my mind when I woke up this morning.  Glad I stopped by here first.

I might buy the Gold Edition.  I still need to find a player consensus as to if this version is patched enough to be playable.  Amazon has the box version of the Ultimate Edition ($63), but I've read alot of player reports that the box version needs patching.  Oy.  I really want this game.  But they are making it hard.  Or rather I am making it hard.  But I just want to buy a working game and be able to play it when and where I want without the requirement of the internet.

All versions need patching. The ultimate edition would be patched to Twilight of the Arnor release, which is a lot closer to the current version the Gold Edition (which was released sometime around Dark Avatar).

GC2 is well behaved about only requiring the Internet to activate & patch. It's not like an Ubisoft game where you can't play it online.

Impulse doesn't sell a box version of Ultimate.  But they do have Gold for about $9 more than Amazon does.  I would still like to buy direct from Stardock if it's not too much trouble... which it kind of is.  I've had to go off site to learn what expansions were released when, and what packs have what.... ++. 

I figured by buying the Gold edition, at least the core game would be patched and playable.  And perhaps I could just avoid the expansion if it broke things too badly.  I considered the Ultimate edition, but have read reports that even though its patched up through the first expansion, it introduces new bugs.   I noticed a similar thing with the expansion collection which was Civ3 Gold.  I bought Civ3 Gold chiefly to support the development studio... I already had all the expansions and bought Gold because I got so much enjoyment from Civ3+, and foresaw so much future enjoyment; that I thought it appropriate for me to buy the Complete Edition.  But it came with incomplete files and more.  It appears that GalCiv2 Ultimate may be worse than Civ3 Gold.  Arghhh!   I grow weary of all this workarounding and researching and patching.  I just want to play a fracking working game here.  One I don't have to sign up with some third party to get the fixes for, and to prove that I purchased the damn game!  I think I may just buy Moo2 and forget GalCiv2 for now.  Yesterday my finger was hovering over the "buy it now" button.  Today my last SD straw is bent near fatal.

A one time (per install) net validation is better than persistent net validations.  I found a Stardock run Impulse to be an acceptable compromise.  But net validation per each install is still user unfriendly to this consumer.  And far more unfriendly is the fact that access to product support now requires me to sign up with some questionable third party.  Pirated software remains to be more user friendly than purchased software.  If even Stardock couldn't address this then what hope have we for the future.  We as in we who have had enough already!  Just sell me a fracking working product from the get go, and with no strings attached, then I will be happy.  Moving on... and away.

I'd give you 100% odds that SD would send you a CD with all of the patches if you request it via support@stardock.com.  They've offered this on other titles in the past.  It's also quite possible they'd do so at no cost.  Best of luck. 

My 2 cents, I wouldn't bother. I forget where along the way Impulse was made necessary for install, but paying any sort of money for half a game is a waste. Pick up Sword of the Stars or something else instead. GC2 is a good game, but the optimization in the last expansion is needed. Pre-twilight, I got constant memory dumps on large maps in the late game. There was a 100% chance that I could not finish any large game, and that's before we start adding any significant mods.

That isn't the problem the OP has though.

If it still needs to be activated it wouldn't solve the problem. Besides, did they ever actually do that? Brad said they would for Elemental back when there was a controversy before launch, but a lot of stuff was said about Elemental that didn't happen.

ah - gotcha.  My mistake.

....You've ALWAYS had "greater ownership rights" over a stolen copy than a purchased one (MAN, what an oxymoron!   Ownership rights over a STOLEN GAME!)

It's clear you don't want companies to be able to protect their games but many of us do.

And what incentive would there be to actually BUY a game if pirating becomes so easy (if there's no achievements, multiplayer OR you want to help the developers) that most people can do it?

Not everyone steals if given the chance..the problem is that we are all treated like thieves with modern DRM. locking your doors(or DRMing your product) only keeps honest people honest.. if a thief wants to steal your stuff no lock (or DRM) is going to stop him. The best security in the world won't defeat a determined thief.. and the best DRM won't defeat a determined pirate. When it comes down to it .. consumers pay the price regardless. Whether its having to wait for the service people to open the locked case to give you your item.. or having to agree to constant internet checks to prove your not a thief. (at least in the case of physical product you only have to deal with it once)

I don't pirate games.. not because its hard to do, just about every game released can be found on a torrent regardless of protection methods. I don't because I find it wrong. Pirating is as easy as it ever was.. its way easier to torrent something now than to try to burn a copy of a disc  10 years ago(and cheaper too). No DRM protects from piracy so its silly to imply that Drm has an effect on piracy rates.

The worst part is.. in the case of a physical item.. if someone breaks the lock they steal 1 or 2.. or 10 whatever is in the case. In the case of DRM all it takes is 1 person to break the DRM and millions of illegal copies can easily be distributed. And as any search on just about any torrent site will show you.. there is ALWAYS at least 1 person who's willing to take the time to break DRM. So whats the point of DRM?  Pirates are gonna keep on pirating.. and people who pay for a product are gonna keep dealing with "protection" methods, it makes no sense that any company would tote the need for DRM when every DRM is broken, and people easily pirate the most well protected games every day.

I just don't get how you think it could be easier to pirate games than it is now, doing a search on a torrent and downloading it really isn't that hard  is it? With or without DRM pirating is like taking candy from a baby, .. some people won't do it simply because they don't agree with it.. and others are more than willing to. Its not about how easy it is.. cause it doesn't get any easier.. it simply comes down to what people are willing to do.

Summary: Publishers add DRM to make themselves feel more secure, Someone always cracks it, they know it and we know it.. but it makes them feel better to have it, regardless of its effectiveness. What they don't see is the customers they put off with it, since its hard to quantify lost sales due to negative consumer feelings toward a particular DRM method.

(Side note, I personally think the reason steam is so keen on linking physical copies of games to its service is it takes away the reason people would buy a physical copy in the first place,that is to avoid using the steam service)

First of all, DRM is an annoyance for legitimate buyers of a game. How annoying, and how tolerant the user is is quite variable, but it in no way is a Piracy deterrent, and is only linked to piracy as a way to tighten down the hatches more. DRM is quite successful at neutralizing second hand sales though, which is where it really shines.

The OP has stated multiple times that his problem as Gamestop having his personal information. If gamestop wasn't buying Impulse, He'd be enjoying GalCiv2 right now. But, since GS owns (or soon will) Impulse, and it is impossible to play GC2 in any reasonable fashion without it, then he see's it as DRM he isn't willing to settle for. There's nothing wrong with that, and I wish more people would take his attitude on the subject.

 The incentive to buy a game is that it is a good game, with good support, that you will always be able to play no matter when or how you want to. Pirating is ridiculously easy. Everyone could do it using nothing but google as a guide. Everyone. And that includes handhelds, consoles, etc

That said, if you enjoy a game you should support it and it's developers. Pirating does hurt the industry even if 1 Pirate doesn't equate to 1 lost sale. People who would've bought the game, but didn't because they pirated it hurt the industry and are bad for everyone involved, so don't mistake my stance for pro-pirate. 

If things change (like the distribution branch of that developer get sold to a company you've had many misgivings with) there is reasonable cause to be weary, or avoid the situation all together. Pirating was only brought up because of silly drm and who's pulling the strings behind it. OP was okay with Stardock, but isn't with Gamestop, so it's a lost sale for legitimate reasons. The OP wants to buy the game but can't with his objections, he didn't say "Even though I could buy it, I'm just gonna play it for free." If my personal information was plastered for anyone with the time to look it up already, I'd be concerned with Gamestop as well, but I haven't paid more than $5 for any stardock game since Twilight, and don't plan anytime in the near future, so it's not that big of a concern to me. Plus I use fake information everywhere possible so it wouldn't do too many people much good.

Stardock as a game company has been declining since the release of Demigod, and their public opinion and credibility went from gold to pyrite. Of course, I was around when EA was the saving grace of the market and if there was any content that could be added post production, it was always free.

I had some friends before and we all were computersavvy. On one LAN back in 2003 or so one younger guy bought WarCraft III The Frozen Throne because he couldn't copy the disc. No program could do it he said. He couldn't pirate it so had to buy it.

StarForce hindered pirating for a while and the ways around it were tricky and could damage your computer. Eventually the pirates scared everyone so publishers stopped using StarForce though....

Get Half-Life 1 Anthology from a torrent and try to make it work. I don't remember how to make it work but I never managed so I bought Half-life and its two expansions at Steams christmas sale instead. <--- I failed at pirating and bought it instead. So the DRM gave them a sale there. Only 3euros but still.

I've bought Worms Reloaded (check my profile on Steam) but I checked out the warez .nfo on how to make it run and it was complicated...lots of files to copy and stuff....actually I'm afraid of pirating Steam games since I'm afraid that it will put my account at risk. <---- I've become scared of messing with Steam. That means less pirating for me and more sales for them.

I'm not sure that you're actually computer savvy friend. 8P

Joking aside, your examples are the bad reasons for pirating. You could buy them, but don't just because it's potentially free. That said, you apparently aren't doing your research properly.

I know that the WC3 discs can be copied because I did so the day that I bought the game. I burned a copy for the house and a copy for the my school computer. I played online at home and the campaigns at school.

Starforce was the cause of countless problems for legitimate users, and the pirates had nothing to do with it's downfall. Starforce caused as much system instability as the cracks used to get around it. It was a lawsuit that brought about it's change into Securom, not pirates.

I don't know how complicated HL1 was to install when you tried, but a quick google search shows that it's no more complicated than installing a game from a disc. That's a great game though, I still have my original copies, that install without Steam (because it didn't exist.) Don't pirate games worth buying!

Steam games are unfortunately some of the easiest to pirate. People's fear of steam doesn't make it good DRM. Steam prevents 2nd hand sales, not pirating. I heartily enjoy people who pirate games, then try to play on official multiplayer servers or get official updates getting banned though. The idiots savants will always be the most entertaining. 8)

Don't mistake me, I am not Pro-Pirate. If you like a game, buy it. If you like a developer, support them. You're hurting everyone in the process by not doing so. Money makes the industry go round, so vote with your wallets.