No. It was not. It never was. you were mistaken.

Stardock *attempted* to purchase the rights, but were denied.

This is just plain untrue, there was a time when it was intended to be MoM 2. More than that it was announced early on that it was intended to be MoM 2. And right up until release it was being billed in the press as MoM 2 in everything but name. The phrase "spiritual successor to Master of Magic" or the equivalent is in nearly every piece of Elemental coverage.

Now maybe it was obvious to people in beta who hung around these forums 24/7 that Elemental would not end up MoM 2 but to the average person out there who read the occasional interview, article, or preview this game was supposed to be MoM 2 in all but name.

And would have been a damn sight better game if it had been.

Agreed, you guys certainly did announce that you couldn't get the rights. But there was always a hint that the game had been planned as a MoM sequel and that the game would stay true to that. That failing to secure the license primarily just meant a name change. That the statement of pulling ideas from all over the genre was seen as cover to make the game just different enough from MoM to not run afoul of legal troubles (and that some of those ideas would be what would make it a sequel and not a clone). Now, none of that may have been true but it's certainly the story that a lot of the press reported, it's certainly the story that a great many people believed. Maybe more because they wanted to believe than from anything you really said.

So I'm not saying that you guys misled people. Only that at one point Elemental was intended to be a MoM sequel and even though the fact of that matter changed the impression that a lot of people had didn't.

Tada ! The famous MoM2 thread ! Here we go again

Can i give negative Karma to your avatar ? !

well the post kind cleared up what i was lead to believe.

I didnt play beta, i briefly read reviews of the MOM like game comming soon. 

Even the  goober at the game store hosed me on its like MOM also.

The games not bad its just non iconic MOM play.

Anyone reading its nothing like MOM.  Its a ill play for 2 weeks then shelve it, as another long lesson in dispointing games that had huge potential but was shoved out door to soon by corp-greed, buggy,memory leaks, stupid AI, with a learn curve thats ridiculas and interface that doesnt make sense.  The reviews comming out from the PC gamer and such only reinforce what i see and experience.

Atari still owns MOM do they plan on doing a revamp of MOM with out hosing it up like every other company with decent product by tring to reinvent the interface or game play but only end up inventing crap.

Ah, thanks, I needed that laugh.

Yes, Elemental has problems. And yes, they are being fixed as quickly as can be managed. Stardock is a solid company, and if you have problems, you are more than welcome to post them here. But please do so in a manner that is helpful - whining does nothing to help the world, and in fact fills me with a strong urge to throw things at you. Heavy things. Like a toaster.

Mm...toast...

-N

No where did I read did it say it wasn't going to be a MOM2.0. It was hinted at and was mentioned by many people and reviewers. Now taking things from all over the genre just to make it different for different sake is bad. Froggy even made a small video about playing MOM way back when. Just because you never said or changed your stance on the game doesn't mean people will want anything less. It should have been made clear that this game is only similarity is the tactical combat. Every other aspect is kinda shallow from the techs to the magic and the city building.

My biggest beef is the city building that just ruins this game for me. I mentioned it a couple times back in the betas nothing changed only the idea that cities have to be built differently and a pop cap that makes no sense. People apparently just stop breeding at a certain number.

Put up a poll and take a vote on these mechanics and they will definitely be different from the betas. More people are now playing and not just SINs vets or GalCIV vets. Right now I think both SINs and GalCIV influenced this great idea for a game for the worse.