Sure, we can give our opinions but you have some asshats who are saying that their opinion equates to what is "finished".

What a laugh. So here you have the publisher of the game saying what is going to be in the game before release and you get to decide whether that constitutes being finished?

You don't even have the beta yet. Why don't you just go cancel your order or something and find some other forum to troll? Egads.

I think there's an issue of quality vs. quantity here.

As I said in another post, Galactic Civilizations II includes 12 unique civilizations, each with their own unique technology trees (units, structures, backstory, etc.).  Starcraft has 3.  Does that mean GalCiv II is "better" than Starcraft?

The design objective with Demigod is not to have tons of quantity but rather to limit quantity in favor of quality so that each Demigod is truly special.

I don't know where the 5 on 5 discussion came from. I don't remember ever saying there'd be 5 on 5 given that the beta hasn't even begun and hence we haven't even begun stress testing multiplayer.

What I am saying, however, is that we are committed to releasing 8 Demigods at release. And while there may be more Demigods released than that or released afterwards, it is very unlikely, given the expense in making them, that they'd all be freely given away. In other words, we're only promising 8 on release.

Now if this is somethign someone finds unacceptable, then by all means, quit now. I'd rather us lose any toxic "fans" at the start rather than spend the next 6 months dealing with them complaining about every choice we decided to make.

Demigod is a pretty unique game concept as Dota fans know.  Demigod is NOT, however, Dota. It has significantly different game mechanics than Dota. 

I would like to think that by now, Stardock has established enough of a reputation for releasing quality games that players would have a little faith that we're working with GPG to produce a kick ass game.

I should also point out that we have a budget for free updates for many months after the release of Demigod.  Anyone who has been with us with GalCiv or Sins knows that we release a lot of free updates with a lot of extra stuff in them.

But I have to tell you, it really pains me, as a gamer and game developer, to see people obsess over quantity of "stuff" instead of caring much about quality.  I think people should reserve their opinions until they've made it to beta 2.

That's a reasonable suggestion.  We'll see what we can do.

Taking a step back this is what we're trying to get at:

From a game design point of view, we want each Demigod to be very special. We explicitly don't want tons of them. But we do want to make sure that people can play each Demigod in lots of different ways.

Enhanced skill trees would be very nice. I'd like to see them able to customize themselves over time for certain situations. Like if you can't seem to hold down a horde of creeps, you add some AoE effects, etc.

It is amazing on how big of a deal only having 8 demigods is causing and no one is really played the game yet.

The first beta won't shut people up. It wouldn't shut me up anyway since it's an engine test.

What we will want to hear from beta testers are things they think the game needs to be really good.  What I find painful is feedback that comes from without playing the game.

We're totally all over ideas on adding new spells, abilities, items, equipment, etc.  What we're not all over is adds tons of derivative demigods to the game purely for the sake of having a big number.

Fine, then, just tell us how little of a slice of the ability/item/skill pie we're getting. Now that my attempt to get more stuff in beta 1 has failed (shoulda known considering the last stress test beta I've done (sins) had NO COMBAT FRIGATES in it, but at least I'll get a 10 for effort =P), I can just ask the question you really should answer, because that's got a good chance of quieting down this discussion so I don't have to refresh five times a minute.

lol, nice. Good to know you're as hard to satisfy as we are.

Seconded. My dad's an actor, and he makes me sit through the credits and respect all the people who made the movie, and a bit of that's rubbed off on me. I want there to be an enticement for everybody to give you all the respect you deserve for making the game they just enjoyed.

Wait, is that de-confirming 5v5?  I could have sworn someone confirmed that at some point.

Anyway, I don't really see a problem with 8 Demigods on release.  If there is 5v5, and if there is an option for unique Demigods (both of which I believe have been confirmed?), then a minimum of 10 Demigods would either have to be released with the game or the shipped 8 will have to have two more added as dlc very soon after release.  Anything else, while it would still be an awesome product, will leave an obvious and ugly blemish on the game.  I personally don't care (I'm not even really interested in the Unique Demigods option) but it will undoubtedly look very bad, and many people will care.  Giving people an opportunity to whine will always result in them taking it.

Again, if 5v5 Unique Demigods is possible, then I think at least 12 should eventually be reached through dlc/an expansion pack.  This way the last person to join a 5v5 unique game won't be stuck with the final Demigod, but will be able to choose between a couple free Demigods.  Any more than 12 Demigods would be pointless, imho, and that number could be reached post-release.

I think that, if anything, the focus should be on adding items and skills (and maps) to the game.  As more Demigods are created, one of two things will undoubtedly happen.  They will either start becoming very similar and the uniqueness of each one will be lost, or they will fall into very specific roles and people will be forced to adhere to specific strategies with each Demigod.  Demigods in specific roles will skew balance, as most high level ranked play will be decided by whose Demigod counters the other guy's better.  Plus, it will limit the possible playing styles for each Demigod.  A much better option, imho, is for fewer Demigods to have access to larger skill trees and a larger item shop so that, for example, two Torchbearers in 1v1 could end up being relatively different characters.  I think fewer Demigods with more options for growth would ultimately allow for games to be more dynamic, interesting, competitive, diverse, and ultimately better than having many Demigods that fit specific roles.

Plus, the more Demigods that are added, the farther out the window balance flies.  It will simply get impossible to balance if too many Demigods are added in.

I'm relatively newb and definitely far from pro at pretty much every game I play, so I know that my argument is most likely flawed .  However, that is the way I see things, and no one in this thread has changed my mind.  I think the game looks fantastic, and I can hardly wait for the beta to start so I can get a small taste of what's to come.

Regarding the credits, I tend to read them.  For games, I like it when the devs sneak funny easter eggs into them.  If the people on the development team get a line or two each to write whatever they want, that tends to be pretty funny too. For movies, I always stick around until I find the Key Grip.  Still don’t know what that guy does, but I’ve got to find him in every movie.

To steal Brad's likely answer: "Then don't play unique 5v5s. Nobody's forcing you."

Sorry, Brad, couldn't resist .

EXCELLENT!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grip_(job) (The Key grip is the chief grip on the film. Sorry I can't get links to work.)

I recieved a notice saying my card will not be charged until the game release... But I think it will becharged for the beta, but either way I think this game will be worth it, If it is not good in the beta when we have the chance to improve it.

But when I bought Sins I was dissapointed too, It looked good but was nothing what I saw.