I think I would support the idea of all Founders getting alpha access, but I don't think that Stardock is lacking professionalism by doing this. Perhaps they were trying to separate the two programs slightly too aggressively, or they might have been aiming the lower program to people who want to support the game but won't bother playing the alpha.

But, since the poiint of the alpha is to improve the game and since Founders are supposed to be the most supportive fans, I think everyone would benefit. As 'elite' founders we get a whole lot more with the life-time subscription to GalCiv3 (and other stuff) so let all founders contribute to the building of the game.

I'm guessing someone hasn't seen Steam's "early access" section, which is pretty much nothing BUT buying a game and getting access to the alpha/beta.

If you do anything with your credit card other than pay the full balance immediately, you're doing it very, very wrong. Leaving a balance on a credit card is just setting money on fire.

Let's detour for a bit, and look into not so distant past. What is the difference between us, pre-ordering cancel games now, in alpha stage, and us, pre-ording games years ago, when we had no demo, no firsth hand experience, maybe only preview from magazine? What is the difference? We still "wander into unknown" and trust unknown people with our money. The only difference is stage at which we give them our money, and, if studio small enough, additional funds could be quite welcomed. 

Plus, because there is more of us, we can lend a hand and help them with testing - Nival released their Prime World: Defenders as "beta", although they admitted they considered game to be "fully polished", but decided to play it safe. Amount of bugs we found during that stage, was enormous. X-Rebirth is game where developer opted for different move, and look what happened, boards are filled with anrgy birds gamers, who can't tests new features, because they simply don't work. It's not surprising for me, all Egosoft's games were buggy at start, but there are new people, they are not accustomed to that.

Kickstarter, Steam Greenlight, or selling stuff through developers' site are basically no different from each other. The only question is who gets the money, and what they can show us - in some cases they "sell" only ideas, in some, they have some basic prototype, or even more advanced content. I mean, my experience with Endless Space/Dungeons was positive - despite early stages, games were better polished and more stable than some of so called "AAA" products (* cough* bethesda, battlefield 4, simcityblock *cough*), Gnomoria works fine too, to give some example. And, if I'm not mistaken, Prison Architect generated quite the income, despite being alpha. Or, maybe because - where else you could see naked eating people, running to shower, that is lit on fire.

So, by my humble opinion, in any case, we still walking into unknown, and trust our instincts when we pre-ordering, and even demo is not savior here - remember Aliens scandal, imagine demo comprised only of good elements of the game, with rest being meh filler. For same reasons previews are thrown overboard for me, I do read them, but only after I bought and played game, this way previews are far more hilarious.

As for different stages of access for GC3, I think it's not of financial side, rather than workflow - processing data coming from fewer "outsiders" working with game in early stages should be easier, and their dedication could help overcome certain issues, inevitable in this stage.

You might want to check more into that one there... http://money.msn.com/credit-rating/7-nasty-credit-myths-that-will-not-die-weston.aspx

To the OP...

I don't know what you are getting at with the original post. It seems like you are rambling. I'm trying to understand what you are saying...

They are not charging full retail price for the game before it is released. They are not even charging you for the game, they are asking if you would like to help Fund the game with added perks of getting it when the game is done. But a 20 percent discount is a 20 percent discount, how you financially pay for it is not the problem of Stardock.

What are you saying here? Are you trying to make a statement, but instead ask a poorly phrased question?

My impression from you is that the Founder's vault seems a little underwhelming and you would like to see more unique things for Founders alone. I'd say that the Founder's vault is more of a portfolio of things and how they are progressing. You invest in a business you want to see what you're money is being spent on and that is the Founder's Vault. The content was never meant to be unique for Founder's alone, but a preview of what the final product will turn out to be.

Not sure what you mean here.

If I understand this you are happy with the fact that Stardock produces a game that is not a mindless drone. I can agree with that. But it is jumbled together with a lot of other thoughts....

This last bit confuses me the most. I don't know exactly what your point is here.

I can conclude that I do not agree that access to the alpha is necessary for the founder class. The beta stage of development is more "fun" than the alpha stage. The alpha stage can/will produce a very buggy game that has fun factor of 0. If one were to complain or criticize what is offered and negotiate for a intermediate offer, then that should be done before the purchase, not after.

Business practices are in line with world standards. They have offered a product and demonstrated what you will receive and when you receive it. I think I would like a more concise and clear implication of what you are getting at with this post, because I'm interested in the meat of what you are getting at here.

First off criticism of this is NOT warranted here, Stardock has been very upfront with the packages available if you don't like what the basic founder program has to offer than you shouldn't have purchased it.  If you wanted Alpha access and all future DLC's and Expansions then you should have purchased the founder's elite package.  You can't blame the company because you are cheap...

Not really, most games now are for sale way ahead of time, and not gauranteed Beta or Alpha access... look at EA/Maxis release of SimCity this was not discounted gave you two or three options with select DLC's only or all that were available at release, didn't offer an all forever option, and you still weren't gauranteed Beta access, and no Alpha for the common preorder was offered.  In fact to get Beta access you had to fight to try to find an offer at a third party website.  Now I did not agree with this but this shows you it could be worse than what Stardock is offering.

They have given you a discount based on their targeted release price, all that is subject to change, which also is not unusual all company's have the right to modify pricing at their choosing, not yours.  As far as no guarantee, Stardock didn't announce the game until they were well into development, as you can see from screenshots and from previous posts from Stardock on where they are.  Needless to say the game will be released, however, if you don't believe that then don't preorder, that's your choice.

So you can see the content as early as possible, that's it, again if that doesn't interest you than that's not a benefit for you at all, so don't buy it.

They have met their ethical responsibility, they have clearly laid out what is in each program if you don't want the more expensive option then don't complain, that was your choice, Stardock gave you an option, you don't go to a dinner and order a hamburger and expect a 4 course steak meal, so why do you expect that when ordering a game?

You know your options Spring is not too late that's what you chose, if you want Alpha release then pony up the extra cash and then you'll even get any future DLC's and expansions, is that too hard for you to see.... ?

First off Stardock's business practice is in line with the Industry and is not ripping off the consumer,  as far as this qoute you are correct no one forced you to buy it and again it was your choice to choose the lower option. 

Either way stop complaining you have nothing to complain about except for wanting more then what you paid for...

Stardock could not have been more clear:

1. Do nothing - great, we'll see you on Final Release

2. Don't fancy the hassles of an Alpha, but want a peek/be able to help test? Take the Beta release package.

3. You're well into this, addicted by the Game, itching to help, take the Alpha package.

Stardock could not have been clearer or more fair........ geeeez, there's still 12-18 months before release, and a whole lot of blood, swet  and tears yet to be shed on the developer room floor. Don't like the options .... that's cool, go do something more taxing to the brain like watching paint dry.

Meanwhile, let 'em get on with the job ..........................