Joystiq Interview with Brad Wardell & Chris Taylor

The important bit for Sins players:

Brad, Sins of a Solar Empire, by your own admission, has done very well. The support and tweaks to the game have already redefined the experience since its launch. When should we expect an expansion?

BW - We're still working out the best timing in terms of marketing and distribution as well as development. If I had my way, it would be out this fall. But with Spore and Starcraft 2 looming, we have to take that into account. Plus, we have to make sure there's enough time to do the kind of expansion pack that does Sins the justice it deserves.

-HM

The entire article is relevant because it talks about Stardock's philosophy on games, and our digital distribution plans for the future.  This stuff very much impacts Sins, even though it isn't labeled purely as Sins information.

I personally liked the whole article, but I know a lot of people are interested in any tidbit they can find about the expansion.

-HM

The article was very good regarding the future for stardock.

One thing I do not think is right is the claim of "No Ptotection" Now I am not complaining as I am a customer but I do not kid myself that activation and accounts to get patches are not copy protection. In some ways worse that disk based depends on how you look at it.

If you have a disk you can play it as long as the disk lasts and always be able to reinstall it. With activation and accounts you can only reinstall at the grace of the suppliers, who have not at this stage made any statement of how many years the activation or accounts will be supported. I could be wrong o this of course.

I just tire of the whole copy protection, activation thing. I hate looking after accounts etc too much trouble. I can see in the near future that gaming for me will come to an end. Me I am over 50 and buy about 10 games a year so I recon I am a reasonable customer. But obviously not in the target market so I realise my concerns have no relevance. I will admit that.

I must admit I look at the copy protection debate from a philosophical one and how it effects me.

I have a feeling Sins may be one of my last games before I kick the habit. A nice one to go out with. I will just stick with what I have.

Anyway I wish StarDock the best for the future. Just do not reinvent the wheel too much. Look at Battle Front. Their new title based on their new engine does not seem to be a well received as the last series as the game play has changed too much.

You seem to be onto a good thing at the moment. Keep the unique game play.

Cheers MarkL

You might have missed this, but you can download the whole archive and burn it to a disk. So, no, not just at the grace of the supplier.

Online activation is quite different from copy protection. For Sins, you don't need the disk to play, it doesn't check for it in the drive, there's no block to copying the disk however many times, nor do you need to register online to play it out of the box. Registering online gives you access to patches/MP, which is the reward for people who bought it legit - they get continued support, but it's not required to even register.

Another great read. Thanks! Stardock / Ironclad / GPG give me hope for the future.