Alpha Coming "This Winter", As In THIS YEAR? Or Next?

They don't have a date yet for when the Founder's pre-order will expire, but my guess would be some time just before the alpha release was ready for those of us that paid $99

which will probably be between 2 and 4 months from now at the earliest.

They said that they haven't set a cut-off date yet, but will give advance warning once they do. I think (hope!) that "winter" means "sometime in November to February". 

I paid up so that it's out of the way. :p

I'd like to see the $99 option be kept until official release.   One of my friends is currently buying a house, wants the $99 game, but his fiancee won't let him- she needs the money for knitting Daleks. ^_^  (she's a really sweet person so I don't mind, and it's for a good cause)

It might take him a while, but he wants the $99 option as he thinks that is the best value.

Unfortunately that is unlikely, usually the Elite version of anything is limited by its very nature. They usually want to put some cap on the special editions of anything, because people by their nature tend to want that special feeling that is caused by exclusivity.

Plus, I would expect that they have some limit based on sales projections as well as the Elite founder has everything Gal Civ III as part of the benefit package.

Early on it is a profit driver, but closer to release it becomes a drag on profit as the realization of the profits from development become closer, it is less of a benefit for Stardock.

From my limited understanding of marketing and profit margins anyway

Given that the Elite is all digital content, there is no need to limit it.

On the contrary, there is a reason to limit the quantity available even if it is digital. The idea behind an elite version of the game is to impute status or added value for first movers. If they allowed for the elite version to be available to anyone without a limit then the status is lost and further the value that those who moved first for the added benefits would also decrease. So you will likely see a cap on the $99 Founders edition, either just prior to the alpha release or at the moment of the alpha release just for good economics and safe guarding the wishes of the consumers, i.e., so the customers who purchased the founders edition will not be upset at the company.

Being digital is irrelevant. If they say "No more", it's no more. It's not about running out of disks. I don't think that they want/expect 100% of GalCIv III buyers to but Elite. I'ts a nice early boost when the game still needs more than a year to be released but depending on released content, they may lose money (not gain as much) in the long run. Plus you will want more the Elite if it's limited. "Oh, limited! Must buy now!!"

Altough I remember Perfect World and Cryptic doing nasty things with TOTALLY LIMITED edtitions...

Q: When will Galactic Civilizations III come out?

A:We don’t expect it to be ready for release for quite a while. As of this writing (fall 2013) it is in internal alpha testing. We expect it to go into the Founder’s alpha early next year and a public beta soon to follow.

Does no one read the FAQs? There's a reason why its call Frequently Asked Questions. 

Viper the question was how long would the Founder's Edition be offered to purchase, not when the alpha or the game would be released.

Or maybe I should say, the question that was left to be answered was when the Founder's Edition would be offered to purchase

Well, hey, there's a gifting option in the Stardock store if you're a real friend.