Install from CD directs to Gamestop for Patches

from Stardock Forums

I bought the collectors edition of WoM back in 2011 but found the game so buggy that I uninstalled it.  Well today I decided to dust it off and see if it has been patched up to an acceptable level of stability and game play.  To my dismay, I ran into nothing but hassles simply trying to download any patch.  I was forced to go to gamestop where it promptly told me that my registration code is invalid.  This bugs me for a few reasons.

 

#1 It took over 2 hours to get a rep online via their chat.  To make things worse, the rep wanted to know my "billing address" which makes no sense since the game is not a pay as you go game.

 

#2 It also proceeded to install a game stop app on my computer, without asking me if I even wanted the damn thing.  When I go to remove the app, it does not appear on the "programs", instead it shows as Impulse which makes me even more wary of this company and any company associated with it.

 

I bought Elemental War of Magic because I really liked the way it was promoted.  Yet this is now the 2nd time I have installed this game only to spend hours screwing around just to install and patch it.  Frankly I am very upset and unlikely to purchase any more games with Stardock, Impulse or Gamestop attached to it.  I will wait to see how this game runs (if I ever manage to get it fully patched) before I write this $75 purchase off forever.  So far the only thing I have liked is the dragon figurine I got with the collectors edition.

 

Next time I suggest your company actually tests games before launching half finished products that do not work like E:WOM.  The game should never have made it past alpha phase testing, let alone be released on CD.

22,933 views 4 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

I managed to register the product thru this website, downloaded the game client and waited 20+ minutes for it to install and crash before the game even puts an icon on the desktop.  So now I am installing it yet again from the file provided.  Interestingly enuff I did not crash when I installed from cd, but I obviously could not patch from the CD registration process.  What a mess  >:(

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

Ok game crashes again when installing from the latest file from your website.  This happens 20+ minutes into the install.

 

Encountered a sharing violation while accessing C:\Program Files(x86)\Stardock Games\Elemental\redist\DirectX\Nov2008_d3dx9_40_x86.cab.

 

>:(

 

Basically I find this all too crooked for words.  Your company should be ashamed to have released a game this poorly designed and patched.

 

 

Ashes of the Singularity II
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top

So after 6hrs I finally have the latest version updated.  I had to manually go into the Stardock folder and delete everything.  I then ran the install from the download I got from my Stardock account.

 

Playing for 15 min an no crashes.  I am happy that so far this version of the game is able to work semi well.

 

I hope this helps anyone who has come back to try this game again.

Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

When I go to remove the app, it does not appear on the "programs", instead it shows as Impulse which makes me even more wary of this company and any company associated with it.

Because it was Impulse, our own distribution platform and thus the only means of patching the game, at the time the game came out in 2010.

That entire division was subsequently sold to GameStop back in 2011 (thus the rebranding after it updated itself) so we could focus all of our resources on making games (rather than dividing our attention with selling other people's games), and prevent the same thing as happened with WoM from happening again.

 

For future reference (more for others' benefit, since you've already found this yourself):

- You can simply download the whole latest version of any older registered Stardock game from the Stardock store, no messing with GameStop.

- If you are having difficulty, please contact Stardock support directly ASAP so they can help, rather than getting frustrated trying to figure it out alone.