Altarian Prophecy purchase

I know I've seen an order form for mail orders, but I don't know where to find it. Email [email protected] . They'll be happy to help you find a way to give them your money. And I know that Stardock has had some problems with their publisher, and I've heard that Strategy First isn't even interested in publishing the expansion, so don't expect to see it in stores anywhere any time soon.

Many, many thanks, Citizen PJ for the advice. I have just emailled Stardock to find out if I can buy it by cheque. It doesnt make commercial sense to be able to buy the original game in the shops and then subsequently only online!

I dont understand the problem that space strategy games are undergoing at the moment. There is, it seems to me, a big and continuing market out there for good space strategy games but DR apparently just cancelled their follow-up to Imperium Galactica II, Galaxy Andromeda without even attempting to market it. I bought GalCiv on the understanding that Stardock would remain committed to the game for at least two yearas and this is what I hear!

When I think of the proliferation of shoot-em up and fantasy clones on the shelves it almost makes me want to weep!

Yes, I rang StrategyPlus UK from whom I originally purchased the game before it came into the shops and they didnt seem interested in marketing the expansion pack. They replied they thought it would only come out online.

Ye Space Gods, after all the problems I and others have had with Master of Orion III will there be in the remainder of my lifetime - I am 49 - a really good space strategy game minus bugs and difficulties in purchasing. It seems more likely I would live to see men walking on Mars!

Live long and prosper PJ. I will add another thread if when I get any sort of response.

Chris if your looking for a real deep 4x game, try dling Spaceempires4, that is one of the most deep 4x games I've seen in awhile. I also emailed stardock about galciv expansion and they said to wait til it comes out before sending a money order

Many thanks for the advice, Citizen jab2565. I was interested in the game Space Enmpires IV but, guess what, as a UK citizen, I found I could only buy the game on the bloody Internet!

It just aint safe to buy on the Internet, Citizen jab2565! The number of articles and documentaries I have seen on how unsafe it can be has given me terminal heebie-jeebies! I saw this documentary last year on British TV, C4, how an ex-hacker was challenged to break into a supposedly secure site, the kind which could contain credit card nos, and it was no problem for him! Also, there are these worms or viruses or whatever which, if they get past your defences, can hoover up for the hacker details of your credit card nos. Now, I know it doesnt happen to everyone but it does happen! Better be safe than sorry.

I do sooo wish that with games like GalCiv and Space Empires IV there were alternative ways to buy them than just by the Internet. I am old fashioned. I like to pay hard cash or cheque!

There are, I hear, moves afoot in the UK for one time serial credit nos limiting amounts of money for specific purchases. I could buy into that but they are still some way off.

Incidentally, apart from SMAC, one of the best games I ever came across was Pax Imperia: Eminent Domain but I had to give it up because of the virtual bad karma I was accumulating! By which I mean, you couldnt just conquer a planet. You had to destroy all the population on it before colonising! It got me thinking whether 'virtual karma' is as bad as ordinary bad karma! If it had had the option of conquering without using genocide it would have been a great game. Very well organised interfaces. One of those many instances which make me wish I had a bit of programming experience.

I would also love there to be a re-issue of Empire of the Fading Suns. Still, thankfully, I do have some other space strategy games which are gathering dust on my shelf, with which I would like to spend some time ere I die.

But thanks again for taking the trouble to email me, Citizen jab2565. Live long and prosper!

Hi Christopher,

In the thread below, you should be able to find directions on how to buy the game using checks/cash

http://www.galciv.com/forum.asp?BID=GF&id=151483#152151

Thanks for your email, Citizen Primus Ordines Aaberg, but I find it is bloody hopeless!

I live in the UK. Either I buy the game online and I just dont think from all the reports I read that purchasing online is safe or I make an expensive order in dollars to buy the game from America directly.

The moral, it seems to me, is that we U.K. citizens should be very wary of buying any American game! I am disgusted!

But thanks again for the attempt to help.

Citizen Primus Ordines Aaberg, as a UK citizen, you can apparently only risk buying the game online, with all the hazards that implies, or make out an expensive purchase order in dollars to buy it mail order from America! The moral for UK citizens appears to be obvious, my friend. We are second class citizens for American games.

Properly marketed, the GalCiv expansion pack should have been obtainable and would have been bought by me in my local shop or at least by mail order in the UK, as I bought the original game.

Live long and prosper.

 http://www.stardock.com/order.txt

The above is a link to our order form which you can mail or fax to us.  You can use a credit card, check, or money order.  Considering that the British pound is worth more than the American dollar, if you use a credit card, you're only paying about 11 GBP.  You don't even have to order a CD, so you won't have to pay for shipping or customs.  You can just download it from stardock central, archive the files, and burn your own CD.

 

For me buying software on the internet, is now everyday business i have never (only did this 4 times or so except for stardock) experienced any trouble in regards to this. But lets not turn this into a war...if have bad experiences i understand that you are reluctant to purchase it via the internet.

I guess this is not really meant for me, but for Stardock, but i can't help myself:
I simply love Stardock for making the internet the main source for buying the game. Why ?
1) Strategy games are normally, not sold in large quantities (compared to shoot-them-up), therefore these games doesn't necessarily make alot of money and are therefore not as "hot" to develop. This form of distribution should make it able for the developers to make a little more money.
I hate seeing my money going to a distributor. I would much rather that they all end up in the pockets of the developer.


2) It is easy accessible. I don't have to leave work early to get it from some shop. I can download it whenever i feel like. Couldn't be much more convienent.
It requires a fairly good connection - admitted

3) I love the idea about drengin.net. I pay for some products i know and some i haven't seen yet (not developed yet). Again this gives the developer and advantage and in the end it should it give me more and better games.

I guess my main reason for liking this form of distribution is that it is easy for me and i pay to the developer instead of the distributor.

What does everybody feel about this way of distributing the game ?

I did buy from Stardock by check and I am having all the Drengin.net advantages, I am planning on renew my membership as soon as it is due. It is a great buy. There are many people from England that come here to US, do you have any friend that can come and buy the product for you here?

Well, thanks for the all the advice, guys.

BUT consider this, that, as I say, I have read reports that there there are now worms/viruses out there which criminal hackers can use to bury through your firewall to go get at your credit card details! In a British C4 documentary last year or the year efore, an ex-hacker showed how it was child's play to get into a secure site, for Heaven's sake!

For Pete's sake, why cant I go into a UK store and buy the expansion pack? This really defies my imagination and my patience! I could have bought the original game that way - though, in fact, I bought it by cheque in mail from a UK company which was was okay - that company wont however sell me the expansion pack by mail order, for some reason - but, anyway, I found that I could have bought the original game, at a later date, as it was being sold in a UK computer game store, anyway.

I remain unimpressed.

As I said, in the U.K. we are second class citizens for some marvellous U.S. space strategy games, including yours, of course, and games like Space Empires IV. We either chance it online or nothing! This really pappas me off! Take that as a piece of English understatement. We are one of the greatest markets for computer games in the world, and yet so many great U.S. games remain unavailable to us unless we risk purchasing online! Why? We dont seem to have this problem with European made games.

I simply cant understand for the life of me why Stardock cant cut the deal for the expansion pack also to be sold through UK stores. Many other expansion packs are sold that way! What is the logic of this or the problem? I would really like to be enlightened.

IMHO, anybody who buys on the Net is playing a game of 'Net roulette'. And I believe there are many more knowledgeable commentators who would agree with me. I recently had a conversation with a bank official from my bank who agreed with me she would never buy online, either! Incidentally, it costs quite a fee to buy in dollars from the UK! I know whereof I speak. I was thinking of buying Space Empires IV until the extra costs became clear! It is (excuse my French!) bloody annoying!

Live long and prosper.

I can't hold myselft back anymore



Have you ever considered how many more of these are sold (at the same price as GC).



I doubt this has got anything to do with anyones evaluation of the quality of one nationality over another. My guess is that it is a matter of money.



It would be nice to know for sure that this is due to that cost of distributing it. I agree



I believe this to be a personal opinion of yours and not a stated fact. I haven't seen any posts - whatsoever - from people who have had their credit card security compromised by buying on-line from Stardock (that is during at least a 6 month and probably quiet a few purchases).

I hope you find a solution to your problem allthough, I wish we can continue this discussion without some many emotional comments.
[Message Edited]

as all credit card purchases are legally protected against fraud i don't see that internet bookings pose any more problems than say a phone booking (where an operator inputs your cc no. onto a computer database anyway - and often that database is eminently hackable).

when your number's up, your number's up. you ain't liable for the fraudulent use of your card. relax. buy stuff over the net. it's just as (un)likely to lead to fraud as using it in person these days what with all the skimming technology....

If your going to get Drengin, dont make the same mistake i did :notsure: if you own GC you can save $35, i paid the full price because i didnt realise the offer was available, the $35 upgrade is only shown here http://www.galciv.com/purchase.asp

[Message Edited]

The reason why the expansion isnt coming out in the shops is not any fault of stardocks.It's the publisher's/distributor's. I bought AP online with my credit card and have had no problems what so ever. It's time to bite the bullet Christopher, either follow cari elf's link and do it that way. Or buy it online with your credit card which I must say is alot better in my opinion. Or go without.

Just one more thing I don't understand why can't you buy it with a money order from Stardock? The game is not even available in many retail stores here in USA. I bought my on Best Buy and were only two copies, I couldn't find it on Walmart or K-Mart or any other retail store. So it is not a problem of USA or England is just distribution mambo jumbo thing. So if you want the game, you can send a money order and you can get it, why is so hard to do that?

Note:
a) That will get your details whatever happens if your CC number is anywhere on your machine. Generally a secure transaction won't store a copy on your machine.
The site hacked wasn't actually secure - he used a known insecurity to get in.

You are more at risk using your CC in a restaurant than on the 'net these days - or in a garage where they often swipe it through a second machine. It's not that difficult to get/keep a copy of the relevant numbers if you use it anywhere at all....

Alex


~SDC~

I am well aware, Alex, of the risks every time one uses a card, even for money from the 'hole in the wall'.

Well, be that as it may, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE Stardock find some way to put the expansion pack in the shops over here in the UK! Pretty please?

I am sure you would turn a profit on it!

Wait...is this an issue of it being in stores in the future, or now? Because as far as I know, AP is still in beta and isn't out in stores in the US either yet, and ordering directly from Stardock is only a preorder. Does anybody know whether AP is available for purchase yet (not getting the beta through Drengin) anywhere, either in stores or through Stardock?

yes . you can download AP beta if you have pre-ordered through Stardock. You don't have to go though Drengin anymore but download it using Stardock Central. I assumed the beta is in the very last stages to work out any bugs that shows up.

Whoops forget to see how this posting was going,any way about Space Empires, I ordered thru a credit card to shrapnel games, and everything seem to worked out, they do have money order options as well, but I think if you don't pick the download option they may charge you shipping since you live outside of the US. I'm going to order AP once it comes out thru money order, depending on how long the shipping will take.