So far I'm finding it.. addictive.  It's the just-one-more-turn thing.  When I'm playing it, though, I find myself spending more time on the game it should be rather than the game it is.  Every once in a while there's a shining gem of high quality Fun in there, but mostly I've found the game in it's current state more mildly entertaining.  A nice break from Dwarf Fortress (which should tell you how tolerant I am of unfinished, buggy games).

This one I'm not so sure about, since so far I've been playing on Normal to feel out the systems (a Civilopedia can substitute for a doorstop manual, guys, but the Homonmononom is no Civilopedia currently) and have had my two non-campaign games so far interrupted by incompatible patches.  I have actually seen people mention losing to the harder difficulties, but with fairly flat tech and magic trees currently I suspect it's more about optimizing than really clever tactics.

Eeeeeh.  Polish is tough word to apply to the game at the moment.  It's playable, certainly, but both the military and magic systems show a lot of duct tape and primer currently, which can be a pretty big sore spot if you're expecting a game subtitled War of Magic to shine when it comes to magical warfare.

Wait, I thought that was six..

This seems to mostly be a rehash of #2, so see above.

Does restarting twice (three times if you count the day 0 version of the campaign bugging on me) count?  Seriously, though, the tech trees are rather flat and the only variation in the spell lists is whether you've got the Life (Kingdom) or Death (Empire) spellbook, so most of the replayability is in trying out the different sovereign bonuses and mixing up the order you do things in, and which victory condition you go for.  Which is about par for the course, 4x wise.  For me at least, that seems like it'll be enough to last until they get done polishing, revamping the magic system, rebalancing combat, etc.

Another "eeeeh".  Honestly, if I hadn't preordered back when I was more flush with cash.. well, I'd still probably have bought the game as soon as I had the money since I've been drooling over this ever since I heard it described as a modern Master of Magic, but I'd probably be pretty upset at the state of the game and wishing I'd waited six months for the finished version.

All that said, I don't want to come off hating the game.  It is entertaining as is, though more in a $10 sale weekend download kind of way, and there's a good enough base there that I think in a few months (maybe sooner depending on how long Stardock can keep up this frantic pace) it'll be a $60 game and I won't regret having the extra time to master it and look back on this time and laugh (Remember when it took 25 turns to heal a unit that took 5 turns to make?  Ha!  Those were the days).

I'm going to answer the best way I know. Barring a demo to try out for yourself, I'd hold off. Asking on these forums you're going to get two kinds of answers. Either buy it because it's the greatest game ever (fanboy) response or don't buy it because it's the worst game ever (detractor). Suprisingly there doesn't seem to be any in between. It's either gold or a turd.

I personally think it's an unfinished, unpolished game and I uninstalled it. But that's me. Everyone has their own individual tolerance level and this went past mine. If I were you I wouldn't rely on what others tell you. You need to see for yourself and make your own decision. Wait for a demo or just wait awhile for the game to be more polished. That's the safer play. If only I followed my own advice.

Hmm.  I have to disagree with you there.  My opinion is to buy it, because it is a hell of a lot of fun in even in this state.  It's not perfect, but will get better over time as all Stardock games do.  

So, I don't fall into either camp.  Right now, EWOM is an un-cut diamond, that Brad and Co. are hard at work turning into a jewel...

Never crashed once.

Great game. That is all.

Don't buy it. Unpolished, unbalanced, unfinished ... what else ya need to know?

So, how was you first gaming experience? I am curious ^^

We've had a few of these threads, but I think the answer is "it depends". Are you patient?

If you want a polished, "hard" game right now, this probably isn't it yet. But you asked will I be playing it after christmas? Absolutely! There's a great game in here struggling to get out, it just needs balancing & polishing. We know from past experience that Stardock will deliver that once the game gets the extra time it needs.

Glad it was okayish for now Well I think there will come some awesome mods... I might even make that project that has been in my head since day 1 (or 0).

I am going to take a brake from this game and wait until after a few months.  I HOPE it gets fixed.   Essentially this is my point of views:

You will see terms like labor of love and not yet finished yet.  Well I am sorely disappointed with this game.  VERY disappointed.  Do they accept refunds disappointed.  While this is a smaller company than Bioware or Blizzard.  However, is it smaller than relic?  WHO KNOWS.  However, in this current state, buyer BEWARE.  I do expect quality.

I am a huge computer gamer.  I barely have any PlayStation 3 games and I dont own a WII or a XBOX. For the longest time, I thought the PS3 was a Blu-Ray player only.  I like all sorts of games, Dawn of War (1 and 2), Mass Effect (1 and 2), currently playing Dragon Age Origins (for the first time), StarCraft (1 and 2), and a few others.  My prized gems are the Strategy type games.  I failed a college course playing the original Civilization on a DOS machine back in the early 90s.  (I graduated in 1991 and started college that year and CIV {the first one} came out that year).  Whoops.

I loved MOO (Masters of Orion), MOM (Masters of Magic, which this game was supposedly to be like), and CIV.   Then came the newer games...  Civ II thru IV (and V in a few weeks).  Sins of a Solar Empire (technically its a hybrid RTS and 4X), GalCiv2, and now Elemental.  This game says its a 4X game.

However, the AI is so dumb, its too easy.  The graphics (which is not a big point anyhow) is below average, way below.  There are broken abilities and broken powers.  The tech trees are a laugh, too linear and not original or special, No Wonders (ala Civ).  All the races are almost the same.  Very few of the units or buildings look different (or react).  All the races have all the same looking buildings and units.

When I first heard of this game, I remembered one of my old favorite and classics:  MOM (Masters of Magic) and I remembered how I loved that game!  I remember Sins of a Solar Empire and Galactic Civilizations II and thought: THIS COMPANY WILL DO IT RIGHT AND UPGRADE IT!  This will be the NEXT GENERATION OF 4X GAMES or the hype led me that way.

BEWARE. DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT.

When and IF it ever gets completed.  It will be good...  maybe.  For right now, it is not worth the risk.  I want to return the product and wait until a year or so... and then MAYBE it might be worth it.  Assuming it gets fixed.

My biggest gripe is this:

The fan boys say that Stardock say they were forced to get the game out early to beat the crowds for civilization v and the busy retail months.  However, that is HOGWASH.  I expect quality.  We are consumers.  Most of us are not rich.  Some of us have to live from paycheck to paycheck.  Why invest money in a game that we can not play or that is not finished and it may take WEEKS OR MONTHS (or years) to fix?  Why not play another game that is fixed and playable?

It is not Stardock either.  I have seen a host of good potential games that could have been much better, but failed at the starting line.  The opening of a game is very important, IMHO.  If a game is not ready, I would recommend waiting and fixing it.  A company only has one chance to get it right.  If Modern Warfare 2 was full of bugs and the multiplayer did not work on the PC, XBOX, and PS3 on opening night, do you think people would have been angry?  If Mass Effect 2 would have crashed after every mission or every paragon choice, would people have been angry?  What about Madden?  If the game came out and you could only play three teams and we were told the rest of the teams would be patched in within a month... would we be angry?

Before you respond, let us think of this as a non game.  If I went to a restraunt and ate a chefs special that was incredible and delicious and I saw a sign that said that the chef was making a new dish next week (and the price was right).  Would I go back?  Probably.  Now, let us assume that I did go back and the chef explained that for my meal I would only get bread and 1 veggie... the main meal was not ready for another month.  Would I be happy?  Would I want my money back?  Then the restaurant told me, they will keep my money and hopefully within a month or two I can have the rest of my meal...  how should I feel?

Restaurant and meals are not the same?  How about cars.  I am a consumer and I can buy a car as well.  I purchase my first ever (insert brand and model here) 2011 vehicle (remember kiddies its only 2010).  I am assured its the best vehicle ever.  I buy it and discover it is missing brakes, a bumper, and 1 wheel.  Should I be upset?  I hope it gets patched soon? 

Now welcome to Elemental:  War of Magic.   Or as I call it..  Elemental:  The war to finish making a game and making you pay for a beta. 

Lastly, you hear about 4X games.  For those that dont know it means:

4X games are a genre of strategy video game in which players control an empire and "explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate". The term was first coined by Alan Emrich in his September 1993 preview of Master of Orion for Computer Gaming World. Since then, others have adopted the term.