Cool, I can still get in on the Alpha!

Thanks for the heads up. It's just a label. Looking forward to this next pretty huge update coming out in the next week or so.

Indeed as a founder there is no bad news here and I can see the point of waiting until you are more feature complete before the beta. Looking forward to the next update.

Me five seconds ago,

To be honest, this is best. I was seriously wondering how Stardock was going to have something "Playable" in a week.  The current game isn't a game yet.

  I'd like to think that it doesn't go beta until it's about 90% feature complete. Not that the features can't be changed, but I think the Beta folks will be much happier with a game that has virtually all aspects of the "final" game already in place, even if there's significant tweaking to be done yet.

And, besides, us Founders like the ability to steer things a little longer without the Great Unwashed Masses that are the Beta people clogging up the airwaves.

How Elitist of me.

Personally I always thought the alpha time window was a bit too short.

I also think it makes a bit more sense, given that the Steam hub is STILL being invaded by every troll with a soap box decrying Early Access and the price. I'm sure tehy'd love nothign more than to see the beta drop and say "see they're lying to you the game is totally incomplete, thieves, scam artists, valve needs to pull this game!"

Timelines are good an all. But in the end you have to do what's best for the game. If that means moving the timeline, then that's a better decision than to blindly stick to it.

This is for the best.  Even more than Elemental, I want Gal Civ 3 to be the best EVOLVED and FUN Space Empire game to ever have been designed.  Just based on some of the elements I've observed from playing I'm sort of scratching my head at some choices.

Very much looking forward to that update. I think, beta should already contain all features but it may still be a bit buggy, right? Alpha may also leave out some features. I think it's ok to stick to the alpha a little longer to make sure, all features are included the way that you all like and without any compromises to be made.

Like many of the others have said, I think this is the right decision.  I always thought the original Alpha schedule was too aggressive.  Very much looking forward to the next update!

No problem, I do not play computer games during the summertime. So I can wait until the beta release is ready

Fine by me. I'm taking a decidedly relaxed interest in GalCiv3. I got so amped up for Elemental that there was no way it could've met my anticipation. Take your time.

Alas, I have neither the $ available nor the hardware to partake as a Founder right now .  Maybe later on during the summer...

I can endure the delay...

But I really wish there was more civilization info and related "fluff" for us non-Founders to keep us interested during the wait.  I mostly lurk to see what's new.  The DATABANKS have been rather stagnant lately -- how about some more background and teasers?  Thalans?  Iconians?  Some minor races?  Any new races/civilizations beyond the Iridium Consortium?  I still enjoy GC2 and I'm an enthusiastic race modder, so I am chomping at the bit for more teasers/tentative material.

Yea, in the "old" days we would have called our June milestone a "beta".  But times have changed. A lot of players are less technical and yet more vocal at the same time.

I've actually seen posts where people compare the graphics of the *alpha* of GalCiv III ti GalCiv II: Twilight of the Arnor.