I'm a huge fan of Stardock and their games, especially Gal Civ (which is why I became a founder. Gal Civ 2 is probably the best value game I ever bought re: cost vs gameplay hours.)
That said, I have to say I'm really not happy about this. Giving those that backed the game early some extra options is nice. Making it so if you didn't preorder or buy the game within the first week you can never get these parts isn't. One of Gal Civ's strengths is the ability to create your own content with just the game itself and no modding experience. From creating your own factions and ships, to recreating your favourite Sci-Fi settings, there's a lot you can do right out of the box. But now you're locking away some of those options and saying to a new player even a month down the line "sorry, you should have been here earlier." It's like buying a LEGO set only to discover it doesn't have all the pieces.
And what happens when someone with the exclusive parts makes a custom faction ship design using them, and tries to share their creations with other players who didn't buy it early? Will it break the mod, or will we have to see this mod requires you to have bought the game early? That is not going to go down well with a lot of people.
I know as a Founder I will get these exclusive parts and I'm sure I will enjoy using them. But I also know what it's like to come to a game late and miss out. It leaves the new player disappointed and may negatively effect their opinion of the game itself.
So I would respectfully request that Stardock changes their mind about never releasing these parts to the rest of the players. Something like including them in the first expansion pack like NorsemanViking suggested in Reply #23 would be ideal.
All the Best,
Earth Force Captain.
