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So the game is now for pre-order on steam with the infinitely more digestible price of 44.99 USD (full price will be 50 USD).

http://store.steampowered.com/app/226860/

I might buy it now but I'm not sure if I want the game in beta just yet. As strange as it is I would like to play a bit for the story but as soon as I get the money and can get out to buy some steam cards the sooner it might be playing.

Has anybody been playing this yet? What are your thoughts?

Personally I'm not sure how to feel about the altarians. Weren't they supposed to look almost human? They have sort of queen of winter wonderland vibe going on for their leader which is cool but doesn't really fit as well with the originally description of them. Most of the factions in Galactic civilizations 2 also seem to be cut though there seems to be two new ones with one being playable straight from the beta (guessing one new faction is based around money, trade and corporations).

Apparently it seems that there's a hint that Alteria is actually where Elemental took place, descended from the Wraiths.

So i have the game and downloaded it via steam but it keeps crashing before the galaxy map even generates. Perhaps a smaller galaxy size, less graphic intensive things or even less factions in my game would help. 've been trying to play as the iridium corporation. I'll let you know how the game is when i can actually get it working.