[Sly Frog]

"You know we will buy it."

No, I wouldn't. What's more is that I would actively warn other people off of the game. It's a good game, but I agree that the $50.00 price tag is already a bit of a stretch. Yes, I have purchased numerous other games that have given me as much pleasure for less (that does not mean that I do not love this game).

However, part of the grudging agreement for me to go for the $50.00 price point for a game that has its warts (for example, not really being able to tell what is going on in a battle without being a tremendously experienced player; not being able to control the speed of battle playback; not being able to easily tell an Ulm non-blackplate infantry from a blackplate infantry) was the feeling that I was not going to be gouged for even more money in the future, and the belief, based on my understanding of Dominions I, that this game would be supported and updated for a long time for free as a labor of love.

In other words, if you want me to buy into the "It's $50.00 for a game with poor graphics, etc., because it's two guys in a garage" then it has to remain two guys in a garage as a labor of love. Start throwing out $20.00 expansion backs, and they might as well be Microsoft, and this does not have the presentation, UI, etc. of a Microsoft product.

This really isn't a criticism of the game, just premonition that it would be a criticism if I start getting hacked with expansion pack purchase requirements.