Isn't Stardock's CEO rather... nutty and egotistical? Seems expected he'd find an excuse for his game's failure.
Surely all those alleged fixes could have been implemented 1 month after the need for marketing materials had passed. Have they? What state is the game in?
Actually he's admitted he screwed up bad. He's admitted it so much that he's re-doing the game for free for the folks who bought at launch, and hired some talent to do it right. I think that's admitting you screwed up pretty damn hard, and doing what you can to correct it. For me at least, Stardock's done enough good in the past that I forgave this screw-up, even if it was of SFxTK proportions.
If you read the documents, she quit on zero notice three weeks before the game came out and shredded promotional materials, despite being contractually obligated not to do so.
Now, whether the damages are appropiate is another matter- but if Stardock's allegations are true, then she should have been sued hard, and given what I've heard about Stardock as a working environment, I'm inclined to believe Stardock. (I've heard nothing but good things about how they treat employees)
Also, why would Brad be trying to stir up the old pot when he's got a much better product coming out soon, yeah, I don't agree with his politics much on fiscal issues, but he's not a moron- he's done enough right over the years to be given some credit.
A lot of folks are being blinded by their personal dislike of Brad Wardell here. Yeah, I don't agree with his politics, but outside of War of Magic being terrible, Stardock has been pretty damn awesome the 8 or 9 years I've bought their games.
It's a shame, too. Stardock had a fine, consumer-friendly reputation until Elemental.
They are working hard to win that rep back, though it will be twice as hard as earning that rep in the first place.