I don't think people will be upset in the long term.

They did announce a while ago that they were cancelling the third micro-expansion. But new full-blown expansions are still up in the air! And the all-popular Sins 2.

At this point, it remains uncertain whether after this they'll be working on a full-sized expansion, a sequal, or an entirely new title.  There was never any promise of three micro-expansions, I never saw the developer post from which fans got the idea from.  In any case, it's fairly clear that diplomacy is the last micro-expansion and something bigger is coming next.

oh, I doubt Sins-2 would be Sins with better graphics and fewer ships. IC has already shown that anything related to the Sins IP has to be top-notch.

Remember, Ironclad Studios IS NOT A BIG NAME COMPANY (or at least they weren't when Sins went into development). And they are not EA, Relic, THQ, Valve (god, not valve). Thus, they are a relatively small (and somewhat indie) studio that focuses not on making tons of money with a mediocre title, but making money with a infinity/5-stars game.

If Sins2 but added just one more faction to a count of 4 and even further improved balance and modability, it would be made of win.  I'm happy they're making games with integrity, creativity, and attention to craftsmanship.

I noticed and bought sins on the strength of the game of the year icon on the box catching my eye while browsing the shelves.  And have not in any way been disappointed yet.

-evoke

They still are. Sins was made with 9 people plus Stardock involvement in some areas, and now Ironclad has 11 (but are moving offices so they might hire a couple more).

Ultimately, the third micro-expansion was scrapped due to time. Entrenchment did cost a fair bit more than they were anticipating, but it sold extremely well and return-on-investment was never an issue. It does just come down to time, as Sins is gaining in age and by the time the third expansion would've come out it'd be 3 years old. Not to mention I imagine it would be rather difficult making a third expansion because they really already are pushing the current engine to the brink of its capability.

If the third expansion was going to be something more meaningful than just "throw a bunch more units in", such as a campaign or scripting or what have you, large portions of the engine would need to be re-written which is a ton of work for an old game.

They've already said that Sins isn't over, and whatever that means neither Ironclad nor Stardock are run by big suits who have to answer to shareholders (yay privately owned companies!) and they care about making good games. Whatever they have in store for Sins is not going to be cheapened

You're actually disappointed that it will probably be Sins 2 instead of an expansion coming next? What's wrong with you?

Think of all the wonderful things that can happen in a sequal with a new engine vs. an expansion. 64-bit support, dual-core (or more) support, more modding options, less hardcodes, a campaign, new races, units, etc. They can put waaay more stuff in a sequal.

You got me. I'm not affiliated with Stardock or Ironclad, and the stuff I write is basically gathered from observation. Until they say otherwise, anything's on the table. I certainly am not privvy to their financial details and publishing agreement.

But when the 3 micro expansions were first announced, the timeline had them all out already. It was only supposed to be about a 6-month development for each, and it ended up being a year each. With that, it's fairly logical to assume that they ran out of time and couldn't put off other stuff.

I think that it is the main reason... and to be honest, each of their "micro" expension have add a lot to the game... not always in the gameplay or the visual but in the engine itself... now, the engine run somehow faster that with the original game !!! Modders are a lot of new option... several hardcoded limit was expended ( just hope that they will extend the mesh limit with diplomacy )...

Since, as today, multicore and 64 bits computer are cheap, it seem logical that a sins II need to be created using these features... this for remove the lag due to single core in big battle or the memory problem with huge mod who add new races... due to the needed work, a multicore and 64 bits engine cannot be released like a micro-expension... Ironclad is a business and people working there need to feed their family too... hey, several of their free patch have not only correct problem but add feature too !!!

I only found out about SINs due to gamespot. But 90% of gamers are not hard -core gamespot reading nerds and are causal gamers. They guys fall for even crappy games with good advertising. 

Advertise! 

What I hope for in a Sins-2 is that it be as good as Sins + Entrenchment while being rock-solid for online multiplayer (no minidumps or desyncs) so that by being a new game that is polished upon release, perhaps it will attract large online player counts this time.

Boys, do you know how much is the cost of TV advertisements or other type of advertisements ?

Today, it become more easy with Impulse but when sins was released, there was not Impulse... TV advertisements have certainly double the cost of the game... more, before the release, nobody have think that a game like sins will work so good...

By the way, all money used on advertisements need to be return in one way or the other... do you really wish to pay your game or expension pack at a double ofthe actual price ?

Sins have become a well know game by his own merit, not by some advert... he was in the top chart at the end of the first year... sins is in some game top 50 for the decade ( 2000-2010 )... console game being included in these top 50 !!!

Merit is the real advertisememnts of these game, not some high end TV spot who show a hyperrealist video who have nothing to do with the real quality of the game...

By the way, if you are in the 4X style of game, simply bookmark the following page :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:4X_video_games ... point is : learn to use internet for find what you wish...