The Witcher 2 on GoG DRM free.

[tzimize]

Hello escapists.

I've been a defender of pirates (under certain circumstances), and I've been against DRM for as long as I can remember (But please dont make this thread into a discussion about that). For me, this feels like a time to put my money where my mouth is, because GoG is accepting pre-orders for The Witcher 2 as we speak. Its a pretty sweet deal (get the details at their website), and a PERFECT opportunity to vote with your wallets. GoG is a great platform, which in my opinion deserves support. So I at least have pre-ordered this game, in the hopes that it can give me just as great an adventure as the original did.

I remember buying the original for 5? on a ridiculous steam sale, and feeling ashamed afterwards because I felt I had paid too little for such a fantastic game...

So. I am voting with my wallet, and I am urging you escapists of similar conviction (and gaming interest) as me, to do the same.

 

[linwolf]

I have already made a tread about this and pre-order as well.
And I repeat if you like RPG's and dislike DRM buy this game.

 

[10BIT]

I'll be buying the game from GoG as well, but mainly because I want the art book. The DRM-free-ness of the game is great as well.

I also feel bad about paying so little for the original. It's one of my favourite games due to the choices being simply about consequences, not good route verses evil route like every other western rpg I've played with choice.

 

[moretimethansense]

There's nothing wrong with DRM.

It's an annoyance if you happen to install the game a handful of times, but it's the company's right to put whatever they want onto the disc.

OT: I'll be buying because I like the game.

Well sorry but I disagree DRM only Punishes legitamate consumers whilst pirates get a copy that has no invasive software that can leave your pc open to viruses and spyware(securom) or even destroy your hardware completley(starforce) also why pray tell should legitimate cutomers pay full price for what is effectivly a fucking rental while pirates get to play, uninstall and reinstall as they see fit?

Personally I think the best way to combat piacy is to give legitamate consumers free stuff at no extra cost AND NOT AS DLC FOR GODS SAKE that doesn't help, physical things that cant be downloaded are the best at least in my opinion,
speaking of which does anyone know if the boxed retail version will be DRM free or will I have to Buy the colecters edition and the pirate it anyway

I'll be buying the game from GoG as well, but mainly because I want the art book. The DRM-free-ness of the game is great as well.

I also feel bad about paying so little for the original. It's one of my favourite games due to the choices being simply about consequences, not good route verses evil route like every other western rpg I've played with choice.

couldn't agree more.

 

[moretimethansense]

SNIP

It doesn't matter how much you dislike it. It's their product and they can do as they please.

It's no excuse for stealing the game.

No one has the right to something they can't afford just because they want it. Don't like DRM? Don't buy the game. But don't tell people DRM is wrong.

Sorry but DRM is (in my opinion at least) wrong I believe that if you are a paying customer those that you are paying owe you the goods and or service that you are paying for.

I know that no matter what I say I won't change your opinion but imagine buying anything else and being treated in the same way eg
CDs if you bought a CD or a dvd and you had to
A. Phone the company that made it and register you copy before you could use it.
B. Stay on the phone the entire time you were watching/ listening to it.
C. And/or only be aloud to put it in your DVD/CD player a total of three times before you have to get a new copy.
And D. they had a very real chance of irreparably damaging your player

I imagine you'd be pissed off so why pray tell should the games industry be aloud to do this to paying, I'll emphasize that again PAYING customers?

They CAN but that doesn't mean they have the right.

EDIT: Also what part of my post makes you think I steal games?
the only part I metioned myself pirating was when I said that I'd Buy a legitimate Physical collecters edition for the feelies and then pirate the fucker If it has obtrusive DRM.

 

[TheComedown]

SNIP

It doesn't matter how much you dislike it. It's their product and they can do as they please.

It's no excuse for stealing the game.

No one has the right to something they can't afford just because they want it. Don't like DRM? Don't buy the game. But don't tell people DRM is wrong.

Sorry but DRM is (in my opinion at least) wrong I believe that if you are a paying customer those that you are paying owe you the goods and or service that you are paying for.

I know that no matter what I say I won't change your opinion but imagine buying anything else and being treated in the same way eg
CDs if you bought a CD or a dvd and you had to
A. Phone the company that made it and register you copy before you could use it.
B. Stay on the phone the entire time you were watching/ listening to it.
C. And/or only be aloud to put it in your DVD/CD player a total of three times before you have to get a new copy.
And D. they had a very real chance of irreparably damaging your player

I imagine you'd be pissed off so why pray tell should the games industry be aloud to do this to paying, I'll emphasize that again PAYING customers?

They CAN but that doesn't mean they have the right.

Pirate kitty listen to this internet persona, its hit the nail on the head. I can go stick my leg out under a bus, doesn't make it right. I can go around and treat my friends like scum, doesn't make it right. The games industry gets away with to much bullshit compared to the rest of the retail world. You can return a defective or broken dvd player, if your game is broken or defective you get a great big "Haha sucked in" sticker for your wall. If you buy the game legally you get thrown through hoops, and if you pirate it you get to cut the cue (note I am not a pirate and don't condone it, it is still the bigger part of the problem)

 

[TheComedown]

They CAN but that doesn't mean they have the right.

They do have the right.

Nothing about DRM is illegal in any way.

Whats legally right, and morally right are 2 different things.

 

[xorinite]

it's the company's right to put whatever they want onto the disc.

Don't like DRM? Don't buy the game. But don't tell people DRM is wrong.

Why on earth not?
They may have the legal right to put DRM on their products so what?
Fred Phelps has the legal right to tell peoples parents that their dead children are in whores in hell.
Joe Smoe has the right to drink fifteen pints of extra strength larger and smoke forty cigarettes a day.
There are lots of legal things which are worthy of criticism and I retain the right to criticise them. You know, like how you just criticised people for complaining about DRM, which is after all their right.

 

[moretimethansense]

They CAN but that doesn't mean they have the right.

They do have the right.

Nothing about DRM is illegal in any way.

It also wasn't illegal for the studio NIN was atached to to charge extra for the colur chaging Treatment that Trent Payed for OUT OF HIS OWN POCKET as a supprise for the fans then keep the extra for themselves but that doesn't make it right.

It also wasn't illegal for cops to beat black people half to death not so long ago but that doesn't make that right either.

The law is not about what's right it's simply the rules the people in charge have placed,
Also there are in fact parts of the world where it is perfectly legal to pirate
and others where it's legal to rape women or beat your wives.

The Law does not dictate what is right.

 

[TheComedown]

They CAN but that doesn't mean they have the right.

They do have the right.

Nothing about DRM is illegal in any way.

Whats legally right, and morally right are 2 different things.

Morals are subjective.

There's no place for them in business, really.

Not nice, but true.

Well, there is a place - with some companies doing a lot of charity work. But one has to wonder how willing they would be to give if it they didn't get a tax break or the good media for it

So treating your customers like scum? Like thieves and low-lives isn't morally wrong? Nor is it wrong from a business perspective?

 

[TheComedown]

The Law does not dictate what is right.

Yes it does

So you'd be happy to go to a country where rape isn't illegal or having husbands beat wives isn't illegal? If it happened to you would you still say "No, no. It's alright, the law doesn't stop it. It's fine."

There is no reason for DRM to be illegal

There is a reason you're changing the topic? we are not talking about DRM being illegal, we are talking about it being wrong, its already been established that legal does not equal right, and illegal doesn't equal wrong. Hell some DRM isn't that bad at all (look at steam)

 

[10BIT]

It's an annoyance if you happen to install the game a handful of times, but it's the company's right to put whatever they want onto the disc.

And we have the right not to purchase it if there is DRM on the disk. Just because they have the right to do it doesn't mean we should not complain about it.

DRM can be a big problem. I was looking forward to Assassin's Creed 2, Splinter Cell: Conviction and Prince of Persia: Forgotten Sands, but thanks to the DRM an the lack of a stable internet connection, I am prevented from playing legal versions of the games.

Well sorry but I disagree DRM only Punishes legitamate consumers whilst pirates get a copy that has no invasive software that can leave your pc open to viruses and spyware(securom) or even destroy your hardware completley(starforce) also why pray tell should legitimate cutomers pay full price for what is effectivly a fucking rental while pirates get to play, uninstall and reinstall as they see fit?

I thought these stories of DRM causing these types of problems were debunked. The starforce stuff was at least. Starforce was the best form of DRM for publishers since it took ages to crack and caused no problems for the customer, but because it was so much trouble for the pirates, they spread rumours about it bricking computers that were totally unfounded, but thanks to them repeating it so often it became 'truth', publishers stopped using them and the company that produced them was bankrupt. This story shows that pirates don't care for consumers and that a lot of the problems have been caused by them.

Personally I think the best way to combat piacy is to give legitamate consumers free stuff at no extra cost AND NOT AS DLC FOR GODS SAKE that doesn't help, physical things that cant be downloaded are the best at least in my opinion,

Agreed

speaking of which does anyone know if the boxed retail version will be DRM free or will I have to Buy the colecters edition and the pirate it anyway

Only the GoG version is DRM free.

Morals are subjective.

There's no place for them in business, really.

Not nice, but true.

I take it you've never been part of a business then? Or are things done differently in Australia?

 

[Ravek]

There's nothing wrong with DRM.

It's an annoyance if you happen to install the game a handful of times, but it's the company's right to put whatever they want onto the disc.

It's also my right to be a prick to people, but it's still wrong to do so.

 

[moretimethansense]

The Law does not dictate what is right.

Yes it does, in a way; the law is made by the people to protect what they feel is right.

It simply changes as we grow and change ourselves.

There is no reason for DRM to be illegal - they aren't doing anything wrong. You don't like it, but then again many people don't like lots of things.

It's their product they produce. You agree to their conditions when you purchase it.

I kind feel sorry for you,
If you truely believe that the law is the only morality that matters sereously did you not read what I just typed?
IT IS IN FACT LEGAL TO RAPE WOMEN IN CRETAIN COUNTRIES,
this is never I repeat NEVER right no matter what the law says.

Also on DRM yes they fucking are doing something wrong they are treating loyal customers like theives, they are selling at full price somthing that they are not allowed to keep.

Also you do not in fact enter in to any contract when you purchase something you enter in to a contract when you click "I Agree",
A contract may I add that is not legally binding anywhere as you need to purchase the product to see is and as such can not be reasonably expected to know what you are paying for as defined by law.
The EULA has no legal power whatsoever.

I will restate the point I am trying to make,

Game companies do not have the right to treat customers in this fasion,
DRM is a horrible practice that only punishes legitamate consumers and does nothing to combat piracy, NOTHING.
The only reasons companies still use DRM is that they are too fucking stupid to see that it only causes frustration at best and more piracy at worst,
And people like youi that can't see that you are in fact being cheated.

However for the sake of arguement I will give an example of one piece of DRM I was only annoyed with as opposed to outright reviled
Company of Heroes
If you have an internet connetion it forces you to register, sign in and download all the patches that are available before letyting you play
If you don't have an internety conection...
It simply lets you play

That's not so bad If I want to play but don't want to play online or update I just disconnect.
Annoying but acceptable it doesn't force you to haver an internety connetion on an account to play if you don't have one.

Also as I said way back when, the best weay to cobat piracy is the feelies,
Atr books, statuettes, sountrack CDs(real ones not DLC), novelty in game money or somthing like that
I'm not against Developers/Producers protecting their product, simply their doing it in such a stupid way.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

Getting back to the topic, it's a brave move by the Witcher 2 guys, and I hope it pays off.

After all, when it comes down to it, who's worse off?

The company that sells 2,000 copies of a game and has zero piracy?

Or the company that sells 50,000 copies of a game and has tracked 200,000 torrent downloads?

The massive piracy of Starcraft 2 seems to hint to me that not everyone is just stealing the game because they don't want to pay, after all, it's mainly multiplayer, I'd sense a good portion are trying it out before outlaying the cash for the full version.

I also wouldn't put it past Blizzard enabling LAN and other multiplayer a year or two down the line, once they've got the majority of sales in the bag.

I won't be buying Witcher 2, purely because I'm poor and I want to buy and complete Witcher 1 first, but neither will I be pirating either.

 

[moretimethansense]

Getting back to the topic, it's a brave move by the Witcher 2 guys, and I hope it pays off.

After all, when it comes down to it, who's worse off?

The company that sells 2,000 copies of a game and has zero piracy?

Or the company that sells 50,000 copies of a game and has tracked 200,000 torrent downloads?

The massive piracy of Starcraft 2 seems to hint to me that not everyone is just stealing the game because they don't want to pay, after all, it's mainly multiplayer, I'd sense a good portion are trying it out before outlaying the cash for the full version.

I also wouldn't put it past Blizzard enabling LAN and other multiplayer a year or two down the line, once they've got the majority of sales in the bag.

I won't be buying Witcher 2, purely because I'm poor and I want to buy and complete Witcher 1 first, but neither will I be pirating either.

I'll join in on the hoping, The Witcher is a great game even if it was a buggy mess when it first came out

I'm definatly gonna get it but I worry that my Processor won't be good enough and I am likewise Fairly poor,
Ah well I've got about five moths to save for a new processor so I should be able to manage it as long as nothing comes up.

 

[TheComedown]

SNIP

Bringing rape into the topic was very unnecessary.

Sorry if I upset you with my opinion. Certainly was not my intention.

Let's not talk about it any further.

I didn't bring it up, you clearly didn't even read the posts you where responding to.

Your opinion doesn't upset me, god no your opinion is your opinion its not that I have a problem with. It's your inability to see reason and actually consider things from more then one angle, that is not the correct way to form an opinion. You are entitled to your opinion, I have no problem with that, stubbornly sticking to such a flawed and broken logic behind the opinion is where my problem lies.

I am prevented from playing legal versions of the games.

DRM in no way inhibits you from playing those games. The only one you may make that sort of statementon is regarding Assassin's Creed, and ly if you do not have the internet.

Making excuses for piracy is very sad.

Actually there is plenty of DRM that will stop you from playing a game, for example I have only one install left on my copy of The Chronicles of Riddick before the disk becomes nothing more then a shiny frisbee. I should also note that I have an internet connection but AC2 would still be quite a pain in the arse, being Australian internet it is pretty shit house, not to mention I have to share it with 2 other people so... Yeah there are actually plenty of DRM schemes that will stop legitimate customers

 

[10BIT]

DRM in no way inhibits you from playing those games. The only one you may make that sort of statement is regarding Assassin's Creed, and only if you do not have the internet.

I do not 'have the internet'. I'm having to use uni computers to access the internet since I cannot access it at my house. The DRM on all the games I've mentioned are the same so your claim that only Assassin's Creed 2 won't work is wrong.

Making excuses for piracy is very sad.

Not reading the post you're replying to is very sad. (as well as insulting someone for believing they have an opinion different to yours)

I never made any judgement on piracy. If anything I've shown disdain towards piracy by complaining about the way they handled the starforce DRM.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

Let's try not to make this another 10 page 'piracy is bad mmk' thread, it's more a thread about Witcher 2, and their sensible (I hope) move to not spend more on DRM to irritate their paying customers with, than they'd probably gain from sales because of it.

In the long run, it just flatly doesn't MATTER how many times a games is pirated, the only number that matters is how many times it's BOUGHT, and a game without DRM I think is more likely to get bought, at least by the more savvy PC market.

It's like someone bringing your pay around at the end of the month and saying 'I've got two options for you this month - here's your £1000, or you could take this one, it's £100,000, but £90,000 has been stolen from it.' I'll take the ten grand and try not to think about who made off with the cash. Even easier in the real world of piracy where that £90,000 didn't actually exist in the most part.

I still suggest that digital versions should be cheaper than a boxed one however. Fingers crossed people know it's as easy to go to GOG and buy it as it is to go torrent hunting, and GOG won't leave you feeling guilty.

One thing tho, since when did GOG start selling GNG?