The delay can be on the Larian's side by the way. May be they want to do something to the GOG version before releasing. This release was surely poorly managed overall.
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And this would need to be a mystery to us why?
Oh well, I've waited this long, so, for a vendor with a generally better m.o. than Steam, I'm willing to wait a little longer (HoMM3's looking really good right about now!), but I'll tell ya what, Steam's version of D:OS is looking a little more appealing with every passing day.
Just think in the long term. You don't *need* the game right now. But yes, this is all very weird and unprofessional from GOG.com or Larian or both.
My guess is they want to make sure Galaxy or whatever works and supports the multiplayer component of D:OS. But they forget we couldn't care less (at the moment), as long as the single player campaign is there.
Imagine all the sales GOG keeps losing with each passing day from people who just conveniently grab the Steam version.
My guess is they want to make sure Galaxy or whatever works and supports the multiplayer component of D:OS. But they forget we couldn't care less (at the moment), as long as the single player campaign is there.
Imagine all the sales GOG keeps losing with each passing day from people who just conveniently grab the Steam version.
Their refusal to even market the game is absolutely retarded imo. Any major game that GOG has coming should be announced. Something went majorly wrong between Larian and GoG. Larian is trying to play up this word of mouth stuff...no, that won't really sell your game. Advertising does.
Larian can't spend millions on marketing - their funds went into development. That would be common for many crowdfunded projects. On the other hand the release could be managed better.
Failure with GOG probably shows that Larian paid more attention to the Steam release. Which upset many backers who expected a DRM-free release from day one.
Failure with GOG probably shows that Larian paid more attention to the Steam release. Which upset many backers who expected a DRM-free release from day one.
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While D:OS wasn't the first genre Kickstarter iirc, it's the first to release, and bodes very well that the much anticipated 2nd golden age is dawning for us, it's success should solidify the notion in the minds of the other devs that what they promised is what is desired by a sizeable enough community of gamers for financial success. Hopefully it also won't end here, the niche is redeclared, and It looks like the new demographic has joined us.
Agreed all points. TBH I didn't like Dragon Commander & didn't expect them to pull this off - as I do expect the others with a better track record - but colour me impressed & Larian now have my attention... very keen to hear what this "old rpg IP" is they are chasing, and I hope they get it.
Reasons already given why they didn't... lack of money hardly equals "retarded", more necessity, which as they say breeds invention, and i'd rather have such invention - which is present in the game - than marketing which can feed back into the development process nerfing it to the lowest common denominator for increased sales sake.
The evidence shows the game is selling extremely well, ads may make it sell faster, but who cares about that? In this age of digital connectivity* & so many ways for gamers to communicate, a good game will sell without marketing & its accompanying detrimental effects, and the need to sell say 1 million units just to recoup that $25 million marketing spend.
{*} Prior to this level of connection... In the 90's all the games I bought... all those really great classic games we love so much, game advertising didn't exist at all here, and I suspect many others (like the Polish gamers behind CDPR) have similar recollections, and yet we still heard on the gamer grapevine they were good, and we bought them. It's a fallacy, and pure conformism, to assert that advertising is necessary, and the success of many games proves that. Gamers will support good games, no matter how they hear about them, while advertising will delude people into buying rubbish - remember how you felt about X-Rebirth ?
btw: I waited for GOG, but I needed a new game and when I heard this was so good, I couldn't wait any longer.
I think it's GOG's fault because KS backers had access to GOG copies.
Swen mentioned that by the end of the development they only had money for two ads:
"It's word of mouth that is driving Original Sin right now," Vincke said. "We were late with our game, working on it until the last day, so we don't even have reviews out there. We have exactly two ads we did with the last of our money. It was definitely not marketing doing it."
And it seems that WoM is working because the game already sold 160k copies, not a lot by AAA standards but almost enough to recoup their investment.
Swen mentioned that by the end of the development they only had money for two ads:
"It's word of mouth that is driving Original Sin right now," Vincke said. "We were late with our game, working on it until the last day, so we don't even have reviews out there. We have exactly two ads we did with the last of our money. It was definitely not marketing doing it."
And it seems that WoM is working because the game already sold 160k copies, not a lot by AAA standards but almost enough to recoup their investment.
Well, there was very likely a miscommunication between Larian and CDP. Larian thought that GOG Galaxy would have been ready for the release of D:OS. Without the Galaxy patching D:OS would be a chore for both Larian and the customers. Right now the version on Steam is fixed/updated on a DAILY basis. Also co-op is only possible if both players have the identical version so it would lead to problems if Steam users want to co-op with GOG users I guess.
Maybe it's better to postpone the GOG version until updates only occur one a week of even rarer without Galaxy ready to make patching easy and convenient...
GOG originally was made for games that don't need much patching anymore. With enhancing the catalogue to new games as well there are also new problems like frequent patching at release and after that. I think CDP needed too long for GOG Galaxy. A client of some sorts is really the way to go for new games (all DRM-issues aside).
Maybe it's better to postpone the GOG version until updates only occur one a week of even rarer without Galaxy ready to make patching easy and convenient...
GOG originally was made for games that don't need much patching anymore. With enhancing the catalogue to new games as well there are also new problems like frequent patching at release and after that. I think CDP needed too long for GOG Galaxy. A client of some sorts is really the way to go for new games (all DRM-issues aside).
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GOG said they will release it without Galaxy already. So frequent patching is not what's stopping them from doing it. They never really properly explained the reason for the delay, since as @Username. said above, backers had access to the game right away.
A highly-anticipated title within a historically single-player series. Yeah, that thought probably should have crossed their minds before deciding none of us would want to play the game without Galaxy support 
. Apparantly, the Galaxy client would help the patching and updating issues as well, but still...I wants it...
. Apparantly, the Galaxy client would help the patching and updating issues as well, but still...I wants it...
I'm still undecided, whether to buy it on GOG to play in Wine, or to wait until Larian at least produces a Linux version and then buy on GOG to play in Wine
Well now, after a weekend of play sessions I simply have to upgrade my initial impression from good game to Great Game. Still early days - my level 5 party has almost fully uncovered the first map - so i'll refrain from declaring a new benchmark yet, though I can't imagine discussing the future genre releases without some comparison to this one. I want to avoid spoilers so just generalities - because game discovery is part of this ones charm imo - but as well as a variable level of tactical involvement (it's your choice), how involved in the story is also your choice, theres a variety of puzzles - the usual form if a tad superior to the norm (you need to be paying attention or you might miss their elements, and realise some of the fundamentals of the game mechanics), and a "how do I get there" map based type I think essentially unique to this game, maybe inspired by Magicka but this is party based, with a variety of solutions.
And variety is a constant here it seems, you could play as 2, 3, or 4 to alter the challenge level. Like I mentioned earlier the dialogue branching appears fairly complex with multiple ways of finishing many quests, theres complete freedom in how you progress, in party makeup, chosen skillset, what you do first - no level scaling, so go for the tough route or level appropriate if you wish, few quest markers so listen, read, & explore. Along with the elements & destructibles, sneak & plan attacks, use the heightmap to your advantage (line of sight is effing great at times), ambush, or Leeeeeerooooy (!) Jenkins the lot. But the AI has the same abilities, and it will use them well, and even on the middle difficulty I've had my parties arses handed back to me many times, in quite satisfying ways.
I'm thoroughly enjoying this party based goodness, only game i've had this year has been Dark Souls 2, and it's intensity was beginning to drain me, D:OS was exactly what I needed for a change of pace, engaging different but equally itchy gaming needs. I haven't even looked at the accompanying toolset yet, but knowing that is there, the obvious strength of this engine, the top difficulty, and the ability to metagame further challenge modes yourself, means I already know this will get at least a second playthrough. Hmmm, perhaps i'm still being too cautious, what else does it need to be Superb?
And variety is a constant here it seems, you could play as 2, 3, or 4 to alter the challenge level. Like I mentioned earlier the dialogue branching appears fairly complex with multiple ways of finishing many quests, theres complete freedom in how you progress, in party makeup, chosen skillset, what you do first - no level scaling, so go for the tough route or level appropriate if you wish, few quest markers so listen, read, & explore. Along with the elements & destructibles, sneak & plan attacks, use the heightmap to your advantage (line of sight is effing great at times), ambush, or Leeeeeerooooy (!) Jenkins the lot. But the AI has the same abilities, and it will use them well, and even on the middle difficulty I've had my parties arses handed back to me many times, in quite satisfying ways.
I'm thoroughly enjoying this party based goodness, only game i've had this year has been Dark Souls 2, and it's intensity was beginning to drain me, D:OS was exactly what I needed for a change of pace, engaging different but equally itchy gaming needs. I haven't even looked at the accompanying toolset yet, but knowing that is there, the obvious strength of this engine, the top difficulty, and the ability to metagame further challenge modes yourself, means I already know this will get at least a second playthrough. Hmmm, perhaps i'm still being too cautious, what else does it need to be Superb?
I agree. I'm now at level 17 with about 60 hours into the game and I'm still amazed. This game offers so much, best isometric party RPG since BG2 imo....
To answer your last question, Kudos, I think it needs a better story. Right now the main plot has yet to really engage me in any way, I'm mostly off doing random exploration becaue it's so... much... fun. So yeah, story and dialogues are a bit shallow, but the rest is top notch stuff. I haven't had too much time to play but I've greatly enjoyed what little I've played of this game.
P.S. Screw undead boars.
P.S. Screw undead boars.
I agree that the main story could be seen as the game's "weakest spot". But the humorous and sometimes hilarious side quests, exploration, secrets and puzzles make up for it imo. A serious and deep story and deep C&C in dialogues is just not the focus of this game (I think that's not only a writing "problem" but also a design decision based on the co-op vision)...