Game News Divinity: Original Sin released on GOG

[Awor Szurkrarz]

1. Wait until the game is close to that final, FINAL state, with all the content and patches already implemented.
2. Download the gog.com version
3. Burn the setup to a DVD, the extra stuff like artwork and soundtrack to another. Optionally implement auto-run for the setup disk.
4. Buy a jewel case or a DVD case. Print artwork and stick it in there.
5. Get some CD adhesive label or maybe even a printer that can print on CDs directly. Apply on your DVDs.
6. Order a small cardboard box, either printed or blank (and you can stick some adhesive paper on it).
7. Order a custom printed manual from various Internet services. For extra cheapskatism, print the papers yourself and find a store with a comb binding machine to bind it. Optionally, laminate the covers.
There, mission fucking accomplished.

Because everyone is a skilled bookbinder, right?

 

[Sensuki]

I normally just get one of the no-frills digital versions for most games I back.

I thought the PE $250 tier was great value for money though, so I ended up going $310 for that solely based on the amount of sweet physical goodies and beta access (Collectors Box and Hardcover Art book were the main two).

$250 + $10 Playing Cards + $20 Audio CD Soundtrack + $30 International Shipping

Wasn't really that interested in making an NPC or Item (as I could probably do that in a mod) but getting a portrait of yourself in the game is an awesome idea. But I'm not a rich cunt with $3K to spend on that.

 

[buzz]

1. Wait until the game is close to that final, FINAL state, with all the content and patches already implemented.
2. Download the gog.com version
3. Burn the setup to a DVD, the extra stuff like artwork and soundtrack to another. Optionally implement auto-run for the setup disk.
4. Buy a jewel case or a DVD case. Print artwork and stick it in there.
5. Get some CD adhesive label or maybe even a printer that can print on CDs directly. Apply on your DVDs.
6. Order a small cardboard box, either printed or blank (and you can stick some adhesive paper on it).
7. Order a custom printed manual from various Internet services. For extra cheapskatism, print the papers yourself and find a store with a comb binding machine to bind it. Optionally, laminate the covers.
There, mission fucking accomplished.

Because everyone is a skilled bookbinder, right?

I meant going to an office supplies store where they have one of these:

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

1. Wait until the game is close to that final, FINAL state, with all the content and patches already implemented.
2. Download the gog.com version
3. Burn the setup to a DVD, the extra stuff like artwork and soundtrack to another. Optionally implement auto-run for the setup disk.
4. Buy a jewel case or a DVD case. Print artwork and stick it in there.
5. Get some CD adhesive label or maybe even a printer that can print on CDs directly. Apply on your DVDs.
6. Order a small cardboard box, either printed or blank (and you can stick some adhesive paper on it).
7. Order a custom printed manual from various Internet services. For extra cheapskatism, print the papers yourself and find a store with a comb binding machine to bind it. Optionally, laminate the covers.
There, mission fucking accomplished.

Because everyone is a skilled bookbinder, right?

I meant going to an office supplies store where they have one of these:

That's nowhere near the quality of professional publishing.

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

I thought the PE $250 tier was great value for money though, so I ended up going $310 for that solely based on the amount of sweet physical goodies and beta access (Collectors Box and Hardcover Art book were the main two).

(...)

But I'm not a rich cunt

 

[buzz]

That's nowhere near the quality of professional publishing.

I also said you can order custom printing and book binding. Of course it's a bit more expensive but nothing exaggerated.

 

[Athelas]

You can't say "Unknown Belgian company vs. Black Isle nostalgia" in one sentence, and then say "completely obscure outfit like InXile" in the next. You're basically saying how well-known the company is is irrelevant.

'Brian Fargo presents' plays at the beginning of both Fallout 1 and 2. He's regarded as one of the creators of Fallout. The Obsidian/InXile kickstarters also received a ton of media attention, much more than Larian's kickstarter.

Mind you, boxes are also pretty nostalgic of that era too, so you surely must agree that more nostalgia == greater KickStarter success. Addressing l3loodAngel's point more, Larian were known. They have as good a (in fact better) track record at making RPGs as the "relatively obscure" InXile.

Larian's track record is much better than InXile's, but that's irrelevant. For the purposes of Kickstarter, InXile's track record existed of the Black Isle games, even if nobody at InXile actually worked on those games. Larian's games are obviously much less known and much less well-regarded than the Black Isle RPG's.

 

[Sensuki]

Chris Avellone's name dropping + The Obsidian Tools collaboration got a fair bit of attention.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

1. Wait until the game is close to that final, FINAL state, with all the content and patches already implemented.
2. Download the gog.com version
3. Burn the setup to a DVD, the extra stuff like artwork and soundtrack to another. Optionally implement auto-run for the setup disk.
4. Buy a jewel case or a DVD case. Print artwork and stick it in there.
5. Get some CD adhesive label or maybe even a printer that can print on CDs directly. Apply on your DVDs.
6. Order a small cardboard box, either printed or blank (and you can stick some adhesive paper on it).
7. Order a custom printed manual from various Internet services. For extra cheapskatism, print the papers yourself and find a store with a comb binding machine to bind it. Optionally, laminate the covers.
There, mission fucking accomplished.

Your incentive for throwing lots of dosh at a campaign shouldn't be a fucking box or a cloth map. Your incentive should be the FUCKING GAME GETTING MADE. You know, that type of game that modern devs and publishers no longer produce or create only extremely castrated versions of.

If you want these types of games made:

1. Download Unity.
2. Develop your game.
3. Play it.

There, mission fucking accomplished.

(Point is, it's nicer when someone handles that shit for you. I just want to get the box, open it and play it, then oggle the box and cuddle it at night when I'm lonely - not fuck around talking to printers myself.)

Seriously, this thread is disgusting. It's pretty much one of the reasons why I hate Kickstarter. People have turned it from a community service/crowdsourcing thing into a marketing pitch made by the developers directly to the consumers. And the backer tiers are partly to blame for that. Too many have the assumption that kickstarter is supposed to be based on the "give money -> receive product" dynamic, when in reality it is "give money -> help product get made".

Technically KickStarter is just a pre-purchase option. KickStarter effectively market tests a product and allows people to pre-purchase it without risk that if the KickStarter fails, it hasn't actually cost them anything (and yes, with the added risk that a successful KickStarter doens't mean a successful end product).

It's not just a "gib dem monies and get nothing in return" proposition. Peoples are gibbing monies because they want the game. That's kind of the point.

But hey, yeah, go make that minimum pledge amount just so you get the game, sure. Imagine a W2 or a Broken Age that barely scrapped the funding goal because everyone got the basic digital pack. Or better, imagine the campaign failing and no actual game getting made.

Most of the money is made from those "we just want the game" tiers. Especially in D:OS' case.

Physical goods are nice and welcome. But not when they're a novelty item that creates huge management and distributing issues. Not when it forces the game developers to use a significant part of the money making physical goods and shipping them all over the place instead of putting that money into the game itself. These companies are still independent companies, working on the peanuts a few tens of thousand people gave them. They don't have massive AAA budgets or the connections of big publishers. So let them work on the game, put that game on a digital, hassle-free platform and support them out of your own goodwill rather than for the physical shit.

Likewise, digital bonuses and custom underpants are nice and welcome. But not when they're a novelty item that creates huge production issues for the developers. Not when it forces the game developers to spend significant time (and thus, funds in wages and salaries) to make the digital bonuses and extra content to satisfy the custom wants and stretch goals, instead of putting that money into the core game itself. Especially when some of the stretch goals add so much extra work they defeat the purpose of raising funds for the game in the first place.

Physical or digital, a well-managed KickStarter shouldn't be such a hassle. At some point, "good project management" and "good business planning" come into it - regardless of whether that's sorting out who's printing boxes, or who's putting extra time into making more pairs of digital underpants.

Larian's track record is much better than InXile's, but that's irrelevant. For the purposes of Kickstarter, InXile's track record existed of the Black Isle games, even if nobody at InXile actually worked on those games. Larian's games are obviously much less known and much less well-regarded than the Black Isle RPG's.

So are you saying the reason D:OS has bupkiss physical sales compared to W2's, Torment's and P:E's is because they lack sufficient BIS nostalgia?

If so, can you explain Double Fine for me then:

Pledge $100 or more; 11,530 backers

Special edition box containing both the game disc and a DVD or Blu-Ray of the documentary, Double Fine Adventure Backer T-shirt, original "Double Fine Adventure" poster (suitable for framing), special thanks in the game’s credits, and all previous reward tiers.​

That tier raised just over $1.1M of the total $3.3M. The very first digital "finished game" tier only raised $719,205 by comparison ($15; 47,947 backers). The second digital tier which threw in the digital soundtrack and a documentary download raised another $739,080 ($30; 24,636 backers).

By comparison, the tier that added the digital PDF version of the "Adventure Book" only raised $65,400 ($60; 1090 backers) while the hard-cover copy of the book raised $74,000 ($500; 148 backers).

Again: People want the game. The vast majority are happy with the digital rewards only (in this case 72,583 people) - but you can get at least a third of your funds from a nice, clear "boxed copy" tier at a higher price (in this case, from just 11,530 people - or 1/6th of the number who wanted digital only).

 

[80Maxwell08]

Hey look, the steamwhores are using the nostalgia argument and think that collecting stuff is stupid. lol irony.

Around this time I'd probably launch into a long-winded analogy to bookshelves, and the sheer pleasure of browsing your book collection, bringing down a book you haven't read in a couple of decades, flipping through it and remembering how much you liked it, and so on... but I somehow doubt you'll understand.

After all, if it's not in your Steam library, then it sucks.

Stupid analogy, videogames are digital format in one way or the other

And I'd prefer physical copies too, if the media was actually useful and not just a prompt to install steam, if the documentation existed and all the crap that comes with it was integrated with the game in some way.

That people pay more for what's essentially cardboard is just too funny, sorry. But hey you got stickers

That's why I don't get any game locked to a service like Steam. Hence why I didn't pledge to Kingdom Come when that came out.

Also for why I don't like Steam if anyone cares:

Spoiler

When I first moved to Texas my computer couldn't connect to the internet at all so I couldn't log into Steam to use the offline mode. At the time most if not all of my games were on Steam so I couldn't use my computer for anything. This is what drove me into getting into GOG a lot more. Later on something screwed up with Steam that caused it to get stuck updating when booting up the client. I tried contacting their support but they were absolutely useless for several months. Both experiences caused me to appreciate being able to install and play my games at any time I want. So now I don't buy anything locked to Steam or any other service.

 

[J_C]

I don't think you realize that people, such as myself, will NOT spend as much on KS without those collector edition boxes... period. I don't care what game it's based on I will NOT sink $100s for digital only. I was all excited about The Banner Saga when it first started on KS (loved the artwork) but the minute I saw no boxed copies and them specifically stating they would not have any my pledge dropped to the lowest tier for the game only. This is true of every KS game that hasn't included a boxed Collector's copy tier.

It's a reality that I hope these companies keep in mind for the future. Part of the nostalgic pull of KS is also in the promise of those "old school" boxes and their cloth maps, manuals, trinkets, etc. It's part of the whole appeal to those games of yesteryear.

Why would you spend 100s of dollars on a KS anyway, boxed game or not? I always spend the minimum ammount to get the game on any KS (with the exception of PoE), because I'm not a rich motherfucker and a box or any digital content doesn't do me any good. And I have a huge ammount of nostalgia in me, but not towards boxes, but towards games.

 

[Zed]

I don't think you realize that people, such as myself, will NOT spend as much on KS without those collector edition boxes... period. I don't care what game it's based on I will NOT sink $100s for digital only. I was all excited about The Banner Saga when it first started on KS (loved the artwork) but the minute I saw no boxed copies and them specifically stating they would not have any my pledge dropped to the lowest tier for the game only. This is true of every KS game that hasn't included a boxed Collector's copy tier.

It's a reality that I hope these companies keep in mind for the future. Part of the nostalgic pull of KS is also in the promise of those "old school" boxes and their cloth maps, manuals, trinkets, etc. It's part of the whole appeal to those games of yesteryear.

Why would you spend 100s of dollars on a KS anyway, boxed game or not? I always spend the minimum ammount to get the game on any KS (with the exception of PoE), because I'm not a rich motherfucker and a box or any digital content doesn't do me any good.

Probably because he's not a poor motherfucker.

 

[JarlFrank]

Where do all you physicalfags keep your boxes?

Same place I keep my books.

... I need another living room.

 

[J_C]

I don't think you realize that people, such as myself, will NOT spend as much on KS without those collector edition boxes... period. I don't care what game it's based on I will NOT sink $100s for digital only. I was all excited about The Banner Saga when it first started on KS (loved the artwork) but the minute I saw no boxed copies and them specifically stating they would not have any my pledge dropped to the lowest tier for the game only. This is true of every KS game that hasn't included a boxed Collector's copy tier.

It's a reality that I hope these companies keep in mind for the future. Part of the nostalgic pull of KS is also in the promise of those "old school" boxes and their cloth maps, manuals, trinkets, etc. It's part of the whole appeal to those games of yesteryear.

Why would you spend 100s of dollars on a KS anyway, boxed game or not? I always spend the minimum ammount to get the game on any KS (with the exception of PoE), because I'm not a rich motherfucker and a box or any digital content doesn't do me any good.

Probably because he's not a poor motherfucker.

In that case he should spend 1000 dollars on the KS, regardless of rewards, just to support the project, instead of wining about boxes.

 

[Athelas]

Likewise, digital bonuses and custom underpants are nice and welcome. But not when they're a novelty item that creates huge production issues for the developers. Not when it forces the game developers to spend significant time (and thus, funds in wages and salaries) to make the digital bonuses and extra content to satisfy the custom wants and stretch goals, instead of putting that money into the core game itself. Especially when some of the stretch goals add so much extra work they defeat the purpose of raising funds for the game in the first place.

Digital rewards are obviously much cheaper to deliver. They have no physical distribution costs, and much lower production costs.

So are you saying the reason D:OS has bupkiss physical sales compared to W2's, Torment's and P:E's is because they lack sufficient BIS nostalgia?

I'm saying the D:OS Kickstarter never had a chance of raising the amounts that the Obsidian/InXile Kickstarters did, and removing the nostalgia factor from the equation misses the point completely. I'm not denying better physical tiers may have helped, but I don't think they would have helped as much as you seem to think they would. D:OS already had a working and great-looking game when they went to Kickstarter. Logically, it should've raised more than the other Kickstarters which were founded only on promises. It didn't, for the aforementioned reason of nostalgia/name-dropping.

If so, can you explain Double Fine for me then:

What I said about Black Isle nostalgia can be applied to 'adventure game nostalgia' as well. Tim Schafer has a 173,000 followers on Twitter, Swen Vincke has barely a thousand. Again, it's all very obvious why the D:OS Kickstarter didn't raise that much.

 

[Abelian]

People have turned it from a community service/crowdsourcing thing into a marketing pitch made by the developers directly to the consumers. And the backer tiers are partly to blame for that. Too many have the assumption that kickstarter is supposed to be based on the "give money -> receive product" dynamic, when in reality it is "give money -> help product get made".
Your incentive for throwing lots of dosh at a campaign shouldn't be a fucking box or a cloth map. Your incentive should be the FUCKING GAME GETTING MADE. You know, that type of game that modern devs and publishers no longer produce or create only extremely castrated versions of.
But hey, yeah, go make that minimum pledge amount just so you get the game, sure. Imagine a W2 or a Broken Age that barely scrapped the funding goal because everyone got the basic digital pack. Or better, imagine the campaign failing and no actual game getting made.

Sure, in an ideal world, players would have lots of disposable income to support all the artistic endeavors they. But the artist patronage system hasn't been viable for well over a century. I could spend $200 to support a single project or four at the $50 level or eight with $25. Now think about a thousand players who act the same way: they could each pledge $200 once and get a single game, or pledge $50 to four different projects and get four games each.

When publishers/investors invest $5,000 in a company, they expect a share of the profits of the intellectual property, but when a backer drops the same amount, they get a box, soundtrack, manual, some signed artwork and a chance to visit the company at his own expense for the launch party (and some extra keys if they're lucky). I think it's only fair to give the hardcore fans some extras and if the rewards are physical, that makes them more valuable since it's something tangible and hard to duplicate.

 

[mindx2]

I don't think you realize that people, such as myself, will NOT spend as much on KS without those collector edition boxes... period. I don't care what game it's based on I will NOT sink $100s for digital only. I was all excited about The Banner Saga when it first started on KS (loved the artwork) but the minute I saw no boxed copies and them specifically stating they would not have any my pledge dropped to the lowest tier for the game only. This is true of every KS game that hasn't included a boxed Collector's copy tier.

It's a reality that I hope these companies keep in mind for the future. Part of the nostalgic pull of KS is also in the promise of those "old school" boxes and their cloth maps, manuals, trinkets, etc. It's part of the whole appeal to those games of yesteryear.

Why would you spend 100s of dollars on a KS anyway, boxed game or not? I always spend the minimum ammount to get the game on any KS (with the exception of PoE), because I'm not a rich motherfucker and a box or any digital content doesn't do me any good.

Probably because he's not a poor motherfucker.

In that case he should spend 1000 dollars on the KS, regardless of rewards, just to support the project, instead of wining about boxes.

You're just jealous...

Spoiler

Besides, shouldn't I be jealous of your Interwebz Fame, Matt?

 

[J_C]

I don't think you realize that people, such as myself, will NOT spend as much on KS without those collector edition boxes... period. I don't care what game it's based on I will NOT sink $100s for digital only. I was all excited about The Banner Saga when it first started on KS (loved the artwork) but the minute I saw no boxed copies and them specifically stating they would not have any my pledge dropped to the lowest tier for the game only. This is true of every KS game that hasn't included a boxed Collector's copy tier.

It's a reality that I hope these companies keep in mind for the future. Part of the nostalgic pull of KS is also in the promise of those "old school" boxes and their cloth maps, manuals, trinkets, etc. It's part of the whole appeal to those games of yesteryear.

Why would you spend 100s of dollars on a KS anyway, boxed game or not? I always spend the minimum ammount to get the game on any KS (with the exception of PoE), because I'm not a rich motherfucker and a box or any digital content doesn't do me any good.

Probably because he's not a poor motherfucker.

In that case he should spend 1000 dollars on the KS, regardless of rewards, just to support the project, instead of wining about boxes.

You're just jealous...

Spoiler

Besides, shouldn't I be jealous of your Interwebz Fame, Matt?

If I would be Matt, you should be jealous. But I'm not.

 

[t]

Couuuuld be Matt Barton... Maybe...

 

[Sceptic]

Stupid analogy, videogames are digital format in one way or the other

So are books if you get them as ebooks.

Guess which format I prefer, ebooks or real books.

And I'd prefer physical copies too, if the media was actually useful and not just a prompt to install steam

Why I don't bother arguing with steamtards, example number one thousand three hundred and ninety five.

That people pay more for what's essentially cardboard is just too funny, sorry.

Pretty sure I spend a lot less than you or any other steamtard on games. This would also be a good time to launch into a diatribe about perceived value, mass consumerism, buying shit that's just plain shit, or worse that you don't even bother playing, and so on and so forth, but I ain't gonna bother.

Do you put on your slippers and smoking jacket and curl up with a nice cognac, too?

Cognac is shit, I drink single malt Scotch

 

[Excidium]

Stupid analogy, videogames are digital format in one way or the other

So are books if you get them as ebooks.

Guess which format I prefer, ebooks or real books.

Dumbfuck, you can take a physical book off your shelf and read it. What are you going to do with videogame media, insert on your ass?

And I'd prefer physical copies too, if the media was actually useful and not just a prompt to install steam

Why I don't bother arguing with steamtards, example number one thousand three hundred and ninety five.

Because you don't have argument? DOS disk is just a frisbee with a hole in the middle

That people pay more for what's essentially cardboard is just too funny, sorry.

Pretty sure I spend a lot less than you or any other steamtard on games. This would also be a good time to launch into a diatribe about perceived value, mass consumerism, buying shit that's just plain shit, or worse that you don't even bother playing, and so on and so forth, but I ain't gonna bother.

I spend relatively more than you because everything is more expensive to me due to my geographical location. I buy on steam because it's cheaper than anywhere else as they charge in my currency, so as far as nostalgiafags and steamtards go, I am better than you both

 

[Grunker]

There's one, single argument to buying a physical copy: you like having it on your shelf and looking at it. That's fine, I don't really have any problems with people doing that. But that's all there is to it.

 

[J_C]

There's one, single argument to buying a physical copy: you like having it on your shelf and looking at it. That's fine, I don't really have any problems with people doing that. But that's all there is to it.

I was among these people, until the coming of Steam and GOG. I always said that I like looking at them on the shelf. Until I realized that I don't give a fuck about them being on the shelf. I don't look at them, I'm not doing long "sighs" about "Oh how beautiful are thee Homeworld box". Theye are just there, collecting dust. Sometimes I look at my old games and I say to myself: this is a nice collection, but I don't mean that for the boxes, but the games themselves. I'm much more proud of my GOG virutal shelf.

 

[yaster]

Stupid analogy, videogames are digital format in one way or the other

So are books if you get them as ebooks.

Guess which format I prefer, ebooks or real books.

For couple of years ebooks are just plain superior format. Coupled with proper reader. Navigation, storage, comfort. All in favour of ebooks.

 

[Excidium]

Not to me. Physical books are always superior, only advantage I see on ebooks is availability (and piracy )