CD Projekt RED re-stating their hard-line stance against DRM

[Elixer]

These guys are awesome. Wish everyone would follow their stance.


http://cdpred.com/no-drm-in-the-witcher-3-wild-hunt-an-open-letter-to-the-community/

Hey, following our recent announcement of the distribution deals of The Witcher 3 in North America and Europe, there have been some concerns regarding DRM and previous legal issues with The Witcher 2. We’ve seen a lot of comments in various places around the web and we would like to join in on the conversation.

I’d like to say it loud and clear: The PC version of The Witcher 3 will have absolutely no DRM from day 0. Zero. Zip. Nada. It doesn’t matter if you choose to buy it on GOG.com and support us directly or buy the game in box format, you’ll still get the 100% DRM-free experience. And this goes for the whole world.

We’ve fiddled with DRM in the past (Oh boy! How young and naïve we were) and that’s enough. Lesson learned.

Having said that, I’d like to thank you for your continuous support. You’ve bought six million copies of the Witcher games so far. Whoo-hoo! Let’s celebrate. Here, have some cake!

Note, steam version will have DRM (steam's)

 

[mizzou]

what was their deal, they had DRM on witcher 1 but then backed off it?

 

[chimaxi83]

DRM in TW2 was terrible, like it literally affected frame rate, I believe loading too. It kept paying customers from playing the game without stupid issues, in effect. They patched it out of the game.

 

[smackababy]

DRM in TW2 was terrible, like it literally affected frame rate, I believe loading too. It kept paying customers from playing the game without stupid issues, in effect. They patched it out of the game.

I don't remember any of these issues. I had the Steam version.

CDPR has always been a great company though. I can't wait for TW3!

 

[brandonb]

I like their stance. I'm tempted to buy TW3 when it comes out. However, I didn't like TW2 much. After the tutorial you got the first town, and it was absolutely lifeless and non inspired and I couldn't really stay interested to continue. Does it get any better?

I liked TW1 though. I played through several acts in that.

 

[chimaxi83]

I like their stance. I'm tempted to buy TW3 when it comes out. However, I didn't like TW2 much. After the tutorial you got the first town, and it was absolutely lifeless and non inspired and I couldn't really stay interested to continue. Does it get any better?

I liked TW1 though. I played through several acts in that.

It absolutely gets better. Lost interest after the first town...? Was that a serious question? There are plenty of instant gratification dudebro games out there, if that's your thing.

 

[Raduque]

I don't much care for the Witcher games, but I love the dev's stance on DRM, so yeah, I'll be buying TW3, even if i don't play it!

 

[Carfax83]

DRM in TW2 was terrible, like it literally affected frame rate, I believe loading too. It kept paying customers from playing the game without stupid issues, in effect. They patched it out of the game.

Same thing with Arkham Asylum and Arkham City.

 

[BlitzPuppet]

I like their stance. I'm tempted to buy TW3 when it comes out. However, I didn't like TW2 much. After the tutorial you got the first town, and it was absolutely lifeless and non inspired and I couldn't really stay interested to continue. Does it get any better?

I liked TW1 though. I played through several acts in that.

It absolutely gets better. Lost interest after the first town...? Was that a serious question? There are plenty of instant gratification dudebro games out there, if that's your thing.

TW2 was an amazing game. I struggled to get through The Witcher 1 because of the playing style, but eventually beat it and enjoyed the story.

The Witcher 2 on the otherhand....perfect. Did every sidequest I could do (especially the one with the Golem)

*Oh and Triss in TW2>>>>>>>>>>>> Triss in TW1

 

[Barfo]

I wish to support this stance so I'll be buying TW3 (in Steam though, lol), even though TW1 and 2 are sitting in my library unplayed.

 

[PrincessFrosty]

I like the idea of the Witcher games but the combat just does my head in, so I never completed either of them.

That said I like DRM less options so much that I'm considering starting a fund. Every time I see a game I want, but I decide not to buy that game because of restrictive DRM, I'll put that money in to a "pot" instead, from that pot I'll buy games that have no DRM, even if I'm not particularly interested in that game. Just to support lack of DRM.

Just to top it off I'll buy it through steam, my preferred method of buying games because I like everything in one easy to manage catalogue, so it will actually have steam DRM, but worth buying simply because they have the common decency to treat customers like human beings and not scum.

With any luck the game will be pretty good as well

Thank you CDPR

 

[brandonb]

It absolutely gets better. Lost interest after the first town...? Was that a serious question? There are plenty of instant gratification dudebro games out there, if that's your thing.

Instant gratification is not my thing. But when you see a bunch of lifeless NPCs and generic story elements right off the bat and very linear gameplay (go from a to b to c), it just seems uninspired and a chore to play through. I played maybe 2-4 hours in the game, and nothing ever stood out or seemed interesting enough to continue.

The Witcher 2 felt like the run of a mill apathetic MMO theme park in a single player game. But if it does get better, I'll invest more time. Thanks.

 

[FredNotFound404]

Day 1 Purchase for me, I really admire what CPR does, also really curious on the state of that Steam Punk ScifI RPG they were developing.

 

[destrekor]

I wish to support this stance so I'll be buying TW3 (in Steam though, lol), even though TW1 and 2 are sitting in my library unplayed.

Never played TW1, though I did buy TW2. I got into it for short while, then like many many games, I got distracted by other things and never got back into playing.

I enjoyed what I saw, and love the heck of out the developer for everything I've seen from them in the past year or two. They hit all the right notes.
I will absolutely be buying TW3, AND Cyberpunk 2077, on Day 1 for each. I won't even care if I load it up for one play session and never get back around to it - this developer deserves the support of gamers.

While I have trouble voting with my wallet by abstaining from purchases, I absolutely have no problem voting with purchases.
Like, I'll buy my FPS games and other big titles from EA even though I'd really like for them to change some things or be a whole lot different. The games are still fun. So, I just don't praise them.
I will praise and buy from the good dev's if the game is supposed to be good, and fun.

 

[Shadowknight]

Funny thing... According to the Developers, they released TW2 on both Steam an gog.com simultaneously. One had DRM, one had no DRM. The version everyone was pirating was the cracked Steam version, instead of just tormenting the drm-free gog.com version.

 

[KentState]

Instant gratification is not my thing. But when you see a bunch of lifeless NPCs and generic story elements right off the bat and very linear gameplay (go from a to b to c), it just seems uninspired and a chore to play through. I played maybe 2-4 hours in the game, and nothing ever stood out or seemed interesting enough to continue.

The Witcher 2 felt like the run of a mill apathetic MMO theme park in a single player game. But if it does get better, I'll invest more time. Thanks.

I personally felt it was pretty at times, but really didn't get better. The controls are not my favorite and there are too many frustrating moments like battles where stones and rubble impeded your movement. I just can't get into games where a character can do magic, incredible sword skills but can not move freely in the environment like there are a bunch of invisible walls.

 

[AFurryReptile]

I personally felt it was pretty at times, but really didn't get better. The controls are not my favorite and there are too many frustrating moments like battles where stones and rubble impeded your movement. I just can't get into games where a character can do magic, incredible sword skills but can not move freely in the environment like there are a bunch of invisible walls.

Well if it sways your opinion at all, TW3 is supposed to be a non-linear, open-world design. Very different from the original two games, but I'm excited to see how it turns out.

 

[darkswordsman17]

I was going to say, weren't they actually kinda a-holes with their DRM at one point? I remember they were suing a bunch of people after they paid some 3rd party firm to get people's IP and claimed they had a better than 90% success rate (in proving piracy) although they refused to tell how they were actually getting people. It sounded like another blackmail scheme that had become so prevalent, and they just happened to be willing to settle for a little less than it would cost to pay for a court defense.

Good to see another developer focus on making a quality product worth buying than worrying about the piracy that will happen regardless.

 

[BrightCandle]

Good to see one developer gets it. Having bought TW2 from gog I didn't enjoy the game all that much but I did really like the DRM stance. Will wait for the reviews and gameplay videos.

 

[Bateluer]

DRM in TW2 was terrible, like it literally affected frame rate, I believe loading too. It kept paying customers from playing the game without stupid issues, in effect. They patched it out of the game.

Huh? Where did you buy TW2 that it had DRM. Other than Steamworks, it didn't have any.

TW1 had TAGES, TW2 had none if you bought it from GoG.

 

[CakeMonster]

I commend them for their stance. And I love that a real RPG is getting so much coverage and does so well.

However, I am also one of those who have gotten bored with both TW games. Maybe its the linearity (although I'm fine with that in other titles), or my complete disinterest in the main character (whose appearance or history is not customizable), or maybe its just the story. I don't know, but as I said I'm glad that its doing well and that will hopefully lead to more demand for RPGs in the future.

 

[Grooveriding]

Never mind all this. When is this coming out ?!!!!!!!

 

[Bateluer]

Never mind all this. When is this coming out ?!!!!!!!

Spring 2014.

 

[JamesV]

Consider buying the retail Witcher 3 box, instead of buying directly from Steam.

I don't know if they will do it again, but the regular, non CE Witcher 2 box came with a cloth map, actual metal coin of the world currency, a large manual and walkthrough book (like a guide of the early game).

I've always liked the devs. The original Witcher's Enhanced Edition was a huge undertaking that no other developer/publisher would even think about; enhance the entire game to a better experience, years after release.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

Spring 2014.

Well that isn't actually that far away. I am very excited about this as well.

Also really excited to see their engine make the jump to DX11 and such. The graphics in TW2 were epic, I can't wait to see how they push it this time around.