Huinehtar

I don't think Paradox is an inheritor of grognards' games in that case, especially Panzer General-like TB wargames. Matrix, and then Slitherine, fit more, IMHO. Especially with series like Panzer Corps, Order of Battle, or the recent W40K Armageddon which are now the best Panzer General successors (I find Panzer Corps even better than Panzer General nowadays). They have bigger scale wargames, with Gary Grigsby still around with its War in the Pacific or War in the East (grognards would be familiar, remember the days of Pacific War and War in Russia), So I don't really think Paradox and their communities have come from the old grognard fanbase, but instead (although people could have come from it, I don't think it's the majority there), come from the 90s RTS fanbases who searched way deeper games. Paradox games are a bit their own genre, great games indeed, but it's their own niche. Too bad there are series of them which haven't the following (from sales and communities numbers, and consequently from Paradox) they deserve (Victoria, Rome, Sengoku).

Finally into Bloodlines. Jason Manley Spotted ? Funny things

I personally tend to currently give InXile the benefit of doubt, since the game isn't released yet. Sure, it is in early access, but iirc, the accessible area is narrow compared to what the complete game should be. Inside, I'm a bit sad because the Oasis was one of the things that made me more excited for TToN (but it wasn't the reason why I backed in the first place, since I backed my pledge in the few hours of the campaign and the Oasis was a late stretchgoal). I still hope that "cutted" content will be added in the further patches or DLCs or even expansions (while I am not sure how expansions à la BG-IWD-PoE could work in a Torment game, but why not). I have been saddened to see that there won't be DRM-free backer discs even for Collector's edition, Wasteland 2 likewise, and more recently like PoE2 too. But I understand that would be a such pain not to provide those discs, but to manage patches (but itoh, InXile has yet claimed that digital backer content would be available on their own website). I have already talked here about torrent patches (not complete game nor expansions obviously) as a maybe useful way to provide patches without paying that much of bandwith, but perhaps I have been wrong about problems it could have. (I remained silent in forums because I agreed I have been too far in arguing against Paradox at that time, so I beg pardon, but /offtopic) But as others have mentioned in the PoE2 forums, maybe a blank rewritable DVD could be the best compromise for every backer : if someone wants to go Steam, he-she can make a backup with the Steam backup program, and if someone wants to go Gog, he-she can copy the installers in it. Truly the best compromise for both communities, and with a real game disc with its official picture, it would surely please every collectors (sure one can bring a RW-DVD and add a sticker or even use a Lightscribe disc, but it won't be the same, especially for a collector). And then, there is the discussion about Collector's Edition's content. Maybe it's in the hands of Techland, especially about content for console CE. Yes, indeed, in the Kickstarter campaign, pledge weren't preorders as such, and part of pledge amount is money to make the game happen, not to add more and more physical content. But, I agree that there is a big disparity between KS CE and retail CE. It doesn't help that all of these things see the light not far from the release. I also take cautiously the tweet InXile made about working on making all announced platforms release the same day (I was a bit worried when console ports were announced when Linux/Mac still weren't on early access). Well, everything mentioned above could bring me mad, and I'm still worried about the whole project now and its delivery (game content and else), but I'm waiting with caution. In the end, I am pretty sure that I will play TToN way later after its release (as I do with PoE in fact).

I do hope that there are still many people who worked for that project, and will work for other projects at Obsidian. (and for those layoffs, I hope these people will find another job very quickly) I personally was sceptical about AW at first when I heard of it, but later, I viewed that in the same way I did for Steve Jackson Games for instance (not interested in Munchkin, but a fan of GURPS, so I was glad people like Munchkin so SJG could still make GURPS products).

I believe that the end of the "golden era" of RTS provoked communities to think about themselves and if shifts should be made and how they would have to. I mean, it's probably the other way around, there weren't ever such "hard-tied" RTS communities, but instead, these communities included many people who enjoyed those games, for many different reasons. Some played RTS because of well crafted single campaigns, some because of competitive ladder, some because of the "easy to begin" stance, some because of the setting (historical, fantasy, SciFi...), some because of the music... I think many events made the communities "inplode" depending of what people searched for in RTS, and how they "evolved" intrisinqually. Some people went to full RTT (so without the light Strategy the RTS had), with games like Commandos, Close Combat, Sudden Strike or Blitzkrieg. Now we have Company of Heroes or the very recent Shadow Tactics. Some other shifted to MOBA with the success of Warcraft III mods. Some other went to the still hybrid RTT/Strategy but in higher scale, like the Total War series. Or other hybrid like Imperium Gallactica. Some went to RTS but at higher scale, like the Paradox games. Some went back to TBT (for "depth" ? because those are still developped ? because they are older now and can't stand such quickness from RTS ? ). Some went to TBS at high scale, etc... And I think that hybrid Strategy or Simulation or Tactictal RPG played a role (... no pun intended but... :D) in that situation : whether there were asian RPG (japanese of course, but also there were interesting korean hybrid RPG in that way), RTS-RPG like Rage of Mages or Spellforce, or obiously the Infinity Engine games, I believe a part of "original" RTS communities from the mid-to-late 90s followed the RPG route later in the 2000s. Original PnP RPG went from wargames, so I think that happened in video games too. The golden era of RTS was a very nice era for gaming communities (although there were sometimes "little wars" like the "console wars" between fanbases), it helped to throw the light of a lot of video game genres and "sub genres", but sadly, I don't think the genre will shine as it did decdes ago.

Finally I'm playing Pillars. Warning, "near-to-end" Spoiler. It's in french, but, Spoiler still (the picture is quite... clear ).

Someone should make a trailer for videogames like the

Cossacks 3 seems to be an upgraded Cossacks 1, and what about 8bit Armies ?

Not really original screenshots, I kept my old saves (made when SoZ was just released, and I only had NwN2 Gold back then). So I reinstalled OC+MotB only, manually updated to 1.21 (and not to last patches), used the config settings I had on my old computer back then , for fun But what amazed me when I loaded these old saves... How could I have played so bad ?! A Half-Elf Bard[5]/Harper Agent[5]/Shadowdancer[8]/Rogue[12] What have I done ?! So I suppose, it's time to give it another try

A 64 bits remaster could be very appreciated , because as much as I love NwN2 and all its expansions, the CPU charge can be very annoying.

I am a bit late to say that, but my DVDs arrived few weeks ago, without any problem.

I am not sure that I will say is relevant since I haven't played Pillars yet, but at least theorically it should be relevant; I mean, the Codexian review is a bit harsh, sure, but it isn't time for some restoraration pack or unfinished business to get an old game improved, is it? Pillars wasn't release more than a month ago, only few weeks, the expansions haven't yet, and Obsidian is working day and day on it (and I am sure that Obsidian is looking at balance reviews for instance as precious feedback, for Pillars and the following games obviously, and especially for tabletop RPG and cardgame if they are still in the works). I don't think that it isn't fair from the Codex to be so harsh to Pillars and Obsidian (again, I haven't played the game yet, so I could be too optimistic), and it isn't fair to be so harsh against the Codex too (as it is personal opinion). At least, that passionate debate can lead to more thinking about the game and the following, and some improvements. - "A beginning is a very delicate time".

"The swag has found its way!" (CE received, France) Hopefully others will received theirs soon.

Recently played and completed Lunar the Silver Star and Lunar Eternal Blue on Sega Mega CD. I liked them a lot, the mood is very nice and they are a bit impressive for what the Sega Mega CD could show. Unfortunately, I still am not able to play video games these days, so no Pillars for me, yet.

"Your swag is on the way"

I add my voice to others: Project Eternity was the very first crowdfunding project I backed, and I didn't know about the KS campaign at its launch. In fact, back then, I was so disappointed by computer gaming (and gaming in general) little by little for years so I switched to Linux and neither have played nor wanted to play any video game for a year (the longest period since I was a child). I had new priorities, that is what I thought, but I believe I have lost hope (on many things). But one day, in a Linux community forum, while it has mostly opensource and free software discussions, someone posted about the Project Eternity KS campaign which was launched around 10 days ago. Sure, some people ranted because "it isn't FLOSS, so why posting that?!", but the person who posted tried to explain why it is news to relate, and it was obvious he or she was passionate about that project (passionate in the good sense). So I was curious and very interested in what was discussed because I have played every Interplay/Black Isle/Obsidian game (usually not on release but only a few months after) from Fallout to Fallout NV (it was the very first and the very last game I played on release, and if it was the last it wasn't because of disappointment; on the contrary, I liked it a lot; it was because of "social" things tied to Steam like achievements especially those compared between everyone playing the game with percentages, and so on... too many "social" things were part of what made me flee from video games at the time, but it's another story, and it isn't the place to discuss about that ). So when I looked at the KS page, I instantly understood why people grew passionate about the project, I became "hyped" myself too, and a bit sad on myself not to have followed more the Obsidian forums "before it was cool". ( ) That campaign was part of why I play and enjoy video games again. So thank you for having made people passionate (including myself) about your games and projects.

Redeemed my key only a moment ago. Congratulations Obsidian again! I can't play the game in the next weeks because of personal issues, but I will read and watch again each update since the very beginning before even launching the game! To be hyped again

Sorry, I used the terminology used by another company (it was Egosoft for their X series, I think). That's right, that's I wanted to say with that shortcut: the game, once installed, doesn't need Steam except for updates since the *.exe doesn't run Steam, and files can be moved. I was pointing Mount & Blade, since Paradox Interactive is the publisher, not because of a rant against every PDS/PI, but because Pillars of Eternity will be published by Paradox Interactive. Having another distributor making boxes doesn't mean that Paradox Interactive won't be the publisher or at least PI has made some kind of agreement to share publishers parts on those editions. Years before steam keys sellers and cd keys sellers, there were already same kind of agreement between distributors/publishers, I remember EA games boxes where MicroApplication or Mindscape were distributors, many titles were "budget games" re-released years after the original release. But I am sure, that the original publisher (EA in that case) was still the publisher for these boxes (but maybe sharing cuts with those distributors). My point was the fact that Paradox Interactive in that case, publisher of their own games from PDS, or publisher of games from other developers, mainly use Steam as an activation system. Yes, once the game is activated, you can play the game without Steam, I have admitted that since the beginning. And since the boxed versions of later Paradox games (Interactive or Development Studios) aren't made by Paradox Interactive themselves, those distributors may have used Steam independently from Paradox Interactive (the later versions I believe you're right, but I was pretty sure that the original CK II boxes were published and released by Paradox Interactive), but since the games can be played without Steam, a wrapper or a new installer based on the game files could have been made DRM-free. But it isn't the case, Steam remains, so I believe that this Steam requirement on install has been a part of agreements between the distributor and PI. And since Paradox Interactive will be the publisher for Pillars of Eternity, and since Paradox Interactive plan to make boxes, I am very cautious on what PI could say on it. BAdler has answered on the other topic, again thanks to him. I just wanted to point that PI used to be "no-DRM-at-all" for years, but it isn't the case anymore, they are more "no-DRM-to-play-but-DRM-to-install" now. And selling games on a website has nothing to do with being forced to have an online activation since some other web stores like GOG or DotEmu sell true DRM-free games (without online activation) or Matrix/Slitherine which sell games requiring CD keys (and without online activation too). And concerning boxed version, even PI sold themselves true DRM-free versions in the past. So requiring a Steam activation is something that has been decided. I don't want to have any game requiring an online activation to be installed (even if it would be just once, while I could transfer for ever games files), and some friends of mine too. That could be details for somebody, but that's very important for me, especially for boxed copies, but it does concern digital ones too. The only DRM that I could accept is CD keys, but no online activation.

I will add that concerning their excuses to stop support for the Gamersgate version since they were claiming that "5% are negligible", why are "wasting" time and money to port CK II on Linux in that case? Why are they making niche video games? Why are they making video games at all? Counting on percentages and trying to legitimate that decision don't seem reliable to me. Even if Obsidian have control on their IP, will they try to dissuade them to make, long term support real DRM-free or/and Steam-free versions? Because their "statistics" show that "only 5%" don't use Steam for their games, and they found that it is "negligible"? And why none of their games are on a real DRM-free store like GOG? I am pretty sure that there wouldn't be "only 5%" to play their games if they were sold there on GOG, but it would be much more than "5%". But maybe, Paradox just don't want it to happen, so they can jump on the Steamwagon, and people who disagree would be outvoiced by Steam-fanboys? Here, I am just supposing that, but it seems too obvious to me.

Well, so what are these: And I'm sorry, but one can't dismiss online activation even though you have to buy the game on a website. Because on each install, the game requires to be online to activate it. That's the whole point of DRM-free webstores like GOG or DotEmu: yes you have to be online to purchase and to download but that's it. You can install your games on a offline machine, no need to install another software, no need to have a web connection. Burn DVDs or transfert on a HDD, and install into the offline machine. You could say that the no-steam.exe allows you to copy the installed files to transfert them manually, but it's a workaround, and in the first place, again, Steam is used as an online activation DRM. So again, I disagree. For someone like me, using a Linux PC only to go online to purchase goods, to browse the web, etc... and using another offline Windows PC to play Windows games, and using another PC which is a data server (where I store my backups, installers, saves) in a local network, well it's important.

Well, I don't think that it would be a big problem to store some update files in a server somewhere at Obsidian. I hope so. We haven't had an in depth discussion, but what we offer to the backers is most likely what we will offer to non-backers. Thanks Very appreciated.

As I previously said, Paradox keep a no-steam.exe, but they stick to Steam online activation, what is just a move from other web services online activation, like the Vicky 2 addon - a House Divided - IIRC, which needs an online activation at their own website during the install. There was controversy IIRC when they released the boxed version of Vicky 2 + a House Divided, and the DVD setup only installed the original game, you should go register to their website to have a House Divided. So basically, the boxed version was useless. That didn't happen for Vicky 1 and its addon Revolutions, since boxed Victoria Complete Pack doesn't have any DRM at all. Again regarding boxed copies, if you compare to the other series, Crusader Kings II or Europa Universalis IV need Steam to be installed, but Europa Universalis III Chronicles and Crusader Kings Complete Pack didn't have any DRM just like Vicky Complete Pack. They now require a Steam online activation at install for every boxed game they make and/or produce for few years. Even though they can provide a no-steam.exe, Paradox still use Steam as an online activation DRM. Thus, they aren't anti-DRM anymore, no matter what they can say.

If there is a way to obtain patches without DRM and without the need to be online, a DRM-free DVD could be useful though, since they could store those patches offline. But, yes, regarding the patches for NWN2, manual patching from the released DVD to the lastest patch hadn't been the most easy part of the "game". But, at least, it was doable, and I have still my patches for my original DVDs of NWN2 on a HDD (thanks the NWNVault for keeping them!). Nowadays, since Steam has autopatching and GOG keeps patched builds, I am not so optimistic in the idea to have a DRM-free DVD version outside of GOG, since Obsidian would have to store DRM-free patches in another place than Steam and GOG. In the end, you're right, a DRM-free DVD could be useless if no manual patching is available.

Indeed, that would the best solution, and I really hope that will happen. The Divinity Anthology had that and it was great. More publishers should do the same.

Yes, I was thinking of the same proposal, and beyond the fact that it would be more expensive indeed, I was asking myself how I would tell them that the given DVD would be useless... :/ At least, the optical media would have a nice picture on it. Wait and see.