Infinitron

Too obscure. How about Dervishes?

There's nothing to be convinced of and there's nothing to accept. I'm not saying "Steam is wonderful because DRM-free games exist on it, and we should all worship at the feet of Gaben". I'm just saying DRM-free games exist on Steam. The "traction" is in your imagination. Oh, and don't use Codex memes on me.

what is this I don't even WHY DOES THIS THREAD HAVE 20 PAGES

You sound extremely butthurt. The fact is, it's NOT impossible to have a DRM-free game on Steam. If a game has no registry entries and does not require Steam to be running in order to play it, then Steam is merely functioning as a download client. There's nothing "impossible" about the situation I'm describing here, no matter how rare it is. I don't get why that's so hard for you to accept. You do need a second program to access GOG. It's called a "web browser".

http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/61523-ask-anything-on-reddit-10am-pdt-1pm-et-today/page__st__60?do=findComment&comment=1241729

None of the DRM-free games on Steam do those things. I quote: http://www.gog.com/e..._on_steam/page1 You also need to prove you own a game to download it from GOG. As such there is no functional difference between "downloading" a DRM-free game from GOG and "installing" a DRM-free game from Steam. That still doesn't make it any more "DRM" than logging in to your account on the GOG website is. Is there really any difference these days between a sufficiently complex web application and a regular application?

How about human subraces, like the Deep Imaskari in FR?

It's still Digital Rights Management. If you buy a new computer you need to install Steam to be able to prove that you are allowed to install the game, the DRM-free GOG version can be installed simply by running the EXE from your backup DVD, even if it isn't you but your grandchild who inherited your collection of ancient computer games What's the problem anyway? If Obsidian really wanted a strict DRM scheme, they wouldn't support GOG, so the Steam version will most likely be as DRM-free as a stream program can be, the rest is semantics, apparently Obsidian accept that some people consider Steam in any form as a kind of DRM, and offer an alternative. I don't have a problem. It's just that a bunch of people here misunderstood OP. You can also backup the folder where Steam installed your game and put it anywhere you want.

But installing a game isn't playing it. It's just a one-time technical procedure.

If they are alreay planning on spell cooldowns then casting times are out? Notice I said *per-spell* cooldowns. I (somewhat) disagree, at lower tier spells (magic missle for example), your mage shouldn't be able to cast 50 of them one right after the other. He should be able to cast 5 or 6 per combat (with no cool-down, here I agree with you). But then, after the battle is over and his spell cooldowns are over, he should be able to cast them again (5-6 times) during the next battle, without having to rest spam. That's the whole point of spell cooldowns. I'm not sure what this has to do with what I posted. I'm afraid you've misunderstood me entirely.

Epic failure of reading comprehension in this thread: LIST OF DRM-FREE GAMES ON STEAM: http://www.gog.com/en/forum/general/list_of_drmfree_games_on_steam/page1

The developers have already confirmed very little randomization is planned. Thank god for that. http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/61523-ask-anything-on-reddit-10am-pdt-1pm-et-today/page__st__60?do=findComment&comment=1241729

This is indeed what I am hoping for. If a team can pull it off, I am sure it is Obisidian. It's just that I have become carefully optimistic when it comes to reactivity in modern RPGs. You know, most of the time all we hear about is how great the combat mechanic is and how visually stunning the world looks. That's all great and enhances the experience, but this is not where the meat of a RPG game is, at least for me. It's in these "little" things, like that elven archer greeting you in their native language and making some snide remarks about your dwarven companion, all because you are one of their own. This is what I'd like to see, not being treated like "random human dude" by the world, because then charcaters become interchangeable and that kinda kills the immersion for me. Once again, I know this is Obsidian, but you may understand that I've become a bit guarded when it comes to games delivering on depths and reactivity opposed to just presenting a beautiful but hollow shell *cough* Skyrim* *cough*. Heh, don't worry. This game doesn't have the budget to create a beautiful but hollow shell of a world, even if the developers wanted to.

Living worlds are nice, but they've never been a part of Obsidian's design philosophy.

Dude, this is an Obsidian game. They're going to blow DA: Origins out of the water in terms of reactivity.

If they are alreay planning on spell cooldowns then casting times are out? Notice I said *per-spell* cooldowns.

No. Well, maybe something like caravan guard duty in Fallout.

Yes, and in two years, those customers will be paying attention when the next big Kickstarter comes around. Because they'll know what great things it can create! Yeah, there's growth potential there. It will just never make the same kind of money as a finished AAA game will, because finished AAA games are finished products with wide appeal. You're not going to reach Joe Average with Kickstarter, you will reach Joe Average with Wal-Mart. Idiots will accidentally buy good games because "this one lets you fight dragons" or "I heard this one had boobs in it". Instant gratification will beat out philanthropy every time. Always does, always will. No argument there.

Yes, and in two years, those customers will be paying attention when the next big Kickstarter comes around. Because they'll know what great things it can create! You seem to have a strange zero-sum mentality about this.

What's your point? Yes, those low-budget games have been made, and one can reasonably conclude that their success increased confidence in the system and led to the higher budgets we have today. And budgets may rise higher still if the games being made now are successes. Let me remind you that Baldur's Gate sold two million copies. Project Eternity has less than 100,000 backers. The customers are out there, man.

Do you mean Kickstarter campaigns in general? Because Pebble, a watch, made $10,266,845 back in May. As for proving themselves I will say FTL has been an absolute joy to play. I see a bright future ahead for Kickstarter. I was referring to games only, of course.

I'm fairly sure you won't see Kickstarter campaigns reaching much higher budgets than what we've already seen until some of these Kickstarter-funded games start getting released. The system needs to prove itself.

Neverwinter Nights portraits were 2D. You're thinking of Neverwinter Nights 2.

The reason game budgets today are so high isn't exactly because of "cutscenes". Games in the 90's had amazing pre-rendered cutscenes too and they didn't break the bank. The thing is, today's games, in terms of graphic fidelity and detail, basically ARE cutscenes. They require armies of artists and level designers tweaking every little thing, iterating and re-iterating, making sure everything looks, feels and works perfectly. The budgets are high because there are a lot of salaries to pay. It's not the technology itself that is inherently expensive.

Casting time is what you're supposed to use (as opposed to per-spell cooldowns) to prevent spell spamming. It's essential.