[Distribution via Steam and GOG (DRM-free)]

I love both Steam and GoG with all my heart, but when the chips are down, and barring any significant price differences, I'll use GoG. I like the convenience of just having the game installed without the rigmarole of the Steam library (although Steam's auto-updating does balance this out). And I appreciate what GoG is doing as a company. I pre-ordered The Witcher 3 directly from GoG, partly because it was basically pre-ordering directly from the developer, but also because of their Fair Price package. For those who don't know, when GoG is forced (through publisher shenanigans) to sell a game under regional pricing, and if this significantly affects the relative price in different regions, then GoG offers free game codes to make up the difference. Essentially out of their own pocket. Which is awesome.

 

So yeah, GoG (marginally) wins.

 

I still love you, Steam.

[Difficulty level]

I tend to leave the higher difficulty levels to subsequent playthroughs, at least in heavily narrative-driven games like PoE. I hate being locked off from story content just because I'm too incompetent to beat these monsters. If push comes to shove, I'll (reluctantly; I still have my pride) bump the difficulty down to easy so I can enjoy the story without all the frustration of being rubbish at games. After all, I play RPGs primarily for the story, characters and exploration; the combat is always a secondary concern for me.

 

All of that being said, I will give higher difficulties (or even Ironman mode if I'm feeling especially butch) a go once I've finished my initial playthrough.

[The Obsidian Order of Eternity (part 7)]

I pledged during the original Kickstarter campaign, and I didn't even realise we were doing this until now!

 

If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to "Sneak Thief of the Obsidian Order".

 

Many thanks in advance.