Pillars of Eternity – Partnership FAQ for Backers

[Vitek]

I wonder what it means toward GOG release.

GOG release was announced before but Paradox doesn't sell any of its games there and they show strong tendency to focus on Steam more and more.

I really hope nothing will change in regards of GOG release.

[AstralWanderer]

While I understand that Obsidian would rather have a third party handle distribution, my concern is whether Pillars will be made available in a DRM-free format for the general public (e.g. via a DRM-free store like GOG or DotEmu.

 

Paradox used to provide DRM-free physical versions, but their more recent products have been Steam only. If Pillars is made available to non-backers only through Steam, that will result in a similar controversy as with the Shadowrun Returns project (initially promising DRM-free release, switching to Steam-only public release due to licensing issues and only going back to DRM-free after major backer protest).

 

A clarification on a DRM-free public release would be most welcome here.

[Tuckey]

About the Paradox thing...

Will POE be regionally priced due to retail pricing for different markets? I ask mainly because there has been controversy about this recently on gog and you guys should avoid bad headlines and unfair pricing if possible.

[Korron]

When I backed for a boxed copy I was expecting an old school box like the IE games. Will that be the case, or will we receive DVD cases? Thanks!

 

Also the min wage in NZ is $11 so I don't get all the "fair prices" bull.

Edited March 19, 2014 by Korron

[MithrilSilverAus]

From what it sounds like Paradox will be handling the marketing and distribution of physical copies in store (i didnt know this game was going to be available in store tbh).

Paradox *SHOULD* have zero say in how the game is distributed digitally at all (they went away from drm free to Steam on their own games, but they don't own the rights to this game - Obsidian i assume has a direct agreement with GOG)

Clarification from Obsidian would be great (especially since i want my digital copies via GOG while waiting for my boxed copy)

[Tuckey]

@Korron

 

1NZ dollar to 1US dollar is actually not that fair, never mind 1Euro to 1US dollar.

Edited March 19, 2014 by Tuckey

[Hiro Protagonist II]

I thought Darren's blog post was quite clear on the GoG and Steam versions. The Keys will be on the backer portal.

[Valsuelm]

This partnership actually puts Obsidian in a better position to create more Eternity content (DLC/Sequels).

 

DLC is one the thing that has me a little uneasy about the partnership with Paradox. Only because they have taken to the nickel and diming DLC marketing/additional content strategy for some of their titles in the last couple of years (which has diminished my opinion of them), notably in their Europa Universalis and Crusader Kings franchises. Another strike against Paradox is that they also forced some of their Crusader Kings 2 customers to go to Steam, something they had previously assured their fan base would not happen (something that greatly diminished my opinion of them). I very much hope Obsidian doesn't go that route.

 

On the bright side:

 

I now hope to see commercials of the quality we saw for Crusader Kings 2.

Edited March 19, 2014 by Valsuelm

[AstralWanderer]

I thought Darren's blog post was quite clear on the GoG and Steam versions. The Keys will be on the backer portal.

For backers yes - my question is whether the general public will have the same choice. Edited March 19, 2014 by AstralWanderer

[tajerio]

 

This partnership actually puts Obsidian in a better position to create more Eternity content (DLC/Sequels).

 

DLC is one the thing that has me a little uneasy about the partnership with Paradox. Only because they have taken to the nickel and diming DLC marketing/additional content strategy for some of their titles in the last couple of years (which has diminished my opinion of them), notably in their Europa Universalis and Crusader Kings franchises. Another strike against Paradox is that they also forced some of their Crusader Kings 2 customers to go to Steam, something they assured their fan base would not happen. I very much hope Obsidian doesn't go that route.

 

However you assess Paradox's practices in regards to postrelease content, they won't have anything to do with how Obsidian decides to go about it.  That's not within the scope of this partnership.

[Bryy]

 

This partnership actually puts Obsidian in a better position to create more Eternity content (DLC/Sequels).

 

DLC is one the thing that has me a little uneasy about the partnership with Paradox. Only because they have taken to the nickel and diming DLC marketing/additional content strategy for some of their titles in the last couple of years (which has diminished my opinion of them), notably in their Europa Universalis and Crusader Kings franchises. Another strike against Paradox is that they also forced some of their Crusader Kings 2 customers to go to Steam, something they had previously assured their fan base would not happen (something that greatly diminished my opinion of them). I very much hope Obsidian doesn't go that route.

 

On the bright side:

 

I now hope to see commercials of the quality we saw for Crusader Kings 2.

 

Paradox is just marketing. The people that ship the physical goods have as much say in content as a mailroom clerk for Countrywide does on home loans.

 

Let's not start the "someone is forcing Obsidian to make DLC" talk.

[Tuckey]

I'm pretty happy with this news overall. At least the general public get the option of having a boxed copy and Obsidian has more money to play with and put into the game.

[Hiro Protagonist II]

 

For backers yes - my question is whether the general public will have the same choice.

 

 

Ah ok. I suspect the keys for the general public will be either 1) Steam and 2) GoG. I don't see why Steam and GoG wouldn't be selling the game on their own platforms. Possibly 3) Paradox to offer a choice to redeem at either GoG or Steam.

[AstralWanderer]

Ah ok. I suspect the keys for the general public will be either 1) Steam and 2) GoG. I don't see why Steam and GoG wouldn't be selling the game on their own platforms. Possibly 3) Paradox to offer a choice to redeem at either GoG or Steam.

Option (3) would be the best, but it would be a change from Paradox's current Steam-only distribution policy.

 

Obsidian's announcement says that Paradox would be dealing with all distribution, which means it would be solely up to them which stores (physical or digital) could sell copies of Pillars.

[Hiro Protagonist II]

So you want Paradox to give you a GoG key? Why not just buy it from GoG? I also doubt Paradox would be dealing with all digital distribution. I'm sure GoG would have a deal with Obsidian to distribute PoE on their own platform. It wouldn't make sense to discount a large distributor like GoG and its fan base.

[ManifestedISO]

The most important question seems to have been missed: will there be a Paradox logo on the backer game boxes?

 

 

 

Now I demand a Paradox logo be printed on the back of the Obsidian t-shirts.   

[Valsuelm]

 

Let's not start the "someone is forcing Obsidian to make DLC" talk.

 

 

No one was...

[Deraldin]

 

 

Let's not start the "someone is forcing Obsidian to make DLC" talk.

 

 

No one was...

 

You said you were uneasy about the partnership with Paradox because of how Paradox has handled DLC in their games. The only reason to be uneasy about such a thing is if you think that Paradox would have some influence on the DLC creation for Eternity.

[Kanil]

Just physical distribution (and marketing) then? No chance of our game becoming steam-exclusive in the middle of it's lifespan like other Paradox titles?

[Valsuelm]

 

 

 

Let's not start the "someone is forcing Obsidian to make DLC" talk.

 

 

No one was...

 

You said you were uneasy about the partnership with Paradox because of how Paradox has handled DLC in their games. The only reason to be uneasy about such a thing is if you think that Paradox would have some influence on the DLC creation for Eternity.

 

 

You are correct in your statement. However do we really need to go over the differences between 'influence' and 'forcing'?

Edited March 19, 2014 by Valsuelm

[Ink Blot]

Probably going to be a lot of angst about this and I'll admit I was a little worried when I first heard the news. But after reading the details, I see no issue here.

 

As far as the DRM-free releases go, I can't imagine GOG wouldn't carry the game for sale to the general public after release, but hopefully a dev can clear that question up.

[Zoraptor]

Meh, Paradox is about the only company in the video game sphere that I actively and virulently loathe. And a few years ago I would have thought Paradox/ Obsidian a match made in heavan.

 

Still, so long as they have no power to backdoor in steam or turn PoE into a glorified dlc front end like their recent products (and so long as I'm not contributing even a fraction of a cent to Paradox) I don't see any reason to care overly much who does disk pressing and marketing duties whether it be Paradox, EA, 2k or whoever.

[BAdler]

While I understand that Obsidian would rather have a third party handle distribution, my concern is whether Pillars will be made available in a DRM-free format for the general public (e.g. via a DRM-free store like GOG or DotEmu.

 

Paradox used to provide DRM-free physical versions, but their more recent products have been Steam only. If Pillars is made available to non-backers only through Steam, that will result in a similar controversy as with the Shadowrun Returns project (initially promising DRM-free release, switching to Steam-only public release due to licensing issues and only going back to DRM-free after major backer protest).

 

A clarification on a DRM-free public release would be most welcome here.

We will be providing both Steam and GOG digital versions of Eternity. The GOG version is still going to be released. The partnership with Paradox has not changed anything we have promised to our backers.

[Kjaamor]

Paradox have been a part of some excellent games over the last few years. Personally, though, I was burned by being (absolutely) anti-steam, and buying a hard copy of Crusader Kings 2 - which turned out to only be playable with Steam.

 

I'm assuming that PE shall still be available from Gog.

 

Other than that (for most people minor, and for me, major) blip, I think good things will come from this.

 

EDIT: Godammit, BAdler.

Edited March 19, 2014 by Kjaamor

[BAdler]

About the Paradox thing...

Will POE be regionally priced due to retail pricing for different markets? I ask mainly because there has been controversy about this recently on gog and you guys should avoid bad headlines and unfair pricing if possible.

To be honest, it hasn't come up in our discussions yet. We will do what we can to avoid unfair pricing, though.