RANDOM VIDEO GAME NEWS

[majestic]

Also, another thing about the GOG brag:

 

PST, BG2, NWN, BG1, NWN2, W2, W1, IWD1, IWD2, and TOEE are the top 10RPGs sold on GOG currently. All of these are rather old games. L0L Pillars isn't even near the top 10.

 

So, what si this nonsensical top 7? L0LZ

 

Ah, Volo, now you're not even trying. GOG has a neat little top 25 best selling games at the moment (not overall) chart on the front page where PoE hasn't moved out of even when all the aforementioned D&D classics go on sale for 20$ for the entire set or "new" old games were released in bulk (Gold Box classics). That one is obviously seperate from the all-time best selling list where PoE clocks in on position #55 of all RPGs or some such - which is worth exactly nothing because we have no idea what the other items have sold. Could be millions apart, could be a few hundred, we don't really know.

 

What we do know however is that almost all items on the sorted by bestselling RPG list have been on GOG for years, never were full-price games in the first place, have been on several sales, were given away for free just for signing up or are relatively new and close to PoE (like Divinity: Original Sin). Well, except The Witcher 3, which is an AAA title anyway.

 

All in all, I think it is fair to say that PoE has been doing pretty well on GOG. How well is a point open for debate because we have no reliable numbers, which was the entire point. Given Steamspy's numbers it is reasonable to assume that the 500k only includes Steam sales or Steam activated copies of PoE from other sources (e.g. the regular boxes, Kickstarter backers or give-away keys from the Lords of the Eastern Reach Kickstarter).

 

Adding GOG's sales would most like still not push PoE to your magical one million copies sold so don't worry, you can still ramble on about it being a bust. Gee.

 

Besides, the site is called Good Old Games. Whyever would old games do well there? Boggles the mind.

[Volourn]

"Ah, Volo, now you're not even trying. GOG has a neat little top 25 best selling games at the moment (not overall) chart on the front page where PoE hasn't moved out of even when all the aforementioned D&D classics go on sale for 20$ for the entire set or "new" old games were released in bulk (Gold Box classics). That one is obviously seperate from the all-time best selling list where PoE clocks in on position #55 of all RPGs or some such - which is worth exactly nothing because we have no idea what the other items have sold. Could be millions apart, could be a few hundred, we don't really know."

 

Nope. It's not on the liststs I checked. Either the most amongst RPGs or most overall.  Overall is all that matters. EPIC FAIL.

 

 

Also, by your explaination, how would that explain WL2 being on the list? It's a new game too.

 

 

Like you said, MILLION OR BUST.

Edited October 26, 2015 by Volourn

[Zoraptor]

lolwut Volo. You're not checking the lists proper like if you cannot find PoE at all. It's ahead of WL2 (significantly) and DivOS (marginally) despite only having had 1 or 2 sales. Put in some effort son.
 

That one is obviously seperate from the all-time best selling list where PoE clocks in on position #55 of all RPGs or some such - which is worth exactly nothing because we have no idea what the other items have sold. Could be millions apart, could be a few hundred, we don't really know.

 
We do know how many DivOS has sold total (1M+), and can extrapolate from SteamSpy how many of those copies were on steam (~850k). As such DivOS 'must' have sold 150k+ on GOG. And since the vanilla PoE SKU alone let alone kickstarter/ royal etc is ahead of DivOS on GOG there 'must' have been 150k++ sales of PoE on GOG.

[Mamoulian War]

 

How is being dependent on Kickstarter any different than being dependent on a publisher?  Very few studios are entirely self sufficient.  

 

I don't understand what you are really arguing here? I mean yeah there are other companies that depend on a publisher, but nowadays they are usually owned by said publisher and even if they weren't it would still mean they are in trouble if they don't have the next project lined up before their current one finishes.

 

Obsidian was in dire straights (almost bankrupt) before PoE got KSed. With PoE they were able to forestall that. Now if they don't have the cash to fund the next PoE installment they are in deep **** again, until they KS again (and then it depends if people will even fund). If they have enough cash to fund PoE2 they can try to KS another game and secure their foreseeable future. Pretty easy to see the difference there.

 

I guess the better thing to argue would be what you consider a successful business model.

 

 

You are forgetting, that Obsidz have signed deal with Paizo, so I would not see KS for PoE as being in deep **** for them.

 

Myself, I would rather see PoE2 on kickstarter, than being publisher / self-funded.

[GhostofAnakin]

 

How is being dependent on Kickstarter any different than being dependent on a publisher?  Very few studios are entirely self sufficient.  

 

 

 

Obsidian was in dire straights (almost bankrupt) before PoE got KSed. With PoE they were able to forestall that. Now if they don't have the cash to fund the next PoE installment they are in deep **** again, until they KS again (and then it depends if people will even fund). If they have enough cash to fund PoE2 they can try to KS another game and secure their foreseeable future. Pretty easy to see the difference there.

 

Was the bolded ever actually confirmed?  Or was it based on speculation due to a lack of known projects?

[Blarghagh]

It was confirmed.

[Sarex]

Was the bolded ever actually confirmed?  Or was it based on speculation due to a lack of known projects?

 

It was talked about in the PoE documentary.

[marelooke]

So, the Linux version of Divinity Original Sin (enhanced edition) has been pushed back to (at least) december (which is past the console releases). I doubt that at this point there are still many who care (they either just played the game on Windows or gave up on Larian, possibly/probably both)

Edited October 27, 2015 by marelooke

[Keyrock]

So, the Linux version of Divinity Original Sin (enhanced edition) has been pushed back to (at least) december (which is past the console releases). I doubt that at this point there are still many who care (they either just played the game on Windows or gave up on Larian, possibly/probably both)

Yeah, I wasn't even surprised when I heard that, I've come to expect it at this point.  Somebody from Larian gave a bunch of excuses as to why, having to do with console versions having to go through certifications, thus being the lead platforms, then Windows being the base version for the PC versions, or something.  The excuses may or may not be valid, I don't much care at this point.  I get it from a purely business standpoint, the console versions stand to make them a heck of a lot more money than the Linux version, still stat doesn't ease the sting at all.  No excuse or justification is going to make a year and a half alright.  I fully expect another excuse come December.  Suffice to say, I have lost any and all faith and respect I had for Larian.  As far as I'm concerned, they're scumbags.  I will never give that company another penny ever again and I will badmouth them any chance I get.

[Volourn]

. " Suffice to say, I have lost any and all faith and respect I had for Larian.  As far as I'm concerned, they're scumbags.  I will never give that company another penny ever again and I will badmouth them any chance I get."

 

L0L,Anoher reason why i never ever have respect in fans. Because fans are the very definition of scumbags. they are evil, nazis, greedy, selfish, arrogant, ignorant, pieces of crap.

[GhostofAnakin]

 

Was the bolded ever actually confirmed?  Or was it based on speculation due to a lack of known projects?

 

It was talked about in the PoE documentary.

 

 

That's crazy.

[Gfted1]

Xbox One gets Xbox 360 backwards compatibility with November 12 update.

[Lexx]

Meh, if that would be for PS4 as well (backwards compatibility I mean), I'd buy one in a heartbeat.

Edited October 27, 2015 by Lexx

[HoonDing]

Can't think of any X360 games I'd want to play.

Maybe Lost Odyssey.

 

Xbox on the other hand had many fun games.

[GhostofAnakin]

Xbox One gets Xbox 360 backwards compatibility with November 12 update.

 

This might just convince me to get a XBox One.

[marelooke]

 

So, the Linux version of Divinity Original Sin (enhanced edition) has been pushed back to (at least) december (which is past the console releases). I doubt that at this point there are still many who care (they either just played the game on Windows or gave up on Larian, possibly/probably both)

Yeah, I wasn't even surprised when I heard that, I've come to expect it at this point.  Somebody from Larian gave a bunch of excuses as to why, having to do with console versions having to go through certifications, thus being the lead platforms, then Windows being the base version for the PC versions, or something.  The excuses may or may not be valid, I don't much care at this point.

 

 

If you have a "base" version for cross platform development and it's not the lowest common denominator then you're already failing at cross platform development. I'm pretty convinced they just picked whatever libraries they were familiar with without checking whether they were cross platform and/or with the idea "yeah we'll find a version for $PLATFORM later and we'll just map the one api on the other" (though any dev that's been around for longer than an internship will be able to tell you "lolfacepalm, that ain't how it works"), since cross-platform development isn't exactly a secret art (people have been doing it since at least the 70's after all) I'd say they majorly messed up.

 

Sure I can get that they pressed their budget to the limit to get more game, but not taking all the platforms you will support into account from the start will cost you *massively* more time and effort in the long run, which leads me to believe that if the game hadn't been as successful as it has been they'd have simply droppped the Linux/Mac versions.

 

I get it from a purely business standpoint, the console versions stand to make them a heck of a lot more money than the Linux version, still stat doesn't ease the sting at all.  No excuse or justification is going to make a year and a half alright.  I fully expect another excuse come December.  Suffice to say, I have lost any and all faith and respect I had for Larian.  As far as I'm concerned, they're scumbags.  I will never give that company another penny ever again and I will badmouth them any chance I get.

I'm still going with "don't attribute to malice that which can be sufficiently explained by incompetence (or inexperience)", then again I don't own any consoles and instead I just buy a Windows license to use as a "console" (since I refuse to run any of the "gaming approved" Linux distributions, like Ubuntu, due to systemd, but that's an entirely different discussion), so even though I'm a GNU/Linux user I wasn't majorly affected, this time...

Edited October 27, 2015 by marelooke

[Keyrock]

^ I mean, the game was already in development when they did the Kickstarter, so it may not have been technically feasible to do proper cross-platform development from that point forward without having to retrace their steps, though they had no problem getting a Mac version out, during early access even.  Honestly, I don't care at this point.  I don't care if it was technical limitations, business decisions, whatever.  I don't care to hear any more excuses, I've been hearing them for a year and a half.  I was fine with it when Linux wasn't finished for early access, don't care for early access anyway.  I was optimistic and supportive when it didn't release simultaneously with Win and Mac, Larian had never done a game for Linux, as long as the Linux version came out in a reasonable amount of time, no big deal (note: a year and a half is not a reasonable amount of time).  A couple months passed, I remained positive, these things take time.  A couple more months...  silence from Larian.  A couple more months and finally some news "we ran into some issues with the Linux version, but it's almost sorted, you'll have the game soon" (that was about a year ago).  A couple more months pass and we get "Linux issues sorted, but codebase is now out of date, we're doing something 'cool' so hang on, it will be worth it" (turns out "we're doing something 'cool'" was code for "we're porting the game to consoles, so you backers can go on the backburner again").  A couple more months and they announce the Enchanced Edition, when asked if Linux will get it at the same time as other platforms "oh yeah, day 1".  Fast forward to a week or so ago and we got the "oh by the way, you Linux suckers that helped pay for the Kickstarter but haven't gotten to play the game yet, you can wait a couple more months because you're an afterthought" announcement.

 

I'm just done; I'm done with Larian.  I don't care what the company does in the future, I don't care what games they make, I don't care if they thrive or go bankrupt.  They can go **** themselves.

Edited October 28, 2015 by Keyrock

[Katphood]

2016...will be a "primal" year...

[Spider]

Haven't Larian offered a refund to all Kickstarter backers who backed solely for the Linux version?

[Rosbjerg]

2016...will be a "primal" year...

 

And by french developers as well - wonder if the last few years have seen a sort of "romantic" movement again in francophile art and litterature to facilitate this...

[Keyrock]

Haven't Larian offered a refund to all Kickstarter backers who backed solely for the Linux version?

I think so.  It doesn't change the fact that they gave us the runaround for a year and a half (and counting) and that they prioritized console versions (a smart decision from a purely business standpoint) over fulfilling their belated Kickstarter duties.

[Spider]

No, but it means that if you're that unhappy with the situation you can get your money back and get on with your life.

 

In the software business delays happen and priorities shift all the time. They clearly underestimated how complicated it would be to make Linux support when they made the promise (and as a result how much it would cost). They screwed up and have admitted as much and have learned from the lesson (ie not promising support for anything other than Windows in their second KS). And offered to give money back to the people directly affected by their inability to fulfill their promise.

 

And since you said "Suffice to say, I have lost any and all faith and respect I had for Larian.  As far as I'm concerned, they're scumbags.  I will never give that company another penny ever again and I will badmouth them any chance I get." why don't you take this chance and relieve them of the money you've already given them?

[Keyrock]

Because I'd still like to play the game I paid for years ago.  Not to mention that I've been on this ****ty ride for a year and a half now, I might as well see it through to the end.  It would be kind of stupid to go through a year and a half of waiting just to pull out (presumably) a month or two before the prize is available.  Had I know what kind of bull**** us Linux users were in from the beginning, I would likely have asked for a refund then, but Sven, although, in my opinion, a piece of ****, is also charismatic, so I believed the lies he fed us when he told us "it will be ready very soon" every time he dangled the carrot in front of our faces.  The best part is that, if we are to believe Larian (I'm quite skeptical at this point), we could have had the game around March, maybe April, since they had fixed the issues they ran into and it was just a matter of testing before releasing it to us backers (and the rest of the world), but rather than do that and fulfill your Kickstarter promises first, they decided to shove us to the backburner again to prioritize the more lucrative console ports.

 

An yeah, priorities change, and I get that Sven's us against the publishers bleeding heart story and with your help we can make the game we always wanted to make and do right by you fans spiel was just a bunch of marketing BS, much like Fargo does.  Except Fargo actually fulfilled his promises and did right by the backers, all of them, before moving on to do console ports of Wasteland 2.

 

Anyway, venting was therapeutic, I feel better now.  I'll move on now and just play the game in 2017 when it comes out for Linux after the Android, iOS, Amiga, Atari ST, Smart Watch, and Archimedes Acorn versions of the game have already been released.

Edited October 28, 2015 by Keyrock

[Amentep]

2016...will be a "primal" year...

 

I'm looking forward to this.  Not exactly what it seemed to be in the initial trailer, but it still seems interesting.

[Malcador]

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/10/victory-users-librarian-congress-renews-and-expands-protections-fair-uses

 

 

Victory for Users: Librarian of Congress Renews and Expands Protections for Fair Uses

 

The new rules for exemptions to copyright's DRM-circumvention laws were issued today, and the Librarian of Congress has granted much of what EFF asked for over the course of months of extensive briefs and hearings. The exemptions we requested—ripping DVDs and Blurays for making fair use remixes and analysis; preserving video games and running multiplayer servers after publishers have abandoned them; jailbreaking cell phones, tablets, and other portable computing devices to run third party software; and security research and modification and repairs on cars—have each been accepted, subject to some important caveats.

 

The exemptions are needed thanks to a fundamentally flawed law that forbids users from breaking DRM, even if the purpose is a clearly lawful fair use. As software has become ubiquitous, so has DRM. Users often have to circumvent that DRM to make full use of their devices, from DVDs to games to smartphones and cars.

 

The law allows users to request exemptions for such lawful uses—but it doesn’t make it easy. Exemptions are granted through an elaborate rulemaking process that takes place every three years and places a heavy burden on EFF and the many other requesters who take part. Every exemption must be argued anew, even if it was previously granted, and even if there is no opposition. The exemptions that emerge are limited in scope. What is worse, they only apply to end users—the people who are actually doing the ripping, tinkering, jailbreaking, or research—and not to the people who make the tools that facilitate those lawful activities.

 

The section of the law that creates these restrictions—the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's Section 1201—is fundamentally flawed, has resulted in myriad unintended consequences, and is long past due for reform or removal altogether from the statute books. Still, as long as its rulemaking process exists, we're pleased to have secured the following exemptions.

Edited October 28, 2015 by Malcador