GOG: Pay what you want for Divinity Anthology

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Gog.com is running their first pseudo-"Pay what you want" sale, with the Divinity Anthology: Divine Divinity + Beyond Divinity + Divinity II

http://www.gog.com/divinity

It's not really PWYW, except for Divine Divinity though

Current levels are
0.01 up to Average (10.17 currently) - Divine Divinity ($6 regularly)
Average (10.17) to Average of top 10% (20.99 currently) - Beyond Divinity ($6 regularly)
Average of top 10% (20.99+ currently) - Divinity II Developer's cut ($20 regularly)

So basically buy Divinity II, get the other two and extras for free

In theory holding up to the last minute might make it more affordable (as the top 10% average goes down with the $0.01 purchases for Divine Divinity which a lot of people will choose)
 
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[quote name='erequena']Gog.com is running their first pseudo-"Pay what you want" sale, with the Divinity Anthology: Divine Divinity + Beyond Divinity + Divinity II

http://www.gog.com/divinity

It's not really PWYW, except for Divine Divinity though

Current levels are
PWYW up to 10.16 - Divine Divinity ($6 regularly)
10.17 to 20.98 - Beyond Divinity ($6 regularly)
20.99+ - Divinity II Developer's cut ($20 regularly)

So basically buy Divinity II, get the other two and extras for free[/QUOTE]

So basically save 5 dollars on DD, save a dollar on DD and BD, or buy D2 and get DD and BD for a dollar.

Thanks Op
 
It should be noted that the minimum is actually 1 cent for Divine Divinity, not $1. You can edit the amount next to the checkout button so that you can pay less than $1. Very nice deal for Divine Divinity, pretty crappy deal (for the moment, at least), for the other games.
 
[quote name='sunghost']It should be noted that the minimum is actually 1 cent for Divine Divinity, not $1. You can edit the amount next to the checkout button so that you can pay less than $1. Very nice deal for Divine Divinity, pretty crappy deal (for the moment, at least), for the other games.[/QUOTE]

Updated to show the actual minimum
 
[quote name='cereal_killerxx']No Steam?[/QUOTE]

I don't expect GOG to start selling Steam keys anytime soon.

[quote name='Drabelincoln']No drm[/QUOTE]

Steam is not always DRM. It can be. It usually is. But it's sometimes just a download manager.
 
[quote name='louiedog']I don't expect GOG to start selling Steam keys anytime soon.



Steam is not always DRM. It can be. It usually is. But it's sometimes just a download manager.[/QUOTE]

True but can you launch a game without steam running? I've never tried. I launch all my games from steam. I know about offline mode but steam is still running.
 
[quote name='louiedog']Steam is not always DRM. It can be. It usually is. But it's sometimes just a download manager.[/QUOTE]

95% - 98% of my Steam games (I have hundreds and I've checked every single one)
require Steam to be running to launch.

People can put it any way they like, and I don't mean to start yet another holy war,
but Steam is DRM (maybe a convenient one in many ways, but still DRM).
 
[quote name='Drabelincoln']True but can you launch a game without steam running? I know about offline mode but steam is still running.[/QUOTE]

Some games, yes. Off the top of my head I believe Faerie Solitaire, Wizorb, and everything by Wadjet Eye will all play from their directories without Steam running.

[quote name='seamoss']95% - 98% of my Steam games (I have hundreds and I've checked every single one)
require Steam to be running to launch.

People can put it any way they like, and I don't mean to start yet another holy war,
but Steam is DRM (maybe a convenient one in many ways, but still DRM).[/QUOTE]

If it's not 100% then Steam itself is not the DRM. If you want DRM-free games, Steam is a terrible store, but the client itself is not the DRM. The DRM is in the games that tie themselves to the client. That's the point I was making.
 
[quote name='louiedog']Some games, yes. Off the top of my head I believe Faerie Solitaire, Wizorb, and everything by Wadjet Eye will all play from their directories without Steam running.



If it's not 100% then Steam itself is not the DRM. If you want DRM-free games, Steam is a terrible store, but the client itself is not the DRM. The DRM is in the games that tie themselves to the client. That's the point I was making.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the clarification!
 
[quote name='louiedog']If it's not 100% then Steam itself is not the DRM. If you want DRM-free games, Steam is a terrible store, but the client itself is not the DRM. The DRM is in the games that tie themselves to the client. That's the point I was making.[/QUOTE]

That is true - the publishers/developers incorporate the Steam DRM code into their game
executables, which make the Steam client and its restrictions a requirement to run their
games. As you say, there are a few games that don't use Steam DRM but use Steam just
as a content delivery system. I don't know who makes the decision to incorporate Steam
DRM into each game, but I really doubt that Valve forces the publishers/developers to do
so, so from a "moral" point of view (although not a technical one) I agree that it's the
games themselves (i.e. their publishers/developers) that enforce the DRM.
 
I look at it as Steam is clearly DRM, but some developers code the DRM portion of Steam out of their Steam games. A very small amount of developers. I think Steam defaults as online check DRM and publishers have to actively work around that if they want to turn all that off.

That said, this deal for the 1c game is great. Past that it's just a a pre-order/buy this game get this stuff free promo not so cleverly disguised.
 
[quote name='CheapLikeAFox']I look at it as Steam is clearly DRM, but some developers code the DRM portion of Steam out of their Steam games. A very small amount of developers. I think Steam defaults as online check DRM and publishers have to actively work around that if they want to turn all that off.[/QUOTE]

I'm pretty sure that developers have to actively code Steam DRM *into* their game
executables, not code it out.
 
[quote name='seamoss']I'm pretty sure that developers have to actively code Steam DRM *into* their game
executables, not code it out.[/QUOTE]

I'm sure they have to code Steam into their games, but I'm sure the default Steam code defaults to online DRM, not the Steam integration like Faerie Solitaire does.
 
[quote name='louiedog']Some games, yes. Off the top of my head I believe Faerie Solitaire, Wizorb, and everything by Wadjet Eye will all play from their directories without Steam running.
[/QUOTE]

I'm pretty sure Red Faction will, as well. I know this because I'm currently playing through it.
 
[quote name='seamoss']That is true - the publishers/developers incorporate the Steam DRM code into their game executables, which make the Steam client and its restrictions a requirement to run their games. As you say, there are a few games that don't use Steam DRM but use Steam just as a content delivery system. I don't know who makes the decision to incorporate Steam DRM into each game, but I really doubt that Valve forces the publishers/developers to do so, so from a "moral" point of view (although not a technical one) I agree that it's the games themselves (i.e. their publishers/developers) that enforce the DRM.[/QUOTE]

People think 'oh they just want to put DRM in and restrict the games' and get mad but there are actually other reasons for it.

This is getting a bit off on a tangent but it seems that some developers like the Steam integration because it puts the load on Valve's servers and not their own and/or the Steamworks cloud save, achievment etc intergration.

There's an interesting post about it on the General Steam forum by way of Stardock's Sins of a Solar Empire forums.

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2748423

These posts are from Frogboy, AKA Brad Wardell, the founder, President, and CEO of Stardock.

As it had turned out, our fears have been unwarranted. Impulse, now owned by Gamestop, pays like clock work and so does Steam. By contrast, with a retail distributor you were lucky to get paid merely 90 days late. And that’s not counting the obnoxious and expensive RMA games they play. I like the service Steam provides. They’re easy to work with, they’re honest, and they’re passionate about what they do. And most importantly, they let me, as a game developer, focus on what matters: making games.
Click to expand...
When you use Steamworks, you're making a trade off. You will lose some customers. Similarly, not having your game at retail is a trade off. It's one we made with Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion. We lost vastly **vastly** more sales not having it at retail than we did by using Steamworks. But the trade-off was that we were able to have a release date of our own choosing and frankly, if I have to choose between money and having a universally beloved game people like, I'm going to choose the latter every time.

Personally, I don't like games requiring to use Steam. But, as a developer, my options are to either spend hundreds of thousands of dollars developing stuff ourselves or letting Steam do it.

The only reason Elemental isn't using Steamworks is because I personally vetoed it. The IT team just hates having to keep running the rather expensive infrastructure we have to add, update, and deliver games to users. They'd rather hand it all over to Steam and be done with it so that they can focus on other things. That's the trade off we're facing.

The DRM thing that I've seen people mention is meaningless. That's not the reason companies use Steam. They use it because Valve is willing, for free, to handle all the updating and distribution. It costs us about $10k per month just for Sins of a Solar Empire dedicated bandwidth for the hundreds of thousands of users who are updating its various versions or reinstalling it each month. That's a lot of money when Valve is ready to handle all that for free. And that's just the bandwidth. Forget all the people involved that have to get the files updated, test the updates, handle customer issues, etc.
Click to expand...
 
I paid $0.01 since I already have this on disc. I'll probably never use the download on GOG, but nice to have the "free" option.
 
[quote name='Green Card200']Beyond Divinity is $1 on green man gaming. So you can get both for ~$2.[/QUOTE]

Is the GMG key steam? I have dragon knight saga on steam...so it looks like there isn't any worthwhile content to upgrade.
 
[quote name='6er']Is the GMG key steam? I have dragon knight saga on steam...so it looks like there isn't any worthwhile content to upgrade.[/QUOTE]

No, it requires their own launcher mostly because it's possible to trade it in so GMG has to authenticate that you still own it.
 
[quote name='Green Card200']Beyond Divinity is $1 on green man gaming. So you can get both for ~$2.[/QUOTE]
It also has its own very intrusive launcher that's filled with SecuROM up the... behind.

I would've bought this, but I already own both the original Divinity games and don't want to pay twenty bucks to get two other copies. :(

I'll just wait for the normal game to go on sale.
 
[quote name='Kitsune Sniper']It also has its own very intrusive launcher that's filled with SecuROM up the... behind.
[/QUOTE]

Well in fairness, a bunch of us got it when it was free so kind of hard to complain about a free game, even one with DRM. Plus if you hate it that much, you can always trade it in though I think it's only worth 50 25 cents at the moment.
 
[quote name='Greyghost']
The only reason Elemental isn't using Steamworks is because I personally vetoed it. The IT team just hates having to keep running the rather expensive infrastructure we have to add, update, and deliver games to users. They'd rather hand it all over to Steam and be done with it so that they can focus on other things. That's the trade off we're facing.[/QUOTE]

See, Frogboy hates me. I want my Steamworks Elemental! :cool:
 
I own Divine Divinity on disc; and from GameStop PC App...
Already own Beyond Divinity on disc; and got it for FREE when GMG had it FREE.
Already own Div 2: Ego Draconis from Retail; and Div 2: Dragon Knight Saga Edition from Amazon DVG.

I'm gonna have to AT least EVENTUALLY toss a penny in, so I can AT LEAST get some Divine Divinity extras (like the soundtrack!)...
 
Still dropping, which is great news! Currently the third tier (Divine Divinity, Beyond Divinity, and Divinity II) is at $13.26

Even though there are 6 days left, I can't help but feel like this is a fail for them, considering they're still only at 48% of their FIRST goal out of 5.

Hopefully as people keep buying in at the $0.01 level, the third tier will eventually drop to about $5, which is the sweet spot for me.
 
I already had Divine Divinity before this sale but if the bundle drops to $10 or lower I'll get it just to get the other 2 games. Some people gave an enormous amount when the sale went live and it drove up the price. I think the starting price was somewhere around $10.
 
Getting up to $23 probably killed a lot of the initial interest.

Dragonknight Saga has been on for $6 a few times (DRM free amazon). I ended up quitting after about 3 hrs due to how crazy spiky the difficulty is. Playing ring around the rosie with a monster while slowly regaining health is kind of dull.
 
Well, the price is still slowly dropping, but it's been hovering around $12.50 for some hours now. I think I might pull the trigger, since that's not a bad price for those games.

I don't think they'll reach their other developer video goals, despite drastically dropping the number of people required.
 
I already own all three games but I went ahead and bought it again anyway. I figured it was worth the $13 for the extra GOG goodies, and I wanted to support more of these GOG bundle deals. I believe they'll work out the metrics better next time since the original ~$23 average price put me off, too.
 
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