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Satis
Felix Rex
Joined: Fri Mar 28, 2003 6:01 pm Posts: 16650 Location: On a slope
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Re: The Witcher 2
*sigh* they do the right thing by removing DRM from the game. Then they turn around and do the wrong thing by threatening to sue file sharers and sending out 'Pay us money or we sue you' threat letters. So sad, so stupid. Because this works so well for the music and film industry. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2010- ... you-a-fine
_________________ They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
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Tue Nov 23, 2010 6:41 am |
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Rinox
Minor Diety
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 7:23 am Posts: 14878 Location: behind a good glass of Duvel
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Re: The Witcher 2
Eh, fuck it. Those letters only rip off socially vulnerable people, and they get harassed and sucked dry by all sorts of schemes...tele sales, commercial presentation, txt message scams, spam emails...so I don't see what the big deal is really. I've been ranting in the thread on RPS too. No DRM, for me, outweighs this.
_________________ "I find a Burger Tank in this place? I'm-a be a one-man cheeseburger apocalypse."
- Coach
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Tue Nov 23, 2010 6:44 am |
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Satis
Felix Rex
Joined: Fri Mar 28, 2003 6:01 pm Posts: 16650 Location: On a slope
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Re: The Witcher 2
It does outweigh this, I think, but legal threat letters against your customers (or may-some-day-be-a-customer) is BS. I guarantee that 95% of the people that pirate the game would never have bought the game, even if it weren't readily available via piracy. The 5% that would buy it, probably do after they 'demo' it via piracy. Suing potential customers is just douchey and doesn't accomplish anything, in my opinion. Well, other than piss off a lot of people and get a few lawyers rich.
_________________ They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
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Tue Nov 23, 2010 4:55 pm |
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Rinox
Minor Diety
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 7:23 am Posts: 14878 Location: behind a good glass of Duvel
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Re: The Witcher 2
Mm, perhaps. I also learned (through the discussion on RPS) that in the US and UK it's not impossible to be sued over nothing more than an IP linked to your name. So that's a bummer, given the wild uncertainty surrounding IP user/ownership and on how torrents work exactly. Apparently even civil court cases are decided on by a jury in the US? I didn't know that. That makes things a little more volatile than just having an impartial judge decide over the case I can imagine. Over here you only get people's juries in the highest courts, usually pertaining to murder cases. I hate people's juries. Recently, a woman was convicted to 30 years in prison here for murder without any solid evidence whatsoever (her friend, who was having an affair with a man she was in love with as well, was killed when someone sabotaged her parachute). I mean, there was a lot of circumstantial evidence - jealous lover, had access, had the knowledge required, psychological issues, 'accidentally' found the failing backup chute in a tree afterwards - and she probably did it, but it's not enough to send someone 30 years to prison for. Imho. The jury was swayed by the prosecutor who used an aggressive technique to plead his case. Imagine you're in a similar situation and you really didn't do it, and all the circumstantial evidence is just coincidence. 30 years! Anyway, slight side-rant there. I wanted to say that I have a feeling this is more of a "look we're doing something" for their publishers and shareholders than anything else, to justify the no DRM. God knows shareholders and bosses are scared shitless by anything that might lose them a dollar, so this might just be intended to shut them up.
_________________ "I find a Burger Tank in this place? I'm-a be a one-man cheeseburger apocalypse."
- Coach
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Wed Nov 24, 2010 4:16 am |
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Satis
Felix Rex
Joined: Fri Mar 28, 2003 6:01 pm Posts: 16650 Location: On a slope
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Re: The Witcher 2
Yea, it's possible this is just to mollify stock holders or whatever, but it's really bad publicity.
You're right about the jury trial and all that. Also, even if you win, you're going to be paying thousands of dollars in lawyer's fees. I don't know about you, but I don't have thousands of dollars just laying around that I can throw at something I didn't do. The alternative is just to roll over and pay hundreds of dollars in 'fine'. Also known as settlement money. also known as extortion (give us $300 now, or we'll take you to court and you'll pay $5,000 in lawyer's fees... and we'll probably win and you'll owe us $300,000). I hate our court system.
_________________ They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
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Wed Nov 24, 2010 4:04 pm |
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Rinox
Minor Diety
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 7:23 am Posts: 14878 Location: behind a good glass of Duvel
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Re: The Witcher 2
Yeah, I learned all that on in the RPS thread. My conclusion was that the US (and UK) justice systems seem to have some fucked up deficiencies if they allow for such loopholes that make it possible to bully people who aren't rich or willing to spend their life savings to clear their name.
I initially didn't get why everyone was in such an uproar over the whole 'omg they gonna fine people based on (vague) IP logs!' thing. I was like...if you get a letter like that and you haven't done shit, you just ignore it. If they take it to court (which I thought was unlikely, since you can't win based on 0 evidence - one would have tought), you smack their asses around.
Turns out it was already going on over there, operating like you said: if you don't pay they'll sue you, based on nothing but an unreliable torrent/IP ID (wtf). With civilian juries presiding over it, you may even end up paying a huge reparations fee. And even if you win, you'll pay many more times the lawyer costs compared to the initial fee. Wtf?!
Over here, the losing party pays a (large) part of the winning party's lawyer costs, as well as the costs of the court case which can become massive over longer periods. This is done to a) make people think twice about sueing and b) to give poor/socially weaker persons the chance to take on large and wealthy organisations, persons or corporations instead of being extorted into paying imaginery fines. I actually thought this was the case in most of the democratic west, but it turns out that it isn't, at all. :O
Now I know where the whole trope of 'huge evil corporation with army of 15 lawyers' comes from (think mr Burns in the Simpsons). It's more intimidation than anything else then, in many ways. Either way...a JUSTICE system that gives an inherent advantage to the richer party is FUBAR. I mean, jesus.
_________________ "I find a Burger Tank in this place? I'm-a be a one-man cheeseburger apocalypse."
- Coach
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Thu Nov 25, 2010 5:25 am |
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Rinox
Minor Diety
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 7:23 am Posts: 14878 Location: behind a good glass of Duvel
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Re: The Witcher 2
_________________ "I find a Burger Tank in this place? I'm-a be a one-man cheeseburger apocalypse."
- Coach
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Mon Feb 21, 2011 7:17 am |
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Satis
Felix Rex
Joined: Fri Mar 28, 2003 6:01 pm Posts: 16650 Location: On a slope
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Re: The Witcher 2
cool, sounds like it's better, not dumbed down (like I'm afraid Dragon Age will be).
_________________ They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
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Mon Feb 21, 2011 5:19 pm |
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Rinox
Minor Diety
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 7:23 am Posts: 14878 Location: behind a good glass of Duvel
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Re: The Witcher 2
I'm actually considering getting a new graphics card for the witcher II - that's how much a cheapskate like me wants it.
_________________ "I find a Burger Tank in this place? I'm-a be a one-man cheeseburger apocalypse."
- Coach
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Tue Feb 22, 2011 4:08 pm |
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Rinox
Minor Diety
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 7:23 am Posts: 14878 Location: behind a good glass of Duvel
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Re: The Witcher 2
Witcher 2 hands-on on RPS http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/04 ... witcher-2/Overall very positive, with some things that are less appealing (some QTE events, the lack of extended graphical options - altho that may be because of the beta).
_________________ "I find a Burger Tank in this place? I'm-a be a one-man cheeseburger apocalypse."
- Coach
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Thu Apr 14, 2011 6:30 am |
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Rinox
Minor Diety
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 7:23 am Posts: 14878 Location: behind a good glass of Duvel
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Re: The Witcher 2
Apparently the minimalistic graphics slider has been confirmed as being part of the beta build and will be 'normal' in the full game. Bit of a relief.
_________________ "I find a Burger Tank in this place? I'm-a be a one-man cheeseburger apocalypse."
- Coach
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Fri Apr 15, 2011 6:21 am |
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Satis
Felix Rex
Joined: Fri Mar 28, 2003 6:01 pm Posts: 16650 Location: On a slope
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Re: The Witcher 2
yay for lack of choice! Having too many choices makes me scared and torroristish.
_________________ They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
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Fri Apr 15, 2011 11:30 pm |
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Rinox
Minor Diety
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 7:23 am Posts: 14878 Location: behind a good glass of Duvel
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Re: The Witcher 2
Heh, there was actually a guy on RPS whining about how there wouldn't be any Angry Internet Men complaining about "oh noes no quicksave in combat" or about the "simple and intuitive options" when he heard the initial news (about only a slider), because TW2 is a PC only (at first) release and therefore would get away with it. With that he was obviously hating on people who have a massive gripe with many games suffering from consolitis (crossplatform, no or bad optimalization for PC), which according to him does not exist. That opinion alone should tell you he's a retard, because consolitis is real and fucking epidemic among big titles. Anyone, I reminded him that there has been no big RPG in the entire DECADE with quicksave during combat, and that I don't see how having more choices for tweaking your graphics could possibly be worse than his 'intuitive and simple system'. I was tempted to throw in a 'honestly, are you even a PC gamer if you're saying stuff like that?' Seeing as it's a PC gaming blog. But I took the high road and am hating on him here instead.
_________________ "I find a Burger Tank in this place? I'm-a be a one-man cheeseburger apocalypse."
- Coach
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Sat Apr 16, 2011 2:44 am |
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Rinox
Minor Diety
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 7:23 am Posts: 14878 Location: behind a good glass of Duvel
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Re: The Witcher 2
Another Witcher 2 preview, from PC Gamer UK: http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/04/21/the-w ... 2-preview/ | | | | Quote: The Witcher II: Assassins of Kings is more than just a sequel. It’s CD Projekt’s chance to turn a cult RPG success into a huge mainstream hit, with all that hard-won experience joining forces with a brand new engine, and riding a wave of warm sentiment via the Enhanced Edition of the first game, and Good Old Games. I just finished playing through the Prologue and the whole first Act – ten glorious Witchering hours, give or take – but is it really the epic RPG we’ve all been hoping for? Hint: Yes.
What stands out most about The Witcher 2 is – and believe me, it’s a rare big budget game that gives off this vibe – is that it feels like the game CD Projekt wanted to make, with neither apology nor compromise getting in the way of its vision. The engine targets high-end systems because that’s the only way to make it look this good. Characters happily drop words like ‘fuck’ and ‘cunt’ because it wouldn’t be The Witcher’s cynical world if they didn’t. Playing as Geralt doesn’t give you the same freedom of build and character as most other RPGs, because you’re not here to be a Paladin or a Mage, but a Witcher – a very specific mix of fighter, sorcerer and alchemist, with a steel sword for slaying humans, and a silver sword for monsters. Through the levelling system, you can tip the balance towards any of those disciplines, but you still need them all, because that’s how a Witcher rolls. Or makes heads roll, anyway. | | | | |
| | | | Quote: For all this visual improvement, it’s the writing that most impresses. As with the first game, The Witcher was written by Polish writers, which immediately gives it a slightly different feel to most American made RPGs. This time though, the translation is excellent, and the character work is miles ahead. King Foltest for instance, who you start the game protecting, actually feels like a guy an army would follow. He takes time to acknowledge individual soldiers. He’s savvy about the weapons being used against him (not least because they used to be his own), and has a compassionate side to go along with his hot-headedness. (...)
Is he a good king though? That’s the kind of question The Witcher loves to play with. It’s a very political game, one that still has little time for simple good or bad. Whether the bandit leader living in the woods is an honourable freedom fighter or a psychotic terrorist for instance depends entirely on your point of view. Is the town’s leader a hyper-strict fascist just looking to line his pockets at the expense of elves and dwarves, or is he genuine when he explains that he’s aware he has prejudices against non-humans, but tries to be impartial? More than any other major RPG, you don’t choose between good and evil so much as aim for the lesser of two evils, or – if you prefer – the most convenient. | | | | |
| | | | Quote: The best compliment I can give The Witcher 2 is to tell you how I played it. I started playing it in the morning. I played it right through in one sitting, and emerged, bleary eyed, around midnight, stopping only for a sandwich around lunch, and an unwanted phonecall about double glazing. By the end, I was regretting every new click of the mouse and completed subquest, not because of any disappointment with what was happening, but because I knew it wouldn’t be long before my Witcher supply got cut-off. (..) I almost regret having played the preview code at all, because as much as I was itching to get started on a new Witcher game, I’m even itchier to finish what I started. Possibly after a quick PC upgrade. | | | | |
_________________ "I find a Burger Tank in this place? I'm-a be a one-man cheeseburger apocalypse."
- Coach
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Sun Apr 24, 2011 6:26 am |
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Rinox
Minor Diety
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 7:23 am Posts: 14878 Location: behind a good glass of Duvel
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Re: The Witcher 2
If you pre-ordered (there is no actual sale involved yet, just say 'yes I want to preorder' and you can still back out later) the game over GoG, you can start preloading it on the 10th of May. Their download version is completely DRM free (the only one, if you count Steam as DRM - the store copies have securom), packs a lot of digital goodies and offers you 1 free gog game (from 5 that you can choose). The developers also get a bigger share of the income so that's nice too. You can pre-order it here http://www.gog.com/en/page/tw2v3Like I said, there's no actual buying or obligation to buy if you 'pre-order' yet. So it doesn't hurt.
_________________ "I find a Burger Tank in this place? I'm-a be a one-man cheeseburger apocalypse."
- Coach
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Thu May 05, 2011 6:40 am |
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