Niggles: Im curious.How did they talk their way out of this when you asked them? (assuming they wont be offering DRM free..)
Ixamyakxim: I didn't know this. This is making me think more and more that we're talking about a timed exclusivity window here. At least I hope that's the case. Not that I like it per se, but I'd rather have it be that than *sniffle* no Banner Saga at all :(
*EDIT*
I don't follow their forum / Kickstarter - have they said (essentially) this?
For you and for anyone else who might be curious, here is Stoic's official response to another backer and I, who wanted confirmation that they will only provide Steam keys for BS E2 and E3. It should be noted that they cramped that little titbit together with a beta invite and made it Backer only, perhaps to reduce the fallout. You should pay special attention to how they wish to avoid even this semi-public conversation and move to PMs.
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At this time, due to the bandwidth on a such a small team, the DRM-Free version is not being planned. We originally planned DRM-Free for Banner Saga 1 and delivered, but it also led to huge increases in piracy so we're keen to avoid that.
The team at Tiny Build recently explored piracy with a good deep dive - highly suggest you give it a read:
http://tinybuild.com/punch-club-has-been-pirated-over-1-million-times You all still have Steam Keys available to you for the first game, and you will be able to import your saved game from Banner Saga 1 in to Banner Saga 2 even if you played DRM-Free the first time and use Steam for Banner Saga 2. (assuming same machine or you have access to the save file)
Sorry you feel that way - but the KS campaign was for Banner Saga 1 (and all it's platforms which were promised via the campaign) which we did deliver upon. We decided since the campaign was so successful and our backers were so helpful that we would give Banner Saga 2 and Banner Saga 3 to our $50 and up backers as an extra thank you (without making any promises toward those platforms or commitments) Here's the exact KS update where we made this announcement:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stoic/the-banner-saga/posts/195885 Once again, hope you understand that we have to protect our game when and where we can. All we can now is that the DRM-Free version is not being planned.
If you played the first part via GoG (or DRM Free) you can still play parts 2 and 3 via Steam. The save files still transfer over without any issue.
Sad to see you feel that and to be so harsh/rude, however all we can say for now is that the DRM-Free version is not being planned.
We haven't been deceptive at all - hence why we're sharing all of this info. We never knew which platforms Banner Saga 2 or Banner Saga 3 would be on nor did we make any promises. We only listed out platforms for The Banner Saga (Banner Saga 1) as part of the Kickstarter Campaign.
If you feel like we didn't hold up our end of your KickStarter pledge, please feel free to send us a KS message.
Not calling people who prefer DRM Free Pirates, just saying that we had issues once we released our DRM-Free build with Banner Saga 1. And while we'd love to try and make everyone happy, if we did so we'd be broke and unable to continue to make games. All we can say for now is that the DRM-Free version is not being planned.
The text bellow is the response I received to my comment about their mistreatment of backers.
Please be aware that our KS Campaign was for The Banner Saga (Banner Saga 1) and not the full trilogy. We decided to throw in Banner Saga 2 and Banner Saga 3 as a nice thank you without every mentioning platforms, dates, or any further info for Banner Saga 2 or Banner Saga 3. All of the details in campaign are solely targeted for Banner Saga 1 and we do apologize for any assumptions people may have drawn from that for Banner Saga 2 and Banner Saga 3. If you feel like we did not meet our KS requirements, please feel free to contact us directly via a KS message.
All we can say for now is that the DRM-Free version is not being planned.
In the interest of full disclosure here are my posts/comments:
@Stoic
Can you confirm that you will not release Banner Saga Episodes 2 and 3 on GOG (seeing how you do not wish to host the installers yourself)?
If that is the case, will you refund backers who bought into the $50 tier in order to receive all three episodes?
The Backer Update #4 that you linked to only spoke on giving everyone pledging $50 all three episodes of The Banner Saga. At no point in that update did you mention that you would change the distribution method.
Furthermore, the FAQ section of your campaign states the following:
"You will always have the option of downloading a standalone version of the game to play on your hard drive, if you prefer not to use services like Steam."
Consequently, if the release of Episodes 2 and 3 of the Banner Saga will only be done on Steam, you will be in violation of your campaign promises. I am certain that I am not the only one who pledged because of the DRM-free promise (ie. a non-Steam release), in addition to the $50 promise for the full game.
This leaves a very, very bad taste in my mouth and will add to the current public misgivings about using Kickstarter, if even a successful game and a company such as yours reneges on such basic promises. Not to mention that your position towards DRM-free releases reeks of the viewpoint of massive AAA publishers and creates more problems for the paying customer than for the pirates.
Is this in this way that you lose revenue, not the other way around.
@ Stoic
No, this is where you are wrong. Yes, at the beginning the KS Campaign was for E1 of the Banner Saga, but after seeing how well you were doing, you decided to throw a bone to everyone and say "Hey guys, if you pledge even more money (50$+), then we will provide you will all three episodes!"
After that point, the campaign was no longer about just "We'll decide on future episodes depending on how well the first one sells", but went straight to "You can buy everything right now at this low, low price of $50." Do you see the difference?
Furthermore, at no point did you say "Release of future episodes is not guaranteed under the same conditions as E1". Had you done so, we would have known that you had no intention of keeping your promises and would have adjusted our pledges accordingly.
FYI, other KS campaigns that did the same as you (for example: Elite Dangerous) at least had the common decency to refund their backers. I for one would be willing to accept the difference between what was received and what I pledged for.
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I call upon all GOGers that have pledged at the $50 level or above to check out the update and to voice their dismay/anger/blind rage in the comments section. All those GOGers who pledged at a lower level or just want to see E2 and 3 released here should contact them either via the comments section of the update, KS PM system or via email/social networks.
