Hi.

Methinks that most people who play the Baldur's Gate games will know of these new games. They will be created by inXile and Obsidian Entertainment. Both companies are "descendants" of Interplay / Black Isle. Both are mentioning the Infintiy Engine games as inspiration for these new titles. It seems that ToN and PE will be games that are much more akin to the Infinity Engine games than Dragon Age: Origins ever was.

I was excited about Dragon Age, but Bioware/EA ruined it for me with all of their DLC, and the constant problems with regard to authentication. In the end I gave up and never finished the game, though I did like it. I'll do a new playthrough some day; but I have sworn never to buy a game that has any DRM or authentication built in.

And there we have ToN and PE. They are both coming to GOG.com, if I can believe what I read on their respective sites. They are both funded through Kickstarter and Paypal. They seem to offer similar extra stuff such as novella's and the soundtrack.

I did not back these games through Kickstarter... but I could still both get them by backing them with a Paypal donation.

Now I have one question.

If I do *NOT* back these games, will they be available on GOG.com for normal sale, including the game, manual, soundtrack (as GOG.com mostly does), and the novella's, maybe as a seperate purchase, or will I be completely unable to get these games if I do not back them now?

If I can get them through GOG.com at any time I want (I'm mostly interested in the sound track and novella's as extra's; the other stuff is not so important for me), then there's no rush: I'll wait, and they'll be insta-buys as soon as GOG.com posts them.

However, if it's the latter and these are games that can be bought through backing them *now*, then I'll do so. I might just.... uh.... get a bit disappointed if I miss these. These are the first two games I'm getting really *really* excited about since a very, very long time, because they are being built on the legacy of the Infinity Engine games, at least in spirit and type of gameplay, including 2,5D isometric view. I want these, but I *only* want them through GOG.com

(The only reason for not buying Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition is because Beamdog did not release it through GOG.com and had to have a registration/authentication in there. You hear that, Beamdog?)

Games should be available here. Not sure about the novellas.

They have stated they will be coming to GOG, rejoice!

They are even listed on the wishlist as "In Progress"

Dragon Age's DLC is Hit and Miss:

Awakening Expansion is good expansion pack.

Warden's Keep is not the best, but the reward is a storage chest plus other things later on.

Stone Prisoner is to each its own, but I like Shale

Golems of Amgarrak is challeging to most players (except hardcore RPG guys that can play it on Nightmare mode :P)

Witch Hunt is good for anyone who romanced Morrigan.

Never played Leliana's Song.

Yup, they are mentioned as In Progress, and they will be coming to GOG.com.

However: can they be *BOUGHT* at GOG.com like any other game, or are they only available for people who fund them *NOW*, through Paypal (and of course, Kickstarter, but the Kickstarter part is already over) ?

For example, ToN will cost $25 to fund now, and you'll get the game and manual. For $35 you get the sound track and the 7 novella's if I understand correctly. (I haven't yet looked into PE.) Both are good prices. What will the prices be at GOG.com, and does anybody know if the sound track and novella's will be available?

I'd rather like to know, because if not, I think I'll be funding both games.

You will be able to buy them on GOG, and Steam, and probably other distribution sites. I think the price on GOG will be the same as the current price, though I have no idea about novellas and soundtracks. Those will depend on being able to have 2 different versions on GOG, which at this point isn't possible.
They may be added later on though, but by later I mean a few years later.

Hm; why wouldn't that be possible?

Because so far GOG doesn't charge you extra for goodies like soundtrack, artworks and posters. If they can include them in the base price, they do. But between having a game with everything at a higher price point, or having the game with less extras at the normal price, so far it's normal price. See Night of the Rabbit for the most recent example.

one of the main benefits of kick starter is you select the tier and benefits that go with that tier at a lower price than buying at launch. all the kick starter games I've seen finished sell at least 5 to 10 bucks more at launch anywhere with a 10% discount. the version which appears on gog seems to be base versions, no soundtrack generally speaking as they are usually included at higher tier.
that's my guess...this is based on ones I've backed and received (my kick started list has quite a few games backed)

Unfortunately I don't think you can still get the Project: Eternity extras as a late backer any more. I'm in the same situation as I missed out on its Kickstarter (I wasn't online much when it was on, somehow missed it completely), but as far as I can see there's only a $29 slacker backer option for just the base game now, with none of the extras being offered any more.

You can still back ToN, I'd say it's probably worth doing that if you want to ensure you get all that stuff.

I've a suspicion that's going to be the one big disadvantage of all these Kickstarters when they release. All of those nice attractive extras like soundtracks, digital art books etc will quite possibly have to remain as exclusives for their backers only, at least for a while. Otherwise I can imagine some would get miffed if the final game sells at regular price with all/ much of the extra stuff included that they had to pay higher tiers for. I could well be wrong (and I hope so) but I suspect we'll just get the base games, or not much more than that...

(I'm gutted that I missed War for the Overworld's Kickstarter, that's another one no longer offering its KS extras any more :()

To clarify further: there's only one version of a product (a game and its associated extras) for all users. If you own a game, you have access to everything. Thus, if a game is removed from sale on GOG (it happens, albeit rarely), you will still have access to the game from your account. But if a bonus item has to be removed from a game that keeps being sold (also happens), bam, no one can download that item anymore.

Be sure to download your bonuses.

Thanks for the clarifications.

While I would like to have the soundtracks and novella's, they're not essential. I have the prequel novella's for Dragon Age (as paper books), and while they were good reads, they aren't necessary at all to be able to fully understand or complete the game.

I expect it to be the same way with these two games.

While I understand that Kickstarter / PayPal fund may be cheaper now, I don't mind a price difference of $5 or $10 in 1.5-2 years, when those games come out, as I will surely need to upgrade my computer to be able to play them decently, as my current computer will be 6+ years old then.

It's just that I happen to not have $60-70 lying around right now to spend on some products I'll be seeing in 18 months at the very earliest.

I remember reading in one of the updates for one of those games, that the novellas would not be necessary to fully enjoy the game. I want to say it was for ToN, but I am sure both games that is the case.
Is there a game out that if you don't read some hard to get manual that it is impossible/not possible to finish?

In modern times (say, last fifteen years), I doubt it, but in the mid-90's and earlier they did exist, yes.

Er, wait, not "hard-to-get manual" (because it was included with the game), but a required manual nonetheless.