The games will be available on GOG, but some of the extras probably will not.

Regarding buying, the case usually is:

Fund the project early, pay significantly less than retail price.
Pay for the project before release (pre-order), pay less than retail price but more than the funding price.
Buy the game shortly after release date, pay retail price.
Buy the game on sale a few months after release, pay the least amount of money. (And the longer you wait, the less you'll pay.)

So it depends on how much you want the game and how much you're willing to pay, considering the risks.

From what i can tell the price range of the basic game for most kickstarters are around $10-$25 ish.
ie

Wasteland 2 $15
Grim Dawn $18
Project Eternity $20
Tides of Numenera $20
Dreamfall Chapters The Longest Journey $20 (early bird)/$25 - standard (i didnt back.. bit of a ripoff IMHO)
Strike Suit Zero $15 (early bird) /$20 standard

Many of the small dev games usually ask for around $10-15 at base tiers

DA:O is a true spiritual successor to BG & BG2 despite significant flaws. I backed PE, but I'm skeptical about it measuring up to DA:O and the IE games. (I backed Torment, too, but that's a bit different of a style of game). Here's hoping for the best... but in the meantime consider playing DA:O again if you can buy the Ultimate Edition at a good price.

Circumventing the DRM for the DLC for DA:O requires only a simple tweak of one game file.

Install from a legally-purchased Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate Edition disc. Open the file "addins.xml" (in Documents/Bioware/Dragon Age/Settings) and change "Requires Authorization=1" to "Requires Authorization=0" for each DLC. Be sure to save a copy of the file before making these changes in case a bad edit renders the file unusable. You may have to start/play the game once for "addins.xml" to be created.

The game does NOT require a Bioware account or Internet connection. It does perform a disc check when starting.

The version of DA:O on the Ultimate Edition disc is v1.04 unless your region differs from the U.S. release. The latest patch v1.05 can be downloaded at http://social.bioware.com/page/da-patches (no login required). It contains fixes pertaining to DLC authentication, the EA Download Manager version of the game, and a performance issue affecting some video cards. (It might not be necessary for your installation).

Also, there is an updated version of the Witch Hunt DLC that corrects dialogue to accurately reflect the choices made in the main game, but download from Bioware requires login to an account for which the DLC has been authorized/registered. Another player could provide you with this file if you are unable to obtain it yourself (PM).

The promo items available as preorder bonuses and exclusives at launch were finally released to all players at the end of last year, but download from Bioware requires login to an account. Another player could provide you with an archive containing all of the files if you are unable to obtain them yourself (PM). (These have been available between players for a long time before the official wide release.)

DA2 is terrible. Avoid it.

Thanks for the explanation.

I knew of the edit of addins.xml, but never tried it. I have the game since release date (and the expansion, and DLC), so I have a Bioware account. It was a bit of an experiment because none of my games required accounts or authorization to play. It was a bad experience, because it was often the case that DLC would not authenticate, preventing me from playing.

Changing the XML-file on the original game might have worked too, but then you'll STILL need to connect to the internet when installing the DLC. It's not available seperate. And who says that the DA:O servers will be up, when Dragon Age is 15 years old, like BG1, in 2024? Who says that some company such as GoG.com will be around to offer repurchaing the game for a low price?

Actually, there was another bad experience: Neverwinter Nights 2. It didn't require a connection for playing, but it did for updates, as they were not available as stand-alone installers. Still, the patchfiles are in the ING vault, but it's a hassle to sort and install them. Therefore I've re-purchased this game from GoG.com. (Actually, apart from a few titles that GoG.com does not have, I have re-purchased everything I had, and sold/given away the rest.)

That experience made me vow that I will *NEVER* buy a game again if it depends in *ANY* way on one company or another to run, be playable, or update.

This made me to hold off on backing P:E and ToN. They may be DRM-free, they may be on GoG.com, but if they get DLC that is ONLY downloadable and installable through the games interface, then I'll still not purchase them. Yes, I'm anal about that. The fact that I still re-play BG1, Caesar 3, and even SimCity 2K shows that I don't mind in any way if a game is 15 or even 20 years old. If I buy them now, I want to be able to play them in 20 years if I want to. (Provided I have a computer to run them on, or a virtual machine....)

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About buying a new edition:

I'd love it if GoG.com would release a full version of Dragon Age, but if an Ultimate CD + file edit will make the game seperate from any Bioware service (except for downloading patches of course as stand-alone installers), then I'd buy it.

I don't mind a CD-check. Having none (like GoG.com) is better, but ultimately, it's no problem. All of my very old games that require a CD actually need it to load data, as the computers of the time had too small a hard drive to install them fully. Now I just provide the "CD" as an ISO in DOSBox or a Virtual Machine.

The game costs 21.95 euro's in the Netherlands including shipping, but I can get it in the UK for 15 euro's including shipping. I think I'm going to get it there.

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EDIT: Ordered the Ultimate Edition for PC on eBay; it's sealed and brand-new, says the advertisment.

Pity that I never got to finish the game and expansion. I wonder if I can sell this game. I assume the purchaser will need to buy all DLC because that is tied to my Bioware account. At least I can use that account to download the latest version of the Witch Hunt DLC.

After it arrives, I'll install it, update Witch Hunt, and take a look at what promotional / Launch DLC I have. I actually forgot. I'll contact you after the game arrives and is installed, and send you a list of my official DLC. You can then compare and see if I'm missing any of the promotions. Thanks for the offer.

I'm now in the middle of a EasyTuTu BG1 run (just about to trash Tazok), I'm in the middle of an Icewind Dale 1 run (just entering Wyrm's Tooth), and I want to do a BG2 run after I finish BG1. Then I'll start DA:O again. (But I'll install it as it arrives, so you don't have to wait 5 years for my DLC list.) After thinking about it, I actually forgot almost everything; I estimate I was at around 60-70% or so.

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I know about Dragon Age 2. It gets quite bad reviews. I don't think I'll get it. I have Mass Effect 1 and 2 (as gifts), but I think I'll sell them; space RPG's are not for me.

Glad to help. :)

I purchased DA:O at release, too, and I agree: The DLC was a pain at first (especially so lacking a high-speed Internet connection at home). After some initial frustrations (it was an experiment for me, too), I learned how to perform an easy offline install using backups of the DLC and promo items. Ultimately I was okay with it because it seemed that they were attempting to discourage casual piracy but intentionally leaving a back door for players who want an offline, CD-check only experience. Not ideal, but workable.

I agree about patches and DLC requiring download and install via the game interface being problematic. Your preferences sound similar to mine, but I suppose that's not too much of a surprise given that we're both here on GOG. ;)

As you mentioned, patching NWN2 was a hassle... patches weren't cumulative iirc, just a mess of successive patches in an archive... I also repurchased it here. I've kept a few games on disc that are sentimental to me or collectible or not available on GOG, but I've gone more-or-less all digital now, too. Ironically, Steam's intrusion into the physical market (replacing disc checks with client-based DRM) was a significant factor bringing me here to GOG.

There's no need to register the Ultimate Edition to your Bioware account unless you plan to use Bioware Social Network features (and if you do plan to do so, you might not need to register the Ultimate Edition if you already have an account from a previous edition of the game). The DLC are included on the discs. Install from the discs, install the latest DA:O patch, install the patched version of Witch Hunt, install the promo pack, edit addins.xml, done. Complete offline install, no login required to play (and if desired you should be able to sell your copy later without issue). You've purchased the Ultimate Edition and can download the game patch, so you should only need the patched version of Witch Hunt and the promo pack (PM me or take a swim in TPB).

Cool. You'll be set to tackle PE after all that. I need to play those again myself. I started a DA:O run earlier this year but paused it after Ostagar close to leaving Lothering (just haven't been gaming much lately).

I've written two short guides for starting fun rogue and control mage builds if you need a boost getting back into DA:O. Nothing fancy, just a progression chart for stats and abilities and some notes. Not even full builds, just rough outlines that leave room for customization while taking some of the worry out of the earlier part of the game. PM if interested, no worries if not.

One last bit: The Ancient Elven Boots were not fixed to appear in the intended container in Lothering in the PC version of the game and are thus not obtainable by normal play. You'll want to grab one of the mod fixes for this issue if you want the boots. See http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Ancient_Elven_Boots.

Thanks again :) I'll look into the mod fix.

As my eyesight is poor, I already used a mod called "PTGUI" for Dragon Age: Origins, which scales the GUI proportianlly on higher resolutions. And of course, I installed EasyTuTu and related mods, so mod installation should not be a problem.

If I remember correctly, I have the Which Hunt DLC; I think I actually have everything, except maybe some promo items that you'd get only by pre-ordering. The only DLC I have doubts is Leliana's Song; I can't remember buying that. Wasn't that one of the last DLC's? If so, then I already quit playing DA:O at that point. It's in the Ultimate Edition though.

(The scene with Leliana singing was actually one of the very best ones in the game. It's one of my favourite game songs / music ever. There are some very good covers on YouTube too.)

With regard to GoG.com: I actually go around screaming "If it's not on GoG.com, I won't buy it !" and apart from DA:O, that has indeed been the case for years. The only reason for me to buy DA:O now (again), is because of the off-line possibility.

Oh, and I mus do a PS:T and IWD2 run also, somewhere. Too long ago that I finished them. I finished PS:T the first time in 2000 (while waiting for BG2), and the story was so good that it stuck for a LONG time. I think I've now forgotten sufficient enough details to play it again :)

Edit: And Tazok was not in the Bandit Camp. I probably should have joined the bandits for that. Damn, I wanted to see what Kivan had to say in the BG1NPC project. I'm not going to do that entire part all over again, because I'll also have to redo Peldvale, Larswood, and the two area's to the east. I just hope that Kinvan still has something to say when we meet Tazok at the end.