Risen - Online Options

Oooh big thumbs up for the 'Character Screen' (page 14 of the manul) I like it

wait, TheMadZGamer, you got the game already!? Can you please tell us more about the manual? How many pages is it, and is it informative?

thanks

And yeah, I hate being tethered to the internet when it is not needed. I just really want to be able to turn off all the lights in the room and fire up my fave RPG and play for more than an hour w/o some annoying pop up notification shows up telling me something is happening (damn steam events...).

Being required to have internet connection means that I will have another thing to worry about. Internet services are usually much less reliable than electricity services, and it costs a lot more (and will cost even more in the future). I rather not have this extra layer of worry to cloud over me when I play games.

leth said:

wait, TheMadZGamer, you got the game already!? Can you please tell us more about the manual? How many pages is it, and is it informative?

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No I don't have the actual game. This very news thread (see the first post in this thread) provides a link where you can get the manual. It appears PB has released the game manual in advance of the actual game so we all can read it now. Enjoy.

OMG... I am blind...

leth said:

OMG… I am blind…

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Hehe... I missed it too the first time I saw the news posting. Almost seems like the news post should have first and foremost been about the manual, and second about the online availability and discounting.

Good manual overall. Caught a couple of mistakes. Perhaps if anyone from PB visits this site they we see this post.

Page 23, the explanations for 'Quickbar' and 'Life Energy & Mana' are the same. Second, there is a typo with the word 'faction' which has been typed as 'fraction' numerous times on page 32.

leth said:

While that is true, the problem (for me) of steam is that you are required to run the Steam client no matter what. And playing a game with Steam client in offline mode is a hassle.

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I don't understand how clicking one button is a hassle. If you boot a machine without an internet connection, steam will ask you if you want to go into offline mode. You just click the button. That's it.

leth said:

I tend to prefer to wait a bit for a game to show up on either Impulse or Gamersgate.

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I've never used these services before. Why do you prefer them over Steam?

leth said:

That is just me though, like I posted in another thread about digital download services. If you are into facebook, myspace and twitts every chance you get, you will prefer Steam over the other DD options.

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I can't stand facebook, myspace or twitter. But I love Steam. I don't really get why you would compare these things...

TheMadGamer said:

I don't think I'll ever like the idea of being tethered to the internet to run games or applications. Sadly, this is the direction things continuley seem to be going.

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You are never tethered to the internet on Steam. You only need internet access for online games (for obvious reasons).



If people want the boxed version because they like the whole material possessions thing, then that's fine. Each to their own. But please try not to spread misinformation about Digital Distribution.

TheMadGamer said:

The manual is pretty good so far. It seems like PB has really upped their 'polish' game. A lot of little deatails are well explained in the manual. A far cry difference from a lot of unexplained 'how to' deatils from their earlier games (like, ok I'm a bloodfly, how do I become myself again).

Have a good feeling this higher level of polish will be in the finished game as well. Typically, manuals that 'feel' rushed reflect a game that also 'feels' rushed.

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Read the manual carefully, I found one glaring mistake relating to goldsmithing and the hint boxes they included for noobs. Made me think maybe the manual was rushed hehe.

Reading the manual beforehand was quite a teaser, better than any vids or interviews

For people wanting a deal on a physical copy Gamestop has it for 40 USD.

http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=75270

Only tradeoff is it's an online-only deal, meaning you'll have to fork over cash to guarantee it arrives on release date, which pretty much cancels out the 10$ off

Chekote said:

I don't understand how clicking one button is a hassle. If you boot a machine without an internet connection, steam will ask you if you want to go into offline mode. You just click the button. That's it.

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And when that "asking" happens when you are playing a game? And your game crashes and you haven't saved yet?
Also, why is it okay to run an extra program in the background when it really isn't necessary? And here I thought most people back in the days didn't like AOL's "wrapper" programs.

I've never used these services before. Why do you prefer them over Steam?

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Impulse and Gamersgate:
- Don't need any client running in the background.
- No DRM unless the publishers forces it, so far only Anno 1404 has done that.
- (Impulse Only)You can resell your game legally (Impulse GOO). Just don't be amoral and register your game with GFWL if you think you will resell the game in the future.
- (Impulse Only)Much more responsive customer service, if you have a issue, you can reach support via the built-in IRC program from Impulse Client.
- (Impulse Only)You can refund games that are published by Stardock (maker of impulse)
- You can easily install your game where. Not where you happened to installed Steam at. I know you can use symoblic links in Vista to link the steam game folder to where you want, but I am sure everyone does that…
- You can install your back up on any PC w/o needing to install an extra client.

Now to be fair, there are a lot of things that Steam does better. Esp. if you like all the extra services that Steam offers (better selection of games, faster availability of games, better download speed in general, often have great deals). More on that later.

I can't stand facebook, myspace or twitter. But I love Steam. I don't really get why you would compare these things…

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- Because most of the appeal of Steam is that it provides a lot of extra community based services. Like a "gamer's version of myspace or facebook, etc."
I am merely mentioning it, because for people that love those kind of things Steam is definitely better. (But a word of warning, if you decide to join some Steam groups, there will be times when your gaming session will be interrupted via pop-ups of events for the group is happening. And last time I checked, this is one kind of popup that you can't disable w/o leaving the group completely.)

You are never tethered to the internet on Steam. You only need internet access for online games (for obvious reasons).

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Perhaps "tethered to the internet" is bit strong. But you are tethered to the Steam client.

If people want the boxed version because they like the whole material possessions thing, then that's fine. Each to their own. But please try not to spread misinformation about Digital Distribution.

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For someone who has a huge collection of games from all 3 digital services. And have been using them ever since the beginnings of every one of them. I don't believe I am spreading misinformation.

If you haven't tried any other services, how can you say that I am spreading misinformation about DD in general?

Edit: Don't get me wrong, I love steam. I love what it provides, and I wish it would integrate some of the features offered by Impulse and Gamersgate.

Btw, Impulse, or Stardock has been providing DD long before Steam. So no, they are not just copying from Steam and trying to provide a "watered down version" of Steam.

txa1265 said:

Where are you at? In the US the price is *identical* to retail.

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Europe, Sweden. They've decided to fu*k us europeans, unfortunately. But as long as we buy from Steam i guess they feel that that can continue to do so, hmm i really shouldnt support them :/

It's true, Steam usually has way worse prices than retail. Pretty much all new games are 50€, while they're usually 35-40€ from good, trustworthy Swedish Internet retailers and even less at Play.com.

For example, even with the 10% off Risen is 45€ at Steam while I pre-ordered it for 39€ from a Swedish site that delivers on launch day. At Play.com it's 32,5€.

Chekote said:

I don't understand how clicking one button is a hassle. If you boot a machine without an internet connection, steam will ask you if you want to go into offline mode. You just click the button. That's it.

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You mean they've got rid of the classic "You must be online to activate offline mode" error now? If so it's a sad day, that was one of the most amusing error dialogues in existence.

Play.com is only the UK version though. It's English only and it's unclear whether it includes the sound track.

True, but Risen isn't the only game with similar pricing differences between Steam, Internet retailers here and Play. Steam is simply too expensive to be a good option most of the time.

Melvil said:

Read the manual carefully, I found one glaring mistake relating to goldsmithing and the hint boxes they included for noobs. Made me think maybe the manual was rushed hehe.

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My comments are from the perspective of where PB has come from. Namely G1 and G2. Compared with those games, the informational content and details of gameplay mechanics is far superior.

Yes, I too found some mistakes in the manual. But Risen still looks to be a far more polished product than G1, G2, or G3 were. So we'll see if it's true when the game comes out.

Also, before we pick apart this version of the manual to death, it may not be the final version shipping with the game. Maybe the mistakes have arleady been caught and corrected for the final version. We'll see.

One thing I see in the manual that worries me - apparently people/locations that you need to find for quests are automatically marked on your map. I'm surprised and disappointed to see that kind of hand-holding in a PB game.

JDR13 said:

One thing I see in the manual that worries me - apparently people/locations that you need to find for quests are automatically marked on your map. I'm surprised and disappointed to see that kind of hand-holding in a PB game.

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Yea I was suprised to see that myself. I wonder if you can turn off that feature in the game options. The manual does state that these npc's show up only on 'region' maps so I guess you could choose to just not use region maps.

What is likely to be the best option for Australian gamers? It looks like the f*cks running this country aren't allowing it to be sold in retail stores. As far as I can see, Steam will allow me to get the game as an Australian. I've ordered games from game.co.ukbefore and the service has been pretty good, and I was saving money doing it that way because the Australian dollar was strong at the time, and it is again now, rejoice!

Maybe I should justm ake a thread on this specifically somewhere. Is there a Risen forum, or going to be?

Edit: It looks like I can get it from game.co.uk for 25 Pounds plus 5 Pounds for delivery. That is really good, it works out to $55. In fact, I think I will get all my games this way for now, because new games in Australia cost $80 - $100, which sucks. I reckon I'll put my order in

Done now let's just hope the dollar holds up until at least October 2nd!