Drakensang Comes to those that Wait

Patience gets the prize for those of us clinging to our guns and… er… boxed copies of games.

I found a retail boxed copy of Drakensang Complete Saga at Fry's Electronics in Oregon, USA for just $30 USD.

The link takes you to where you can buy it on Amazon… the link is really just so you can see the box cover art if you're interested.

I was dissapointed back in January of this year when Drakensang the River of Time was available only as a digital download. But happy days are here as now I have all things Drakensang (Drakensang Dark Eye, Drakensang River of Time, & Drakensang Phileasson's Secret (expansion to RoT)) on a single boxed copy on a PC DVD.

Time to celebrate and pass the word to the others that are nutty about owning things physically… I know… it's just crazy.

Does this release include anything besides the DVD? Manuals, maps, etc..?

Originally Posted by JDR13
Does this release include anything besides the DVD? Manuals, maps, etc..?

There are zero pieces of paper inside the DVD Case. In fact, when you pull the sleeve off of the DVD case all you see is black - like DVD cases you can buy at stores. So in that department its a bit dissapointing. Still, $30 for both games and a glorified DLC (expansion) is still worth it to me.

Besides, there was only 1 copy on the shelf at the store I sure as hell wasn't gonna pass it up! 'They' always get me with the, 'it's our last one' pitch… ugh.

I can't say I'm surprised. Late budget releases like this rarely include anything other than the disc. It makes me appreciate my original boxed copies of TDE and RoT.

Still a great deal at that price though.

Do English manuals even exist for RoT and Phileasson? I got all 3 from Gamersgate but only the first game had a PDF manual. Checked Steam and it's the same situation there too. Very odd.

Originally Posted by Motoki
Do English manuals even exist for RoT and Phileasson? I got all 3 from Gamersgate but only the first game had a PDF manual. Checked Steam and it's the same situation there too. Very odd.

It was just a few years ago when some of us were indignant that printed manuals were getting smaller. Fast forward to today and our prize is no manual at all!

Oh how I wish we could go back to the good old days when we still had small, printed, manuals.

Yes - there's even a thread about the manual in the River of Time forum. I think both JDR and myself had an issue with the interior dvd case binding slightly damaging the cover of the manual. Bit annoying, but the manual itself is very nice.

I still don't have a physical english copy of Phileasson's Secret, so this avenue just might be my only choice. We'll see. Thanks for the information, mad one.
Also, I think your desire for the physical object itself is perfectly rational.

You don't really need a manual for the later games. Because the changes there are not that great, imho.
A right-click on everything tells you everything you need to know. This is - in my opinion - one of the very best in-game help systems I've encountered yet.

Originally Posted by TheMadGamer
It was just a few years ago when some of us were indignant that printed manuals were getting smaller. Fast forward to today and our prize is no manual at all!

I expected this as soon as DVD packages appeared : The path of cost-reduction was clear layed (out).

Originally Posted by Pessimeister
Yes - there's even a thread about the manual in the River of Time forum. I think both JDR and myself had an issue with the interior dvd case binding slightly damaging the cover of the manual. Bit annoying, but the manual itself is very nice.

Here in the U.S. I never had an opportunity to by a physical copy of RoT and since the Drakensang Complete Saga package doesn't come with any manuals I'm stuck with PDF versions only. But happy that I have the game physically at least.

Originally Posted by Pessimeister
Thanks for the information, mad one.
Also, I think your desire for the physical object itself is perfectly rational.

You're welcome! And YES it is rational to want to own what you own in a physical format. /twitch.

IT MAKES ME MAD WHEN I CAN'T OWN THINGS PHYSICALLY

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer
I expected this as soon as DVD packages appeared : The path of cost-reduction was clear layed (out).

I did too. But I thought if I could scream loud and long enough on the subject, I could save manuals from going the way of the dinosaur. Sadly, this did not work.

The oversized boxes were never really needed. You would often get manuals that were so small that they could fit into a DVD-case anyway. And some companies have found different ways of including manuals without returning to the oversized boxes. Paradox for an example have used sleaves that holds manuals (the Europa univeralis manual is nearly 150 pages), others have used smaller boxes that still fits a decent sized manual (the Hearts of iron 1 box was as tall as a DVD case, but about 2½ times as thick, and included a good manual, while the X3 superbox contained a 300 page book and was as tall as a DVD case and just over 3 times as thick). Companies really don't have to skimp on manuals with the current smaller box format.. they just do it anyway.

Microsoft managed to use a single DVd box for the 4 CDs of Fable 1 …. The 4th CD wasn't put onto the spin; instad they just put it into the case in a paper sleeve.

They could have easily used the same box format like Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds has - but interestingly this was I think (IÄm not sure about it) the only game that used this special case/box …

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer
They could have easily used the same box format like Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds has - but interestingly this was I think (IÄm not sure about it) the only game that used this special case/box …

A small box, opens at the top, roughly the same height as a DVD-case, right? Those boxes are still in use. JoWood released their * Universe collections in those (where * was spellforce, the guild, gothic and I think painkiller). EA released Ultima Online: Age of shadows in one of those, Strategy first released Two Thrones in one as well (though the later two are old), and come to think of it, Metal Gear solid 2 and Shadow of destiny were released in similar boxes (PC versions of those, at least).

Just remembered this episode :

Several days ago I asked an employee I thik it was in an Gamestop shop for the "Platinum Edition" of Drakensang (contained all games + the add-on) …

I don't know why he did it, be he really *tried* to procounce the gme's name ith an (american) English accent … As if it had come from the U.S. or so … I was baffled. Then I told him that he could actually pronounce the name in German language, since it is a German product …

Did he try to pass a test in stupidity or what ?

I'm starting my first playthrough of Drakensang (the first one). I've never played this series before, I know nothing about the ruleset. Is it necessary to really study how the stats work in this game before creating a character? Or can I use common sense and be fairly certain my character will be able to complete the game?

Originally Posted by TheMadGamer
I'm starting my first playthrough of Drakensang (the first one). I've never played this series before, I know nothing about the ruleset. Is it necessary to really study how the stats work in this game before creating a character? Or can I use common sense and be fairly certain my character will be able to complete the game?

I can't answer your question about how necessary it is, but here's a great thread for beginners over at the dtp official forums. It pretty much covers all the basics of the TDE ruleset and combat.

http://forum.dtp-entertainment.com/v…p?f=62&t=12047

As a veteran and decidedly mad cRPG'er, I think you'll manage just fine without too much hassle.

I'd just take some time to acquaint yourself with the character and talent system. Fiddle around with a character or two and go with what you want to play. Most of the learning of the mechanics will occur as you play.

For me, it was just a case of browsing the manual and creating the type of character I wanted and testing it via the demo which was released for Drakensang (and is the first section of the game you'll be exploring)

If I were to make a generalisation - it might be argued that melee oriented characters have a slightly easier time than spell-casters. There are ten NPCs you'll have to choose from at different points through the game regardless, to customise your party.

Have fun!

Originally Posted by TheMadGamer
Is it necessary to really study how the stats work in this game before creating a character?

Do a right click on every item you want to learn about !

This is really helpful. Plus, check the threads in the Drakensang sub-forum !

Originally Posted by JDR13
I can't answer your question about how necessary it is, but here's a great thread for beginners over at the dtp official forums. It pretty much covers all the basics of the TDE ruleset and combat.

http://forum.dtp-entertainment.com/v…p?f=62&t=12047

Yes, and you can also look here : http://www.chromatrix.com/html/tde-games.html
There, use the menu on the left to browse through the topics.
This page is for the TDE browser games, but the rules set is the same.

Common sense is enough. Just remember to specialize and make sure every character, including mages, must be able to fight with a melee weapon.