I'm all for CD Projekt / GOG / Witcher, but I have to call BS with something they said.
The initial, pre-premiere retail PC batch of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt needs to download a file from our servers to allow play……
Since we have no DRM in the game, this is a security measure we needed to incorporate so the game doesn’t leak during the production process..
They can call it what they want "security *feature*", "security measure", "protection", "online features (*required)" etc, that is DRM on those versions. Period.
Remember DRM isn't about and doesn't prevent pirating, it's utterly useless at stopping piracy and arguably counter productive, DRM is about control, it's a control mechanism. DRM is not a specific bit of code, stamp or .dll, it's a mechanism, a way of doing things, an implementation.
Granted the method they've implemented is pretty considerate, in what amounts to the DRM being removed/disabled once you have the downloaded file with the benefit of not ever having some horrible software digging into your operating system, this is about as non obtrusive and customer friendly as DRM can get, but still.
Statements like this are what you expect from the likes of EA/Blizzard etc when they try justify online requirements while claiming it isn't DRM but instead features for your own good.
For me the issue isn't simply CD Projekt adding a form DRM/control mechanism to certain early versions, it's about them pulling out the spin-doctoring and insulting peoples intelligence.
..Witcher 3 needs to download a file from our servers to allow play. This file will either be downloaded automatically during installation process or you can choose to download it manually from a dedicated website. Since we have no DRM in the game…
Let that choice snippet sink in, this is not a patch, not an extra, not something optional. This is something to "allow" you to use the product when they decide to allow it, but it is not DRM or any kind of rights management or control mechanism. I will spare the sarcastic metaphors ultimately resulting in,,, a rose by any other name.
This is beyond disappointing, it's hypocritical and insulting coming from someone who has benefitted so much from constantly banging the anti-DRM drum.
If they had simply come out and said early retail versions of the game have a form DRM to prevent playing it before the release date (even if the DRM method is simply a small missing game file that the game checks for and requires). That would have been one thing, acceptable even as someone who never purchases anything with DRM (I understand the paradox with me saying that while pointing to the fact that this is DRM, but I am not extremist in my personal boycotts and wouldn't mind this form of DRM just as I don't mind the offline CDkey DRM).
Though adding the spin-doctoring to insult intelligence ontop of it is the kind of double speak I would not have expected from the CD Projekt / GOG family of companies and the reason for this tirade.
