King's Bounty: Crossworlds GamersGate Pre-order

[Zhuangzi]

Originally Posted by Saiko Kila

I'd be interest in buying Crossworlds from Gamersgate, and I have both KBTL and KBAP from Steam. It would be very nice to know what dev guys think about it - and better don't ask Valve/Steam guys, because it's clear what would they say

From my experience Steam games usually are not compatible with other games, be it patches or DLC, but there ere exceptions. For instance, Steam version of Swords of the Star can be patched with at least one of the patches intended for another digital distribution (GG it was, I think). It can be quite important, because Steam is usually very late with patches.

I would suggest you buy the GOTY edition from Gamersgate (US $27). I've never had a single problem with this company.

[Nike-it]

Most versions of Crossworlds will check for AP on your PC during installation automatically or you'll be able to point the appropriate folder manually. In this case I do not see the problem in installing different versions on Steam one. But we do not know yet how the Steam installer will work and if it is compatible with other versions. Just let us check this question and will post the answer ASAP.

[joasoz]

I have preordered from GamersGate. I try to aviod Steam, but CIV V will be a stern test...

At Impulse I just bought a THQ bundle. For the price of one full game I got 17 games. That is pretty sweet. Among them was SupCom FA which I was gonna buy anyways.

[laurenman]

Only english version? im from Spain...

[rancor26]

Originally Posted by laurenman

Only english version? im from Spain...

Don't you study english there in spain? I'm from Finland so my native language isn't english but i have no problem about the game (like all games) not being finnish.

[Mivo]

Originally Posted by rancor26

Don't you study english there in spain? I'm from Finland so my native language isn't english but i have no problem about the game (like all games) not being finnish.

I think it's generally easier for folks from Scandinavia. My Finnish colleague told me that most movies, games and such aren't dubbed, so you pretty much grow up with English all around you. Here in Germany (and presumably it's similar for in Spain), everything is dubbed and localized. Sure, I learned English in school (in the 80s) for a few years, but that was just basic stuff and not really useful, particularly since I didn't have much interest in it (and no practical use for it). I "really" learned English only in my 20s when I started to work for American companies and picked up English speaking friends.

It's easier for teens today (ha, I start sounding like a geezer!) as English is a lot more present (mostly due to the internet), but even now most younger Germans aren't all that comfortable talking in English. Some of my German friends (same age group, some younger) understand English, but it's nearly impossible to make them speak it! That often drives me crazy, because I know they could, but just have some kind of mental block.

I can't imagine not playing games in their original language anymore (just like I watch American movies in their original version, and buy books from English writers in the language they were written in), but I really understand why many people prefer games, movies and books in their native language. It's quite natural. If I hadn't ended up in my field of work, I would be in the same boat.

I think that this is probably even more common in countries that don't embrace English and/or American culture as much.

[Saiko Kila]

Originally Posted by Zhuangzi

I would suggest you buy the GOTY edition from Gamersgate (US $27). I've never had a single problem with this company.

That would save me troubles for sure, but that would be also more expensive, and I've never bought from GG in the first place so am not sure about service (for comparison I've got almost 200 games in Steam and some experience with that). And it seems I'm not the only one interested in buying GG version to Steam base, I saw questions about that possibility on some other forum or blog

[Sneaksie]

Saiko Kila, why do you want to buy Crossworlds from another vendor if KBAP and most of your other games are on Steam? Just curious.

[Zhuangzi]

One thing I love about Gamersgate is that it charges me in US dollars, which is very cheap for us Australians currently due to a favourable exchange rate.

For comparison, I just paid $89 Australian for Starcraft 2, which would be like $80 US! And US $17 for Crossworlds.

[Saiko Kila]

Originally Posted by Sneaksie

Saiko Kila, why do you want to buy Crossworlds from another vendor if KBAP and most of your other games are on Steam? Just curious.

There are couple of things.

First, recently, I have more and more problems with Steam. It may be related to too many games attached (even if I have them divided amongst three accounts) but I'm not sure. I have no problems with internet connection with other programs, but Steam quite often cannot start my game. I know the "game is currently unavailable" info all too well, and similar ones. Interestingly, Steam has no problem with showing me their ads. And if you have to reinstall reinstall steam to repair it, even if you copied the games to backup them, the validation can, and would take ages, and you have to perform it for EVERY title separately, because there's no freaking Validate All option! And while some games validate in matter of seconds, other have to download some data, which totals to many gigabytes in my case.

Second, they are always late with not only releases but also patches and addons, and more often than not you cannot patch the game with retail patch, so you need to wait. In multiplayer it is quite important, because you cannot play with friends who have the newest version of any game.

Third, its hard to keep the game in proper version, assuming you don't want to patch it for some reason (as is the case with nerfing or "balancing" patches, or if you want to play with others having said version). I have no problems with D2D, because I nearly always have to patch my game on my own and when I reinstall it starts from the oldest version. On Steam it's the newest.

Fourth, and this may be most important for me - I have concluded that their 2010 UI update sucks, despite my previous liking. It's very sluggish, has no search bar (unlike years old Windows Games Explorer, well, any windows window for that matter), often resets some of the settings to default (after updates, most likely, which are too frequent to my liking) and generally looks and feels old. And we're still in 2010

Five, since they've changed their prices to EURO in all European countries, even not in Euroland, these prices suck. When I was living in the US and paid with dollars the prices were OK, now I often have to ask some guys from the US to buy me the game to be able to afford it (or do not feel like an overpaying idiot). It's not convenient.

Besides, I'd like to be able to pay to support some Swedish guys (Gamersgate), not Americans (Steam), because they are PC-centric, and I like PC-gaming.