They did, and with Witcher 2 & 3 no less, iirc.

As a backer I've been given the short stick either way since the backer keys haven't been sent out yet.

backer key are on for about hour or less. I sent one to my friend and just preload stuff.

If I had to guess, I'd say it's for the same reason most devs don't do "beta channel" updates for their games outside of clients like Galaxy -- there might need to be several small updates in a relatively short amount of time (in this case, in the run-up to release day 0-hour), meaning that standalone installers would quickly become outdated and have to be redone (and the new installers re-tested)...possibly multiple times (which would also mean a non-Galaxy-using GOG customer would potentially need to "manually" re-download the files multiple times). As much as I dislike Steam-like game launchers, the automated delta updates that they make possible are the only way "preloading" makes sense from a developer/publisher/store perspective.

Of course, I'm also against pre-ordering digital goods, and just generally don't get the "I must play [game] on release day111" mindset, so I'm sure I'll get you-just-don't-understanded. =D

Just got mine, but there's no offline installer yet (and I'm not a Galaxy user). Luckily I'm the patient type :P.

Was unsure wether or not to get the game (first game is fun, but screw pre-order exclusive DLC), thanks for helping me decide in this case. Not going to buy if there's no offline installer for the pre-load.

Edit: Off the wishlist you go, maybe I'll get it once it's 75% off.

> First of all, watch our new launch trailer!
> https://youtu.be/rVmMe0GVvm0

You(Owlcat Games) giant lovers!

I wholeheartedly agree, but in this case there's not much in the pre-order exclusive anyway. Maybe the Owlcat pet, which I'd file under "bragging rights". In any case, I'm done with Kickstarters and pre-orders, they're just not worth it any more. I used to want to encourage indie devs, but lately it seems all I'm encouraging is them asking for more money with 100 DLCs.

Check the backer's portal.

I agree, that it's only something minor, but it sucks nonetheless. :P

I stopped backing projects as well, you often times see different dev teams implementing new features in their game, while the core features don't even work 100%. You just got to love it. :P

'I know that trading still doesn't work, but I had this cool idea, how about faction mechanics, huh? Wouldn't that be cool? I know it's a farming game, but hear me out. After joining faction A all of a sudden faction G1.5ca hates you guts and...'

Hmm, nice gesture :)

I´ll wait for the offline installers though.

I'd like to see some reviews before I buy. >_>

Nice!
Download started!
Cannot wait to play this on september 2 ^^

I'll be damned, it's not just me???

There it was indeed, waiting to be redeemed.

A bit confusing though, maybe another fellow backer could shed some light on this?

As per my original pledge (Ultimate Digital Bundle) I should be eligible for at least the Commander Edition, but on the redeem page it shows the Base/Core Edition instead?
I noticed that on the backer portal it says that the digital rewards & ingame items will be available on release day, so I guess you're going to get another key for an upgrade from Core to Commander Edition on September, the 2nd?