This presents quite an interesting opportunity.

With the way that people are pissing and moaning over this game elsewhere and its price tag right now, if this game sells well on GOG, and by ratio on par or better than other outlets, it sends a resounding message to all developers great and small that we will support DRM free games and companies that are not consumer hostile. That the value of companies treating their customers properly and allow them the opportunity to buy their products is something that we adamantly support because the value of buying a product over a license makes a high price tag much easier to swallow.

I will buy here. Perhaps not preorder, but likely it will be my birthday gift to myself come June, when as I understand it is expected to launch.


EDIT: Perhaps this being a high price tag item might be a good reason to possibly add a wallet system so we can "layaway" for big price tagged games and saving up for sale days.

..I may have spent more money on games over the years than I have on food. But over that time I have pre-ordered exactly 0 full-priced games. I've done that on principle, because I didn't want distribution chains to get anything to say about content in the games, and I didn't want promotion jingles to be more important than the actual content of the game.

This is fairly similar to if a newspaper organisation will focus on advertisement over journalistic content - the difference not being obviously apparent, since you're still providing "what the customer wants"(tm). But it's still as different as PC Gamer before and after they could write a positive Battlecruiser 3000AD review. They're still doing reviews, but now Derek Smart and Kieron Gillen are practically smiling and shaking hands on the frontpage, while a pyramid scheme that draws money away from the actual development of the game funds the advertisement/advertorial campaign. Even if the game then actually made money, the development wouldn't be spent money on.

And then all of that essentially happened anyway, and that's where the "AAA" industry is.

So I went ahead and pre-ordered this in spite of myself. I'm doing that for two reasons.

1. The game has been developed by Hello Games as a side-project, it's not promoted by a publisher. And Sony no doubt would want them to make another Joe Danger mobile game, and stop with the silliness that doesn't have a documented fanbase.

2. Sean Murray's eyes gloss over and it looks like he dies inside a little bit every time he's on IGN or if he's interviewed by a hype-train conductor. He couldn't go through even a short promo-interview without specifically pointing out that they had selected a planet on beforehand to make sure it wasn't extremely dull in the real-time preview - just so people wouldn't think there was no media-deception at all involved. Because there was, and Sean had to point it out. Etc. And doesn't seem to understand why the game doesn't sell itself when he starts talking about the tech, and just showing what the game plays like in practice.

You know, I agree, Sean. The game does sell itself when you started talking about math, and just showed how the game plays in practice.

I also do get drm-free games now, as far as that is technically possible while still being a Windows only title. It's become a thing with kickstarter and gog.com type titles. And that's been the er.. "sub-culture gaming community"'s demand from day one.

So when I get almost promotion bullshit free release, without drm, I feel should show some token appreciation for that - even if it's like celebrating that you're not getting beaten every day by the teacher when you show up at school, by giving a random different teacher your pocket money.

It shouldn't have been a problem in the first place, it's a bad excuse for spending money. But it's still a happy day when the beating stops. And I'm throwing some money to a company that deserves it because I can.

So that's why I'm pre-ordering a game for the first time with this game. It probably won't happen again. But it's my insignificant contribution to promoting a title that I want to see more of. And to a title that was promoted in a way I appreciate very much.

And because I know math, and gog.com knows math, this title is actually cheaper than a full priced game on Steam for 90% of the population on the planet. Which are those of us who do not live in the specific northern landmass which supposedly receives special favor by the omniscient invisible being that rules all, and so on.

Oh, yes, almost forgot: Fuck Jim Sterling.

It also tells them that we're willing to pay large amounts of money for something with a lot of initial hype, even if there's no word from the company about it's progress. That sends the message that they can leave the game unfinished, take the preorder money, and run. Because that's what it looks like No Man's Sky is going to be.

It's great to spend a lot of money on a really great game, but you can't just assume and hope it will be. If it was going along great, the developers would be bragging about all of their accomplishments, they wouldn't be all hush-hush like this. It's very fishy.

LOL I like your cogent and compelling reasons for preorder - and I don't even know who Jim Sterling is! Funny stuff ;)

quick set of videos about how this game works

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=no+man%27s+sky+how+it+works

All your posts here are probably well meaning and as informative as one get get when it comes to this foggy product, but are full of hype.
I can still only find (obviously paid) advertising and no beta gameplay or anything from someone actually playing it, at least not someone who is not a dev advertising his product.
I got that they love their game and love to explain how awesome it is but I'd just want to know how it actually plays in the end and why they chose this insulting regional pricing as well as no Linux support.

The whole issue with price of this game (i am definitely not the only one) - is the fact people *expect* it to be priced a bit more appropiately and fairly considering its by a relatively unknown dev (people still have beefs with way games by established studios Obsidian, Larian & Inxile are priced but at least they have a reasonable track record) - they seem to have 2 previous games!!.

I think it can be perfectly OK for a indie or niche game to be priced as high or even higher than a AAA title.

I define an AAA title to be one that was really expensive to produce/create. And therefore often require a big organization to make it possible.

Now to get the money back for a AAA title one have to sell a LOT of copies (compare with high ratings for TV-shows).
As a consequence the game is likely to be something that the majority of people can enjoy. But it also tend to be something rather average. Containing element that all have been seen before. It is sure to sell but tend to never become really COOL or exceptional.

A small title or a indie title can often better takes risks and thus can become far more interesting.
It can also be targeted for a smaller audience and/or containing quite new risky and Innovative ideas.
I think No Man's Sky is likely all that and deserve a full price.

Still I think that pre-ordering anything is a bad idea. (unless you regard the preorder as some kind of kickstarter help)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mf5Uj4XIT1Y

So much for "we use tracking to provide peeps of the internetz with appropriate adverts" lol

P.S. Giggity!

https://i.imgur.com/g8HN0WA.jpg

As I admitted here when someone refuted my statement to you, the passage in the FAQ that I'm going by is somewhat open to interpretation. If you're legitimately wondering about you and your wife playing the same copy at once on different machines, you should probably ask one of the GOG personnel.

If you can't find "real" people playing the game then you haven't been looking very hard. While Sean will be in many of the videos, there are certainly reviewers and journalists playing this game and writing about it. I'm at a loss for how you could not find any of those videos in the links I've provided... I guess a simple google or youtube is too difficult... alright... standby....

edit-- one post down... there's some info for you.

yes i too only find foggy information about their game, there is a chance that it gets heavily boring and repetitive due to "procedural". also "there will be offline gameplay" is not clear enough for me. this sounds like required to log in their server once a month or week for synchronisation and update.

Other's playing the game.... mix of videos and articles... this took me like 10 min of some very quick google searching so am I missing something on why many of you think that all there is out there are "paid reviews" or whatever???

-----
IGN First: 18min Gameplay from July 2015 (Sean plays first, then IGN journalists play)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLcjvIQJns0

IGN First: 5 Random Planets
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytPJWfrsU0g

IGN First: *unsure if same video above*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCyu_aHPrgM

IGN First: Hands on video at top, with other videos including the ones above as you scroll
http://www.ign.com/articles/2016/03/03/no-mans-sky-ps4-hands-on-the-real-game-begins-to-reveal-itself

-----
Eurogamer.net hands on
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTRb1E9s6pg

and their article...
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-03-03-no-mans-sky-questions-answered

-----
French review... I don't speak french FYI, not exactly certain what it says.
http://www.gamekult.com/actu/preview-no-mans-sky-ps4-A160203.html

-----
Reddit AMA
https://en.reddit.com/r/NoMansSkyTheGame/comments/48t4hp/ama_with_benjamin_kratsch_thedudelino/

Reddit quick links
https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/3ag59l/multiple_hands_on_impressions_with_no_mans_sky/

-----
Giant Bomb Review of their 30min game play preview
http://www.giantbomb.com/articles/thirty-minutes-with-no-mans-sky/1100-5407/

More Giant Bomb Info
http://www.giantbomb.com/no-mans-sky/3030-44656/

-----
PC Gamer hands on
http://www.pcgamer.com/no-mans-sky-hands-on/

More PC Gamer info
http://www.pcgamer.com/no-mans-sky/

-----
iDigitalTimes (what you should really expect)
http://www.idigitaltimes.com/no-mans-sky-gameplay-change-your-expectations-now-avoid-disappointment-499883

----
NowGamerTube Hands On
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOSs_bUCR0o

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Open World Games
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9w6AJxyD18

-----
The Verge 2015
http://www.theverge.com/2015/6/19/8809437/no-mans-sky-preview-e3-2015

-----
Playstation access
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGXDCV9HiZ4


Specifically about this.... they are holding many things back, it's an unreleased game. I'm not saying you should go out and pre-order it. I'm just trying to counter much of the cynicism many of you seem to have here.

This isn't a kickstarter game where you get monthly updates about the progress... this isn't a game with public alpha testing and beta testing. YES, there are play testers that are under NDA so they can't chat about the game they're playing.

Sean and Hello Games have said over and over what you'll generally be doing in this game (keeping in mind that YES, they are keeping some things secret still) so you can either believe the words of the indie developer or not. Simple as that.

I personally see no reason for 99% of people to pre-order the game... Even I only pre-orderd because I wanted the limited edtion PC edition. If not for that I would have waited too.

I'm certain nearly no one would b**** and moan about Nintendo not releasing a beta of the next Zelda game so how spoiled have we gotten that we expect a beta for every game so we can play and complain before any game actually releases. Believe it or not, many indie devs don't follow suit with Minecraft and Star Citizen... some still keep their games close until they're nearly ready for release.

...yeah... I think I'm a little tired and grumpy at the moment. My kinda filtered thoughts still stand though.

am I excited for the game.. yes... am I trying to "hype" the game, hell no. This very well could be one of the most boring games for you actions peeps to ever grace a PC. This game is about exploring a fully realized universe.. this game is not about blowing everything up with a 30 person party while you level up to go kick the latest boss's butt.

I have been following the game for a few years though and I am definitely trying to inform and answer questions to the best of my independent ability (note, I have not been paid by hello games or have I ever worked with anyone in the industry, ha)

Buy it or dont buy it. It looks interesting enough for $60 bucks. Why everyone seems to be making a big deal about price is a bit petty. I've seen sooo many AAA titles that charge that much and deliver nothing good.