Seems pretty sensible for a complete masterpiece of a game with years of content and the best graphics to come. Its around $25 for the physical copy here doh. So not getting that would be ludicrous. Very fine display for CDPR.

Only game that'll live up to E3 awards/10

See, and it actually makes sense for a physical copy as stores do run out of those. It makes very little sense for a digital copy, which is limitless - you will get all of the things you have named even if you purchase the game after release, and you won't support a bad business practice.

^^ this.

Here a boxed copy is 71€ for consolle.

For Witcher 3 it is not that bad. On the preorder page they clearly state that the purpose is to support CD Projekt. The biggest effect is like voluntarily paying more. The exclusive bonus content is not exlusive on the game content, only things around it. Exclusive are only: a digital comic book, four songs of the soundtrack, six templates for paper toys as pdf, a digital artbook. (Neverwinter Nights can be bought also regularly.) But maybe even not that - maybe GOG will give all that to the regular version too.

So one can give at least credit to CDP that their pre-order is quite friendly on the exclusive game content front.

I hate exclusive content too and I don't pre-order but following your arguments one could say that pre-orders without exclusive content are actually okay. If you have too much money, you can do it.

I will buy Witcher 3 (or any other game) somewhen after release when it is a bit cheaper again. And all the pre-order exclusive content I might miss: f*** it.

Please. No one bribed anyone. And the extras GoG gives out for FREE, in other games, in other services, in other companies, they are CHARGED with money. Or one game has three different versions when on preorder, elsewhere, even worse.

The real "Bribe", if we assume there is one, at least for me, is the DRM-FREE thing. Nothing else. And/or the absense of third party programms, clients, logins... If the retail collector edition had all those features gog version had, i would get it, instead. Hell, i even preordered the collector, and cancelled it, because there wasn't a gog redeem plan.

Preorder generally, and mostly elsewhere, IS a bad practice. But here, under these circumstances, it was the only good deal i have ever seen. Discount for owning first 2 games, check. Free gift of Neverwinter Nights, check. Free store credit which bought me two cheap games, one of which an all time classic favorite of mine, check. Exclusive soundtrack parts, check. Comic book gift, check! Guys should be rewarded for not destroying this game with the regular "preorder practices" other companies employee. Imagine the witcher 3 having different preorder DLCs from different retailers, 3 or more different versions with slightly altered content between them, and generally content that could not be accessed by all! Here they took an evil practice and turned it not only into a good one, but into an EXEMPLARY of GOODNESS itself, one.

Yeah, that's what I'm talking about.

Yes, you do get free stuff for preordering - that's why I call it a bribe. All of the stuff you get is just a cheap stuff which should be included with a base game / collector's edition anyway - thus the cheap trinkets. And yea, you get free stuff for preordering from other retailers as well.

There's really no 'But's in this you know - the only one getting any sort of advantage with preorders is the publisher and the retailer, there's absolutely zero advantage for the consumer. That's why they have to keep giving people stuff for preordering. There's absolutely nothing good about the practice in and by itself, the fact that GOG can throw a lot of stuff to sweeten the deal on top of that hardly changes anything about it - if anything, it makes it worse in case none of that will be availible after preorder period expires, in which case, CD-Project is not exactly going to get any bonus points with me.

Look, I don't want you to surrender or anything of the sort - I want you to stop for a moment and think. If your thought process turns out in "Yeah, I'm cool with it" - then sure, it's demand which drives the market after all. You know, in spite of realizing that DRM free is bad, I am purchasing games on Steam and similar, based on a set personal beliefs that are most definitely not going to be shared around here. Nonetheless, people here on GOG made me think on the issue, and made me spend less money on Steam to discourage the practice.

So, my argument in this comes down to the fact that a lot of pre-order bonuses just can't be obtained in any way later down the line. Basically, the art book, the map, all the other stuff - that's all lost to everybody purchasing the game on and after release, and that just makes me extremely worried. I just think it's an incredible shame and I am upset that I won't get those extras - I'm just hoping that CDP: Red will come to their senses and eventually include them. But I'm doing so with the belief that, perhaps, Cyberpunk won't have such bonuses contained, and everybody who chooses to support CD-Project will get them regardless of when they get the game. And, of course, there's the bit where you don't get any actual, non-constructed advantage when preordering.

And yeah, obviously - supporting a preorder which doesn't go as far as to divide different versions would be a step in the right direction.

So, then, since you want Witcher 3, and you don't want to loose the preorder bonuses, why didn't you, and anybody else who hates the idea of loosing content down the line, preorder it, instead of complaining for preordering being a malpractice? Since it is not going to be mutilated into many different versions, but all will be the same? Especially since it is the same price as the normal release? And especially since it is a CDPR game with extra catering to the people who are going to play it, unlike other games and other services...? You are thinking of getting it from steam, yes or no...? :(

How can you so completely miss the point? It's not *about* the goodies. It's about the game you're ordering, and the fact that, till it's been released, you have no idea how good or bad the game will be. That's why preorders are considered bad. And the goodies are there to make us pull the trigger on the preorder despite us still being in the dark on the state of the game.

There's arguments for preordering, like wanting to support GOG, or having faith in them making a good game. But that doesn't invalidate the argument that preorders are blind purchases, and in certain ways are toxic to the gaming industry, leading to misleading preview video's, false advertising, p/review embargo's etc etc.

As for your side point, obviously it's still a better deal than for a game that offers less preorder 'bonuses'. That's not the point though. The point is that they're using goodies like carrots to make you do that blind purchase.

Well... Because the act of preordering is a malpractice all by itself, regardless of how much you're offered to sweeten the deal. There's no way around that. And because everybody else ever purchasing the game in the future will miss out on this content, if GOG actually means the '...Exclusive' part. I dislike both of these two parts of the issue, and I do tend to stick to my guns. The fact they're not dividing the game into different versions just means I find the practice slightly less terrible - it doesn't make it good.

It is the same price as release? I think it's 10% off for preorder, isn't it?

Nope. I'm purchasing games both off Steam and GOG, I have no reason to give Valve a 30% when I can give the money to GOG. I also plan to get the game full-price (ironically, supporting GOG a little bit more than if I got it with preorder bonuses. Go figure.)

So, an update on the pricing thing for me, the game is currently advertised on the front page at 10% off $40.49. However if I go to the game page the price is still displayed at 20% off $47.99. Yet again, when added to my cart the price is instead 20% off $35.99. So, it seems whatever GOG is using to display prices is a little messed up. Might have already been pointed out, apologies then, haven't really followed the topic closely when it switched into a pre-order pros and cons discussion.

It's a bug. I'm getting €49.79 (17%) on the current best-sellers list, $47.99 (20%) on the game's page and €43.79 (27%) on the checkout screen.