Hi all,
I just got a new gaming rig built and I'm super excited. Haven't had a computer capable of playing new games for quite a while now. I did play the witcher 1 (but unfortunately never ended up finishing it, I was near the end but I forgot what happened), so this game is definitely one I want to get.

My issue is, I'm definitely not on the digital distribution bandwagon. I like physical copies of games and thats really all there is to it. I love XBLA/PSN games and would definitely purchase digital copies of smaller games like that from say steam or whatever. Plus I've bought quite a few games on here, but for a full size game I prefer a box.

So that being said, Is there any reason I should download it here instead of buying a boxed premium edition? Do I get a lot of extra content with the game here that I wouldnt get with the physical version? I see its for a pretty decent price on a popular website, and I just wanna know if Id be missing out on anything noteworthy if I pull the trigger on the retail version.

Thanks!

I can think of a few, but they may not matter much to you:

* No DRM on the GOG copy, versus the initial Internet activation when using the retail copy. If they re-release a retail copy without that requirement, I'll buy one of those in addition to my GOG copy.

* If you buy from here, a much larger percentage of your purchase goes to the developers. That's pretty big to me.

A downside from buying here is the lower fidelity audio that you get with the MP3s, whereas the retail edition has a CD soundtrack. I've asked GOG multiple times about a loss-less soundtrack, but they've ignored me (and others) so far.

DRM was removed with the patch, so I'd go for which ever is cheaper.

Like the OP, I also prefer having a physical copy of my games (not to mention the sweet little extras like the Temerian oren). I also have a bandwidth cap on my Internet account, so downloading huge games like TW2 (plus their patches) is not really feasible because it would just about kill my download limit for the month. For these reasons, I won't be using digital distribution methods anytime soon (outside of DLC).

While DRM was removed with the first patch some DRM drivers may remain from the original installation.
Basically you are installing DRM then removing it, but you might be removing DRM checks from the game and not DRM drivers from the system.

To answer OPs question, get it from GOG, support developers directly and never have DRM to begin with :)

Don't understand why anybody even remotely considers downloading games. You pay around 2-3x more money and have no physical game, manual etc
This game is £35 to download or i can buy it brand new from the supermarket for £20.
Its a no brainer for me.
All the talk is that soon everything will be download only and i have fingers crossed that it doesn't go that way as i couldn't afford to play games.

It wasn't removed from the retail installer, just the installed game itself. If that's all a person is worried about, then they'd be set.

I and a lot of users purchasing from this site are interested on whether you can install and run the game without an active internet connection. Unless I'm wrong (I'd like to be in this case), the retail disc requires an active internet connection to download missing content from the disc. Several reasons, one of which is price. There are constant sales and they've only gotten more common as the years have gone by. We went from seasonal, to monthly, weekly and even daily sales. I personally care a lot whether a game uses DRM, but some don't and at the low prices many of these sales have, people will buy them without a lot of hesitation.

Combined with the fact that many retail games are either using an activation based DRM like SecuROM or built with Steamworks integration, there isn't much point to retail releases anymore for me. That said, if there are examples where a retail copy will be cheaper than on Steam's site. I purchased a copy of Team Fortress 2 for $10 via Amazon back when it was regularly $20 on Steam.

Well, of-course it can't be removed from the DVD installer, that's not possible.

But to the end user, it's transparent and not an issue. Not the version my brother-in-law has, it downloads nothing.

You simply install the game, and patch it. Just about every gamer's PC has SecuROM drivers installed, and for the vast majority they are benign.

If it means saving $15-20, it's hardly an issue.

As much as I love CD Projekt and want to see as much money go to them as possible, you can't blame people for choosing the cheapest option if they're basically getting the same thing.

EDIT: The only DVD version I'd be wary of as far as copy protection is concerned is the Russain version, as that has the dreaded Starforce, which years ago destroyed my DVD drive by resetting the book type.

I go with the OP's instincts - I always prefer a hard copy in my possession. I'm a little old school and even with music prefer actual CDs to digital downloads - not only do I like feeling more in control of my product, but I also have a collector mentality (like in the games, I want to collect all rare and unique items, in real life I like to collect CDs, books, CRPGs, etc) and (yes, there's an "and") I also appreciate the artwork, packaging, and details that go into the physical product, too.

Quick edit: note I've never had problems with any titles I download digitally (I use Steam for a couple of titles) but I hate waiting for the long download for a clean reinstall. If I had a need to uninstall and reinstall off a disk: maybe 20 minutes, tops, for a major game. But the same process takes hours digitally.

On the other hand, I have purchased digital goty edition for Oblivion and for Witcher, a director's cut edition, that incorporate all add-ons, patches, and updates, which was convenient, and by the time I purchased them, affordable.

But my initial instinct is always to want a physical copy in my hand.

I'd agree with others who have said Retail.

You own the actual box with the game guide, bonus cd track, a map and the phychical disc as opposed to a company owning your game on their server (this applies to all digital retailers) when someone could just hack your account and boom all your games are belong to them.

Can you confirm that the installation was done without an active network connection? Iow, the network cable was pulled and it wasn't previously installed? SecuROM on the original Crysis DVD did that to my optical drive, so it's not benign either.

You have a point, but DRM-Free titles on GOG, Direct2Drive and DotEMU are all self-contained and can be backed up to offline media and installed whenever you want. The control is placed in your hands. If it goes off of their servers, you still have access to it.

I was also big on physical media, but again if they come with activation-based DRM, there isn't much long-term value in it if it requires some remote server to operate properly. On the other hand, for those who like to flip through physical user manuals and all of the extras that come with collector's editions, I can fully understand the desire to hold it in your hands.

Either is a good choice. The GOG version is digital but they do as much as they can to make it feel like you really own it as possible, as with all GOGs. The retail version has a lot of stuff though which would be great to have in physical form. Of course you can print out a lot of the digital stuff, though it wouldn't all be of the same high caliber as CD Projekt's stuff. I believe the GOG version has the art book which the premium physical edition doesn't. There may be other items.

Regarding digital distribution, I was also put off by it for a long time. Most box copies now are worthless, though, and hard to find, besides. Plus, digital can be very convenient in a lot of ways. I encourage you to keep an open mind. Once you pick up a few titles and get more familiar with it, you may grow to love it.

He doesn't have Internet at his house.

He downloaded the patches from my PC to his USB flash drive.

And as far as I know, he installed the game then patched it.

It depends on your sight's condition. For me the text is too small to play on my 42'' plasma (i sit about 4 meters away). But then again the game will be released on x360 and from what i heard both versions are practically the same so maybe i'm just blind.