I think hardcore pirates will distribute anything and some people will even download anything they can get their hands on for free, but the trick is to get the rest of the gamers on your side. They might just shrug if you tell them you downloaded a pirated copy of company X's new ripoff with draconic DRM, but tell them you pirate GOG games and you're no longer a cool guy. ;)

There also never was any DRM if you bought the GOG version. For the Steam version, probably the Steam DRM still applies (as for almost every other Steam game).

I bought Witcher 2 at launch (= preorder) on GOG just because I wanted to support it being DRM free. So yea, one sale they wouldn't have got with DRM.

Notice the part where I said it had a sticker on it? Ya, that generally means a physical purchase and not a digital distribution. :p Hence the DRM question. The physical product was actually cheaper than the DD product, so that's a no-brainer right there.

As for Steam? Don't have it, don't want it, will never have it.

I think a lot of it with the scene groups is actually cracking it and getting it out there for recognition by other groups.

It shows that DRM isnt doing anything worthwhile, even the always on Assassins Creed 2 on the PC for example got cracked and was fully working, took a bit longer for the scene to suss it out but they managed.

So going on that DRM is actually quite pointless, it just costs more time and money to implement it and it can cause issues for legitimate users. Hate to think what happens when they finally stop supporting a game with Securom. If you have bought it and the Securom DRM gets removed, granted they will release a patch to get shot of it, but how long will the patch servers actually stay live. Another few years you could install your purchased disc version of a game, servers that automatically patch out the DRM are gone so you are left with a nice looking coaster and a box.

Well, unfortunatelly, in business word never means until we change our minds / until we say otherwise

And CDP is not big enough to make that statement. If they wanted to distribute their game wordl-wide (in retail), they still would need help from Namco Bandai or Atari, for example. And they may force CDP to use DRM in their product.

Or maybe, they just say that every game they sold will be avaible DRM free somewhere (gog.com).
It's not a general rule. For example, DemiGod was released DRM free. And day one - multiplayer servers were overwhelmed by pirate gamers. Also, game sold rather bad.

There's no rule here. Except Pirates gonna pirate , no matter what you'd do.

As I've written before, it's the digital version that's available in local markets here for $1.50, and it includes the original gog installer complete with GOG logos. It was through following those logos that I found gog, and ended up buying dozens of games legally, including Witcher and Witcher 2 as soon as I found out they were regionally available and DRM free.

That is a pirate making a point.........

Not at all. The GOG version just has the best DRM.. it is uncrackable :)

Well this is a huge step in the right direction as far as DRM goes. I remember users complaining about securom and how many legit users it screwed over. The part of DRM that I do not like is when certain companies take and use the Microsoft aspect of things such as limited number of installs or activations. Another part is when they try to control what hardware and software you have installed. (ex Daemon tools and number of physical optical drives installed.) Securom is guilty of not allowing legit users to play any games that use it because of this.

At least they won't have to worry about DRM developpers that runs extortion rackets (if the rumors are right).

Awesome. I haven't ever played a CDProjekt game yet (plan to do so when I get a newer computer) but I like them. Mostly because they made GOG and don't like DRM. I also hear that they're one of the companies that treats their employees well, unlike some horror stories I've heard of other game developers.

Does that mean you can sell your retail copy in the future?

What really surprised me is that the pirates didn't use the GOG version, which was not protected. They took the SecuROM retail version, cracked it and said 'we cracked it' -- meanwhile there's a non-secure version with a simultaneous release. You'd think the GOG version would be the one floating around.

Guess the thrill of defeating the protection is what drives uploaders more than simply screwing the devs.

I bought TW2 on GOG, haven't played it yet, but I have the "original" version installed. What should I do to get "2.0": uninstall, redownload and install?

Open up the downloader program and install 2.0.

Or do it manually
http://www.techspot.com/downloads/5234-the-witcher-2-patch.html

If you want to waste several hours of the day, uninstall, download GOG 2.0 and install. But why do this if it's already installed?

11 GB clean vs less than 1GB to to go 2.0.

It's a competition among the sceners, each group competes with the other one for recognition, which entails more work for them to do, and more money to make.

These people don't crack games for free, there is a lot of money involved in piracy and groups like skidrow make plenty from thier work.

The reason as to why not many uploaders bothered with the gog verson is there was no glory to be sought from it. No fame from a game that's already crap free. This isn't sticking it to the dev, far from it. Like with most things in life, it's about the money.

Not only in the future but also now. So in a way it's more valuable than the GOG version. Also the price is lower. And the SecuRom was hacked. And you don't need to download it all, just the hack. Surprisingly I come to the conclusion that retail is superior to digital download....