Honest question. How much do you care?

Do you care a lot, as in it is more important than your own preferences sometimes? Do you care a little, thinking of them when purchasing but not really having it influencing your decisions? Do you not care at all, you just buy games when you feel like it and don't care how they got there?

I ask because there is a vibe going around on several of my forums today talking about buying The Witcher 2 from GOG to "support the developers." I have always tried to think of the developers so it makes me feel bad that I am buying the game elsewhere. That said, I'm the buyer, shouldn't my preferences and comfort come first? Is this a guilt trip or a real concern?

How much does supporting developers influence your purchase decisions?

Quite. I buy games on Devs webpages if possible, and ... Well, that's it, really, I don't everdo it :D Sometimes I buy games for full price because of support (witcher 1 and 2 are a fine example) - it seems stupid to me to restrict yourself if you don't feel like it, however. I mean, if you like having your colleciton on Steam, just buy Witcher on Steam, it's not like CDP doesn't have any money off that...

I care a lot when it comes to PC developers, it's huge these days that a developer develops for PC and ports to console afterwards instead, or in this case not. However I want a physical copy in my hand, and since this one even comes with games guide and map, which I value quite a lot in paper. I'll be getting one from retailer and I might get one from gog, to give to someone.

I'm normally only interested in supporting developers that produce games I like. Taking that into account, it's mostly self interest.

I pre-ordered the TW2 mostly because we don't get many RPGs and to encourage DRM-free releases. That CDP employees may or may not get to eat tonight never really crossed my mind.

Wow, that sounds horrible. :(

If I had a personal relationship with CDP, it might be different.

Most of the time, I get my games wherever I find the best price. If they really have a strong enough impact on me and their developers are still around somehow, I will look into sending some money their way sooner or later. Skystrider gave me the opportunity to do this for CDP, for example, and I'll be sure to donate to Petri Purho (of Crayon Physics fame) and buy some goodies from Tale of Tales (the lot behind The Path).

I think this pretty much boils down to personal choice. One single buyer's few dollars shouldn't have too much of an impact, but, if plenty of them take the plunge, sure, it might help some developers with their projects. I usually try to let them know - especially if they're less experienced or working alone - how I felt about their games, what I liked and what I think may use improvement, at least.

Not at all. Pretty much all of my purchasing decisions are guided by self-interest- that is to say, if someone is offering a product I'm interested in at a price I consider acceptable then I buy, otherwise I don't. Developers aren't running a charity with the games they make- even when it can be argued that there is seriously artistic drive behind a game, the developer is still also looking to make money off of their work. Likewise, I'm not running a charity either, and I'm always going to look to get the best value for my money. Of course, a lot of things factor into what I consider "value", and there's quite a bit of room for myself and people I'm purchasing from to find common ground so that we both feel we get a good deal, but this will ultimately be driven by both of us acting in our own self-interest.

I'll support indie developers quite a lot if I like what they're doing, but I rarely feel the same way about larger devs.

I like supporting GOG because of the no-DRM stuff, and because I like older games. So I've bought many games here that I wouldn't have done otherwise, just to help I guess (and they're cheap too, that definitely helps).

The aim would be for GOG to have all old games on here, with fair pricing and no DRM. If they can be successful with that, it shows all the publishers around the world what people want.

I believe a DRM-free future is viable and a better option than having DRM on games. So, I give my vote to GOG. For me, this is more important than having a physical copy. This is my personal preference, regardless of who develops the game. If I would believe in the opposite, I would also do the opposite.

In regards to supporting the developers, supporting a developer can only be done by buying the game, as far as I know. Buying it from some other place than GOG does not really make a difference in that regard. The developers gets the money in either case.

Your own preferences and believes should definitely come first, I think. If you don't mind me asking, what is it that makes you feel guilty?

I'll just borrow this.

A lot, but in the end it's self-interest as well - I want to see the adventure-game genre live a long, happy life, so I support the devs as much as I can.
A while ago I pre-ordered Gray Matter, and it's still waiting foiled up, unopened on the shelf, and I knew I probably wouldn't have had the time to play it. So I could've waited, and got the game for much cheaper, but since I could afford it at the time... it's more of an exception that the rule though (too bad I couldn't do the same about Gemini Rue, that boxed edition was mighty tempting).

I care quite a bit if it is a developer whose product I appreciate. For example, I enjoy both GOG and the first Witcher game, and I feel they are truly trying to support the PC platform whereas most devs don't give a damn. In that sense, I am doing my best to support them in return.

Other companies whose games I care less about, either due to poor quality or obvious lack of interest in the PC platform, will receive nothing from me. I will grab their games on sale, because honestly, I could care less.

So for me, it influences me quite a bit.

I care alot about supporting devs who make games in a way which I value. My gaming tastes aren't mainstream. So it seems to be in my self interest to support the game shops who make my kind of game.

Problem is, sometimes I expressly Do Not want to support a dev teams publisher. Such as the case with Firaxis (Civ franchise) being published by take-two/2k.

And sometimes the DRM method will deter me. Such as starforce protected games. And like the steam client being required for Civ5 and Fallout: New Vegas. ++

And sometimes the distribution method deters me. Like I was very interested in supporting Stardocks game studio. But they went and sold Impulse to gamestop. gamestoppers has a long record of defrauding customers and employees ++. So I don't want to support them. And their privacy policy sucks, and they are currently under litigation relating to the illegal handling of customer credit card info. Stardocks next game, Elemental: Fallen Enchantress (which I woulda gotten for free for buying E: War of Magic), will be a digital release only. I would have to use gamestoppers Impulse to get it. So I don't believe I will. Nor will I be able to get any of the hopefully game fixing updates for E:WOM. And if I finally bought GalCiv2, I'd have to use gamestoppers Impulse to get those game fixing updates. So despite wanting to support Stardock, I no longer will.


As the state of PC gaming deteriorates, I feel it becomes ever more critical to support those who do it well! But for now I stick to GOG games. As the sale of GOG games increase; hopefully devs and publishers will take note of the reasons for GOGs rise. I don't think it's just about the lack of DRM. I think it also has something to do with game quality.

"How much does supporting developers influence your purchase decisions?"

I only buy games that are good. If that helps the dev, then its okay. If it doesn't help them, then its okay again.

If a game sucks, I'm not buying it. Don't care who made it.

I believe in supporting them when possible. If they make good games - I buy them. I do not think I will be buying a Bioware game on release day for some time considering how disappointed I was with their DA2 release. Here is the list of Release Day purchases from Bioware (which I consider my support) since I could have waited and paid much less for them. I was never disappointed with any of them until DA2 which I still have yet to play past the Introduction.

Baldur's Gate
Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast
Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal
Neverwinter Nights
Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide
Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2003
Jade Empire
Dragon Age: Origins
Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening
Dragon Age II

As for Cd Projekt Red - I think they make great games (The Witcher and The Witcher 2) I have the Original and Enhanced Edition on Disk and as Digital. I must say that if The Witcher 2 was not being sold here I would not own the digital version unless I could get it directly from Cd Projekt. If they were US based it would be easier to buy physical games dirrectly from them but shipping makes it impossible.

Depends on how well I know the developer. If the developer likes to sit on a high horse, ehhhh chances are I'll wait till there's a sale before I buy his games. If said developer has corresponded with me before and replied my emails, I usually pre-order their games.