OK I changed my stance from before where I said “you not a KS backer sorry man”.
The “late coming” DRM-free guys are our bros too and shouldn’t be screwed over like if they are a void of nothing.
So here is the situation:
The Humble store said you get a DRM-free version too from them when you bought from THEIR store too (IN addition to the Steam key even!!). Now at some point, it was mentioned somewhere in the mega-thread (don’t recall the ~ date it happened you can check), that they changed the website to say what it says now. But this does not apply to all you guys that bought it before (for sure obviously).
This means 2 things:
You have to attack Humble. Yes Humble got shafted a bit because the DRM-free sales they were made believe they would handle would go in their $$$ (and in Steams to not make it complicated = Steam & Humble are friends or even bros. I’m just saying it I’m not going to write Proof or provide Police evidence just go with this lol). Now DRM-free new sales goes to GoG $$$. So Humble HAS to refund you guys based on the above; then you go on GoG.cm and buy your GD DRM-free. YES it is not their fault at all > they have to get mad at Crate to get compensation or whatever but that’s not your thing.
Crate; being somewhat responsible for what Humble has to deal with now, should take measures (for the benefit of the gamers customers buyers clients fans) to make sure that an OK transition happens to the DRM-free bros that bought their GD direct from Humble BEFORE they decided that GoG is the way and BEFORE that Humble changed the offer on their public website store to reflect that they will not be the place offering the DRM-free download anymore (change of conditions after the guys bought).
Now I like medierra because I read posts he made where he explained how come TQ had a lame beginning even as he was designer etc. so he’s like a real guy that understands things and wants to do his own stuff and succeeds he’s fun does a bear on cam he’s smart very articulate etc. So I have no idea how come they lost track of the mess that was about to happen and that did occur and now they are in a spider web and can’t do much and this has kind of tainted Crate when it was absolutely not beneficial or required and could’ve been prevented. It’s like an internal sabotage what happened lol. However - YOU can’t let those guys (DRM-free buyers from Humble) in a mud puddle in the rain so you got to do something for them to “ease it” or some DRM-free guys might do something about it but they don’t want to. You have to diffuse this situation because yea it’s Humble’s legal “fault” but then they gotta go against you guys or such as you probably had an agreement with them hence why they advertised get DRM-free GD FROM US before!
Maybe not many direct Humble buyers are in the situation that they wanted a DRM-free GD. It’s not worth it ($$$) for you guys to not resolve this and let it scale higher and higher because you could fall in some deep complications. But you don’t do it for that. You do it for these fans that this shouldn’t have happened to them and that are right in what they claim > you do the “professional” thing & then this is behind and GD and Crate can envision further nice things Expansion and who knows what this great team can accomplish next.
ALSO EDIT: Just to make it sure no one tries to write an excuse since I did not address this :::
The guys that bought from humble only got a Steam key BECAUSE: A Humble DRM-free key did not exist and never did.
The Second key that buyers from the GD site might have had a slot for or a key for was just a temp “lol” key it wasn’t meaning or worth anything or worked with anything. So of course Humble did not issue a “troll” key for the DRM-free download from their website because it is not needed > your Humble account was your “key” for the Humble DRM-free those guys got.
I guess the real issue is that Crate went with GOG for the DRM Free version instead of hosting it on Humble. I have many titles that I have both a Steam key and a DRM Free Humble download, but since GOG is handling that with Grim Dawn you don’t get both like my other titles on Humble.
Believe me this is a MAJOR concern. I am still sitting here trying to decide if I should swap the key out or just face the fact that I have to buy it on GoG again to get a DRM free copy losing any in game backer rewards because I was impatient and wanted to actually play the game during the beta phase. Honestly I was really surprised Crate handled it this way. IMHO they should have just kept the beta keys as just that so they could have expired them all then issued new keys when they shipped like other kickstarters did that didn’t give both a steam and drm-free copy as a backer reward.
Most people will NOT have an issue swapping the key, just like most people don’t have CC issues with steam. Having an issue happen to you ONCE and having to deal with steam support will definitely sour your stance on steam. It happened to me ONCE and now I try my hardest to buy DRM-Free ONLY now. If you have an issue with them canceling a key for you believe me you will be without ALL your steam games till it gets sorted out. And with the usual wait time between messages to steam support being around 3 days, it takes a minimum of 2 weeks to do any thing. So if most of the games you play are on steam or have preorders coming in in the next 2-3 weeks you better not rock the steam account because trust me from personal experience steam support for anything account related is in the top 5 WORST customer experience you will ever have to deal with.
I am definitely disappointed that crate didn’t automate this. I mean I picked and it is literally listed on my kickstarter info page that I wanted the DRM-Free copy. I figured the DRM-Free key would just show up like the first beta key did. I really do regret now even playing the beta. If I knew I would have to do the canceling of an actual game in the steam account to get my drm-free version I would never have redeemed the key. I can’t stress this enough messing with your steam account by getting games canceled is a VERY BAD idea especially if you have > 800+ games on there. The chance you could lose access to every single one of them due to even human error accidentally clicking some check box wrong indicating fraud happened would automatically suspend your account. Then you will be playing the worst game ever made email pong with steam support where the ball travel time is 3 days.
agreed, not entirely sure why that switch happened or when.
There were some people rooting for GOG over Humble in the original DRM free thread, not sure if they were the cause or if this was happening in parallel.
The rough timeline is provided by medierra in the OP of Backer Rewards and DRM-Free Copy. It’s actually the 4th quote down in the update section where jiaco added medierra’s updates.
nah it was in parallel. In the start GabeN was like lolol GoG XD what a bunch of losers > however today he’s not laughing anymore as GoG is becoming a competitor and they are “attacking” and I’m happy for the any % market share they get out of Steam’s pockets lol.
GoG has grown A LOT > a thing that helped was that the #1 or such game of 2015 Witcher 3 AAA caliber was released day 1 on GoG No-DRM so this has made the GoG reputation more popular to “mainstream” and also kudos to the devs to release GOTY 2015 100% DRM-free > GoG is a venture owned by the makers of Witcher 3 btw.
Now Humble is not a publicity platform. It makes absolute sense (business) to get their DRM-free to be sold by GoG rather than Humble. (+Exposure+ also GoG supporter dev. “prestige” lol)
But they didn’t know about GoG in 2012 and in 2012 GoG was far from a force of any level in the industry. The problem is not that they went with GoG today. The problem is how they handled (still handle) the situation for the supporters / buyers of GD from before… see my previous post above for reference.
A friend of mine helped KickStart Grim Dawn in its early days and got an extra key, how do I use it? it does’t seem to be a Steam key and it look like this:
That’s exactly how I feel. After my account was held hostage by Valve over an issue with a single game, if there is even a remote chance of being locked out of my Steam account again, I am not going to take it.
I have resigned myself to not getting the DRM free version of Grim Dawn since I activated the early access Steam key, though I am very disappointed it is being handled this way.
The Loyalist Edition of Grim Dawn entitles you to the following:
Download the full game upon release, direct from us, DRM free or also via Steam and other distribution sites.
First Grim Dawn expansion when released.
Access to the alpha and beta once available
Digital download of Grim Dawn original music
Start the game in style with an exclusive swashbuckler's coat! (in-game item)
Enchanted Burrwitch Brew that never runs dry (in-game item). Far from granting an unfair advantage, this vile brew is certain to dull your combat abilities and may induce vomiting.
Massively stylish George Washington style powdered wig in-game accessory.
Will-O'-The-Wisp pet that acts as a light source in the dark.
High resolution digital game map suitable for use as a wallpaper or to print out for your wall.
"Crate Story" downloadable PDF that will give you insight into our epic struggle to found a new game studio and create Grim Dawn, from the final days of Iron Lore up to release day.
Please note: The “Grim Dawn Access Key” will be used for installation of the final game if it is not activated on Steam.
So were are my items and DRM-Free version? There are so many question i am lost…
I dont care what platform i need to download from i want my DRM Free copy and Ingame Items!
Best regards
Val.
P.S. Support Ticket is open on Humble Bundle with no answer till now…
I pirated the GOG version while I waited but I don’t want to have to wait longer and risk screwing up my Steam account so I’m just going to buy it on GOG.
Top bullet point on that old page clearly says option to download the drm free version is “coming soon” in the meantime use the steam key that is “INCLUDED” with your purchase.
“or also” was confusing enough but tear this sentence apart as well and it reads to me here that it’s rather cut and dry.
Honestly no biggie since steam as DRM as it is to some can still be played offline and without a internet connection with Grim Dawn loading and playing fine.
Personally I say thank god for that switch, that means I don´t have to deal with humble bundle ever again once I get them to release the gog key to me, their support is horrific…
Humble support is hard at work processing all the requests for GOG keys. I just got a reply from them and got my key!
On a sidenote: I originally purchased through the HB store, not the Grim Dawn website, but at that time, HB support confirmed that I would indeed get a DRM-free copy on release date… apparently HB support was as confused by this whole Grim Dawn DRM-free stuff as we all are/were. Because of that confusion, their current HB support ninja gifted me his own personal copy of GD (purchased on the GD website, WITH DRM-free key). Awesome support!
@medierra: if you want to do a good deed, you should gift that HB support person a copy of Grim Dawn, so he doesn’t lose his own copy because of this whole situation! (if you happen to actually agree with this, just pm me for his name)
I’m going to see if they can just give out GOG keys to anyone who requests them, regardless of where they got it. Back in the day, I decided not to offer a DRM-Free copy on Humble’s Storefront just to keep things simple, especially when the beta was only on Steam and also to help promote purchasing through our website. At this point, I think it may just be complicating things.
I’m not sure GOG will agree to do that officially going forward but I think it is fine as a one-time thing now for past customers.
I’ll give some keys to the Humble team as thanks too. While the release hasn’t gone smoothly for various reasons, they have gone above-and-beyond in terms of the amount of time and effort they put into it.
