The GOG version and other first-impression-related issues

Hi, I’m considering picking up Grim Dawn, but I’ve run into some issues along the way.

Firstly, is there any trial or demo version available? It’s hard to judge a game based on reviews or trailers alone. Try-before-you-buy is a potent means of securing lasting fans instead of people who just end up with buyer’s remorse when they find something isn’t what they expected from the reviews. If there’s really nothing of that type yet I would highly recommend you make the first act or something like that available on a demo or free-to-play basis; take a look at Path of Exile for options and success in this regard.

Secondly, where does the GOG version stand in terms of support? It seems to be a bit of a bastard child, with no way to buy the higher tiers of investment. The expansion does at least seem available, but not bundled, and since you already have multiple buy-in tiers, have you considered making one available that would include all future expansions instead of just the first? Personally, I’m a strong believer in DRM-free as a principle, so I wouldn’t be buying the Steam version under any circumstances - it would have to be the GOG version. How practical would it be to buy a Patron or Loyalist variant of the GOG version, is there a way to get it that I’m not seeing over there?

Thirdly, I’ve heard this game crashes. A lot. Even more with things like the stash management tools available for it, which I’ve also heard are pretty requisite due to the sheer variety of loot one would want to keep. Can anyone confirm or deny this? Could I expect to run the game for 2-6 hour sessions with a specific, viable, well-maintained stash management tool, and only see a crash once every 20 sessions or less? Or is that unrealistic with the current patch? I’ve read there’s one that works like the old Atma for Diablo 2, letting you store infinite items in a single pseudo-stash, but does it work well in practice, without crashing, corrupting or losing anything?

Fourthly, how far in does one have to get for Crucible to become relevant? Does it include any content relevant to a, say, level 1-30 character, or should I wait to buy it until later if I don’t decide to go Loyalist?

Fifthly, have you considered aesthetic microtransactions as a means of additional funding? Considering the sort of people who tend to buy them anyways, I don’t think the fact that the game has DRM-free versions available would be that much of an obstacle - people buying them tend to buy them even if they could hack them in other ways, especially if the buy interface is convenient. It works well for Path of Exile, and I think it could provide a useful source of extra funding for GD as well. Things like fancy glows on equipment, wings, halos, auras, that sort of thing, ideally with an option whether or not other peoples’ are shown or not.

Sixthly, is the game currently dominated by any one or few builds? That’s a common problem in ARPGs, and I’d like to know what if any builds are dominant going into this so that I can have a good initial experience.

And finally, are the Steam and GOG versions 100% compatible in multiplayer, or would I be limiting myself to a subset of the playerbase by which version I get? Is the multiplayer smooth and easy-to-use at this point, even in Crucible? I assume there are party-wide auras like in Diablo 2 that can be a big help in multiplayer, right? Things that affect all allies in range, including other players and the minions of other players as well as one’s own minions? Large aura-based parties in Diablo 2 were one of the big fun points for me.

Oh, and the CAPTCHA was very annoying signing up. It would be nice to change that to something a little less aggressively obscured so that it’s more like normal CAPTCHAs. vBulletin is also very clunky compared to phpbb, so if you ever consider changing forums, I’d highly recommend ditching vb for phpbb.