It's time for another hidden gem from the PC gaming history. This week we'll take a closer look at our fixed, re-released version of the real-time strategy Knights and Merchants.
The game was released by [url=http://www.gog.com/en/search/sort/publisher/TopWare%20Interactive]TopWare Interactive in 1998, a time when its genre's popularity was at its peak and a bajillion RTS games were released every week. Knights and Merchants was unique among its competitors, mostly because of its complex economic model, which required some thinking and a lot of micromanagement from the player. We asked the brave and wise Lord David Craddock to tell the tale of how he rallied his thralls, built a thriving settlement, amassed a vast army and vanquished the traitors who dared oppose his King. You can follow in his footsteps for only $4.99, as the game is $1.00 off until Sunday, November 15 at 11:59 p.m. EDT.

Yeah, we may go on and officially sign up to support the bill, but a lot of it is stuff we're already doing, as you mentioned. CD Projekt, in general, works within a lot of the same guidelines. It'll be interesting to see how this initiative is received; I've worked with Brad in the past (was the PR rep on Stardock's titles until I moved over to CDP) and we see eye-to-eye on a lot of matters. This bill, though, fits perfectly with what Stardock does, and some of it doesn't necessarily work within the constraints of a traditional developer-publisher relationship.

We the people of Good Old Games...

LOL. Somebody send this Bill to EA, or create another right, something like this:
- "Gamers shall have the right to uninstall/install games whenever they want."
XD

I think it's a very good initiative, But this need to be "enforced" somehow. Every other product lines need to stand up to some kind of QC standards. Games do not, currently.

Yeah I saw you post that article over at the Shack, Tom.
Pretty well written.

I just read your article, and I think it is very well written overall.
While I agree with the Bill of Rights and am all for them, it overall feels like somewhat of a publicity gimmick. They are great rules, and Stardock has done well with their games by adhering to those rules. Sins of a Solar Empire was released with no DRM, and for a while was within the top 10 best selling lists on a few sites. However, the rules will likely not be followed by a majority of companies.
I believe the real damage has already been done. Developers/Publishers are wary of customers due to pirates, and customers are wary of the devs/publishers because of the highly intrusive DRM that is now taking over games. When companies have started to limit how many times you can install a game, they went to far. I have heard countless stories of people who can no longer obtain new installation codes, and lost their game. I don't purchase these games, as I update my system often, and don't want to chance $40-50 getting thrown away.
What is also saddening is the amount of paranoia that now covers PC gaming due to piracy and DRM. If a company releases a very poor quality game or port from console, despite the hype, it likely won't receive many sales. Instead of accepting blame for a shoddy product, they immediately blame piracy and continue to develop only for console, where people buy practically anything.
A few good solutions come to mind though. First is the famous post by the Stardock developer, stating their business model.
Instead of trying to produce a game for the world to love, they focus on specific groups that they believe will buy their game. With the success of Sins, this business model seems to be working well for them.
Secondly is digital distribution ala Steam. You can install the game as many times as you want, any where you want, on any PC. The only hitch is you have to be online. However, when you can freely download and play a game any time you want with no limitations, how can you beat that? While I know Valve games have been pirated as well, it is far more difficult to enjoy them, especially online. Being online you get full patches and support, and online play.
Most importantly, it is a matter of gaining trust again between companies and consumers, although I believe that is still a long ways away (if it even happens). No matter what DRM you put on a game, it will still be broken. Consumers tend to suffer more from DRM than anybody, and it is extremely frustrating. Hopefully, between companies like Stardock and our newly loved GoG.com, the trust can be slowly rebuilt and the two sides learn to work together again. Sadly piracy won't go away, but hopefully anyone who calls themselves a real gamer will support the companies that try to work with them. I know I will.

^ What he said ¬¬
I think Spore is a example of DRM gone too far, 3 install activations and you have to jump through hoops? I used 2 by just installing one on my pc and my laptop :|.
Pirates cannot be stopped, the only way to make good sales is to make a good game. All games will be pirated regardless of what you try to do, and all DRM does is encourage piracy because the paying customer cannot play their game, while the friggen pirates can!
/end of rant
I get slightly emotional on this subject as you can probably tell :p
It's retarded how the people who buy the games get treated as the theif. ¬¬

I agree with the two above posters. DRM's are meant to potect publishers from theft, but in the end, they just hurt customers and do little to no harm to pirates. Nearly all games have modified installers, crack patches, and so on that circumvent all DRM protection meant to prevent it.
The few DRM's that don't get broken just get thrown away and labeled "crap" because of the difficulty in starting the game up and playing it. It's really sad because some of those "crap" games are really awesome, fun games but are too difficult to play because of DRM's.
Customer trust has already been shot to hell. The gaming industry isn't going to be very successful if all these publishers keep alienating their customers. With the growth of the gaming markets, developers just can't afford to push customer base over the edge with because of paranoia.
blah, that was an unexpected rant....

Wow, I didn't realise CD Projekt were involved with GOG. What a coincidence I pre-ordered The Witcher EE just this morning. As a good old (ancient) gamer I really appreciate the philosophy you guys have adopted towards repsonding to user feedback and respecting our (perceived) rights to DRM free software in the face of the piracy discussion.
I'm really impressed by GOG's professionalism so far - no hassle, fast downloads - though we'll see how that holds up once beta's over, nice support system. The low pricing is also very welcome.
So far, this is looking very good. I wish you all the best for the future and expect to be coming back regularly for a taste of vintage gaming. I hope The Witcher EE is turns out to be just as impressive ;>

I've still yet to buy Mass Effect PC and Spore PC b/c of their DRM and their current price.
I probably won't buy the upcoming Red Alert 3 from EA b/c of its planned Securom DRM until it gets cheap, as well.

Why do we need this as a right?
"Gamers shall have the right to demand that download managers and updaters not force themselves to run or be forced to load in order to play a game."
I would add NOT forced on users like Brad did with Impulse and Sins.
The only reason this Bill is there is because Stardock forces its users to install Impulse in order to do anything with your game in the way of updates, patches, etc.
I think GOG has it right.
No DRM
No DL Manager that "must" be installed.
No one telling you what you will or will not do in order to update your game.
I have uninstalled Sins because I refuse to DL a manager that is forced upon me all the while being told that it is a totally benign program.
Stardock could take a lesson from GOG and think of its customer first.
Here is hoping that GOG’s library of games grows quickly and sells well.

I think Impulse is nice; I got Galactic Civilizations 2 before I got Sins, and the method of patching Gal Civ 2 and getting a bunch of the documentation was made extremely easy by just loading up Impulse and grabbing the next patches. If I wanted Twilight of the Arnor, I could just get it over Impulse.
Sure, its forced on the user, but it's hardly anything other than benign. It's like most good utility programs should be: something you don't think about because it's seamless.
In fact, I just logged onto Impulse, switched to the My Games tab, and downloaded the latest Gal Civ 2 and Dark Avatar patches by hitting two buttons. Whiz, bam, done. I love it.