I have answers to all of these fresh from CDP RED, now, finally, and have triumphed in my efforts to persuade the Powers That Be to change their minds!

Please bear in mind that all of my answers only necessarily apply to GOG.com's version. I have exactly 0 idea what happens when you add SecureROM in the mix.

1. The serial key is associated with an account on thewitcher.com. However, the serial key is entered once and checked only when you connect to the servers to patch or otherwise download new DLC. If you don't connect to the server, it won't check for the serial code. If the servers have been destroyed by an attack of pudding, you will experience no side effects except, perhaps, the inability to patch the game at that precise instant. And maybe a fear of pudding.

2. The DLC is not associated with any account. It's associated with a promotional code and a serial number, but is only checked the once upon download and is not checked again.

3. There is no association with hardware, or software, or desktop wallpaper or any of that. You're entering a serial code when you connect from the launcher to the servers for a patch or for DLC is to make sure that we're not hosting patches on our high-speed CDN for pirates to download at our expense.

4. Currently, there are no such plans.

5. There are not currently any plans to release the patches as a standalone. BUT! We will, once the game has matured some and is not being updated frequently, make a new master build on GOG.com which will, of course, require no serial key or activation to install or play. How long will that be? I don't know.

There's been some talk in this thread about whether using the launcher to deliver patches is a form of DRM (well, maybe more than just "some"). Let's talk about what DRM is. It's defined my Merriam-Websiter as :"Any technology used to limit the use of software, music, movies, or other digital data." GOG.com's version doesn't limit your use in any way. Want to install your game on a dozen computers? Feel free. Have the burning urge to make six backup copies of the game and squirrel them around your house on removable media? Go right ahead. Want to install the patch on every computer in your school's computer lab? We aren't stopping you.

My understanding of things is that the files that are going to be used by the launcher to patch the game aren't executables. CD Projekt aren't offering them separate from the launcher because the average Joe wouldn't know what to do with them. CD Projekt requires a serial code in order to download the patch because, frankly, hosting patching files isn't cheap and they don't want the pirates to bogart all our bandwith. And yeah, I imagine that they want to make the pirates work a little harder for the patches than they may have otherwise. Once you've procured the files, though, they're yours to use as you'd like, just like the rest of the game.

It seems to me that the issue with patching is not an issue with DRM; rather, it's an issue with content delivery. GOG.com provides the game without DRM to everyone. Once we've given you that, it's out of our hands how the rest of the games' content is delivered.

Of course you're welcome to disagree with me on my views of whether this is DRM of some sort or not. You're even welcome to decide that the way that CD Projekt patches games is unpleasant to you and you'd rather not buy the game from us. GOG.com remains convinced that our offer for The Witcher 2 is the best one on the Internet, and we stand by our "100% DRM-Free" promise for this--and every other one--of the games that we sell.