Age of Wonders 3 Deluxe Edition

Adding DRM is like saying "We don't trust you, we think you're a thief an pirate our game as soon as you get the chance". If someone says that to me I don't buy from them. I came to GOG to show that I'm willing to pay for the games I play - if there's no DRM. AOW seems to require online registration even for LAN play - and that's DRM. Registering online to play online would be ok, but if LAN play is offered it should not require an internet connection. I liked the old AOW games, so I gave 3 stars.

There is one thing to learn about multiplayer keys: If you don't have them, "any cheater can repeatedly join games". For any online multiplayer functionality this feature is essential and not only for keeping the load sane. We loved Age of Wonders. It was much better than the "well known Heroes series" and we loved it for depth, better gameplay options. And if we would still compare AoW 3 to the latest Heroes game it would be still good. But we can compare it to previous Age of Wonders games (preferably AoW 1), and to other games like "Endless Legend", or Sorcerer King, Fallen Enchantress, and Eador. And you know what? It doesn't make AoW 3 look any good. To protect multiplayer experience this way developers had to do one more thing as well: Keep online game modes tied to this match making service. But it means we would have to wait a lot for the other player(s) and as others will wait on us, we should sit non stop in front of the computer. It is much worse than playing at a slow pace as a Play By Email game. And when they have eliminated PBEM they forgot to add a replacement. Keeping a "multiplayer save in the cloud" and notifying the players in e-mail when it is their turn would keep most of the PBEM feel, and having some cloud storage would justify the online key. The problem with the online key lies in "longevity" of the game, as it questions what will happen in the future when maintaining the servers would be "unwanted burden". How will we play with friends if there is no unauthenticated multiplayer (LAN game) option? Our choice is limited to 3 options: To buy it here DRM free take this risk. To use a store that adds new multiplayer options to games when the official support dies. But if we choose the later, it would add DRM, unfair pricing, etc. and another client. And finally to avoid buying the game. When there are better games in the genre and older titles in the series are better, much better these options aren't that nice. Or are they?

Have they released a patch to get rid of online activation for LAN games? Or is it yet another game to die when dev's shut down their servers? GoG: This is really NOT a "No activation or online connection required to play.". Or is LAN play not considered "a play"?! Please do NOT mislead.

NOT DRM-free! Online connection required to access all game features.

I love the AOW series and like what they did with AOW3 with 2 major exeptions: - It has a DRM (-1 star). - AOW3 has no PBEM (play-by-email) support up until now and maybe will never have. The devs don't answer any questions concerning PBEM (-2 stars).