Let's at least get facts straight here, it's in no way a demo, it's the complete game without Steam Workshop (which, SURPRISE, is a Steam feature) and DLCs.

Also, let's be realistic for one second. Steam offers servers up to keep modding up at a meager cost to developers. It's not realistic to expect that such a small company would afford servers to keep all the community content for an indie game that will probably cost U$15-20. They're not EA or Activision.

I do agree that they could have offered DLC support for the DRM-free version. But expecting full community-driven content is kind of unrealistic when you consider all the advantages of using Steamworks.

Vote for it on the wishlist:

http://www.gog.com/wishlist/games/shadowrun_returns

Have have more money than they ever dreamed of getting so they *should* be able to implement everything people want. With cash to spare.

Why should they waste resources on getting servers up and keeping them when Steam does it for them at no costs? It would be much better if they used the money to improve the game.

Even big companies like Activision and Bethesda use Steam's servers for their games instead of hosting their own for fuck's sake.

Sorry, but that joke really didn't need a straight man response. I'm not hiring you into my comedy duo if you don't show any better material. As for the completeness of the game, I disagree.

Eh, this wouldn't be the first kickstarter project whose developer really underestimated the cost of producing and shipping physical goodies along with developing their game.

Speaking of user-made contents, how did the GOG version of Legend of Grimrock manage it? IIRC, the Steam version has Workshop support.

I thought it was a strange reason, considering most games just allow third party sites to host mods. Distributing DRM-free DLC could be done the same way they are letting people download the DRM-free version of the game. I thought that the paragraph I quoted and the link to RPS was enough to get the key concepts across.

When they made as much as they did (compared to what they expected), I think that excuse is pretty poor. That's why I didn't quote it.

Do they even NEEd servers to ALLOW the drm-free version to use mods though.

I mean isn't it logical, that the mods could simply be distributed amongst their fan networks/sites?

Just like how The Elder Scrolls has the Nexus, which Bethseda doesn't run nor own, that allows modders to make mods/host them and put them up.

The only thing they need to host is the official DLC, but since people would need to buy it, just use money from it for hosting?

Seems simple enough to me, no reason to cut out the modding/dlc ability.

It is a pretty poor excuse. If they really need a backend for distributing their DRM-free game, they could go through humblebundle.com, which offers the service just fine. Dungeon Defenders did just that with a release of their game with all DLC for one of the bundles, and humblebundle now supports custom shops and individual sales for indie developers. So the claim that they'd need to suffer all these server problems is crap.

And that's not even counting the fact that GOG HOSTS DRM-FREE GAMES AND NOW DLC!!!!!

As for mods and such, it's called the internet. The Terraria community gets along fine without the Terraria developers hosting mods for them (even despite the fact that they distribute through Steam without Workshop support)... and Shadowrun has an exponentially larger fanbase. If there's any group of fans that could get a cohesive homebrew mod network together, it's us. It feels almost disparaging to assume that we couldn't do it ourselves, and just give us the DRM-free game we want.

Is this fan made content steam DRMd or do they just use steam as first port of call so to speak & stuff could appear anywhere (ex. TES-Nexus; NVN-Vault)?

Well I'm still interested in the game, but I don't really like the fact that they won't do DRM-free DLC (especially given the fact that one of their stretch goals is apparently DLC instead of in the main game, although all backers get it).
That means the DRM-free version they promised back on their KS project will be inferior to the steam version which really isn't an acceptable solution.
Although tbh, I'd be very unlikely to buy DLC anyway, unless the game is really great, so it's just a matter of principle really.

As for mods, I really don't need support for those, I can find them on my own on fan sites and such, thank you very much. I've never used Steam Workshop even for those Steam exclusive games I use mods for (like Skyrim) so I fail to see why I would for Shadowrun.

To be honest, the worst aspect of it is that Harebrained promised a DRM-free version, and is doing the absolute bare minimum to meet this promise now. It's a bit of a stab in the back for backers who trusted the devs to do the right thing, and Harebrained seems to be doing this only to avert demands for refunds.

The excuses surrounding the inability to mod the game in the DRM-free version are utter bullshit. Games have been modded for 20 years and more without the aid of Workshop. The DRM-free version of Dungeon Defenders can be modded without Steam workshop. Hell, even Skyrim can be modded without Workshop.

In fact, I would imagine that the community will make up for this shortfall by releasing its own mod tools for the DRM-free version.

Workshop, like so many things about Steam, is a great thing as long as it remains optional. As soon as it stops being optional, it becomes a leash and a pain in the arse.

And as for the DLC...well, that's just petty. "Use Steam or don't get the DLC." How childish.

So glad I don't back Kickstarter projects with this kind of fiasco going on.

For some reason I read this and thought, "That can never happen on the internet, least of all the GOG forums." ;)

In all honesty you make good points and I agree. I understand their decision regarding the modding and user content. But for DLC or expansions it would be cool if they considered distributing them through a place like GOG. That could perhaps save them server costs and such, but I really don't know how it breaks down.

See the posts by Stiler and Decivre. Why would they have to host mods themselves? They should simply make it possible to mod the DRM free version without much trouble. I don't have a problem with Steam, but promising a DRM free game and then not making additional content available to the DRM free people sounds like a really shitty approach that will cost them a lot of goodwill. I find it very annoying when developers only offer incomplete versions on certain platforms (more annoying, in fact, than not offering the game on that platform at all).

But maybe they will provide clarification soon and say that fans will be able to host mods (and host official DLC themselves).