How will patches work if I buy Rise of Prussia online?

[Philippe]

If I buy Rise of Prussia from one of the online providers, will I be able to use AGEOD's patches and interim patches when they come out, or will I have to wait for the company I bought the game through to provide their own version of the patch?

And of course, if I'm worried about patches, I'm also probably worried about mods. Will mods downloaded from links in the AGEOD forums work on a game downloaded from (fill in name here) online direct download merchant?

I'm not so much worried about DRM (though I'm not too fond of it and tend to avoid buying games that use it), but I am concerned that some companies that you buy online from lock you in, so that you are forced to buy future expansions and patches only through them.

Not such an issue when the game only costs you $10 or less, but it becomes a serious concern on a new release.

[And I will admit that I'm thinking of violating my own AGEOD/Paradox purchasing rule of never buying on the initial release because Old Fritz looks so good. And isn't it nice to have a wargame about Germany and not have to worry about the legal ramifications of using authentic symbols?]

[Rafiki]

I don't know which agreements have been made with download providers in general, so I imagine the answer will depend on which download provider you are having in mind.

However, if you purchase directly from AGEOD, you can rest assured that patches and mods will work properly. Furthermore, I'm 99% sure this applies if you purchase through GamersGate, and I'm quite sure it will apply for most other download providers too.

If I fail to address the concerns you have, please elaborate what they are

[PhilThib]

I confirm the comments from Rafiki. Until now, our games were available from various sites and the patches worked in 99.9% of the cases...

To be on the safe side, buy from AGEOD

[Rafiki]

To be on the safe side, buy from AGEOD

+1

[Achilles84]

Will a boxed version be released as well?

[Philippe]

The following is a direct quote from the general notes on patches from the Gamersgate website:

"To patch your game you will need a patch for a digital version of the game. A patch for a disc version will not work. We are trying to always have the latest patches availible in the My Games section but if you think there is a patch missing, please contact us about it and we will acquire it from the developers."

This seems to suggest that Gamersgate digital downloads do not work with interim patches from AGEOD and (possibly) mods. Not an issue if you have a product that only gets patched two or three times in its lifetime, but more complex games can end up with a dozen or more patches (not counting interims).

Having to worry about remembering where you got something three years after the fact is burdensome. Not an issue with most games that Gamersgate sells, because I suspect their longevity is limited. But from what I've seen of Rise of Prussia so far, it's got lots of moving pieces in its puzzle, which implies fertile ground for improvements, and it has the feel of a keeper.

What is AGEOD planning on charging for its direct downloads?

[And why are there Paradox box cover art credits in the manual if it hasn't yet been decided to produce a boxed version ?]

[Generalisimo]

It is always highly recommended to download the patch from the distributor that sold you your game.
So, if you bought the game on GamersGate, you should download it from there.
If you bought the game on Steam, you should download it from there.
And so on with the rest...

But, usually, if you download an official patch for a game that do not implement invasive DRM systems, they usually work.
I have commented many times that I use a lot Steam and in my experience, I have download patches from other places, a lot of mods, etc... and none of them gave me any type of problem.

But, like I said in the beggining, to avoid problems (you do not know when they will fail and require a new installation), it is highly recommended that you always download your patches from the same provider on where you bought your game.

[Jarkko]

I bought AACW from Gamersgate, and I have never had any problems with patches, betas or mods which I always have downloaded directly from these forums.

[arsan]

Don't think Gamersgate game have any compatibility problems.
And of course AGEOD games bought o Matrix are 100% compatible.
For what i've heard problems can happen with Steam games as they "repackage" the games with his DRM.