Frankly guys, while I strongly agree that the issuing of keys should be automated and instant, the whole threat of "I'm never gonna shop here again" is both childish and extreme. GOG is a very small company (they only have 20 employees), not some large corporate entity with tons of cash and resources to throw into changing this situation. Look at it like this: you are not shopping at a Wal*Mart, you are shopping at a Mom and Pop's Grocery. You may be expecting too much of them at this point in the service's development.

Clarification: They do work Mondays, they just didn't work this particular Monday because of the All Saints Day holiday in Poland. Not their fault, its a legal holiday in Poland, everything was closed.

Except fire stations and the like, hopefully >.<

Though I do agree that it is a little brash to say you won't shop here again, this whole situation is created by *DRM* and GoG are supposed to sell DRM *free* games. If I lost my key and GoG went under, I'd be stuck with a half-functioning game.

That said, I will continue to shop here, but saying the games are DRM-free is evidently not true, at least in this case.

finally i received my cdkey about 4 hours ago.

Multiplayer server keys are not really DRM, they are mostly just a unique identifier the server needs to differentiate each client. I'm sure there are other ways the clients could be identified, but GOG can't change that, they don't control the servers.

As for the potential of losing a key, honestly I don't mean to be rude, but if you lose the key, its your fault, not GOG's. At this point, anyone who does any kind of PC gaming should already be used to the fact that you need to keep your keys safe. The fact that GOG sells their games DRM free doesn't change that.

And yeah, I'm pretty sure the essentials were still running in Poland yesterday (must... resist... temptation... to make... offensive... Polack joke!)

These keys are not for differentiating clients, you can use a UUID for that (Freelancer is an example). It is for DRM purposes *only* so each copy has purchased a key.. I don't need keys to differentiate between clients on the multi-player games I'm writing :P

Not rude at all, I know backups are important. My point is that buying this game, you still get the effects of DRM where one of the main selling points is "you don't have to worry about DRM anymore". The key *is* the DRM, it's part of the game you require which is outside of your control. Nothing stopping someone else generating your key either :P Once again, pirates have the better experience!

EDIT: The perfect example is all the people in this thread who haven't received their keys yet. DRM is preventing them enjoying the game online :P

Regardless of what purpose the keys actually serve for multiplayer only (I have a feeling we could debate that forever and both end up being wrong, depending on which game we are talking about) the fact is, GOG has absolutely no control over the multiplayer aspect of most, if not all of these games since that requirement is a server-side function, not a client-side one. They can't change the multiplayer key requirement, they can only change initial install/activation requirements these games used to have. I don't fault them for that (I would fault the original devs/publishers for setting up multiplayer in that fashion) and from my perspective, that still makes the games DRM free. The key is little more than an access password to me, which is certainly not DRM.

Neverwinter Nights Diamond, as far as I am aware :)

Um.. an access password is DRM, just like the password I use to log into my computer is DRM , it grants me digital rights depending on whether I put the right one in or not.

Changing the key is "activating" mutliplayer functionality. DRM free means you run the installer and then *play*. Not "Oh you have to go into this config file and change this line to a unique code which you may or may not have".

Stopping me from using part of a game that I have purchased because of some arbitrary code I have to type in is, quite simply, DRM.

DRM is usually understood to be something that "immediately" prevents you from playing the game. Whether that be a CD check, a CD key, an online registration, etc, it prevents you from playing the game "immediately" after install. As of now, GoG's DRM-free version of NWN allows you to play immediately in single-player mode, just not multiplayer. I would say it needs to be addressed on the NWN page here on GoG, that multiplayer needs to be activated first by sending in a request for a CD key.

Granted that may not be the actual definition of DRM, but more so the *understood* definition imho. Either way, yeah, I'm still waiting on mine as well :)

I thought it was quite clear that I was speaking in more general terms, but that's neither here nor there.

Calling the password you set on your own PC "DRM" stretches even the most liberal definition of DRM razor thin to the breaking point, but again that is neither here nor there.

The key point that seem to be skipping over is that GOG can do nothing... absolutely nothing, to change the way multiplayer is set up on any of the games they sell here, only the original devs/publishers can do that. Arguing over whether or not a key in this circumstance is DRM or a simple password is a waste of keystrokes. The only thing GOG can do is change the way they issue the keys from a cumbersome and time-delayed manual process to a simple and instant automated process. On that I think we can all agree.

Indeed, and it should be made very clear that purchasers are to expect this, lest the email with the key is lost/not delivered and the purchaser doesn't realise they are missing it. IN fact, it should be somewhere on your GoG really..

I install NWN Diamond and all I want to play is MP. But I can't, because I don't have a key. I have been stopped from playing *immediately* after I install it. Whether SP works or not is irrelevant, *I can't use my purchase without a third party saying it is okay*. Sounds like DRM to me.

By your logic, if the "online registration" happened after the first level, it isn't DRM, because it didn't stop you playing immediately after installing it :P

I bought fallout NV played it for a bit then paused it. now there is pause ring on the discand it has become unreadable. Is there any any way i can fix this wiout buying anew game? it's an xbox 360 game btw.

Um, okay. What does this have to do with anything being discussed here? This is a thread about CD keys for Neverwinter Nights on a PC gaming-specific forum. You couldn't be more off-topic right now if you tried.

I believe that is jayce75's point.

Still no key for me, this is very stupid. very unhappy customer.

So sad, i've been waiting since last week but still can't play online.