So, my understanding from the game page is that in order to play multiplayer, you will need an account with the developer. If I have to connect to a 3rd party in order to play a multiplayer game, isn't this essentially a form of DRM? I don't have a problem with using a key but requiring a connection to a 3rd party is a big problem.

Someone please tell me I'm misinformed, I've been looking forward to this game for a long time.

Depends on which multi-player. For the ones that do, yes.

Thanks for the link, that helps clear things up.

This is a shame because the without multiplayer this game will probably not be worth playing at all for me. To make it even more annoying, GOG pretends that they don't allow games with DRM while at the same times selling games like this where only a portion of the game is DRM free.

Thanks for the link indeed. Good thing I bought the game through GOG. I hate steam and if I had bought a physical copy, I would not have been disappointed due to Steam.

Whoopdeedoo. I don't care too much for the Steam client, but I wouldn't have any problem registering with Triumph for multilayer. I dislike invasive third party software, not giving Triumph their cut. There's nothing sinister about this. The only complaint I see is having to buy an extra copy for your little brother to play multiplayer - and I dbout the games will even remain at fifty all that long. This measure will eventually be circumvented in any case - if anyone cared to. For now, let them make their money. My head isn't so far up my ass that I'm going to apply GNU to people who need to pay the bills. AOW3 is never going to become Red Hat or WoW and pay the bill with subscription.

I have to bother upgrading my computer before I can play.

Oh I did not check the system requirements yet...

Edit: I checked it and on a few things I am below the recommended settings. Mainly cpu. Oh well I'm sure I can play it on high settings. Just not on max.

So maybe GOG should mention that their new stance on DRM is "whoopdeedoo". I think I'd prefer if I could still play if I don't have an internet connection, triumph's servers are experiencing downtime, or in the future when their servers are shutdown. I'd also rather not wait for someone to circumvent this requirement.

If the single-player was DRM-free, which it is, it's valid to be on GOG. For some games, e.g. the muti-player is tied to steamworks which the devs can't be bothered to rework, multi-player is removed as it's non-functional. In this case hotseat is also available and works DRM-free. Did you want GOG to break the online functionality for AoW3 which actually does work, but requires a Triumph account (which is specifically noted on the gamecard)? Sure, that's the most informative post I have seen about AoW3. This. Not to mention I don't want to register my games.

Well, my opinion is that GOG shouldn't agree to sell it unless the publisher/developer agrees to sell a product without DRM. It is true that they mention that the games requires an account on the game page, and I'm glad they are upfront about this, but this means I can no longer count on GOG to provide a DRM free experience and I need to investigate everything I buy. I can get the choice to buy or not buy DRM software at any number of sites, what sets GOG apart is their pledge to be DRM free.

If I'm not mistaken, it's not the first game on GOG which needs registration for online MP.
As long as the single player game is DRM free, I think it's pretty fair. And the hotseat is a good surprise (it's often neglected nowadays).

Define DRM. The definition varies from person to person. While this is certainly DRM to us, it's not technically for others.

Wouldn't you need to look into how multi-player functions for a given game anyway? Single-player always will be DRM-free.

It isn't.

I was a bit surprised myself. No PBEM yet. Looks like they need to rework their saves.

There isn't anything preventing you from coding your own multiplayer service for the game. But I don't very well see how you'd use a server without a username.