*facepalm*

Yeah, I probably should have figured. That makes sense, it not being seen anywhere else and all. I guess that makes my question off-topic. Still, thank you!

Nothing to be ashamed of. It is rather well hidden. I only remembered where to find it because I use Barefoot Essentials, which allows one to access the forum settings by clicking on one's title.

The update notifications are still not working on the account section. It tells me there are 3 updates but when I go to the account section, there is nothing showed in the filters. What waste of time, still have to go through the "what was just updated" thread just to find out what has been updated.

I have refreshed my account multiple times but nothing is shown, I have to find everything manually. So disappointed that the same problems are still affecting the account section since the website was grey-afied so long ago. Before that, the account section worked for me perfectly.

EDIT: Okay, after 5 refreshes it is finally showing, argh!!!!

Yet another completely useless answer from you.

You seem to have just ignored the fact that we were talking about ease of use of the GOG Downloader.

(I had more to say, but I restrained myself.)

I've been trying out the changelogs now... Will the changelog issues be fixed?

As much as I hate this new account, and would prefer seeing the old boxes and manual sorting back, the changelogs are the one good thing that this new account has.

In theory.

Unfortunately it is completely useless as is.
I would assume that if something has been as important to trigger the update tag, the changelogs would be more easily available than clicking a couple of times to find a temporary (!) link which shows only one (!!) the most recent update, before it disappears (!!!) for good.

If I happen to have, let's say, an 18 months old copy of a game on my laptop, how is this partial once-only-visible changelog going to help, if I happen to view it on my desktop computer??


And how is it possible that the changelog view more or less freezes the browser view? It doesn't crash, or isn't really stuck, but clicking any links on the game card does absolutely nothing.
So if I want to download right after viewing the changelog, I have to close the popup dialog and then open it again.


But wait!!!
It still gets better!!
If there are more than one update tags with changelogs, and I want to see them all, after I open and view one changelog, the changelog of another game won't open, unless I refresh the account page on my browser.
That must be worth some usability award!


Seriously, was it really worth trying to fix something that wasn't (too badly) broken to begin with?
I honestly fail to see how this update is supposed to make my life easier, if it ...
- first clutters the shelf so that what appears as one game purchase ends up in 2-n games in the collection
- then messes up my manual arrangement with which I have been familiar for years
- complicates my downloading by adding new menus and unnecessary my collection pages
- and provides me changelogs with minimal information, which also make using my account with all refreshing and stuff needed the most complicated process that any online store has.


I still haven't tried those tags, and probably won't.
In the unlikely event that I would find a way that works, and go through tagging hundreds of games, there's probably some next "usability enhancement" coming sometime in the future, which would delete all my tags, just like my manual sorting got deleted.

Changelogs work fine here.

It shouldn't be hidden though. I would recommend that it's put in the "menu" and not hidden in the "More" dropdown.
Also adding full changelogs would be good, not just what has changed since the new system was introduced.

And maybe add GOG Download links in the menu also, as a lot of people complain that they are hidden in the "more" dropdown.

Menu should be able to fit "Galaxy, GOG Downloader, Changelog" just fine on nowdays displays.
To fix a possible lack of changelog button, just grey out the button when there is no changelog.

PS: Don't mix mobile with Desktop....

Please MAKE THE LIBRARY'S TEXT SELECTABLE AGAIN!
In the past I simply CTRL+A CTRL+C to get a full text list of the games in my library. That's no longer possible because the text is no longer selectable.
(It's bad enough that I have to click through several pages now.)

Also the usability for Downloading is getting worse. Downloading a game and it's extras with the Downloader in the past involved:
-Click on game
-Click on DL link for Installer
-Click on DL link for extras package
-Ocassionally click on an extra DL link for DLCs or a seperate patch
-Have a quick glance if ther's a serial key you need
-Click on next game and repeat

Now to do the same I have to:
-Click on game
-Click on More
-If the game is far enough down in the list (relative to what my browser window displays) : Scroll down just to be able to see the enty for GOG Downloader links, because it's off screen
--Click on More again because it autocloses on scrolling
--Click on GOG Downloader links
-Wait for new website to finish loading
-Search for and click on the relevant DL link for Installer (*)
-Search for and click on the relevant DL link for extras package (*)
-Search for and click on the relevant on extra DL links for DLCs or a seperate patch (*)
-Use the back function of the browser to get back to the list of games
-Wait for library website to finish loading
-Click on More again and look for the entry "Serial Keys"
--Click on Serial Keys
-Depending on where the game is located in the list (i.e. if the details paged opened above or below the games entry - again, this relative to what the browser window displays): Click on next game or press the "x" to close the details overlay and then click on the next game.

In short: That's a terrible user interface

As a side note, thanks for phasing out the Downloader. I just tried the Galaxy client for the first time and I already feel like uninstalling it.

Also, instead of having us rely on the "updated" filter (that I stopped trusting a long time ago, and that automatically removes the updated flag even if I don't want it to), add a sort option named "last modified". I don't care what's modified. Added a new file to download? Changed a typo on the details page? Change the modified timestamp and let us sort by it. By now that would be the best way to fix the problem. I'm assuming you don't manually edit HTML and put files in a directory when you update a game, so a modified date should be trivial to implement into your toolchain, if it doesn't exist already as part of change auditing.


(*)
Don't starve shows the Windows and Max OS DLC below "Don't Starve - Linux - DLC"
Games avialble in several languages and systems have lots of links you have to search through
Don't be surprised if the Downloader show you an error - e.g. Risk of Rain has no extras/goodies, but a Downloader link worth 0KB.
There's tons of empty categories (Game has no Linux version? The empty categories still get displayed)
And that's just what I noticed from the list of 13 games that are flagged as updated for me. I don't remeber seeing anything like that ever before this change.

I have but one request:

1) View all

I dislike having to scroll multiple pages and preferred having my library on one page. This could be simplied by having a view all.

Thanks

Yay, good stuff!

I'm gonna redeem myself a bit by sharing my opinions on this "new My Account". I'll put down my opinions on specific features in a later post, I don't want to bloat this one...

One of my top 3 visited websites is YouTube. I'm sure this is the same for millions upon millions of others. They offer a service we're happy to use and are happy to be there. Ever since the acquisition by Google, though, things have not always been smooth sailing there. Google likes to change things around at YouTube for no good reason. They mess with the format and appearance of the site to suit whatever they think is best without consulting the opinions of the public. Screen space gets wasted and themes change, often to the disapproval of the users. They also change how the site functions, making it more incorporated with their own services. There was a dark time where one was forced to pair a newly created YouTube account with a Google+ account! They even occasionally remove features from the site. Sure, they occasionally give us features that we really want (like 60FPS), but they often come far later than people initially wanted them. This, combined with the unwanted feature changes and even feature removals, all reads as if it wasn't really for the users to begin with. It's as if they only did things because it would improve their bottom line.

GOG.com team, you are turning into Google.

First with the new, dark site theme, then the unbundling, and now this. The theme change was as if someone is changed it for one's own pleasure, not thinking about those who actually use the site. I personally don't mind the unbundling, but it's clearly caught the ire of plenty others here. It may have even generated more buzz against it than in favor of it. This new update only furthers the comparison. There are good things from this update, don't get me wrong. However, the changes you have made are clearly against what so many of your users want if this thread and the preceding one are anything to go by. The unwarranted removals of some well-loved features is also something not being well received, and for good reason. If you guys bothered to actually our opinions on these kinds of changes, we'd be more fine with it. Instead, you just go about changing them because, "Hey! Galaxy is up! Gotta standardize everything now, screw whatever works best for the website!"

Listen to what we the users want when making changes. We're the ones who are most affected by them. We're the ones who access it, use its features, and - most important to you all - buy stuff from it. If you want the website to thrive as much as possible, make changes for us, not for you.

Feedback on Orders & Settings – Part I

NOTE: This will be a three part post, as it’s pretty lengthy and the forum software will most definitely choke (it’s misbehaving since yesterday).

Part II and Part III

I’ll start with the very basic observation - the “Orders History” as part of the Account Settings is a misplacement and makes navigating to the actual account settings, like “Account and Locale” and “Privacy” extremely inconvenient; there is no direct way to access the latter ones - choosing the “Orders & Settings” option in the drop-down menu of the Account tab in the nav-bar opens the “Orders History” page as it’s placed right at the top of the available "settings' list.

The “Orders History” is completely unrelated to account settings, and, imo, should be a separate tab just like “Games”, “Chat”, etc., placed next to “Settings”, and the option “Settings” should work the way it did before, and open the “Account and Locale” page.

On a side note – checking the new Account system reminded me of something that always puzzled me. The Account tab on the nav-bar takes one to their Game Collection page, when I’d expect it to open a page related to the account itself, like settings.


Orders History

1. We are now given detailed order info in our account. Except that it does not work that well, and is inaccurate in some cases:
1.1. Orders that one intended as gifts but forgot to tick the gift box at checkout and were changed into gift codes by a GOG staffer, are not listed in one’s “Orders History”.

1.2. A gift-order for multiple items that was split into two or more gift codes (let’s say GC1 and GC2) by a GOG staffer, have the following issues:
1.2.1 If GC1 was intended and redeemed to one’s own account, they now show as gifted by the GOG staffer that handled the split, and have no receipt to view; the order number listed is different than the one of the actual purchase and clicking on "View Receipt" redirects to the front page.
1.2.2 If GC2 was gifted to another user, it is handled the same way as case 1.1, and is not listed in one’s “Orders History”.


2. The receipt pages have no option to save/ print them. So, if one discarded or lost their email receipts, they can’t replace them now, if needed, in any other way than a screenshot or print screen.
But at least the buttons for all the social platforms are neatly displayed at the bottom.


3. There is no replacement to the “This is your redeemed gift summary (order number)” emails we used to receive before the site revamp. Gifted codes list the order number of the actual purchase, and are, understandably, not viewable to giftees.

The chronological order is determined by the date of the actual purchase, just like in the “My Collection” portion of the account. As I’ve said before, this piece of info may be convenient for GOG, but is secondary in the case of gifted titles where the date a title was added to one’s account makes the most sense. Yet, we don’t get this since the site revamp and the discard of the emails.

I still think that the emails for redeeming a gift code should return, as they were the only piece of info we had about when a gifted title was actually added to our account, something far more useful from the user's POV than knowing when the gifter made the purchase. At the very least, this piece of info should be added to our “Orders History”.

So, while the “Orders History” is a step forward and useful, it’s not an adequate replacement to the email receipts, and I wouldn’t be so quick to discard them.


4. I've said this before, but it bears repeating: the gift codes one purchases for the purpose of gifting to others should not be lumped in with what is basically accounting info and data.
One might argue that there are filters to check gifts, redeemed and unredeemed – true, and I will get to that, but the way I see it is this: the “Orders History’ serves (or should serve) accounting/ spending purposes, it’s the equivalent to keeping one’s receipts in one place; does anyone keep the actual gifts they purchase to give away in the same place they keep their receipts? I’d think not, so why lump them together in this case? It simply makes no sense except for making GOG’s life simpler, and it most certainly did not improve my user experience.
The Gift tab we had was a very useful feature. True it had limitations and could use a number of improvements in terms of sorting/ managing, but it was a clearly designated area that served a specific purpose. Changes should introduce improvements, not create a cluttered mess that makes managing things difficult and complicated for no good reason.


5, There are no options to sort/ order and manage the content of the page. Again, sensible sorting and managing was sacrificed in favour of filtering and searching, which, allow me to say, do a poor job (I will get to that a bit later). Everything, from purchases completed to pending, to gifts received and given, and unredeemed gift codes, is lumped together and listed in chronological order (newest to oldest) with no way to even change that. I say it again – no sorting options whatsoever. Because who would want to order purchases to their account separately from gifts they received, and from gifts they made, when they can use the filters to temporarily separate them (not really), only to have them all lumped together in a big cluttered mess again the next time they visit their Orders History? Right?


6. The pagination on the "Orders History" suffers from the same issues it does in the "Games Collection". So, if one needs/ wants to check an early order they have to scroll all the way down, type the page number they estimate it's on, and if they’re lucky they'll land on the correct page (not that easy as the number of orders per page varies based on the number of titles in each order), if not, one has to repeat the above steps.
One may argue "but that is what the filters are there for" - well, some of us have enough content under each filter category, so orders history spill over multiple pages and the above can't be avoided anyway. Plus, filtering does not lead to any permanent order.
I will repeat the two requests about this:
6.1 Put the indicators at the top of the pages.
6.3 Introduce a drop-down menu to jump to a specific page (the ability to type in the page-number box is not immediately evident), or list the number of pages the way there’re listed on the forum.


EDIT: A number of titles in my "Order History" don't have any art showing; these are games I redeemed as a backer (Divinity: Original Sin - Kickstarter, for example), and games that were once sold as one and were later split, like
Edna & Harvey: The Breakout + Harvey's New Eyes.

To be continued in Feedback on Orders & Settings – Part II and Part III

Hire this guy, GOG.

Feedback on Orders & Settings – Part II

Part I, and Part III


Orders History

7. Filters

7.1 Pending Orders
I don’t have any, so don’t know how this works, what info is displayed, and what exact purpose it serves. I assume it’s about purchases that have or seem to have failed at some point of the process and need to be sorted out, like when a customer was charged according to their records, but GOG has not yet acknowledged the purchase.

7.2 Completed Orders
Shows only purchases that directly added games to one’s account - games added with the use of promo codes (for example from bundles), with “backers” codes, even GOG freebies, are listed here. But not orders that were purchased as gift codes. Emm… excuse me, aren’t purchased gift codes completed orders? My credit card records attest that they most certainly are. And the email receipts GOG sends out also clearly label them as “my order(s)”.
But let’s say for a moment that this makes sense (it doesn’t) – where can I see and check my gift orders, you know, the ones I was charged for? Where? Selecting the two “Gits” filters you say? Hmm… no. Why you ask? Let me tell you.

7.3 Redeemed and Unredeemed Gifts
The “Unredeemed Gifts” filter does what it says for the most part (see 7,4) – it lists all the gifts, GOG freebies included, that have yet to be added to an account. But the “Redeemed Gifts” one… oh boy... it lists all redeemed gift codes, regardless of who redeemed them, and regardless of who purchased them (see attached screenshot GOG_Redeemed-Gifts_15-05-15.png), all nicely lumped together in chronological order from newest to oldest, with no way to reorganise them.

So, I’ll ask again – why do my gift orders not show up in the “Completed Orders” filter and where can I see them in a clear, organised way that makes sense?
The answer is – currently, nowhere. I say currently, in hope that it’s an oversight that will be addressed.

7.4 Refunded Orders and Unredeemed Gifts
I said that the “Unredeemed Gifts” filter does what it says for the most part. Just look at screenshot GOG_Unredeemed-Gifts_15-05-15.png; notice something out of place? Yep, refunded gift orders show in here. Which makes absolutely no sense – a refunded gift order cannot ever be redeemed, period; why list it along with the rest of unredeemed gift codes?
Now, let’s take a look at screenshot GOG_Refunded-Orders_15-05-15.png… What? No results? But I can clearly see a refunded gift order when using the “Unredeemed Gifts” filter. Could it be that the “Refunded Orders” filter works like the “Completed Orders” one? I can’t say, as I had a regular order refunded back in May 2014, which also doesn’t show up; it actually doesn’t show up anywhere in my Orders History.


8. Searching
It’s not clear what all the eligible terms to run a search are. One can search by game title, even by order number, not sure what else works. But, one cannot do a search by terms that, imo, would make more sense to actually want to; these include:
- date.
- gift code
- gifter
- giftee
- gift (as in “Free Gift”)
All of these terms return “No Results”.

Further more, the search results are unreliable, and quite puzzling; see attached screenshot GOG_O-H_Search_15-05-15.png – why Ether One: Deluxe Edition shows up under a search for “blood’ is beyond me.

Lastly, the search function starts as soon as one has typed the first two letters of the search term and while one continues to type - the swirling circle shows up and goes nuts, then everything that has those first two letters in it is displayed, then the search function catches up with the actual search term and starts all over again.
And no, in the above search-example, “bl” is nowhere to be found in the Ether One: Deluxe Edition entry.

GOG seems to have trouble implementing a reliable search function.


I’ve not checked everything in detail in my “Orders History”, so there might or might not be other issues I’ve not stumbled upon yet. My experience so far says it’s a first step in the right direction, but needs a good chunk of changes, improvements and fixes.


And did I mention that the purchased gift codes should be a separate tab with sensible options to manage and organise them?


To be continued in Feedback on Orders & Settings – Part III

Feedback on Orders & Settings – Part III

Part I, and Part II


Account and Locale

1. Locale

I recently had a discussion about this with a GOG staffer. We - finally - have the settings for language and currency stored in our account on the server side. One can still change these settings for their current session in the footer (GOG sure loves having us scroll up and down their pages) - side note: it's extremely impractical these are in the footer, they should be up in the nav-bar, where one can spot and access them easily.

From the discussion we had, if one changes these in the footer settings, and one does not clear their cookies, they take precedence over the "global" settings in their account next time they log in. If one clears their cookies, the "global" settings kick in (my personal experience is not particularly positive, but I digress).

IMO, the settings in the Account Locale Page should always take precedence over the session settings in the footer at every new visit.


2. Privacy

2.1 Wishlist
I already mentioned a bug giving friends privileges to pending friends when one’s Wishlist is set to “friends only”. This seems to have been addressed, and it’s good that it was addressed so quickly. It also makes me think that GOG not only reads the feedback given and bugs reported in this thread, but also takes them into account and acts on them, and makes me a tad hopeful for the future.

2.2 Chat
I’ve already referred to the Chat settings in regards to managing individual contacts, and the unacceptable behaviour of the “Start Conversation’ option that acts as “Add to Contacts” on both sides, as it’s a severe privacy breach. And the addendum I made a couple of days ago. But as was noticed, there’s another [url=https://www.gog.com/forum/general/a_new_my_account_d5f25/post845]privacy issue, and it appears that it’s a problem both when chat is set to “anyone” and when set to “friends only” now that the old PMs have been imported.
One’s online status and gaming activity is broadcasted under their avatar in the contacts list. I’m not sure that everyone is comfortable with that info being shared with users they once had an exchange with a long time ago. With the old PMs being part of the chat system, many users may be listed in many other users' contact lists, but that does not mean that one wants to share this sort of info with all of them. On the other hand, I see no purpose and meaning to make this sort of info available when one goes to their Chat page on the site.
It was a poor decision to roll out this new system without having options to handle privacy matters (from both sides) in place; their implementation needs to be a priority for GOG.

On a side note – I wonder how old contacts that are not on one’s friends list are affected in the case of Chat being now set to “friends only”. Are they treated differently? Can they continue the old conversations?


Subscriptions
I’ve already mentioned the lack of email notifications regarding new, unread messages. Other than this important to many people feature, nth has changed.


Tags

The first thing I had noticed was that the icon looked like a check box, but this has been fixed in the meantime.

I've not played around much with tags, and made my comments in my feedback about the “Games Collection” portion of the new account system. I believe that others that fiddled with them more have already provided much more useful feedback. As long as tags can't be used to properly organise one's collection in a permanent way, I don't think I'm going to bother tagging my games.


Before the change, our account settings included a nice piece of info - number of days on GOG. I don't see that anymore, why was that also scrapped? While it's a minor thing, it was nice to have, and would like to see it return.