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General discussionAnnouncement: Big Preorders & Launch Day Releases Coming!(4041 posts)(4041 posts)
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Posted February 21, 2014
The DRM-Free Revolution Continues with Big Pre-Orders and Launch Day Releases!

Good news! GOG.com is going to bring you more fantastic launch day releases, preorders, and other exciting new content from some of our favorite developers. We've lined up 3 big titles that we will be bringing to GOG.com in the next couple of months for sale or preorder that we think will be hits with all of our gamers; and we have more equally exciting games coming up soon.

If you've been a member of the site for a long time, you may recall that when we launched sales of The Witcher 2 on GOG.com, we had to add in regional pricing. The game cost different amounts in in the US, the UK, the European Union, and Australia. We're doing something like that once again in order to bring you new titles from fantastic bigger studios. Since we don't accept currencies other than USD on GOG.com right now, we'll be charging the equivalent of the local price in USD for these titles. We wish that we could offer these games at flat prices everywhere in the world, but the decision on pricing is always in our partners' hands, and regional pricing is becoming the standard around the globe. We're doing this because we believe that there's no better way to accomplish our overall goals for DRM-Free gaming and GOG.com. We need more games, devs, and publishers on board to make DRM-Free gaming something that's standard for all of the gaming world!

That brings with it more good news, though! As mentioned, we have three games we're launching soon with regional pricing--two RPGs and a strategy game--and while we can't tell you what they are yet because breaking an NDA has more severe penalties than just getting a noogie, we're confident that you'll be as excited about these games as we are. For a limited time, we will be offering anyone who pre-orders or buys one of them a free game from a selection as a gift from GOG.com, just like we did for The Witcher 2.

If you have any questions, hit us up in the comments below and we'll be happy to answer (to the best of our ability).

EDIT: Since we've answered a lot of the common questions already here (and lest you think that we've ignored you), it may be handy for you to check out the forum thread about this and search for staff answers by clicking this link here. (hat tip to user Eli who reminded us that the feature even exists. :)
Posted February 23, 2014
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RS1978: That should be a mistake. Only Australian versions are concerned by this censorship. GOG should provide you a correct version and not fob you with such a poor workaround. Are you sure that you have an Australian version? I have no idea how I could judge this for sure except playing the certain scene.
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GaminggUy45: If these 2 files are not present elf_flotsam.dzip and succubuss.dzip then you have the censored version.
Thanks mate! :)

These files are very small indeed, but as an American he should get a uncensored version yet.
Posted February 23, 2014
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JohnnyDollar: Never fixed it with just Australian customers, or with other customers from other countries as well? Because I'm not Australian and don't live in Australia, yet I got an Australian version. Another member here that lives in the same country that I do got an uncensored version, the version that I was supposed to get, and they told me to download someone else's file instead of providing it to me themselves to correct it. :/
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RS1978: That should be a mistake. Only Australian versions are concerned by this censorship. GOG should provide you a correct version and not fob you with such a poor workaround. Are you sure that you have an Australian version? I have no idea how I could judge this for sure except playing the certain scene.
Well it's not labelled "Australian" :P, but it's missing that one file, which is what the Australian version amounts to. It's a small file that simply changes a couple of flags, is all, I think. It affects one scene where an elf propositions you just outside of that dwarf town, and I think it also affects the scene with the succubus. It's been quite a while since I played the game. I acquired the file for it to test it. Like I said, it's how they they handled it, and I don't know if they ever did correct it because I haven't downloaded the latest version or installed the game in quite a while.
Post edited February 23, 2014 by JohnnyDollar
Posted February 23, 2014
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hedwards: (...)
Dropping GOG was an incredibly stupid thing to do, regardless of outcome.
(...)
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Lodium: Mind you the GOG as in old games only was dropped after a community vote.
Are you sugesting they shoud have gone against what the majority of the community whised?
Good point, Lodium.
Posted February 23, 2014
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GaminggUy45: If these 2 files are not present elf_flotsam.dzip and succubuss.dzip then you have the censored version.
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RS1978: Thanks mate! :)

These files are very small indeed, but as an American he should get a uncensored version yet.
Edit: Yeah, it's those 2 small files, not 1. It's been a while.
Posted February 23, 2014
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GaminggUy45: If these 2 files are not present elf_flotsam.dzip and succubuss.dzip then you have the censored version.
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RS1978: Thanks mate! :)

These files are very small indeed, but as an American he should get a uncensored version yet.
Your Welcome.
Posted February 23, 2014
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Selderij: Russian customers paying less for their games does in no way require that Europeans and Australians pay more than usual. It's the latter point that's at issue here.
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groze: So, according to your logic, it's fine the way the system is now, because Europeans and Australians pay less, even if Russians and some Euro Zone countries actually pay more?! I fail to see the "fairness" in that, sorry.
What? Until now, everyone has paid the same absolute sum at GOG. The prices have for the most part been low. Regional pricing, in practice, keeps American prices the same while making Europeans and Australians pay more, while some regions might pay a little less. It's the part where someone pays extra that I have a problem with because it has no justifiable excuse from the standpoint of gaining a wider audience among the poor. I'm poor but that doesn't stop Steam from wanting to squeeze me dry because I live in a prestige tier country.

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groze: Everything you said is fine and dandy, but there's one thing in which I beg to differ: DRM-free is not as vague or open a concept as you make it sound. I'm no expert in law and economics, nor will I pretend to be, but, working in the business of book publishing, I can assure you I have to work with DRM every single day, and trust me when I say it is very real and not as a matter of image and ideology as you make it out to be. DRM is not "EULA" or "ToS", it's actual, practical, sometimes invasive measures publishers take in order to control customer access to digital content. Stuff like limiting downloads, making always online mandatory, having you register your product, etc. I'm not going into that whole "owning/renting" issue, because my background in philosophy and literature taught me some notions that will most definitely go against your "practical" knowledge of the world and how it works or should work.

In short, DRM-free is no "minor" thing on GOG, it's arguably the most heavyweight argument in their favor ever since the beginning. It's a really huge showing of consumer rights respect, believe it or not. For most consumers, albeit important, all their other core values are secondary. DRM-free is not secondary by any means, and even if the games that will have regional pricing are available everywhere else for the same price, they're only available fully DRM-free on GOG. And if gamers care more about selfish needs, by buying a DRM-riddled title just because it's a bit cheaper, then it's not GOG's values that are at stake, now, right? DRM-free is what draws most of the GOG user base in here, as much as you and this vocal minority -- so vocal you might get the impression it's actually a majority -- may think otherwise.
If we ignore the 3rd party extra DRM in some Ubisoft and Games for Windows Live titles, the Steam DRM is in most cases not invasive at all, and in everyday use, it doesn't make a difference whether you run a Steam or GOG game.

GOG's DRM-free approach grants the following advantages over Steam:
- No client required
- No online verification required when installing games
- You can have multiplayer sessions with a single copy even if your friends hadn't bought the game

Those advantages should have no practical effect except in very marginal cases. Tons of people realize that, and that's why they'll simply buy from Steam if it's cheaper there. That's why regional pricing is going to affect GOG's European sales: flat pricing was indeed an important factor for many people to do their business here. You can't say that only DRM-free mattered and that flat pricing wasn't important.
Posted February 23, 2014
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Lykaon: ->"they will still have an infinite number of copies they can make/sell."

but to whom? Not to the persons who have it already without paying for it. :)
If the price is fair, I'd still buy it. Just because you have something doesn't mean you aren't willing to pay for it for certain commodities.

Example: Last year I bought the Creatures disc, got it, and it wouldn't work. There were patches for it online I could use, and with a lot of work I could get the game working. HOWEVER, I re-bought the game through GoG and all compatibility and patching was pre-done for me, so for that it was a matter of convenience rather than price. I also already owned NWN 1+2, yet I bought those on GoG anyways. So shrugs.
Posted February 23, 2014
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iippo: Well, then they are having helluva trust in the very newest customers and not caring about giving the finger for the many of the old.

I would show you the old GOG.com promotional video where GOG says regional pricing is unfair - but its apparently take off the youtube?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRdfYwvGTos

you be the judge.
Eh, I’m not in favour of this change. Firstly because, according to GOG’s own admittance of lack of power, it’s more likely than not that it's going to be the same model we see everywhere else which is not any better in my eyes, and secondly because it fills me with concerns about what else may be deemed necessary in the future in order to keep signed publishers happy and to sign new ones.


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Niggles: Tet has already said they wont compromise on DRM free. And the reality is, if they drop DRM free - most of their customer base will vanish. Simple. Most of us are here for DRM free & old classics. U think people will put up with it? hell no. If you think this thread is something - it would be a drop in the ocean if they went away from drm free.
The drop of DRM-free is my biggest concern as well and sadly, it’s not completely unthinkable after this move. The success or impact of dropping DRM-free depends on three things – when it’s going to happen, how it’s going to be introduced and the form it’ll have.
If it’s introduced gradually and as absolutely necessary to sign on a few more games that couldn’t have been signed on otherwise (but hey, it’s only a couple of games, not a completely U turn); if that’s done after having brought in an influential enough number of Steam users (or of other similar platforms); and if it’s a form comparable or even less intrusive than Steam, then it may be received the same way this announcement was – a portion will vocally oppose it and a portion will say “I don’t care so long as I can get more games with less hassle, lol”.

After this announcement and the horrible way it was done (I just can't stop repeating that), my mind has gone to alert and will remain in that state, even if it's in a very small corner in the very back of my head.
Posted February 23, 2014
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Selderij: If we ignore the 3rd party extra DRM in some Ubisoft and Games for Windows Live titles, the Steam DRM is in most cases not invasive at all, and in everyday use, it doesn't make a difference whether you run a Steam or GOG game.
Unless of course you try to run the games without the steam client, which they will then refuse or switch to the DEMO mode. Requiring to have steam active for games to run, I will automatically give those games the lowest possible rating (Skyrim being the first game I got activated on Steam, as it was a gift) regardless if it's a good game or not.

This reminds me when I did a lot more gaming on Flash games on Kongregate, there are a number of games that got an auto 1-star when certain features weren't avaliable, usually due to locking the interface. Largest one being I couldn't change/set the quality to low to make it run at a decent speed. It may be a brutal rating system, but if your game refuses to run faster than 4 frames a second due to locked 'high' settings what do you suggest?
Posted February 23, 2014
I, for one, (and maybe the only one...) am excited that three new games are coming to GOG. So long as GOG keeps their games DRM-free, this will continue to be my favorite digital game distributor.
Posted February 23, 2014
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Pheace: Also, @ people asking why they didn't call a vote for this... seriously? We all know what the answer would have been, so does GOG. The answer was obvious, so they simply opted not to do it.
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real.geizterfahr: Answers aren't always as obvious as we would like them to be...
If you mean that limited DRM one, that was worded about as positively as it could've been, so yeah I'm not shocked it got a decent response. Hence why the original more straightforward question had a resounding no.

Realistically they were just dancing around how much DRM people would accept, but it sounded harmless enough in the way they described it.
Post edited February 23, 2014 by Pheace
Posted February 23, 2014
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Johnmourby: snip


I don't like the idea of regional pricing either but for just three games I see no harm. And If this meant getting a new publisher like 2k, Bethesda or Lucasarts I'd say go for it.
But if 2k, Bethesda or Lucasarts get signed under the regional pricing model, it no longer will be three games, will it?


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Johnmourby: snip
And I repeat. When They say 3 games I believe just three games till I see reason to think otherwise.

snip
Honest question – did you read only the announcement or did you read all of TET’s posts as well?


P.S. I’m posting/ replying gradually as I’m way behind reading posts and still trying to catch up.
Posted February 23, 2014
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rtcvb32: Hmmm I recall stating something of this being a good thing; No I'm not for regional pricing I think it sucks, but if we all agree not to buy something with regional pricing then I'm sure the numbers will show themselves, especially if they are compared against games that don't have regional pricing. Better if no one buys the game even if it's 80% off, and they can ask 'why isn't this selling?' and then they will eventually find this fourm and compare against the other 600+ games that aren't regionally priced and maybe withdraw their requirement.

Of course there are games that are only released on steam...
One problem: many of us don't use the forum. How can we get to those GOG users?
And second problem (yeah, those are the AAA publishers - not the sharpest knives in the drawer): they may just assume GOG is dodgy and move on.
Post edited February 23, 2014 by Novotnus
Posted February 23, 2014
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BuzzLightyear2: I, for one, (and maybe the only one...) am excited that three new games are coming to GOG. So long as GOG keeps their games DRM-free, this will continue to be my favorite digital game distributor.
I would like to see what AAA launch day titles come here too. I may not even be interested in those 3 games, but I like the idea of big publishers using GOG as a DD for newly launched AAA titles, because I know that I'll be interested with what's offered eventually, and DRM-free is the reason.
Posted February 23, 2014
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Novotnus: I'd really want to know what company was the one that made it happen.
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HypersomniacLive: I’d love to know too, because I have a very bad suspicion it’s one of the crowdfunded games.

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Novotnus: I hope we will find out... and find enough integrity in ourselves to ignore those publishers wherever they appear.
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HypersomniacLive: I’d love and will vote with my wallet, but here’s an odd situation I might be finding myself in – if any of the games to come here with regional pricing are Kickstarter games (as this repeated mention of Divinity: Original Sin indicates), I may have already “supported” their practices via being a backer and redeeming my code on GOG inspite of not knowing anything of the current turn of events and not having paid the regional prices.

How does me redeeming my codes colour me?
I'm a Kickstarter backer too, and you can still change between Larian Vault/GOG.com/Steam on your backer page.
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionAnnouncement: Big Preorders & Launch Day Releases Coming!(4041 posts)(4041 posts)
(4041 posts)