It seems that you're using an outdated browser. Some things may not work as they should (or don't work at all).
We suggest you upgrade newer and better browser like: Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer or Opera

×
Community
General discussionHerzlich Willkommen! GOG.com goes German(641 posts)(641 posts)
(641 posts)
Pages:
1
5
10
14
15
16
17
18
20
25
30
35
40
43
This is my favourite topic
Posted February 26, 2015
Herzlich Willkommen!




GOG.com goes German. Not completely, mind you, but starting today we'll be spreading our DRM-free love in one more language. Whether you're here because of the news, or you've been with us for a while, here is what we're doing to make our German speaking friends feel a little more welcome on GOG.com:




-A German version of our website. You can change your language using the drop-down menu towards the bottom of every page.
-A German corner of our forums. Your home away from home.
-German customer support. If you're more comfortable talking to us in your native language.
-More games in German. We're rolling out 25+ German localisations for our games today, bringing the total up to 350+.




No big announcement would be complete without a huge sale! This weekend we're holding the German-riffic <span class="bold">Herzlich Willkommen!</span> promo. The highlight is a ridiculous 97% off Deponia, but there are over 25 other German gaming hits available as well. There is adventuring with the remaining Deponia games, the cult strategy of The Settlers, the tough and turn-based tactics in Blackguards 1 and 2, and many, many more feats of German game design.


Check out <span class="bold">the weekend promo page</span> to see the full lineup. The promo will last until Tuesday, March 3, at 4:59 AM GMT.




Update:
Two games from our catalog had to be made unavailable in Germany: Commandos Ammo Pack and Commandos 2+3. Offering or promoting these games is considered a serious criminal offence according to German law, and we have to abide by this law to avoid the risk of serious legal action taken against GOG.com and GOG.com employees. Rest assured that if you've already bought a game - nothing will retroactively disappear from your shelves.
Post edited February 27, 2015 by Chamb
Posted February 26, 2015
avatar
eiii: I even think splitting up the forums into different language parts is counterproductive as information gets splattered over different places.
avatar
jtsn: That is what game publishers want: split up their customers, so they can't talk back with one voice.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divide_and_conquer
Posted February 26, 2015
avatar
IronArcturus: Are the Settlers games similar to Lords of the Realm? Do you know if any support windowed mode?
Sorry, I haven't played Lords of the Realm and I only play on Linux, so I can't help you much there.

I would describe the settlers games more as an economic and sandbox simulation, not so much as an RTS game. The focus is clearly set on economy and expansion, not so much on military. You place the buildings and the ways for your settlers, but you cannot control the settlers directly.
Posted February 26, 2015
Sorry to see it come to this, my German friends.
Posted February 26, 2015
avatar
Draygonn: Just thought I might evoke a laugh instead.
Well. I laughed!

I am also sad though. I still like GOG and it seems a lot of people are upset with them now. Can't (or don't want to?) imagine the GOG team being all that happy with how people are taking the news.
Posted February 26, 2015
high rated
avatar
GOG.com: ...
Update:
Two games from our catalog had to be made unavailable in Germany: Commandos Ammo Pack and Commandos 2+3. Offering or promoting these games is considered a serious criminal offence according to German law, and we have to abide by this law to avoid the risk of serious legal action taken against GOG.com and GOG.com employees. Rest assured that if you've already bought a game - nothing will retroactively disappear from your shelves.
The Witcher, and a lot of other games on here, has a USK 18 rating, which means it can't be promoted or sold in Germany without checking the buyers age.

Afaik there is only one acceptable method to do that outside of a store, and it involves a postman checking your ID on delivery. Which obviously isn't going to work for digital copies.

Also, a lot of German versions are cut, badly localised, and are because of that, imho, ruined, to meet the USK's restrictions.
Worse, the cut versions are often German localisation only, and you do not haven an option to play the games in English.


I like you guys, but you are going to lose my business if I can't get the international, uncut versions on here.
Posted February 26, 2015
GOG goes German?
Additional language packs - cool as long as they are not additional cut patches. German web-site - don't need it. More future games with German language - not bad.

It still is a weird thing that it was not "illegal" to sell some games to German Cutomers yesterday or the week before or in the year 2009 and now - because the site has additional ratings and a translation - it is. I really don't understand this. But this could be because the whole thing is a piece of crap!

And here is what I did and I will do.
I downloaded every single game so if you'll censor it - please have fun.
Every game that I cannot get here I will buy somewhere else (other digital distributors, import) or I will simply pirate it and I will not have a bad conscience about it. I am 44 yrs. old and only because a stupid german government is the (still not proven) opinion that some games COULD harm underage children I will not stop to get the games I want and if this is the only way so be it. I am really really sad that GOG goes this way and I'd really support them - unfortunately it seems that GOG does not want to support me anymore. Since GOG is a polish firm I am also not sure if there is anything that would force them to block games from being bought in Germany or if you'd only need a proper age verification system for this - I will research this and I would be very glad if GOG would get into dialogue with the German fans about this to sort the issues out. Telling the German users why they think they are forced to act like they did and maybe learning some issues about the German law (or law in general) to see if this is really nesscessary. Region locked games and awaited censored games - this is a very dark day for GOG and Germany - hooray :(
Post edited February 26, 2015 by MarkoH01
Posted February 26, 2015
avatar
doctordemolition: The Witcher, and a lot of other games on here, has a USK 18 rating, which means it can't be promoted or sold in Germany without checking the buyers age.
I think it's not the age - rating.
Most likely it's the use of Nazi symbolism in the games (StGb §86a).

this is a very dark day for GOG and Germany - hooray :(
Indeed it is.
Post edited February 26, 2015 by Fakum12
Posted February 26, 2015
avatar
MarkoH01: Telling the German users why they think they are forced to act like they did and maybe learning some issues about the German law (or law in general) to see if this is really nesscessary. Region locked games and awaited censored games - this is a very dark day for GOG and Germany - hooray :(
Actually for German gamers it would be better if they banned video games completely, like the Taliban did. This way nobody would care about this "market" or any "localizing" effort. ;-)
Posted February 26, 2015
avatar
MarkoH01: this is a very dark day for GOG and Germany - hooray :(
avatar
Fakum12: Indeed it is.
And they didn't say sorry even ONCE.
Again it's this insulting "Good News Everyone!" instead of, "We are sorry that we will now....".

Be honest and stop those insults for f***s sake!
Post edited February 26, 2015 by Klumpen0815
Posted February 26, 2015
avatar
eiii: Sorry, I haven't played Lords of the Realm and I only play on Linux, so I can't help you much there.

I would describe the settlers games more as an economic and sandbox simulation, not so much as an RTS game. The focus is clearly set on economy and expansion, not so much on military. You place the buildings and the ways for your settlers, but you cannot control the settlers directly.
Interesting! Have you played these "Cultures" games before? I've never heard of those games.
Posted February 26, 2015
I usually don't comment on such things, but this was a terrible decision. I don't understand why anyone would want a german version of gog.com ... pretty disappointed right now :/
Posted February 26, 2015
avatar
Smogg: I usually don't comment on such things, but this was a terrible decision. I don't understand why anyone would want a german version of gog.com ... pretty disappointed right now :/
Actually this makes my decision to quit PC games completely easier. Thank you, GOG!
Posted February 26, 2015
avatar
Draygonn: The legalities of offering or not offering games based upon region is not a strong point for me, I am sure there are ways around the locks that GoG cannot advertise but that should come easily enough... I've always trusted GoG to be as professional as needed in their industry to maintain legal status worldwide.
Well, for one you can be sure that once you've bought it you will be able to play it. Unlike in case of Steam where it's possible to obtain an indexed game in numerous ways and then not be able to install or launch it. For instance, I gifted Dead Island to a friend of mine who lives in Bavaria (I got that particular Steam key from a Polish gaming mag) and she was able to redeem it but not allowed to install it. And IIRC she later installed it on her laptop during a vacation in Poland but was not able to launch it back in Germany. As long as the games remain DRM free (and I'm sure they will) you won't experience such surprises in case of GOG. I don't think GOG will ever enforce this kind of stuff after the purchase, even when it comes to installing / playing via Galaxy.

And well, I guess I finally got a confirmation of my theory that GOG only kept selling banned games in Germany because they were below the USK's / BPjM's radar. I'm sure that other games will follow since the Commandos series is only one of several examples of indexed games/versions sold on GOG.
Post edited February 26, 2015 by F4LL0UT
Posted February 26, 2015
avatar
RadonGOG: "You" doesn´t translate to "du" in general, it translates to "Sie", a common translation error!
avatar
Leroux: It's not a translation error, it's a translation issue. There is no correct formula for translations, you always have to consider the cultural and situational context when you translate something
In the case of GOG it's quite easy: "Du" would perfectly have fitted for the good old GOG website, "Sie" perfectly fits for the new, "better" GOG.
Posted February 26, 2015
avatar
F4LL0UT: Well, for one you can be sure that once you've bought it and downloaded it you will be able to play it.
Minor fix.
;)
Pages:
1
5
10
14
15
16
17
18
20
25
30
35
40
43
This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionHerzlich Willkommen! GOG.com goes German(641 posts)(641 posts)
(641 posts)