Time4Tea: 1) Release Devotion immediately.
2) Remove Gwent, No Man's Sky, Absolver (and any other DRMed games) from the store.
3) Remove DRM from the bonus cosmetics in Cyberpunk.
4) Cancel the deal with Epic.
5) Stop providing free games/incentives only to Galaxy users.
6) Assign adequate resources to maintenance of the offline installers.
TheDcoder: I am sorry, I am new to this thread so I apologize in advance if some of these questions were already answered:
No problem. Yes, they have been discussed already in this thread and most of these list items have their own dedicated threads, where the issues have been discussed extensively. I will summarize my take on them and post links to the individual threads, where I can.
TheDcoder: 1. Isn't Devotion being pulled out by the developer, and not by GOG?
No, it was pulled by GOG following supposedly 'many messages from gamers' asking them to pull it. No evidence of those messages has been provided and GOG have completely ignored the pleas of several thousand users who have asked for the game to be released.
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/devotion_is_coming_to_gog_on_dec_18th https://www.gog.com/wishlist/games/devotion TheDcoder: 2. What's the DRM in No Man's Sky and Absolver's single player modes? (GWENT as far as I know is a multiplayer game, so I am not discussing it)
These issues are explained clearly in this thread, the first two posts of which contain lists of all the single-player and multiplayer games on GOG that are known to include DRM (those aren't the only examples):
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/drm_on_gog_list_of_singleplayer_games_with_drm/page1 Gwent contains DRM and microtransactions and clearly does not belong on GOG. I don't subscribe to the view that DRM in multiplayer games is 'ok' or 'necessary', or that CDPR should be allowed to break their rules with their own games.
TheDcoder: 3. What kind of DRM are we talking about in Cyberpunk? How is the bonus content behind DRM? Is it a Steam exclusive or something?
Cyberpunk contains cosmetic 'reward' items that are only available after online authentication via Galaxy. That is by definition DRM, regardless of how minor or insubstantial the content may be. mrkgnao mentioned that it is only present in the Galaxy version, not the offline installer, which I wasn't aware of. Still, I think that is a worrying precedent, to have different versions of a game for Galaxy and offline. Also, it ties in with number 5, which is about rewards being given only to Galaxy users.
TheDcoder: 4. I don't see the problem with the Epic deal as long as it doesn't hinder the DRM-free aspect
As I understand it, the purpose of the Epic deal is to allow DRMed games on their store to be sold via Galaxy. In a sense, that is similar to if GOG made DRM-free games just one 'category' on the store. It is inherently damaging to the DRM-free cause, because if developers can now reach GOG's user base with DRMed games, it will reduce the incentive for them to release DRM-free. The whole thing seems to be motivated by a desperate desire to grab a slice of the DRM pie.
TheDcoder: 5. I have heard from my friend that only Witcher 1 was given away as a freebie for GOG galaxy users exclusively (it has been used in past campaigns as a giveaway too, it's probably the most given-away game at GOG, I also got it when I signed up for GWENT). I don't see the problem with Galaxy-exclusive giveaways as long as they are kept to a minimum, they need to promote their client somehow.
To me, how substantial the freebies are is not really relevant. It's more the principle that offends me. As a non-Galaxy user, it makes
me feel like I am a second-class customer. Like they value my business less. Why should I be treated like a non-preferred customer? Am I paying less for my games than Galaxy users?
If they need to promote their client, imo they should do that by emphasizing its quality and features, not by resorting to bribery.