I can understand many of your grievances and share your concerns, despite some of them not affecting me personally.

While I'm around for only a few years and not living in the forum, I too notice some pivoting on GOG's part. They have a plan and a vision, and that is not the same vision they sold us years ago. Maybe they are right, maybe their original values were not sustainable or viable. But, as we say here: "a footman who serves two masters is faithful to none".

GOG will never be Steam. Nor will Epic get there IMHO. Will GOG lose what makes it different and valuable in our eyes to go after growth and market share, to become a small fish in a larger pond? Will GOG one day consider DRM-free as a hindrance?

There are no viable alternatives for DRM-free games for me. That helps me endure the current status quo. But I can foresee a day when that won't be true anymore, and I'll have to pull the trigger. I'm already keeping a local archive of my games, just in case.

Thank you! Sorry again for the misunderstanding. I wish both sides luck in this, as I said before.

Also...

-UP- to that.

The thing that occurs to me about this argument re. cosmetic items is: if they are so trivial, content-wise, then why bother locking them behind an authentication server and going to the trouble of coding all that crap in, in the first place? Why taint a game that otherwise would be 100% DRM-free, for the sake of something that is so trivial and inconsequential? If it is so trivial, surely it can't be affecting people's decisions to buy/pre-order a game anyway?

Unless, of course, the devs know something we don't, and these silly sparklies actually do encourage people to pre-order games. Imo: if it's substantial enough content to affect someone's purchasing decision, then it is substantial enough to be considered DRM.

I assume you are referring to item #5: I'm not calling for the downfall of Galaxy, although I have no intention of ever using it myself. I'm fine with the existence of the Galaxy client, for those that want it, as long as it will always be optional. What I object to is the heavy pushing; the incentives being given only to Galaxy users; and the fact that so many of GOG's resources are being diverted into it, to the detriment of the rest of the site, forums, offline installers, etc.

Reasons why I want to support Zoom Platform over GOG:

- Fully DRM-free. All their games are based on offline installers with no client in sight
- They are not part of public corporation, with a #1 priority to increase profits at all costs
- They haven't lied to their users/insulted their intelligence
- No shady deals on the side to profit from a piece of the DRM pie

Yeah, my 'optimistic scenario' for Zoom is that they currently have their heads down and are working flat out to finish and release their new website, before releasing Devotion. That way, if/when they do release it and boost their publicity, they will be presenting themselves in their best light, which will help maximize the number of users who stick around. It would make perfect business sense to do that.

The pessimistic scenario is that the owners have lost interest in the store and it is effectively abandoned. I hope very much that's not the case and I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt for this year. I think it's reasonable to give them some time to respond to the Devotion situation. They need to discuss with Red Candle, who might not be super keen to 'try again' right away if they've just had a bad experience. Plus, packing the installers and creating a store page takes some time. We don't know what is going on behind the scenes.

Ya'know, I'd love to see HIS reaction if a game HE wanted got pulled because whiny punks gathered en masse and flooded the storefront over a stupid reason that already got dealt with. I guess he's just cool with a future where these people decide what we can and can't buy.

I was talking more about actions rather than words, so I sorta agreeded with you from the start.

What is mainly stopping me is the fact (or rather, "fear" so to speak) of GOG ultimately crashing: it's literally the only store in which even more prominent games make their way here as drm-free, so one part of me fears the worst.

I know that I'm probably exaggerating or something, it's just that gaming has been my main (nowadays almost sole) hobby in my past 30 years or so, so the last thing I want is GOG to crash and burn.

I'm fine with the sympathising part, heck time will also tell if I'll ask you myself to be put under the boycotting list.

With that said, there is something that I would like to ask you: is there anything MORE we can do? Something that could effectively counter GOG wrongdoing (other than what you just said in the main post)? I'm asking this because, let's face it, GOG as a whole is a niche thing with a niche audience, now that audience itself is being split between the loyal us who don't condone BS, and those who don't care as long a game is for the most part drm-free. If you also add the fact that clearly GOG is seeking a new audience with galaxy 2.0, well, we are just left in the dirt.

Just to be clear: I'm not saying that what you are doing is useless, heck, if anything the opposite; what I'm asking is if there is anything more we can do to force GOG to look/listen to us.

This is... damn, this is awesome. It never occurred to me, then again I don't dwell into social media.
Thanks for the info!

I'm afraid I won't be able to maintain such a list. I can say for sure that I passed on Terminator Resistance and the Hexen/Heretic bundle.

For what it's worth, I nuked my entire wishlist (which at the time had some 130+ titles on it) for the express purpose that I don't get tempted by good deals/I simply forget these games even exist in the first place. Gog's catalogue is a pain to navigate, so not having a list of all the games I'm vaguely interested in available in one handy place basically gets rid of any chance I'll buy them here eventually.

I am highly suspecting that the "my rewards" ordeal is a cornerstone for future expansion of game monetization / microtransactions of similar kind as the "rewards" give.

Considering there are already Galaxy-exclusive things means it's no longer optional (at least not "ALWAYS optional").

Maybe create crowdfunding campaign for the purpose of gathering money for Devotion devs to self publish the game?
Just an idea. If it would work out that would be a huge middle finger towards GOG so they would probably eventually notice :P

After discovering EGS ordeal I obliterated my 600+ wishlist ;) :D

Oh great, what's my reward for putting up with content locked behind a client? More content locked behind microtransactions, wohoo!
I do remember reading on the rewards page that they might add more things later so I wouldn't be surprised if they add some playable content there if they think they can get away with it without too much fuss.

IIRC, they're doing a multiplayer version of Cyberpunk 2077, kinda like GTA Online. So it only makes sense that they'd stuff it chock full of microtransaction shit.

Though now that the main game has turned out to be a Daikatana-tier disaster, I'm wondering who'd willingly spend money on a multiplayer spin-off...

We live in a world were Fallout 76 somehow still lives and makes money, and people even buy a 100$ subscription to it.

good game :D just played a little today

CDP, CDPR and GOG may not pay any attention to their forums or their best customers, but they may pay attention to this.

Congratulations CDPR - you win the Naughty Dog FUBAR Award for 2021. And it is still only January.

Cyberpunk 2077 already down to $39.99 at Gamestop:
PS4 and XOne versions

And down to only $34.99 on Amazon
$34.99 Amazon

In less than 2 months on the market after 8 years of development.

It would seem not buying third-rate sh*t products can make a difference.

I don't think that's very likely to happen to a company backed by a 10-figure public company from a mere ~100 people in an obscure forum thread joining in on a local boycott. No, I think the only way it'll actually make any difference at all is if it turns into a movement and spreads far and wide beyond this forum.

I've been an avid gamer for ~35 years, I've watched the decline of the gaming industry in the last decade, and I too don't want to see GOG crash and burn. I want to see them grow into a powerful, ethical company that stands apart as a sore thumb to other companies and as an example of how they could have conducted their business.

You know who else doesn't want to see GOG crash and burn? GOG. If they actually end up in financial trouble, they'll do what they can to climb out of it. If they've got reasonably good leadership, they'll act long before that can even happen. I can only hope they'll learn the right lessons from the backlash and actually start treating their customers as more than just mindless consumers.

I doubt there is any other way, but hey, if you come up with one I'm open to suggestions.