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General discussionReclaim your games. DRM-Free!(542 posts)(542 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted April 02, 2015
The DRM-free initiative.

We've always been on a mission to offer you games with no DRM protection whatsoever. Today, we want to start taking things a step further, help out people who bought a retail game with DRM, then ended up stuck with something rather unplayable. We can help you enjoy your favorites once again, and this time around, enjoy them DRM-free!

There are countless retail games out there that don’t work for various reasons: unsupported types of DRM, system incompatibilities, broken features. There's too many too count. Starting today, owners of several retail titles originally sold with DRM can get a digital copy of their game completely free at GOG.com: with no DRM as always, compatible with modern operating systems, and with plenty of goodies to boot.
<span class="bold">Reclaim these games, DRM-FREE:</span>




Editions released worldwide:
-S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
-S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky
-S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat

Editions released only in CIS & Russian territories:
-Mount & Blade: Warband
-Mount & Blade: With Fire & Sword
-Eador: Genesis




To reclaim your game, just use one of the keys that came with your box. You can find more detailed information on the Reclaim your games, DRM-FREE! page to see if your key is compatible and just where to go from there.

This is just the start of something much bigger. We plan to add more titles to the list in the future - it's a long and complicated process that involves negotiating with multiple parties and a scavenger hunt to retrieve forgotten key-databases - but then, we are on a mission here, we'll do whatever it takes.
Post edited April 02, 2015 by Konrad
Posted April 06, 2015
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JLH: entered my serial # from stalker s.o.c. box and it didn't work. not really worried about it. last patch for stalker s.o.c. removed the drm from the physical copy iirc.

it'd be cool if I could redeem them here. maybe I'm doing something wrong???
Maybe some ass hat nipped it with a key gen years ago and they took it off the master list?

edit- but if you want it, go grab me a copy of SPAZ and you can have mine ^_^
Post edited April 06, 2015 by Shmacky-McNuts
Posted April 07, 2015
Very interesting project/promo/initiative... And a pretty nice waving to develpers/publishers, who doubt yet to release games here, that this way of distribution works...
I just released my STALKER SoC retail horse from its DRM-saddle & -bridle into the DRM-Free gaming grasslands....
Posted April 07, 2015
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Bllasae: What's the downside to this? There's gotta be a catch, eh?
It won't be easy for them to add titles, and based on the description you need games that provided serial numbers for activation.

There's no downside to the consumer for titles they add, and GOG gets free marketing and encourages adding other games to the collection. But the list will probably grow slowly.
Posted April 07, 2015
Thanks GOG, you're awesome.

Now don't mess up with Galaxy, so Steam finally has some real competition.
Post edited April 07, 2015 by WereSquirrel
Posted April 07, 2015
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Bllasae: What's the downside to this? There's gotta be a catch, eh?
Well, I said it earlier but everyone is really excited about this - which means no one either agrees or cares to think about it. But I think it pretty much destroys all value of having the physical copy.

Think of it this way. You bought a game in a box in 2005. You are free to sell it, borrow it, give it to someone, your heirs will inherit it, whatever things that are true of most physical goods. Pretty much none of this is possible with digital goods.

Ten years later you register it here. You don't get an extra license, it's still the same purchase from 2005, but now it has transcended into digital. You still have the physical, but as you can't get rid of the digital, the physical ain't yours to do whatever with anymore either.

Support might remove it from your account, but I doubt you have any means of getting the code back. It's gone, and it's not replaceable. You can buy a new gift code instead, but it won't be the one printed on the manual. If you want digital, it's better to wait for a good sale instead and get a new license. Leave the physical copy in its box. Let it be physical.
Posted April 07, 2015
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Bllasae: What's the downside to this? There's gotta be a catch, eh?
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Rixasha: Well, I said it earlier but everyone is really excited about this - which means no one either agrees or cares to think about it. But I think it pretty much destroys all value of having the physical copy.

Think of it this way. You bought a game in a box in 2005. You are free to sell it, borrow it, give it to someone, your heirs will inherit it, whatever things that are true of most physical goods. Pretty much none of this is possible with digital goods.

Ten years later you register it here. You don't get an extra license, it's still the same purchase from 2005, but now it has transcended into digital. You still have the physical, but as you can't get rid of the digital, the physical ain't yours to do whatever with anymore either.

Support might remove it from your account, but I doubt you have any means of getting the code back. It's gone, and it's not replaceable. You can buy a new gift code instead, but it won't be the one printed on the manual. If you want digital, it's better to wait for a good sale instead and get a new license. Leave the physical copy in its box. Let it be physical.
>If you turn it to digital you won't own the physical anymore

Wait, what?
Posted April 07, 2015
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INFERNO.COP: If you turn it to digital you won't own the physical anymore
Wait, what?
Please read it again and make an effort to try to understand what I say. If you can't understand or just plain disagree, then fine, I don't care. But I don't think I was being very unclear.

The bottom line is you only own one license, it won't become two. By registering it here you will tie a part of it to yourself permanently, and you can't well sell a game and keep it too.
Posted April 07, 2015
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Rixasha: Well, I said it earlier but everyone is really excited about this - which means no one either agrees or cares to think about it. But I think it pretty much destroys all value of having the physical copy.
The fact that Valve (or Apple, or..) actually survive as companies is the proof that not enough people care about this "details."
Posted April 07, 2015
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INFERNO.COP: If you turn it to digital you won't own the physical anymore
Wait, what?
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Rixasha: Please read it again and make an effort to try to understand what I say. If you can't understand or just plain disagree, then fine, I don't care. But I don't think I was being very unclear.

The bottom line is you only own one license, it won't become two. By registering it here you will tie a part of it to yourself permanently, and you can't well sell a game and keep it too.
I am not so sure about this. This is ARGUABLY GOG selling digital licenses at a 100% discount to people who own physical copies of certain games.

Edit:

Think about it like this, is there any agreement that people sign or otherwise accept when reclaiming games through this system that states they are giving up their right to sell the physical copies?
Post edited April 07, 2015 by Kristian
Posted April 07, 2015
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etb: The fact that Valve (or Apple, or..) actually survive as companies is the proof that not enough people care about this "details."
Perhaps not, It's the new digital world, where you don't really own anything in the traditional sense. You hardly even own content you make yourself, and with cloud services you hardly even ever hold it in your control anymore. Granted, I live in the past and don't like the new world.

I also don't like that that when buying second hand physical copies of these titles there is no telling now of whether or not they have been stripped of their license this way, essentially making them pirate copies.

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Kristian: I am not so sure about this. This is ARGUABLY GOG selling digital licenses at a 100% discount to people who own physical copies of certain games.
Until very recently, they were removing some extras that had originally accompanied peoples' purchases from their accounts with only the excuse given that since they were FREE they were really not sold.
Post edited April 07, 2015 by Rixasha
Posted April 07, 2015
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Rixasha: Perhaps not, It's the new digital world, where you don't really own anything in the traditional sense. You hardly even own content you make yourself, and with cloud services you hardly even ever hold it in your control anymore. Granted, I live in the past and don't like the new world.
It happened only because people do not care. Companies follow money, people give money.

Sometime the world is really simple, but as George Carlin said “Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.”

Arguably, in this context "stupid" is too strong. I would say "misinformed" and "not caring".
Post edited April 07, 2015 by etb
Posted April 07, 2015
That GOG did so doesn't mean it would hold up in court but even if it did, that is still GOG removing something from THEIR servers. Them preventing you from selling something you physically hold in YOUR hands without an agreement to that effect is quite a different thing!

Either GOG, a publisher or developer suing(or pressing charges against) someone who BUYS that copy is even more far fetched and outlandish. In the unlikely event they would try anyway I highly doubt they would succeed.
Posted April 07, 2015
Holy moly! Nearly half a million in reclaimed games :O

There aren't even many games added to this list yet, so to see it this high is amazing!

Hopefully this list will be dozens of games, if not hundreds.

I've got a hard copy of a few games that I wouldn't mind redeeming, but some of those would require agreements with the companies of course:

Sins of a Solar Empire
Quake 4
Star Wars: Empire are War Gold Edition
Warhammer Dawn of War Platinum
Gears of War
...and many more!
Posted April 07, 2015
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JLH: entered my serial # from stalker s.o.c. box and it didn't work. not really worried about it. last patch for stalker s.o.c. removed the drm from the physical copy iirc.

it'd be cool if I could redeem them here. maybe I'm doing something wrong???
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Shmacky-McNuts: Maybe some ass hat nipped it with a key gen years ago and they took it off the master list?

edit- but if you want it, go grab me a copy of SPAZ and you can have mine ^_^
that's really kind of you. i'll pass though. like I said not a big deal. I don't plan to play SoC anytime soon. Was a little bummed my serial # didn't work was all. I've tried entering a variety of ways. with dashes. without dashes. with and without spaces etc. ah well. but thanks again for the offer. :)
Posted April 07, 2015
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Kristian: Them preventing you from selling something you physically hold in YOUR hands without an agreement to that effect is quite a different thing!
It's not really them preventing anything, at least not any more than they are preventing you from selling anything else from your gog account.

If these games were still sold in shops, do you think that it would be okay to buy a game from retail, reclaim it on gog, then return it to the shop for a refund? Because I don't.
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Community
General discussionReclaim your games. DRM-Free!(542 posts)(542 posts)
(542 posts)