Hey! After reading this answer in another thread I was curious about the history of free games GoG gives us when we sign up. I know Dragonsphere was taken off the list of freebie and Bio Menace, Stargunner and Akalabeth: World of Doom were added (though are they all given to people upon signing up?). I'm actually curious to know if this has happened "often" in GoG's history. What were the games that were there and aren't anymore? Anyone with that knowledge?

When I signed up the games were:

Beneath A Steel Sky
Dragonsphere
Lure of the Temptress
Teen Agent
Treasure Adventure Game
Tyrian 2000
Ultima 4: Quest of the Avatar
Ultima Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams
Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire
Warsow

I always assumed, for some obscure reason, that those never changed...

By the way, I'm specifically curious about games given on sign up, not games given for other occasions by GoG. Also, if it's something that demands a lot of research just tell me to go on MaGoG. Not asking out of laziness, the answer might be simple, hence why I'm asking.

When I signed up, no games were given automatically, we had to "buy" them manually (for no cost).

And no, it hasn't happened often that a game that had been free was changed to paid, I believe Dragonspere is the first one to have that change. It's all up to the publisher though, and new agreements may change the terms.

Was it 10 games or less? Or til a certain amount (like get games til you get to ~20$)?

I think they stopped adding them automatically on sign-up some time ago.

Got you. The game I listed are on my Orders & Settings tab all costing 0$. Believe they were added automatically... I'm beginning to wonder if I'm remembering correctly. Brain is not cooperating. Damn you brain!

They were. At least for some time. GOG may have stopped doing it because people were complaining about having games they didn't want in their accounts.
When I signed up, seven games were automatically added to my library: Treasure Adventure Game, Ulitma IV, Dragonsphere, Tyrian 2000, Teenagent, Beneath a Steel Sky and Lure of the Temptress.

Thanks for giving me hope I'm not going insane (imagining games magically appearing in my library when they didn't). And thanks to the both of you for the answers. Seems like the games haven't changed at all, except for the games I mentionned in my OP.

Yep. They just added some more over the years. Thing is, most of them were already freeware before they came to GOG. Dragonsphere was one of the few exclusive to this site, as per an agreement with Atari, but then Night Dive Studios acquired the rights to the game; and they wanted the game to be sold again, so the "free" thing stopped when GOG's contract with Atari expired.

The only series that Night Dive own is System Shock. For every other game that they are associated with, they are just the publishers.

Dragonsphere, along with many other Atari games, is now owned by Tommo.

I signed up a year and a half ago, and there were seven titles automatically in my account upon sign-up: Dragonsphere, Ultima IV, Treasure Adventure Game, Warsow, Tyrian 2000, Beneath a Steel Sky and Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire. The other five permanently free titles at the time had to be "purchased" manually, though. I assume it was the same when metricfun signed up, except for Stargunner and Flight of the Amazon Queen not having been added yet.
Do you mean they've changed this in the last year and a half? Like metricfun, I've been curious about this too, mostly wondering if they'd changed which games were "auto-added" -- maybe even including one or both of the free documentaries at sign-up.

Every once in a while someone shows up and complains about getting those games. I could never figure that out. :P

I'm not sure, but I assumed they stopped the practice, because a lot of the people posting here about having games like Witcher 3 or Divinity: Original Sin revoked by GOG also mentioned getting a "your library is empty" message.
Ah, so that's how it works. I never understood the mechanisms of Night Dive's business model, or that of any other company, really.

Now that you mention it, I remember having seen comments to that effect, too. Hmm....

Just figured I should share the link: http://www.gog.com/games##sort=bestselling&price=free&page=1