Of course GOG is doing sth bad by using captcha. I am not openminded to that. I am openminded as to why they are doing it. And I have not been deceptive about this either. I clearly implied it in the first post.
Yes you are wrong here. I know what GOG is doing (using captcha etc). I dont know what GOG is trying to do (purpose of using captcha etc is unknown to me).
I dislike discussions "behind closed doors" and wanted to make a public statement. I would also have to trust GOG support which conceptually doesnt make sense for such a request which I could explain in detail from a logical perspective but I think this isnt very important here. Furthermore my primary objective is not to find out why GOG is doing it. I dont particularly care about that. About the thread title: See further down.

From my POV your "I am close to certain" is just your opinion (without proper if any evidence) which I dont share.

It has several problems which mine doesnt have:
1. Its missing the "deception" part. This is critically important. You seem to have ignored this before. Its integral to my thread here and without it I probably wouldnt have made this thread. And the "deception" part is a fact. I was deceived. If I would have known there was a captcha after the click I would have deleted the Email instead.
2. Its reducing the scope of my complaint. Part of my complaint is (or implies) that the use of codes is unnecessary for the obvious use case. So if GOG uses captcha for codes - it shouldnt even matter for my use case. So your thread title would be misleading.
3. Its longer than mine. Mine is short to the point and uses the 3 most important words in the best (hierarchical) order "GOG" "captcha" "deception".
4. Yours is inviting thoughts which isnt bad. But I would have made the post without thoughts by others too. So this is limiting in scope from that perspective also.
(Also I dont like the limitation to "Google captcha" vs "captcha" but this could be fixed by just removing "google" from your title.)

I was deceived. So there was deception. I dont know if it was intended though.
No. They didnt send me a discount code and I didnt claim anything of the sort. They invited me to get my "85% discount".
If you are trying to say that its ok to mistreat people in the name of marketing - I dont agree. Otherwise I dont know what you mean.
Whether its legally binding or not isnt the point. If they dont actually mean what they write in bold and they say what they actually mean in small print then that clearly is deception to me.
From my POV that wouldnt make sense. I agree. You however seem to ignore that for other GOG Emails there is no captcha blockade. So it was outside my expectation unlike your button example. There is always a button. It would be unreasonable (given my experience with the internet) to expect otherwise.

I disagree. As I outlined earlier my circumstances dont require any abuse countermeasures. So its not reasonable to expect any.

Your thread title is still misleading and biased, and leads people(even if you didn't mean to cause them to think such) reading it to assume bad things about gog itself.

You should also be openminded to hearing both sides on most things in order to form a proper opinion of such and to allow others to do the same....else you could be seen as being somewhat deceptive by others.

I never said they weren't using captcha, just that they weren't using it for "bad"(as in very bad, like murder or fraud levels of bad) purposes and that seemed to be what your OP post/title insinuate they are trying to do. Until you know such, accusing them(even if indirectly or accidentally) of very bad intent without proof is slightly wrong to do.

You could screencap or record said correspondence, you know, to have a record in case you need it.

Also then what is your intent here? If it is to expose gog for using captcha we all already know that.

And if not that then what?.....because with the thread title as is and the words you are using(gog is deceptive, etc) it LOOKS(just looks) as if you are trying to spread misinformation or dislike of gog...even if that is not the case.

It's common business practice to use captchas in said ways, for one.....also even if I had evidence would you believe it or toss it aside to maintain cognitive dissonance?

I didn't ignore it....it is not good to put such words in your thread titles as it can be misconstrued and is often used(in general by others) to get people to click open a thread/to think a certain way about something & not let them form their own opinions.

And deception in this case/as you use it is MISLEADING...it would only be deceptive if they told you about it AFTER money had changed hands or they schemed you out of money/something you own/etc....that is not the case here. (They tell you about the captcha BEFORE you buy something or pay them).

(In this case a more apt term would be gog unpleasantly surprised me...it is accurate and to the point)

If you have a proper complaint then you should use the proper channels....all you'll do here is possibly slightly upset or confuse someone who might worry gog is doing much worse upon reading your thread title and posts.

If you don't then I am going to guess that you don't want the problem(as you see it) resolved and just want to complain about an aspect of gog for a bit.

And no, my thread title idea at worst would be generic and a bit vague....but not misleading(tell me what part of it would be misleading anyone about what the thread contains).

It doesn't matter how long it is...what matters more is how clear it is....and again this is not deception(or do you think anything you aren't told beforehand is deception? What about surprise parties...deception as well?)

Then this proves it...you're just here to ramble on about conspiratorial nonsense and see who replies.

Just because you don't see a need for something doesn't mean there isn't a need for something.

You are using the wrong definition of deception(when it comes to lodging complaints against a business), then.

As I said before this(in this same reply), they'd need to be using such to trick you out of money or do something without you knowing until AFTER you had done that thing.....as they tell you clearly about the captcha when you get to the page it's not deception as per the definition that counts in this case.

===================================================
Addition: Also I am sorry but I don't fully(I could be wrong I admit) buy that you didn't know about sales emails leading to captchas before this moment......you've been a user here for many years, so you would have very likely seen them prior to this.

There appears to be a severe mismatch between you interpreting the word (or my use of it?) "deception" and me using it. I dont think it implies severity.

As I said - apart from discussion - I also wanted to give negative feedback to GOG. I wanted to let other people who dislike this know they are not alone. Etc.

I am certainly not used to getting confronted with captcha after clicking a "get 85% discount" button while being logged in. Not at all. So from my POV its not common. And it would depend on your evidence.

Somehow you are attributing severity to the word 'deception'. I did not want to imply severity nor do I agree with limiting the use of the word 'deception' to something some people (you here) consider "sufficiently severe".

I completely disagree with you here. My personal experience is that "the proper channels" are worse than useless if its about changing the system. Far as I understand they are designed to maximize the distance between decision making process and customers. And you are also completely wrong about me here. I would never have made such a post without personal and factual cause.

Your title: "Gog using google captcha for sales email discount codes....your thoughts on this?"
This does not include discussion about not needing codes in the first place. I am also far less interested in that case "captcha for codes" because it is "grey" (potential abuse cases) instead of "white" (no serious potential abuse cases) like my outlined use case. So I definitely wouldnt want to use it as it doesnt represent my focus point. I prefer to focus on "white" cases.

If the surprise in the surprise party is successful then it probably involved deception.

Care to give a use case?

I dont know what you are trying to say here.

You are correct in that I have seen them before. I however did not associate such past instances with the Email being discussed here. The past Emails which I remember offered some weird 5% "on top" discounts or sth - I dont remember in detail. Or some weird click and search games. Nothing simple like the "Get 85%" here.
Edit: To make this clear: When I clicked the 85% I expected to be taken to the usual game discount list without captcha. If I would have thought there was a chance for captcha I would have deleted the Email instead.

And to reduce the odds of such incidents I just disabled my "Promotions and hot deals" subscription. I hope this prevents the offending Emails.

You not knowing something isn't the same as being deceived. That's just you not knowing something.

It doesn't matter what you or I think....it's what your use of the word is almost certain to imply to others.
(One should always make sure what they write won't be read by some or most the wrong way other than what they intend....this IS a public forum, after all, not anyone's private journal/blog space)

If you were here to get other people's views as well and weigh it all fairly then fine, but if you just want to report things like feedback to gog there are tools for that.

Also let's be serious...how many are as hung up on captcha being such a big deal as you seem to be(that they feel the need to make a thread about it)?

It's been around for some time now, so I will just say that I find your claim you haven't seen it as of yet(from email links) highly unlikely.

Again it doesn't matter...what you are doing is the equivalent of seeing a small cinder in a trash can somewhere and running around with your arms in the air yelling "FIRE!".....the way you reported the issue is much more than is needed for the issue, this isn't the proper place to report such, and your thread title leads one to believe that gog is up to very shady things.

They are still the correct way to handle such, not with (even if unintentionally) misleading thread titles and posts.

How am I wrong? You have seemingly assumed ill intent behind not being pre informed about something as minor as a captcha and made a thread others will likely take the wrong way(from it's title and some of it's wording within) instead of going through the proper channels or making a properly worded(so as not to cause people to jump to conclusions) thread title and some posts here.

Gog sadly doesn't have time or money to tailor emails for every little thing that might offend or bother someone.....they are a business, not a daycare center for all of us.

You did not get what I was trying to prove with that part, did you? I was trying to illustrate that online most people(when they hear the word deception) think the worst, and that you(as an adult) should know this by now and have such in mind when writing posts/titles.

Just because some never get robbed doesn't mean we don't need police....that work?

You are using the wrong wording here....you seem to take a much more broad definition of the word deception than most normally do, and this will likely lead to some confusion and people assuming things form reading your thread title....other more proper words would've worked as well and kept the thread title from being misleading.

Then you knew gog uses captchas for such....so why wouldn't you then assume they'd use it for this as well?

Why? It's not like the captchas will murder your dog and steal all your money. o.0

Silly reply aside: You are making more of this than needs to be made. If it's that big a deal then take it up with support and document such.
Until you need to do one to login(it happens)...then what will you do?

I dont know. Nor do I know why it would matter.
I dont see anything misleading. And I dont believe in your correct way. And in any way me posting this here was (as just outlined) multi-purpose and not single-purpose. So the only option would be to additionally (to posting here) use this "correct way" - which I dont even know what it is.

I dont know if you are "wrong". I wrote I disagree with you which is what I meant.

And "sadly" they missed out on my money due to it.

Correct that I didnt get this. Not at all. Neither do I "think the worst" when I hear that word nor am I aware of others behaving in that manner.

Not at all. I meant outlining the (serious) abuse potential of me trying to buy 85% discounted games into my account as described above.

I dont remember ever seeing a captcha blockade for a direct discount before. Why would I assume there is a captcha?

Wrong.

I try to make them so that they are correct. In my experience some people who want to get more out of it than what the text says (you here) can have major issues with that. But there is no sane way (that I am aware of) for me to counter that. Somebody will always (mis)interpret something.

There is abuse potential considering the fact that it is a personalized one time use code meant for users who already own one of the listed games. In other words the discount is being provided based on a condition. If there is a condition on the discount than there is potential for abuse by those who don't meet the conditions.

You have to take into account that this discount is part of an agreement between GoG and Beamdog.... there is potential for GoG to suffer financial loss as a result of abuse of these codes or for GoG to suffer reputation damage with a business partner.

Had to do it this way(too much text, gog messed up again, etc) -
1. Do you even read what you wrote before? You said before you posted this in part to inform others. By making a misleading thread title you are somewhat misinforming the people you say you wanted to inform.

2. Thing is, you posted this to a global public forum.....you should always bear that in mind and write things so that anyone reading such can figure out your intent and meaning.

As for the "correct way"....read the two bolded bits.....notice the conflicting nature of those two statements?
(And the way I mean is via the support tab and a support ticket above.....again you've been here a long time...you should know all this and what I mean by now

As the saying goes "Ignorance[of how things are or work] is no excuse")

3. Then could you please try to be as close to what you mean when replying....it would prevent any confusion by me or others.

4. Be fair and honest here....how much does most of us spend here on average?

Take that amount and then look at how much they likely spend on just OFFICE SUPPLIES.

5. Then you are either lying or ignorant of common behavior of your fellow man...which is it?

6. Just because you might not abuse a captcha free system doesn't mean everyone else would be as kind...they have to factor in the worst case scenarios when making such site features/aspects, not just your own or my own personal usage of such.

7. Common sense....also gog is not here to hold our hands, and expects people to use common sense.

8. You need to make them so they are also not misleading and would look/sound right to all and not just yourself...this isn't a personal blog but a global forum full of people from many lands, and you need to show some considerations when posting such.

9. Post clear titles that don't paint a one sided or possibly misleading picture, for starters, and be mindful of how others might interpret what you write before you do so....that should suffice, I think.

My (earlier explained in this thread) point was that there is no need for a code in the first place. GOG knows who owns the respective game. And GOG knows who got the Email. Everybody who fulfills the two conditions is entitled to get the discount for their account. The direct use case which I am talking about doesnt have any serious abuse potential that I can see.
Its also possible that the way GOG mis/implemented it with captcha is actually abusable in the sense you described above. (I dont want to describe my theory on how-to here due to potential forum rules breach though.)

The ip holders determine some of the details of the discounts and how they are handed out.....so if you have a gripe then you could take it up with them.

They determine it in the same manner as they determine their DRM use on Steam. (Assuming you are correct with your claim here.)

I am using your scheme now:
1. I have no idea where this is coming from so I cant reasonably respond to it.
2. I dont agree about the intent part. I would prefer it if people would focus on the topic and not my (presumed) intent like you are doing here. And as I wrote I try to be precise regarding the meaning. And about the supposed conflict - there isnt one. As I remember you suggested somehow to take it up with GOG. This is sufficient for my "not believe" statement. However it was not sufficiently precise to do. Maybe your currently added information is sufficiently precise - not sure.
3. Thats exactly what I am doing.
4. I dont know and I dont know what you are trying to say.
5. I think you dont understand that not all people posting here live in the same cultural and social environment. Both in RL and online.
6. You are (again) avoiding a proper answer (give example) and blatantly misleading in that "my own personal usage" is obviously the most obvious most straightforward most simple use case.
7. Common sense for me is to not use a captcha if there is no serious potential for abuse.
I was pointing out the similarity between captcha use and DRM use.