Taking personal responsibility for your own actions is not simping. It's part of being an adult.

It's quite low on the priority list of changes, seeing as it'd probably be part of a sweeping management change, but sure, why not.

Along with typical web and machine information (browser, screens, input, etc), we can assume GOG collect things like travel habbits, metrics about the games (time, achievements, engagement) you play and don't play, other accounts you linked to your GOG account (wich is the primary reason for Galaxy 2 to exist in the first place, lauching games is a happy coincidence), the account you signed with if you didn't used email and probably a few others I'm forgetting.

Sure, most of the above list is only applies if one use Galaxy in the first place. Otherwise, only when/where/how many times you downloaded the games and for some of us, forum habbits. It's not your data. Is information GOG collected about you.

They collect lots of things by using googletagmanager.*, platform.twitter.* and connect.facebook.* which can be blocked.

And fastly and zendesk which can't be blocked.


And therefore it is your data. At least if you are in the EU.

Hmmmm.... Course i you're using a VPN (like i am) then it looks like i'm switching cities/countries fast enough i'd be the flash in order to do it. Which means that data is pointless.

Machine information (provided by Galaxy or the Browser) is expected, along with accounts you've linked. Which games you're playing (launching through Galaxy) is also kinda expected.

But if you don't use Galaxy, and you use a VPN (both like me) i don't see all that much information being useful.

All of those blocked. Zendesk should i go to the help section may temporarily be unblocked, but yeah it's blocked.

Many folk here care, but you are a bit late to the party, as we had several threads about all this back when they started doing this, earlier in the year or late last year ... forget exactly when.

GOG as usual did not respond or change anything, no doubt because they have entered into deals with partners that require this ... or seemingly so (i.e. actions speak louder than words).

I guess we should be grateful we can use a script like the one TheDcoder provided, that instantly undoes the enabled subscription upon clicking the CLAIM button. That script works great for me, and I don't get any adverts from third parties due to GOG. But then, my browser has uBlock Origin installed by default, and I generally don't see adverts anyway.

So like so many things in life, we just have to suck it up, if we want to gain some benefit that requires something. They could on the other hand, not provide us free games at all.

I'm not condoning what they are doing, hate it in fact, but things could be worse.

That would be my assumption as well. I don't mind GOG knowing that. I'm not comfortable with them giving that info to big tech data theft companies in exchange for money.

I don't think I ever called anyone a simp. I said people are simping.

It's crap because what person DOESN'T want to claim freebies if it's something that interests them? It's screwed up that they'd dangle a carrot and say "Hey, check it out, free games!" so they have a scumbag legal excuse to sell my data, claiming "but you consented!"

The adult thing to do is to stand up for your rights.

Yes, it is MY data because it's data on my system and my habits.

Just because you're comfortable with a corporation stealing your data so they can profit off of it, that doesn't mean we all have to accept it. Them dangling the carrot of free games so they have a legal excuse to do so is the sort of trash that I do not accept. Again, when GOG claims to be about freedom and ownership, yet their biggest PC competitor does the direct opposite with this privacy issue, there's something really wrong going on here.

Yeah, that's fair, I hadn't really noticed until recently. I've been mostly on Steam for the past year or so because of various reasons and coming back to this issue didn't exactly make me feel welcomed back... and many of the replies here only make that worse.

I'm okay with opt-in systems. I even opted in to them collecting data in Cyberpunk and on Galaxy so that they could improve their products. I'm NOT comfortable with them selling that data just because I claimed a free game, however. It's incredibly unfair and so starkly different from the whole "freedom and ownership" philosophy GOG used to have.

Which by reference indicates you believe people here are simps because you believe they are simping. Which isn't the truth of the matter, but whatever.

And since you replied to my post to say "people" are simping, even though you removed the quote block, by the powers of crappy GOG forum code I still got the notification, thusly I know you were directly targeting me. To that I offer you a middle finger. Sit on it and rotate, kid.

If you were more level-headed you'd realise it's more than just with you or against you on this topic. I'm not advocating for GOG's privacy scheme, but I'm not advocating against it. I merely recognise that my optional action of claiming a free game is something I choose to do, and that choice has consequences. GOG has decided said consequence is to opt me into selling my data to so-called "trusted partners", an option I then immediately unsubscribe to. It's not perfect - there's a couple of seconds there I'm subscribed (or a few days if I forget), but I'm satisfied that I have the option to take a game and then opt out again.

There's a certain scene at the beginning of Cobra Kai that your comment is bringing to mind.

I seriously don't have a clue what you're talking about, I didn't remove any quote block. My edit was to correct my grammar on one spot. It's all right there. The only thing I said to you was that the adult thing to do is to stand up for your rights. Getting bent out of shape over literally nothing here, my dude.

And sure, it's not only "for or against", but when a majority of the replies here have been literal brown-nosing for GOG's bad actions, that's pretty much directly in the "against" column. Diverting attention from their actions and claiming it's somehow my responsibility is incredibly tone-deaf behavior. It's why I said people are simping in the first place.

This comment:
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/i_started_a_new_wishlist_entry/post13

Flagged a notification for me. The only time this happens is when someone replies to a post but removes the quote block. I choose to believe this was intentional.

You seem to miss the point (AGAIN!), that IT'S completely UP TO YOU, whether you "take the bait" - or not.

You don't want them "to steal" your data? (which they don't do, btw., since you give your consent by claiming the free game, despite being informed about "the costs" via the (not so) small print in the "Claim free game" field) - THEN DON'T CLAIM THE FREE GAME.

I'll repeat myself: despite your claim in your initial post, nobody is FORCING you to claim a free game.

No GOG employee is holding a gun at your temple or twisting your arm behind your back.

It's only your own greed that does it.

Here's a funny little fact (I'm quoting you here): "You don't HAVE to claim freebies".

You know: that very same little fact, to which you added: "...come on. Get outta here with that crap."

To say it with Taylor: "It's YOU, hi, YOU'RE the problem, it's YOU"

This old chestnut pops up yet again. There's no such thing as a free meal. Eat or don't. I could understand the outrage if it was hidden, but they are up front with what they are doing.

A "free" game. Actually a gift game in exchange for the subscription to the newsletter. Which you can modify or cancel even 1 min after.

GOG offers completely free games, but those are not the ones on "Newsletter givaway". Those are titles like Ultima4, TES Arena, etc.

That "edgy activist" attitude won't help and rarely has helped. It's mostly about endurance (a form of endurance is to not claim) and not about hassle. This kind of erosion has been going on since almost 20 years.