GreywolfLord: That type of response is also a good way to trigger a violent response from China...and them trying to trash the site and hack everything while they are dealing with a bunch of other stuff taking their attention probably is not what they need currently.
edit: I don't really like this situation either, or what GOG did, but I certainly would be cautious if I were GOG in this type of situation.
RafaelRamus: What? Saying that there is some controversy regarding the game and the Chinese market? That is public knowledge! Saying they are not releasing the game is just the truth, and saying they have no new release date in sight is also true. What "violent response" could they possibly get?
People are blinded by this "China stuff = I'm scawy". Yeah, they are 1 billion. Well, India is another one. US and Europe is another one. Well, you know, there are 5 times that number outside of China. Another crazy thing is people thinking all of those are middle class. Most of them are "out of poverty" because according to the UN you can earn less than U$ 2,00 a day and you're already "out of poverty".
So yeah, you go on pissing everyone off because China is "danzelous".
F* China and f* Xi Jing Poh.
It's not that they are a Billion, it's that their hacking is extremely aggressive. Governments in the US and Europe are attacked all the time by Chinese Hackers, and those are Governments. What can a smaller company like GOG do in the face of that!?
I agree that GOG should NOT have blamed their base (gamers) for this decision. It could be they got slammed like STEAM did (with fake Chinese accounts, but in this instance a bunch of emails and such from fake outraged Chinese acting like they were gamers) and thought the emails and such were legit...they should have just said that they were not going to release it at this time and left it at that...but I can understand WHY they would be hesitant.
They are in the middle of another crisis (not GOG specifically, but their parent company) and I really don't think they can expend the resources to fight off or be defensive against a Chinese internet assault right now.
Which would make you angrier...what GOG did, or to have them hacked by the Chinese and all your information to be in the CCP's hands right now? I'd probable be even MORE upset if the latter happened then the former.
And, as we've seen in the past, even if some accept that it was the hacker's fault, the company still takes a majority of the blame. I'd think GOG would have deeper problems if that happened than doing what they did.
It's an infuriating situation to be in. I don't think we should give in to the demands of a Red China in things like this. If you submit to what they want, who knows how far else they will go.
On the otherhand, they ARE a threat in these instances. They are a BIG threat and they have shown they are not afraid to push their weight around. if it's a choice between what GOG did, and having China unleash it's electronic resources to punish GOG...
It's a rock and a hard place situation...how far do people want GOG to go. Are they already on the Hill that they want all their information taken by a possible Hack because GOG's parent company is currently placing most of their resources into the Cyberpunk situation and can't expend anymore on building up GOG's defenses against an easily offended China...because my feeling is that if that happened many of those here wouldn't be commending GOG on taking a stand, but instead complaining about how GOG didn't do enough to protect their information or try to do anything in their power to keep it safe.
GOG HAS done something to keep it safe here perhaps...which is another facet to consider.
People aren't giving China enough credit for how hostile China gets with those that defy them...and what that type of hostility can lead to. I'd imagine people would blame GOG even moreso than China if a Chinese attack was successful. Losing people's personal information in that way probably would hurt GOG FAR MORE than their decision on Devotion has already...and could possibly hurt it more than the Cyberpunk situation has.
(Edit: Because...when if that happened, people would REALLY not buy things on GOG for fear of it being insecure...it's been a deathknell to many companies).
This is not to say I like this type of choice, but I can understand it. Once again though, GOG SHOULD NOT have blamed the gamers for it's decision, just state that they are not able to release the game at this time or something like that.
And it puts a foul taste in my mouth as well, being dictated by an overwrought bully of a Nation like China is not a good indication of how things are going in the world. We need more pushback by our governments to defend companies against things like this.