skeletonbow: I'm not sure how these changes affect this function in the future however, yes one's game count will change during the progress of the migration of games, and their shelves will expand, but the counter and shelf full of games are still visible on the website technically, so can be compared with an offline list relatively easily still.
eiii: And where do you get that list from? So far there's no way to download a list of the game files.
I either compare my download directory subdir names with the games on my shelf in list order, or I select the list in the web browser and copy/paste it into a text file for comparison.
skeletonbow: In theory it could be done inside Galaxy client just as easily as well once it is complete and all of the games are Galaxy-aware.
eiii: The Galaxy client is still considered optional. So there should be a way outside of Galaxy.
Sure, I wasn't suggesting that one should have to use Galaxy, but rather that it should also be possible within Galaxy.
skeletonbow: I'm able to pan over my shelf right now and see if anything is added/removed/changed and compare it to my local list anyway
eiii: Manually going through the game shelf with many hundreds of games? That's not only error prone but also wasting a lot of time which better could be spent to actually play the games. ;)
Yes, that's exaclty what I do. Takes a few minutes, I own 335 games. Not something I ever need to do often though either. Everyone has their own needs, but my need to do that is rather infrequent and usually just to figure out what game I haven't downloaded if my game count doesn't match the one on the site.
skeletonbow: What is it you're concerned that they have or are going to remove exactly, the total game counter or something else?
eiii: Nothing to remove. But I assume the game counter on top of the shelf will show the number of games in the shelf, which will not be comparable anymore to the number of purchased games (resp. game bundles).
As they split the games up, the counter will go up by the number of new entries added according to GOG statements in the forums, so the counter should always represent the number of items on the shelf.
skeletonbow: What independent control were you using before, say 2 months ago, and what is different now that has removed this control if anything, or if nothing has yet removed it, what exactly is it that you fear losing?
eiii: So far you have the confirmations of your purchases which you get mailed from GOG. From those you easily can get the number of purchased games. This number has to match the number of games on top of your game shelf at GOG. Very easy to verify, so far ...
And gift codes.
eiii: When the games get unbundled in the library, but not in the purchases, the number of games in your library does not match the number of purchased game bundles anymore and there is no way to calculate that number from the mails GOG sent you. So there's no way to check your game library against your purchases.
You're making that assumption, but that goes contrary to what GOG employees has stated in the forums that the game count will go up to match the number of entries in the shelf. Game ABC now splits into game A B C, that is 2 more items on the shelf, and 335 turns into 337.
eiii: It's pointless to discuss that now before we see what GOG changes in the game library. But I expect them to establish a possibility to verify our game libraries and to check them against our purchases as easily as we can do it now.
Except that they've already provided this information so it isn't an unknown. ;) They've already unbundled a few games though so it is measurable already. I just don't happen to own any of the games that have been unbundled so far so I haven't seen it first hand. Someone who does and knows their before and after count can verify it for us, but either way GOG has stated that the count will rise as games are split. I'd post a link but I don't have one handy and someone who cares enough to find the reference will hunt it down and do so. I've already seen it so I'm content. ;)