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General discussionUPDATE: Introducing GOG Profiles(2385 posts)(2385 posts)
(2385 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted April 30, 2018
Activity Feed • Gameplay Stats • Personalization


UPDATE: We've added a new option to the Privacy settings in GOG Profiles - from now on you can turn off your profile on GOG entirely, so no one can see any kind of information that is shown on the profile page. This also means that when you turn off your profile, you won’t be visible on your friends’ friends lists, even if they decide to keep their profiles visible.
The option to enable/disable your GOG Profile can be found in your account „Privacy & Settings” options, under „Privacy” tab.



We just introduced a new feature on GOG.COM: User Profiles – a social way to share what you and your friends are up to. See what your friends on GOG are playing, achieving, and sharing across four sections – Feed, Profile, Games and Friends.

Your Feed is the centerpiece of your Profile. Here, you’ll see which games your friends have been playing, all sorts of achievements and milestones, as well as general thoughts, screenshots, and forum activity. You can dispense your approval at whim and share your own stuff as well!

Your Profile is all about you and your gaming accomplishments. It's a summary of your activity, like the time you've spent in your games , your latest achievements (and just how rare they are among other users), as well as a glimpse at what your most active friends have been up to.

If you want to know more about your Games, you need to hit the the third tab. It contains a list of all the games you own on GOG, together with stats like time spent in-game and your progress towards unlocking the achievements. Sort the list, compare stats with your friends, and get some healthy competition going.

Finally – your Friends: get a general summary of their achievements and hours played. Here you'll also see which games are the most popular among your friends right now, so you can join them in multiplayer or find something you might enjoy yourself.

Of course, your profile comes with some sweet personalization options, choose a wallpaper from your game collection and share a few words with the world.

User Profiles are available for all GOG.COM users. Your personal gameplay stats like achievements, time played and milestones depend on GOG Galaxy, but if you’re not using the optional client you can still use the feed, post in it and interact with your friends.

Launching profiles also means adding new privacy settings on our end. You'll find three new Privacy options in your account's „Privacy & settings” area. These settings allow you to set the visibility for your profile summary, your games, your friends, etc.
So what are you waiting for? There's so much room for activities!
Posted April 25, 2018
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antrad88: I must admit, I was not expecting this type of negative reaction. No wonder GOG hasn't made any major changes in years and looks outdated compared to other stores, people freak out over everything. I welcome this change.
What rock have you been living under? This was so predictable it was mentioned in the 2nd post (with actual user content) on their "pre-announcement" thread.
Posted April 25, 2018
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Breja: This really has become a full blown PR disaster for GOG. And I don't feel bad about it. It was entirely avoidable at every step. It could have been mitigated to a degree even after the profiles launched if they quickly responded to our issues.

I'm honestly kind of fascinated by how badly this was handled from the very start. I think this could serve as a perfect example of how not to roll out a new feature. But then again I'm no PR expert. Maybe riding out the storm in complete silence untill everyone gets used to the new status quo or just goes away will profit them in the end.
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lolplatypus: Worked for the Galaxy installers, didn't it?

Pretty sure this is handled just as intended.
Galaxy installers really were not a big issue, though. They had every right to encourage people to download Galaxy - they did not force anyone to do that, so there's no problem here. You can blame them for making a feature mandatory, not for making a feature a default choice.

This case is more serious (even though I think it's overblown still), because your data is presented until you change it and because some data is still shown no master the settings (aka it's not really optional, which is a valid reason to complain).

Galaxy installers were an example of a first world problem, though.
Posted April 25, 2018
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Banjo_oz: BUT - and it's a big but - GOG's mishandling of this when we're in a climate where privacy is a huge current issue AND your customer base was originally built on people who aren't your typical "sure, why shouldn't Facebook track all my data?" users is what leads to this kind of response.

I'll stand by saying that if they'd:
a) made it opt in, not opt out
b) clearly pointed out how to change privacy settings
c) notified users in advance of this feature and got feedback on it

... then the only complaints would be us old farts who'd say things like "I'm not here for social media stuff and achievement comparing". GOG and those who *do* like achievements, etc. could safely ignore our whinging, if any, in that case. :)
EDIT: Someone thought the below "email" is one GOG actually sent out. They did not, this is what I would have sent out.

(in an email sent to all users)

We know a lot of you enjoy sharing your gaming experiences with friends on GOG and we are about the make that even easier!

Next month we will be launching GOG Profiles, a one-stop shop for sharing your achievements, collection and keeping on top of those great discussions on the forums you want to be part of.

If you want to join in the fun right from the get-go, please head over to your privacy settings and set what you want shown on your profile when the system goes live, as nothing will be displayed by default. These can be changed at any time in the future, so there's no rush.. but we will miss you at the launch party :(

We've dropped a forum thread here (with links to some examples what they will look like), drop in if you have any questions or concerns!

Happy sharing!
GOG Team
EDIT: Made the formatting a little clearer, no content changes
Post edited April 25, 2018 by xyem
Posted April 25, 2018
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Banjo_oz: LOL! I'm internet famous for a second! Notably, I'm quoted being "wrong", however, since it turns out that online status was always shown and not a new profiles thing, right? I don't mind, and stand by not being able to toggle that as a violation of my privacy, and if quoting that helps make more people stand up to such a practice on any website that forcibly shows when you are online, so much the better... but that site maybe should have checked before using a random poster on the internet as a source? :)
Congrats! Yeah. it's pretty obvious they spent zero time reading this thread, as they've labeled us as "diehards resisting any change from the marketplace's previous social agnosticism" which is about as far away from the truth as one could get. Disappointing.

EDIT: I don't think you were exactly wrong though; prior to this, you had to be in the forums and do an active search for a quoted username to know if someone was online or not. Now, it's as easy as bookmarking their profile.
Post edited April 25, 2018 by SpiderFighter
Posted April 25, 2018
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john_hatcher: Are you really supprised by how GOG fucked this up? I'm not, because it would have been the first time, GOG did something right the first time around.
You know I sort of am, because this really is probably the worst of their failures, not because of the issues themselves, but how they handled the whole thing. Even the Galaxy installers fiasco wasn't this badly handled. At least there they actually listened to the shitstorm before rolling out the feature, postponed it and adjusted it before launch.

The end result is still far from perfect (in fact it caused me and others a lot of annoyance on multiple occasions) and they still have not delivered on the promise of giving us the option to set classic installers as default, but that's still far, faaaaar better than this, where they totally ignored feedback they got beforehand, rolled out the feature that turned out to have more problems than we even expected, and continue ot totally ignore the resulting shitstorm.
Posted April 25, 2018
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RainbowDragon: Several other sites seem to have reposted that cnet news item but it seems to have been taken offline by cnet.com for whatever reason...
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Breja: The link still works fine for me.

This really has become a full blown PR disaster for GOG. And I don't feel bad about it. It was entirely avoidable at every step. It could have been mitigated to a degree even after the profiles launched if they quickly responded to our issues.

I'm honestly kind of fascinated by how badly this was handled from the very start. I think this could serve as a perfect example of how not to roll out a new feature. But then again I'm no PR expert. Maybe riding out the storm in complete silence untill everyone gets used to the new status quo or just goes away will profit them in the end.
Thank you for the info regarding the link, I guess I have to recheck with my PC later.

Yes, it is really fascinating how they obviously believe that they can just sit that one out. And how they seem to have absolutely no plan where to go from here and how to react to a crisis like that.

I do not believe that any further negative publicity will create more/new customers so I see no profit for them here. It is also interesting to see how we old dogs continue to harass them (which I see as a sign that we still have not given up on them) and hold up a tiny sliver of hope that maybe in the end this will even be a chance for gog to be - ahem - I almost wrote "great again" :-) - but no, let's just say a better website than before.

Whenever they finally get their act together we may have an - addmittedly very tiny - chance that finally they do a major reconstruction of their website. By now we need at least
- privacy settings for user profiles
- download options (for installers with or without galaxy as default setting)
In addition to that I would like to have
- account settings based on whatever option I click on/off in my account settings and not based on cookies which I delete whenever my browser is closed
- and I would not mind the option to make my online/offline status disappear.
I don't care much about that last one but I see it has been requested rather often so just throw it in for good measure :-)...

@SpiderFighter regarding...
48 hours, still no reply to my support ticket, either. Their Twitter feed has been proudly active though.
...same situation here - my support ticket was also opened on Monday, more than 48 hours ago now and remains without any reply
Posted April 25, 2018

(in an email sent to all users)
We know a lot of you enjoy sharing your gaming experiences with friends on GOG and we are about the make that even easier!

Next month we will be launching GOG Profiles, a one-stop shop for sharing your achievements, collection and keeping on top of those great discussions on the forums you want to be part of.

If you want to join in the fun right from the get-go, please head over to your privacy settings and set what you want shown on your profile when the system goes live, as nothing will be displayed by default. These can be changed at any time in the future, so there's no rush.. but we will miss you at the launch party :(

We've dropped a forum thread here (with links to some examples what they will look like), drop in if you have any questions or concerns!

Happy sharing!
GOG Team
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xyem:
That would have been the good way to do it, but it requires thought and a tiny amount of work…
Posted April 25, 2018
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SpiderFighter: I don't think you were exactly wrong though; prior to this, you had to be in the forums and do an active search for a quoted username to know if someone was online or not. Now, it's as easy as bookmarking their profile.
That's why I thought it was a new "feature", I'm sure... I only noticed it now because I realised every random person who visits my profile could now see that. :(
Posted April 25, 2018
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Taro94: Galaxy installers really were not a big issue, though. They had every right to encourage people to download Galaxy - they did not force anyone to do that, so there's no problem here. You can blame them for making a feature mandatory, not for making a feature a default choice.

This case is more serious (even though I think it's overblown still), because your data is presented until you change it and because some data is still shown no master the settings (aka it's not really optional, which is a valid reason to complain).

Galaxy installers were an example of a first world problem, though.
I absolutly agree. My intention was less to compare the severity of the cases, but more the similar approach.
To put it differently; Gog has been ten years in the business, they aren't new to this anymore. I'd be shocked, if the feature didn't roll out as intended and the reaction wasn't anticipated.
Posted April 25, 2018
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HypersomniacLive: Not fully caught up in here, just posting to say three things:

- Filled a ticket (#244025) regarding the horrible job they've done regarding the non-communication and privacy violations. Made suggestions about needed changes and fixes. Also told them to offer more options to those asking for wider publicity. Let's see which ones they tackle first, if any.
Thanks for posting so tidily.

I filled a ticket too (#243382). Asked them for the means to hide, edit or delete any information regarding my profile and to remove any information that is not really needed by their service.
So far no reply. It must be noted that even a reply doesn't imply a resolution. In the past they wanted to close a ticked even if the issue was not solved because they "had pass on the information". A ticket should stay open until resolved.

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HypersomniacLive: - I want to publicly thank GOG for making me the recipient of friend invites from people I not only haven't heard before but with whom I have exactly zero mutual friends. All while I've got my social settings set to "only me", and the visibility check-box unticked. Keep up the great work, GOG, and give yourselves a pat on the back, you surely deserve it.
I'm afraid they are actually doing that.

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HypersomniacLive: - I've created a community wishlist here requesting notifications for forum replies to be restored to their original place in the bell, and encourage people to vote for it, and if possible, to additionally file a support ticket.
Signed.
Everytime they screw up it make me realize that all the problem they claim are hard to resolve are simply being neglected. In the years they found the time to develop an awful lot of half-backed feature.

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HypersomniacLive: Last but not least, here's also the link to the community wishlist entry requesting true privacy control for those who want it. A few hours before we hit the 48hrs since the launch of profiles, it stands at 319 votes.
I believe they are the last one to even read the community wishlist. The only use it when they have to justify their decision shifting the blame on their own userbase ("our users asked for that"), it's a pity that what they implement and what is on that list are in fact not related.

I really wish some news outlet pick up the gravity of the situation and compile a list of GOG failures for everyone to see how they handle this things and their community. At least they won't have their facade to hid their anti-consumer moves.
Post edited April 25, 2018 by MIK0
Posted April 25, 2018
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Dalthnock: <snip>
This is unacceptable.

DRM-free may be worth slightly higher prices. It may even be worth outdated builds of games. But sharing of personal information, however minor, is a bit too high a price for me. Much as it pains me, it's time to move on to Steamier pastures.

The first number VISIBLE TO ANYONE on my profile will only increase through GOG connect. If I can even be bothered with it. So long, GOG. We'll always have the breach of my trust.
I'm going to wait and see; it's entirely possible that their attorney has advised them to stay silent for the moment until they can figure this out. I'd still expect a "We hear your concerns and are working to address them" statement, but that is hopefully coming.
Posted April 25, 2018
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tfishell: I don't know if it bears repeating or not, but if this change causes you to start spending less money on GOG (the main thing that counts), consider letting GOG know why
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PixelBoy: That's a good point in theory.
When GOG did their fake shutdown stunt, I took my money to DotEmu for a while then.

Unfortunately, there aren't as many DRM-free options available now as there used to be, so spending less money here probably means buying less games in general.
Itch.io seems like a friendly bunch to me. They also sell Steam keys, but many of their games also offer a DRM-free version. Linux is not neglected either,
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mk47at: i agree with most things, but this one. Why would choosing something made by the world's biggest data miner increase your privacy?
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xyem: You can put custom ROMs on an Android phone and choose not to use Google's apps on it.
As far as I know, this isn't the case for the iPhone.
Actually it is, when using Cydia (hope I spelled that one correctly, couldn't be bothered to check because I don't use iOS)
Post edited April 25, 2018 by jorlin
Posted April 25, 2018
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xyem: You can put custom ROMs on an Android phone and choose not to use Google's apps on it.
As far as I know, this isn't the case for the iPhone.
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jorlin: Actually it is, when using Cydia (hope I spelled that one correctly, couldn't be bothered to check because I don't use iOS)
Useful to know, thanks :)
Post edited April 25, 2018 by xyem
Posted April 25, 2018
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PixelBoy: That's a good point in theory.
When GOG did their fake shutdown stunt, I took my money to DotEmu for a while then.

Unfortunately, there aren't as many DRM-free options available now as there used to be, so spending less money here probably means buying less games in general.
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jorlin: Itch.io seems like a friendly bunch to me. They also sell Steam keys, but many of their games also offer a DRM-free version. Linux is not neglected either,
And then there is Zoom-Platform (https://www.zoom-platform.com/ ). They don't have a forum, but they DO have a bunch of 100% DRM-free and client-free games. (got Overlord 2 and some other games there)

humble has mostly turned into a Steam key reseller, but still has some DRM-free games

Then there is Lutris (https://lutris.net/ ), which has a collection of open-source Linux games. Not really a game-store, more a help-site for getting games to run on Linux. But still nice.

Question: does anyone have experience with games-rocket? (https://www.gamesrocket.de/pc-mac/drm-frei.html ) They offer DRM-free games as well, but as of now I never bought anything there.
Posted April 25, 2018
Looks like on GOG, we are now the product. Wonder how this stacks up against privacy laws across the world.
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionUPDATE: Introducing GOG Profiles(2385 posts)(2385 posts)
(2385 posts)