This is the 'General Discussion' forum, as in, non-specific discussion. So as long as rules and the code of conduct are not broken, mostly anything goes...

Short answer: yes
Long answer: yeeeees, because... *reasons*

Well, in truth they did also lock some obvious, specific threads about Steam or Epic right after they announced the policy about linking to other stores. The itch one still exists, though it's been inactive since just before that policy announcement (hope I didn't just point it out to them now...), but do say that scouring itch for good games should be something for GOG to make a point of doing, in order to try to get distribution rights for them too, so maybe that one could even help them.
About the ZP one, that had devolved into a flame war these days, and quite frankly T4T, that's on you for continuing to engage in it. Sure, it's hard, but should have just ignored the provocations after the first few messages. But there is also the issue of posting about any new release or other news on ZP on there, which would understandably fall foul of advertising rules, going well beyond discussing another store. I mean, copying that recent post about EA/Codemasters rights should have been a fair post I'd say, but (also) posting that they had just released another game, not so much. Again, not that I agree with this rule, but I can understand it.
And also understand the comments here that you should have asked this privately and then posted the reply if you wanted it public. Posting on the forum invites discussion on the forum, with other users, and mods/admins will always frown on that happening when it comes to rules (unless they're the ones opening the discussion, of course). It can be done if you want to show that there's massive support to request a rule change, but in this case you don't have it and that should have been obvious from the get go, so a public discussion can only harm.

It is not prohibited to talk about other stores provided you don't link to them or advertise them.
They did this with the thread for ZOOM.

Yeah they're definitely advertising ZOOM.

Ok, so where is the line then, between 'talking about' and 'advertising'. This is what I would like to know. If talking about another store in a positive light or defending it against detractors can be viewed as advertising, then that amounts to allowing a one-sided discussion, which is effectively setting up an echo chamber.

No, they locked the Zoom thread earlier today, rather than simply removing links.

The line will be an interpretation based in the mods criteria. Enough?

Ok, that is fair enough. I made some posts in the Zoom Platform thread shortly before starting the boycott thread. I guess my memory of the timing there was incorrect and I'm willing to admit when I am wrong.

However, it's pretty clear from my posts on pages 12-13 of that thread, that I had only just discovered Zoom at that time - December 9th is when I bought my first games there. The boycott thread was started about a month later and it certainly wasn't due to any sort of affiliation with Zoom. The boycott thread was not a consequence of me being a Zoom user, but the two things shared the same cause, which was dissatisfaction with GOG's direction and recent decisions (which it seems many other GOG users shared).

The boycott thread is clearly about GOG, not Zoom. However, I will go through the first post and make sure there aren't any references to Zoom there, so that it is compliant with the rules.

Another thing I'd like to mention is that all of those quotes you linked are from almost 2 years ago and the GOG forum rules have changed since then. Back then, it was commonplace for people to talk about and link to other stores. In fact, there was a thread running for several years specifically about linking to other stores, which was locked after the rule change. So, I think it is a little unreasonable to compare comments I made 2 years ago with the current forum rules, which have since changed. I have not posted any direct links to Zoom since the rules changed on that.

I agree with your post. If you look through the Zoom thread, more often than not, it was the Zoom detractors who were being hostile and inflammatory. It was usually the Zoom proponents who were on the defensive. As far as I am aware, flaming and deliberately trying to get threads you don't like locked is also against the forum rules, however as far as I know, none of them seem to have been punished. I was doing my level best to be civil and reasonable in the last 3 pages.

From the Coc linked earlier:

"All decisions with regards to post moderation (edits and deleting) and user warnings are made by GOG Staff or GOG Community Moderators, whereas thread locking, temporary and permanent bans are made by GOG Staff. In both cases they are final and not up for discussion. However, constructive criticism and suggestions are welcome, provided they are directed to the forum moderators and not disputed within the forum itself.

If you are confused about any particular action taken that involves you, please contact us."



I don't think its hard to understand what should have been done instead of making this trhead.

I'm sorry for derailing this discussion. It is not about Time4Tea specifically and I made it more about him. For that, I truly apologize. I didn't intend to be antagonistic, but I see now that my posts definitely came across that way. I stand by my statements, but this was not the place to address it. My humble apologies to you, Time4Tea for this. I know you're not a bad guy and despite our disagreements we've had cordial conversation before. I'm terribly sorry. I wouldn't want this kind of scrutiny into my own forum activity.

As many have said you need to have a pm with a gog blue, we are merely forum users so at best you would get several interpretations of what is aloud but only a blue can lay out what you specifically want.

You aren't looking out for everyone, you are looking out for yourself.

You are not a member of this community, you're a plant, for a competing platform, who disingenuously keeps on trying to cause disruption and divert custom elsewhere. You couldn't care less about gog or its community, you are here for your own $elfish, $elf-$erving rea$ons.

The "boycott" thread should have been locked eons ago since right form the get go, in the op, there was advertising and a clear attempt to divert custom to a competing platform YOU'RE IN BED WITH. - you can edit it all you want, see att. pic.

It's High time you and the rest of the plants took a hike, buddy.

As for the rules, this is a privately held public venue, at any given time, regardless of COC's et all for guests, the hosts will only put up with what they feel like putting up with - and if you ask me they've put up with the lot of you plants considerably more than they should have.

I mean, it's quite understandable on the reasons, if you want to talk about the games, news or update of Zoom, then do it on the Zoom forum, this is the GOG Forum, or do you post all the content on Steam too? Or in Itchio? It's not the mention of the store, it's the advertising of somebody who is related with the store, at least with their discord server.

It has been considered perfectly acceptable to discuss other online game stores on the GOG forum for years - that only changed recently.

A simple question: Is it not allowed any more to talk about other game stores on the GOG forum? If so, that's fine and I will observe the rules. But, I would like to know where the line is.

And let's not single out Zoom here. Surely the rule should apply consistently? Either it is allowed to talk about and mention all other stores, or none, right?