toxicTom: The point of Galaxy was - at first - to make day one releases - most notably Witcher 3 - stress-free, with all the updates coming in. I was there, part of the team even, somehow.

toxicTom: They can either promote their own store - and Galaxy 2 does that already - or they can promote other stores. It's really mutually exclusive, because each user dollar can be spent only once.

GameN16bit: Each dollar can only be spent once, doesn't mean I can pick where the dollar is spent or spend more than one dollar in each store.

adamhm: Anyway, this adds to my point: GOG Galaxy *is* GOG, there is no such clear distinction between GOG vs GOG Galaxy as GOG are trying to make as an excuse for their newfound support of DRM. Many people don't even realise the standalone installers exist, and I've often seen people simply refer to the Galaxy client itself as "GOG".

toxicTom: As "spend more than one dollar" - people usually have a budget for entertainment. If they spend that money on an EGS game, they can't spend it in the GOG store. It's really that simple.

adamhm: It's clear that GOG are focusing on the "Don't ask questions, just consume product and then get excited for next products" audience now.

Pheace: Can't say I didn't see this coming, when they introduced the Galaxy client which seemed to be the big solution to the problem, except it wasn't the consumers problem, it was GOG's because until that point it was almost impossible to add games that had online multiplayer because DRM-Free MP options are rare. Suddenly No DRM meant No Single Player DRM and the erosion has basically continued from there (as it was already doing in other ways before that).

With a ton of Witcher players probably using the client as well as Gwent players, the core no-DRM crowd on GOG has probably long become a relatively insignifcant minority. If it wasn't for the Witcher IP's I'm not sure GOG would even be around anymore. In that sense, that means GOG, as a no-DRM store has pretty much become expendable from a business perspective. It's basically there so CDP gets to keep their cut from the IP's they sell and the rest just seems to maintain it.

adamhm: The crux of the matter is:

* GOG launched back in 2008 on a platform of treating customers fairly, with a number of "core values", the main one being their opposition to DRM.
* They built up their brand and userbase on these core values.
* Over time these "core values" have been eroded and dropped one by one, leaving just one: DRM-freedom, which they have repeatedly assured us that they would never back down on, stating that they view DRM as an anti-consumer and unethical practice that they would never support. "DRM-free" essentially is/was GOG's identity.
* Meanwhile they've been working on a client, GOG Galaxy, which they insist is entirely optional.
* However they've been working towards making GOG Galaxy the primary focus of GOG to the extent that:
- It's heavily promoted everywhere on the site and many users don't even know that the standalone offline installers are a thing because Galaxy is pushed so hard. For many users there is no distinction; "GOG Galaxy" == "GOG".
- They've used deceptive tactics to try to trick users into installing the Galaxy client (such as a BIG download button for Galaxy + hidden or small links for the game installers, or bundling the Galaxy installer with game installers and installing Galaxy by default, etc.)
- The standalone offline installers are now getting neglected in many cases; missing updates, broken updates not being rolled back, etc.
- Users of the standalone offline installers requesting support are routinely told to use GOG Galaxy as the first suggestion and have to be persistent to get proper support for them.
- Linux versions of many games are not being released here because of the lack of Galaxy support, etc.
* As a result of the above, it's clear that GOG Galaxy isn't as optional as they claim, and that GOG's "traditional" userbase/people who use the standalone installers are now effectively second-class customers. Linux users are pretty much third-class; an afterthought.
* At the same time, GOG's communication with the userbase has mostly stopped. It used to be that staff members would regularly interact with the community & seemed like GOG actually cared about gaming & their customers... now there's mostly silence, except for the occasional "good news" (tm).
* And now GOG plans to drop the last of their "core values" and start selling games with DRM. They'll be promoting and profiting from DRM'ed games, and apparently they think this is ok because it'll only be offered through their client - the same client that they've made the primary focus of their store & direct their customers to as much as possible - and because they'll only be the ones selling the games & won't actually be the ones supplying them.

It's completely hypocritical. Why should anyone trust GOG after this?

Pheace: With a ton of Witcher players probably using the client as well as Gwent players, the core no-DRM crowd on GOG has probably long become a relatively insignifcant minority. If it wasn't for the Witcher IP's I'm not sure GOG would even be around anymore.

rjbuffchix: Would you say this about any other type of website/software that uses this style of directing people to click on one download link over the other? This is what some folks here are referring to as a malware-like tactic.

Pheace: Suddenly No DRM meant No Single Player DRM

GameN16bit: Honestly, I'm just really tired of the doom and gloom the users of this forum revel in. Anytime GOG does something users complain and moan and say GOG is abandoning DRM free and installers and is going to make Galaxy mandatory, etc etc. It gets old, no matter how many times GOG says that is not happening or that Galaxy is optional or that the GOG.com store will always be a DRM Free store. It's doesn't matter, users here only believe what they want to believe... and say there are going to leave GOG, etc, and yet most of them are still here complaining.

haldrie: We pretty much don't have anything else so I say we fight like hell and get as many people to buy their games through GOG instead of Steam or other platforms so GOG doesn't ahve to resort to stuff like this just stay afloat.

Gersen: Directing peoples toward the button they are the most likely to use is not "malware-like tactic" it's basic common-sense UI design.

Breja: No one at GOG even thought this deserves a news post or an official news thread.

lazydog: Whilst we are on the subject, care to explain why the offline installer options where at the same time hidden behind myriad menu options?

haldrie: I have had my issues with GOG and this is certainly one of them as well but if we all just abandon GOG instead of trying to help them do better then what is the point? We pretty much don't have anything else so I say we fight like hell and get as many people to buy their games through GOG instead of Steam or other platforms so GOG doesn't ahve to resort to stuff like this just stay afloat. If anyone is to blame it's us for not doing enough to make sure GOG is profitable and that more, modern games are released on the platform rather then years later when most of us have most likely already played them in one form or another. This is a huge blow and venting here I'm sure makes a lot of people feel good and I guess it does me too some but let's not forget what things are like outside of GOG. I encourage all of my friends to buy GOG as much as possible and whenever a new game is released I check out if it's coming to GOG or other drm free platform and thanks to that I found quite a few games that were being sold on GOG but never advertised it. I see a lot of games that are sold drm free that don't advertise they are on anything other then Steam when they are really sold on several platforms even if GOG isn't one of them. We need to fight to change that and maybe fix GOG to make it what it once was in the process. So I say do not abandon our home here, make it better.