Has anyone in this lengthy topic claimed that GOG will stop selling DRM-free games tomorrow? Iirc one user talked about how we can't trust GOG not to do so at this point, but this seemed to be made as a general statement, not as a claim that they will stop selling DRM-free 24 hours from now. The whole concern isn't tomorrow...it's a year from now, two years from now, five years from now. FCKDRM.com discusses the importance of game preservation. It also discusses the problems with DRM. Unfortunately, since GOG the company apparently does not believe in the values of DRM-free anymore, I find no reason to trust that they still believe in game preservation. After all, the two subjects essentially go hand-in-hand.

I have not seen a coherent rebuttal yet of why GOG's move to sell Epic games is somehow different from what happened with Humble Bundle becoming a glorified key reseller. The most "argument" I have seen is "that won't happen"...uh, yeah...okay. Obviously none of us can see the future but it certainly seems a more educated guess that the pattern will repeat once Epic/devs/pubs have all the negotiating power and GOG.com has virtually none. Remember, us offline installer users who don't want a client are just an insignificant minority. The push by both GOG and their partners will be to get more people on Galaxy, not to get developers/publishers to throw crumbs to an insignificant minority audience who use the website.

Interesting example you chose there, since didn't Bethesda try to add DRM to Doom, which predates Fallout 1, not that long ago?

I think the only thing I have agreed with you on in this topic is the importance of backing up the offline installers :)

Well, that was more or less my point as well. GOGers will probably leave because of GOG giving them the impression to not care enough about DRM-free anymore. It does not matter at all if this is the case or not. As usual GOG simply seems to be blind for the image and reactions they are creating and instead of opposing any wromg image by opposing wrong suspicions they decided (once again and I don't know how often I have to tell them that this is so, so wrong) to not communicate things with us ... beause things might get worse (my god, GOG - you burned your fingers on social media - no need to keep your silence for all eternity in your own forum).

I expect Epic negotiated a deal to get a one-year exclusive on "GOG Support".

If the pay is sufficient, this is exactly what they will do.

Thanks for the laugh! :D
I almost spat out my coffee. :P

And I thought we told them how to disarm such a situation just a few years ago ... I wonder if they did not listen or simply lost their notes. Sorry, but the whole idea of this event back then was to fix such situations and to learn how to approach your customer base. It was a great experience, no doubt - but did they really not learn anything?

That specific event actually came to mind recently and I wondered the exact same thing. I mean, how does a company attempt to come closer to their customers (well, in that case, invited a few customers over there) to exchange feedback and experiences, while the next moment they appear distant and also trying to catch some fish from the DRM lake too?

I recall the atmosphere in the forums was "warmer" a few years back. There were people actually supporting GOG without even working for them. Some staff members were actively participating, even just for fun. Now it's all the inverse, most people are mad at GOG (for obvious reasons) and even staff members mostly appear for the scarce typical announcement.

I respect you for your patience, man. That's not for everybody. I really hope that the ppl saying they will stop buying from GOG because of this take a moment to think again. There's not many DRM free stores out there.
I actually like having Galaxy 2.0. I can track my playtime and, in some cases, have some achievements. But, of course, the main reason why I use GOG is to download the offline backup installers, to own what I buy. As long as I have this feature, I'll be spending money here. To me, THAT is the reason why I started buying games here. And I still can't see this going away. If it happens, well.. I'll just stop buying. It's very simple.

When I first joined it certainly was that. Blues engaged with you. Made jokes and comments, and occasionally you could have a lengthy back and forth with them either over the joke or comment in a good and fun way.

Fast forward to now the only time a blue really appears is when something gets announced or needs to be dealt with, and even then they don't always show up.

Probably can chalk up all those changes to management shakeups over the years. Seems to be too much of a revolving door for management/hourly staff to think that the people that pushed for better communication with the community are still part of GOG. Either that or their hands are tied now by more draconian NDAs. With the current GOG any form of transparency or basic communication with the community simply doesn't exist.

They could reverse this course of action by engaging in discussion with the community, but that probably will never happen. Most of us miss the days where questions and comments would be answered by someone higher up on the GOG food chain, but those days have long left us. Building a community should of always been part of the business plan, because happy customers are more willing to spend the cash on future products. However they seem to not want to take a hands on approach and choose to ignore the numerous issues at hand (old and new).

GOG really needs to open up discussions with the community, even if it is only on these boards and that will at least signify that they give a flying fuck and are willing to work through these issues.

And I wish GOG would have taken a moment to think again. I've been here all along waiting to buy DRM-free offline installers of games (the modern equivalent of buying relatively-unencumbered physical releases back in the day). The way I see it, GOG the company now is no different than the companies of the past and present who abandoned DRM-free gaming for Steamworks and other such DRM schemes. They are the ones abandoning us, not vice versa.

You are correct on the last point and I would frame it as: GOG.com is the sole DRM-free store that sells a large quantity of big releases. That is what differentiates it as there are other much smaller DRM-free stores that do not sell the big name releases. Unfortunately the company apparently does not see this as a unique selling point and doesn't want us coming here for that. They want "the mother of all clients" to be their selling point, it seems. Can't say I get it.

Yes, it is now finally time to make them feel how low they have become - mock their name! May I suggest Grog, grab, glib, phug or something similar

That habit of mine really seems to stick in your craw. Anyway, I think another user already came up with Games On Galaxy. Seems very apt.

Exactly, both.

Back then it felt kind of like home, for games I mean. The staff were part of the community and this, in turn, made me more confident in supporting them (i.e. buying games here).

Now it's turning more and more into a faceless corporate store. I am not going to the far extreme and say that I'll stop buying games right now because of that, but I am certainly not sure if it's going to be all nice and convincing in the foreseeable future.