Huh, that is quite nice... the install one doesn't seem to work for me, but the openGameView one is.

I might just have to steal those and implement some links myself :D

Do you have one that could be used to download the backup offline installers via Galaxy? I might be able to cobble together a downloader alternative then...

Well isn't that exactly what you're doing already with these changes though? And with my first two suggestions there are no extra steps - it's just an addition to the final stage of account creation or making a purchase to make it clear what to do next, for people like this: https://www.gog.com/forum/general/hi_im_brand_new

There'd be something like:

"What now?

[if this is displayed at new account creation insert another message here about buying games, and the free games added to all new accounts]

There are two options for installing and playing games from GOG.com. You can use our Galaxy Client to install games from our store, which includes advanced features such as single-click installs, achievements, cloud saving and much more!

[insert Galaxy screenshots]

Visit the Galaxy Page to download the Galaxy Client.

Alternatively you can use our traditional standalone installers via your library page. Simply visit your library page, select the game you want to download and download the installer file (or files, for multi-part installers), then run the installer and follow the instructions as you would any other piece of software."

This would also be part of the "Welcome to GOG" email, and could perhaps be added to order confirmation emails as well. No extra steps required and it wouldn't get in anyone's way.

The idea is that someone will go to their library and select a game as they do now, and if this is the first time they're doing this then it displays a little message about the option for installing games through Galaxy. This would be part of the current popup where the download links are presented. At this point they can either dismiss it & view the download links or follow the link through to the Galaxy page; whichever option they choose it goes away forever and after this it would work exactly as it does now.

Edit: To further clarify, the current process:

- Access library page, select game, popup appears with download links for the standalone installers

My proposed change:

- Access library page, select game, popup appears with message about using Galaxy to download games and simple Yes / No option to either proceed to the Galaxy download page or present the download links for the standalone installers as it is now. This only happens the first time anything in the library is accessed via web browser, and will never appear again once it's been acknowledged by the user.

One message to make sure people are aware of the Galaxy client before providing download links for the standalone installers with simple yes/no dialogue that goes away forever after it's been seen and acknowledged, no inconvenience caused.

That would be a lot more convenient for everyone involved than messing with the installers, having two different kinds of installer etc. though. Steam manages to do it quite effectively :)

i never claimed to be a gog galaxy expert.. the few time i dared to try and use it, it gave me only trouble and not very convincing features/overall experience, so excuse me if i didnt insist on keeping installing each and every new patch and version "just to check if finally it would make me think it is great" (and i did test it both at closed beta, normal beta and out of beta steps... so i could see the whole evolution and overlal fix... and yet OH MY GOG ! i still DARE not to be convinced at all.)

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Your problems don't lie with the installers, they lie with the site design, which is sub-optimal to say the least. Christ, you don't even mention to download ALL the files and THEN doubleclick the 1st one. And "Try Galaxy" isn't doing yourselves any favors, either. It should be something like "Quick and Easy Installation", with the offline installers on a separate page, call it "Manual Downloading and Installation". You do it that way and you force customers to make a more informed choice.

Evidently this is at least the case when it comes to Galaxy, considering the justifications given for wanting to modify how the installers work... which is why I made my earlier suggestions. Make the existence of Galaxy and what it does clearer, provide details about it when registering a new account and buying games (Steam does this for their client) and once more when accessing a game in the library via the website for the first time.

It's what GOG has been saying, and I'm saying it, too. Again, All "Try Galaxy" is likely to elicit is, "huh, what's Galaxy?", whereas something like "Fast and Easy Installation" is something almost everyone can recognize. But don't just send people straightaway to the files because that increases the likelihood that they'll try to download them and then fail.

In the game library, instead of "View Downloads" try "Download Options", which takes you to a page with two options: "Click and Go!", and Manual Installation. Because as I mentioned, this forces people to make a better informed choice.

Cheers

Forum is in melt down mode. hahaha.

Let's take a look at the purchase process. When someone goes through the checkout and finishes paying, they're taken to the order confirmation page where they are presented with only two options: "Share" and "Go to my account". There is little else here, nothing explaining about Galaxy or how to download the games.

Look at this from the perspective of a new user who knows very little about GOG: what do I do from here to access the game(s) I just bought? "Go to my account" would seem to be the logical option. This takes me to the library page where I can see my games. There's not much here so I click on the game I want to download, and a popup appears. Ah, there's my game, under "Game downloads". The "Try Galaxy" button doesn't register as I'm too focused on trying to get at the game I just bought to care about whatever "Galaxy" is.

Adding information about and instructions for both Galaxy & the standalone installers to the account creation and order confirmation pages would help new users a lot more than any changes to the standalone installers.

My guess - this is just PR BS, same as the other answers provided until now by the gog team. They know what is going on but are not allowed to give us any relevant answers by the upper echelons. The honest answer is like this:

"We have much bigger plans for Galaxy but we can't tell them to you because it will create an even bigger outrage and we'll lose more money and customers. So, for the time being we try the slippery slope approach hoping that our blind, loyal customers will fork over more money until they'll see our company's true colours and abandon the ship. Our gambit will attract new fish that will bite the bait to replace the delusional customers who believed in us this far. *Fingers crossed*"

The informations, does Galaxy is THE future of GOG is spread out everywhere.
In Articles, Interviews, Investor informations.
But many prefere to ignore those facts and hide behind "conspiracy theory".

Galaxy may stay optional for customers, but it is INTEGRAL for GOG.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cock_and_bull_story

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_and_pony_show

.
Are these guys not so bright, or just full of shite???

And the client design isn't any better than the website design?

Wow.