trusteft: How do you manage to get replies from GOG support within the same month?
I needed GOG support twice in the recent memory and both times it was handled by auto replies (failed) and in both cases the problem was "auto-resolved" by waiting enough days without ever talking to a real person.
Midoryu: You know... I'm in first/second level support myself and I used the
"secret passphrase" to make sure I'll get treated accordingly.
Joking aside... I can't really say how their system works and how much this is affected by the assigned agent.
Could have just been lucky.
I first opened a ticket using the chat bot(as I find it interesting to see how much they evolved... or not) and then went to make comparison screenshots between my GOG copy and progress and my Steam copy. (Played the game since release.)
When I returned to my ticket a few hours later I already had received the first reply, saying that it was being forwarded to the appropriate team.
I'll attach my request for reference in full.
My first inquiry, with the bot, was as follows:
Hitman(2016) - offline progression is impossible
- all suits and equipment are locked behind an online requirement.
You can not unlock anything while playing offline - only use stuff you unlocked while being online.
On top of that it is not possible to use a Steam save file where everything is already unlocked on the GOG build. It states the profile/save to be corrupt and resets it upon launch of the game.
Midoryu: Then, later after gathering the screenshots
(took the freedom to fix a few typos for this post, else the same):
I've attached several named screenshots to show off differences between the GOG and the Steam version.
Note that I've played the Steam version, online as I'd have due to it's DRM at release and already unlocked items, starting locations and clothing - those are of course not visible for GOG, as I unfortunately failed to make my Steam save work with the GOG version and vice versa.
I'd like to point out that
- replayability is a huge factor for the last few Hitman games, also touted as such by its developers, they either don't know their own game very well or do not care or know about GOG's DRM-free principle
- this replayability is achieved by unlocking new starting areas and clothing, also new weapons and gadgets which afford new strategies previously unavailable to the player
- some of that equipment, which is not available on GOG except when unlocking it online, is currently used to promote the game on the games store page on GOG, as for example the two GIFs/movies in the description text
- while there are some aspects of the game where an online only connection can be argued for, unlocking skills/weapons/clothing surely is not one of them
- currently there is absolutely no incentive/advantage for me at all to launch my GOG copy instead of my Steam copy - currently the GOG version is nothing but a glorified demo, if you're playing offline
- if you launch the EngineBenchmark.bat in the games main directory it launches Steam for the benchmark, via launcher it works normally
- game progress is stored in the folder LocalProfile - that folder is reset everytime when copying existing Steam saves over to the GOG build(and vice versa)
Example path:
C:\Users\Midoryu\AppData\Local\GOG.com\Galaxy\Applications\54504350291134065\Storage\Shared\Files
So, if it at all be possible I'd like
- the online-only requirement for content-unlocking removed, it has no place at a DRM-free store
- the compatibility between save files on different platforms for PC(Steam, Epic, GOG) restored or atleast a way for existing save files to be in some way imported
- unlikely, but can't hurt to ask: The Elusive Target Missions/Escalations should receive atleast another run, where GOG users can experience them or their unlocks should be obtainable by other means - as in my opinion those were often the most interesting items to get
- also, side note: Steam users got the soundtrack and Making of a while back, this is missing on GOG as well and can no longer be claimed by connecting your game to your IO account:
https://account.ioi.dk/?t=rewards You can find additional discussions about the online implementation of the game on GOG here:
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/release_hitman_game_of_the_year_edition_11093/page1 https://www.hitmanforum.com/t/hitman-game-of-the-year-edition-on-gog/11671/17 Hitman(2016) is a great game and it would be a damn shame when its potential gets wasted,
I would kindly urge GOG and IO Interactive/Feral Interactive to remedy those issues and make the GOG version the best version of the game it can be.
Thank you very much,
Midoryu
Midoryu: Later I also referred the agent to my original GOG forum post and informed him using my existing ticket about every contact with the IOI support team and its exact nature - same the other way around.
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Edited a few minutes later: Added sentence about informing the support units about the new info from their respective counterparts. Thank you.