Linko64: Let the fire just take it's course is one sure way to set more fires later down the line
EnforcerSunWoo: Not keeping an eye on a trash fire could burn GOG's house to the ground sooner or later. There are many things that are still smoldering that they have ignored for quite a while that can easily add fuel to the fire if they are not careful. They seriously cannot afford to keep acting this way, because sooner or later the smoldering is just going to lead to one big blaze that will get out of control. The amount of distrust between the community and GOG is at an all time high and will only grow bigger if they let shit like this fester. In the end though, they are doing this to themselves because cutting corners, ignoring issues and being dishonest seems to be in the new management playbook. Almost seems like they want this place to fail...
i play magic: the gathering.
i bring this up, because wotc - the company who makes magic - and their owner, in turn - hasbro - only care about the money.
if there's backlash in the community about any given thing, they literally just ride it out, because in the end, they strongly believe [and unfortunately, they've been proved as "basically correct"] that regardless of whatever storm happens to be brewing in that community at that time, any number of "more positive things" [new releases, old cards being re-released, pretty looking versions of cards, etc] will EVENTUALLY weigh down the bad publicity and hasbro/wotc will "win" in the end.
the other part of this equation for wotc/hasbro is churn: the rate at which people get into magic, play a lot, then burn out. it's become VERY clear that hasbro and wotc don't care [at all] about the entrenched players [they're just a vehicle to buy more cards - but - for the most part - the companies helming the game don't "pander" to those players.]
those companies who steer magic are literally beholden to their shareholders. the players literally don't matter. [or, they DO matter, but only as long as they're buying customers. controversy has stopped being something they care about.]
i think we're at a point in gog's history where they're "behaving" the same way.
that is to say:
yes, there are multiple, ongoing fires. and sure. that knocks gog's reputation with players and game collectors and preservationists, but for gog - and gog's shareholders, in turn,
NONE OF THAT MATTERS.
literally the only thing that matters anymore is plowing forward.
plowing forward means more games like hitman.
plowing forward means doing away with freestanding downloaders.
plowing forward means more games like gwent.
etc.
to gog, we're just a nuisance. and eventually - through churn - we won't matter anymore.
and at that point, sadly, gog will "win."
[it'll be an oddly pyrrhic victory, because while i think gog will get what it wants: the ability to sell those sorts of games on the store. it will also find that it is IMMEDIATELY outmatched by steam and epic.]
but that's functionally where i think we are at.
it's been JUST ABOUT two weeks at this point.
if gog wanted to be transparent, they could have. [even if that just amounted to changing the store card for the game.]
but we are here at this point with nary a peep from them.
that just suggests, to me, that this whole firestorm is "working as intended."
it sucks, but it's not surprising. :(