I have The Guild 2: Renaissance here at GOG, but there are two other stand-a-lones for The Guild 2 which include the base game. All of them have serious issues with bugs, base game and Venice being the worst, and Renaissance being the far better version recommended.

Over time I have repeatedly tried to clear up what the situation is with these stand-a-lones. Some say that Renaissance contains the others, but from what I have been able to gather, it just contains certain elements of the other two.

https://www.gog.com/game/the_guild_2_renaissance
https://www.gog.com/game/the_guild_2_pirates_of_the_european_seas
https://www.gog.com/game/the_guild_2

https://www.gog.com/forum/the_guild_series

So I have pondered buying the other two, though only the Pirates one is available here at GOG, and the suggested link for Venice no longer works.

Anyway, I decided to search for Venice, and found it on sale at GamersGate for about $1.69.

https://www.gamersgate.com/DD-GUILD2V/the-guild-ii-venice

Now I have never used GamersGate, never even been there that I can recall, and for some reason I associated the name with Abandonware. Anyway, according to Wikipedia they seem legit.

At that price, I thought it was well worth grabbing it, especially as it was listed as DRM-Free ... more about that aspect in a moment.

Thinking I might create an account and buy the game, I decided to check out their other DRM-Free games, and currently they have 34 pages worth of them. Now there seems there are some good ones amongst them, but most reminded me of games available from Big Fish Games and the Microsoft Store. I had them sorted by price, and just out of interest went past what I would pay, and got to Page 31 before I had a catastrophic problem.

Web pages at GamersGate stopped loading for me, giving some nonsense about an IP mismatch.

I persevered for a while, and then gave up and tried to find information about the issue. This resulted in a thread at Reddit from 4 years ago.

https://www.reddit.com/r/GameDealsMeta/comments/40oloo/be_careful_if_you_are_considering_to_buy_from/

Now while GamersGate seems legit, I was getting a feeling it was a bit shonky ... more on that later.

At this point, I tried the Opera browser, first without VPN, with no success, and then with their VPN, and I did have success stupidly enough. My normal browser is the Chrome clone - Brave ... a fast browser for low spec systems.

Anyway, my PC had been working hard all day, and maybe a memory issue was at fault ... happens on rare occasions after moving lots of files around etc, so I shutdown for a little while.

When I booted back in, I tried again, and was rewarded with success, and not wanting to waste any more time, I created an account. The time being related to when the sale was due to finish. When I first found the game, I had over 10 hours left to get it, but now I was down to less than 6 hours.

Then I waited for a confirmation email that contained my password ... and waited .... and waited ... and waited ... etc. In fact I waited a good long while, and eventually sent off an email to GamersGate Support when there was 3 hours and 20 minutes remaining for the sale. I was very frustrated at this point, especially as I was long overdue for bed by then.

I waited a little while longer, then gave up truly annoyed and went to bed.

Late on the following day, Support finally responded. No mention of the game or what I had been through, just that I should check my spam folder. I still hadn't gotten that password email yet, some 18 or so hours later.

Anyway, I responded saying I did not have a Spam folder, which I don't. I use Thunderbird as my main email client and all emails end up there, even from Gmail, which I hadn't used. On top of that, I always check at the server using nPop, before downloading emails to my PC, deleting any unwanted or suspicious ones.

I also told them I was well versed at creating accounts, having created oodles of them all over the web, and never had this issue.

Much later, they responded again and gave me a password to use, and said they would get their techs onto the situation. Still no mention of that game.

At this point I tried the password and I was able to login. The game when checked, was no longer on sale of course.

I then sent another email off, asking about the game and getting it like I should at the sale price ... it being their fault not mine that I couldn't get it during the sale, and the chief reason I created an account. Not heard back yet.

See my next post for some of the things I have alluded to.

DRM-Free games at GamersGate would appear to have their own form of DRM applied.

What does that mean?
Well, the only way to get their games after purchase is to download a downloader file for each.
Now in and of itself that ain't a real big issue, and it is just a downloader, not some bloated thing like a client.

When I finally was able to login to GamersGate, my library showed the usual three free games that all new members get. One looked pretty crap, so I only downloaded the other two.

Now I had earlier looked at their FAQ, and I was aware of how the downloader files worked, and was a bit troubled by what they were saying.

Anyway, each downloader file downloads to a temporary folder in the same location. The download is named 'launch' with no extension and in a unique numbered folder within that temporary folder.

At the end of the download, an install prompt is presented because the installer is now running.

The file previously named 'launch' is now an exe file with the name of the game.

The FAQ states you can cancel and redo the install later. So I did that for both games, but not before copying the exe files elsewhere. Just as well I did, because after a prompt asking whether to keep the installer, the file if kept is renamed back to launch. You can imagine I was highly suspicious at this point ... why rename it?

Anyway, I then disconnected from the web, and installed the first game using the installer file I had copied elsewhere, and that worked and I was able to start the game, though I only went as far as the main menu in game.

I then tried renaming the 'launch' file for the second game, using the name it had been. That failed to work, so I am imagining some sort of encryption may be involved. How does that equate to DRM-Free?

Many folk out there would maybe not have been savvy enough to copy the installer file before closing the installer, so from their perspective, they would be dealing a with a DRM game ...they would have to run the downloader file again and enter credentials. It probably wouldn't re-download the file, but that is beside the point, and it may still need a connection.

Is this situation shonky or what?

As for that second game, I also installed that using the copied installer file, and all went okay, except the game would not run on my PC ... some video issue. The game is only listed as being supported by Win XP and Vista and I was using Win 7. I may test on my Win XP PC, but not enough free space right now.

Well I have now heard back from Support again, and as you probably guessed, no banana for me.

This is what they said. While I am just tempted to delete my account, I will do as suggested, as you never know what Xmas might bring.

However, I will just leave it up to their notification system, cancel their newsletters, and essentially not use the store until I get that game. If not for that game or one like it, I would never have bothered to use their store, especially as GOG is my much preferred store. They had their chance and blew it ... can't say I mind too much, shonky as they seem.

In regards to the Guild 2 questions.

Every iteration of the Guild 2 contains the previous version(s). The last one made was Guild 2: Renaissance, which was a fan based/developer approved, fix/add-ons version to (I think) Guild 2: Venice.

I really liked the idea of the Guild series, but sadly the games had too many bugs to make them enjoyable. Multiplayer (which I don't do) was supposed to be particularly bad in The Guild 2.

I'm waiting for Guild 3 to release a stale version, but I've been waiting for years now.

I keep reading conflicting reports about that.

Here is another recent one - https://www.gog.com/forum/the_guild_series/the_guild_2_renaissance_content/post2

After much investigation, like I said, it appears some elements of the other DLCs exist, but not everything.

But I'm not totally convinced yet, so are you 100% sure, know for a fact that all is included?

If it all is in Renaissance, then it will make me feel better about what happened earlier tonight, and thank my wife rather than be annoyed at her. Before the midweek sale ran out at midnight, I tried many times to purchase Pirates for $3.59, but it kept failing, with no error message etc. Both GOG and PayPal seemed to think everything fine, but I never got the games in my cart. In the end I ran out of time, after restarting my browser, trying a different one, etc, etc. I thought my PC or GOG or PayPal were playing up. My wife was asleep at the time, and it was only when she got up to visit the Loo that I found out there was only a dollar in the account ... she'd spent up big while she was out during the afternoon, and forgot to transfer more funds across or even advise me when she got home ... broke the rule we have. She looks after the banking on her PC, so I am not even setup to check.

I'm not doing very well with these other Guild 2 standalones ... feel a bit jinxed.

I'm so old, I'm not certain of my name, much less a game I played decades ago.

My understanding was, at the time Guild2:Renaissance came out, that it was the previous Guild2:(I forget which one, Pirates, maybe) but with fan based fixes and a few additions. Much of the multiplayer was redone, although I think it was still problematic, but I don't do multiplayer, so I didn't care. One of the fans was supposedly a former Nordic employee. The group which worked on it was called, I think, RunicForge or something like that. Rune Forge? It was a while back. I paid attention to most of the discussion while it was being built, but was very surprised when the game actually was available on discs. I also recall that just before release they had started working on a different game and were not spending a lot of the required man-hours on Renaissance that they should have spent.

It appears all that data is gone, wiped from the internet, a problem so few understand is a problem. But I digress.
There might have been a little chopping done for Renaissance, but I know my memory says that each was supposed to be an incremental build on the previous version. Basically, each version was an incremental standalone DLC in today's parlance. If anything was chopped, I think the dropped material was such that it was unnoticeable. I bought and played them all, hoping beyond hope that they'd finally got it right. Oh, well. I know I didn't notice anything missing from each version.

Ok, thanks for the info.

If I can get Venice and or Pirates DLCs cheap enough, I may still grab them to be a completist, but going by what I have been told I certainly wouldn't want to pay much for them. And perhaps Fate has been trying to tell me something, when I missed out on both of them recently when cheap, due to circumstances beyond my control.

LOL.
Nope, we are well organized and have a rule. Sometimes rules get broken for one reason or another ... nobody's perfect. Normally I am able to check with her, but it was a matter of timing on this occasion.

It was a deliberate decision to only have one person do the banking, especially online ... gets less complicated that way. I know what to do to check myself, but by default I am not setup for it, so more trouble than I want to bother with on-the-fly.

When I was the only one working I used to do most of the banking and tax stuff myself. Now that she is the only one, as I've retired, she does it. It generally works well, but things happen sometimes, and my angst is not long lasting.

Whatever will be will be. Que Sera Sera.

P.S. My wife will no doubt outlast me, so better she is well versed in financial matters.

When I first looked at GamersGate (back in 2011 - how time flies), I queried this with their support and was told (eventually) that an online connection would be needed for any installation (their response started with "But this has nothing to do with the Game registration or installation DRM, nothing like Tages or Securom. Just the downloader, not even a software like Steam." and progressed to "Yes, it is kind of DRM as well unfortunately, but it is not the extreeme drm used on games, rather than just a download one.").

I drew from that response that their idea of "DRM free" didn't tie in with anyone else's and chose not to go ahead with any purchase.

Your experience does tie in with others that their DRM is easily bypassed by making a copy of the installation file created by the launcher. Now it could be that their system is intended as the bare minimum to satisfy games publishers (allowing them to offer a wide range of games with minimal restrictions on consumers) or it could be that they are just using DRM-free as a sales pitch and hoping prospective customers don't check too carefully.

Being the cynical type, I'm voting for the latter explanation and consider their position to be highly unhelpful in that it muddies the water about what "DRM free" should really be. They aren't alone in this either with several Kickstarter projects (Elite Dangerous being the most high profile, but Worlds of Magic, Kinetic Void and Jetpack 2 being further examples) promising but not delivering DRM-free products.

This is very old news, and the workarounds are well known too. ;)
Oh yeah, the dev for that turned out to be a complete dirtbag.

Thanks for all that info, and like you I am not encouraged to buy from them, even though I can seemingly bypass their DRM.

Well to be fair to me, I am a hermit living in a cave, so never had any knowledge or dealings with them.

In fact, I only came to GOG due to a free game link provided by a friend .... and the rest is history.

I had an account with Steam back in the day ... couldn't avoid it due to discs I had, but I hated them and never really used them ... all too hard back then.

Another friend put me onto Itch.io once I got back into gaming thanks to GOG.
And a mention here and there at this forum put me onto the Humble store.

Some of the other stores I have been dealing with since, are due to my love for free games ... LOL.
Hell, I even check out some sites these days that tell you about where free games can be found.
And somewhere along the way I found out about free games at Epic and IndieGala and others.

I don't think I ever saw mention of GamersGate in the free game context, and like I said earlier, my mind had an association for them with Abandonware ... no idea why, except perhaps the connotations of the name.

I would consider GamersGate a last resort for a few reasons. The covert (but easily bypassed) DRM is one, but the other reason is the fact they've done some scummy things like pull downloads and replace them with Steam keys.

Well with that DRM method they use, they certainly qualify as shonky, which means don't trust them very much.

And for those who are savvy enough, their DRM is easy to bypass, but I suspect many wouldn't be that savvy, so certainly effective, which is why no doubt they use it.

So yes, a last resort for sure, and if only spending a few bucks, and in my case I would be relying on PayPal just in case.

I seriously doubt they are going to see any of my business anyway. First off there is the game that lured me there, and it is a matter of principle for me that buying that at the advertised price must come first. I will think about the possibility of other games after that. They need to win some measure of trust with me, and that is the parameter to start off with.

Trust is a two way street for me, and places that don't work that way, don't tend to last long with me.