I think there are two different issues with regards to this though. One is the actual process of updating things to actually use them, ie: you have a game installed and want it kept up to date and an update just came out so you want it to be installed. I also believe most people would prefer this to happen in the most convenient way possible and that there are more convenient ways of doing this than the current way on GOG. (But they're also working on improving this also.) The second thing though is that many people, myself included want to have complete backups of all of our purchased games, their updates and their bonus materials all stored locally somewhere and not require an Internet connection to be able to use them. I'm not sure what the most convenient way is of having that, but one would need to have the files downloaded already. That wont work for updates that just came out and you didn't download them yet of course as you still have to download it one way or another, but if you're archiving everything you need to do that too. So people want the ability to download things without requiring special software and that's reasonable to expect too.

They're 2 different reasonable scenarios. Having said that, I'd probably have to agree that in the widest sense of the market of gamers out there, there are probably more people who favour quick easy convenient updates that are painless than there are people like me who want to have local copies of everything for a rainy day. No reason to have to pick between both types of users and provide only a single solution though when it's easy to provide both, so we'll probably end up with both in the long run and I'd actually appreciate having both too, especially for new games that receive frequent updates (although funny enough I disable auto-updates on such games on Steam hehe).

I pretty much agree with almost everything you've said above for the most part. On the issue of update availability though that is a simple thing that there's no good reason to not make the raw update files available via http like they are now. I mean even if there was a client that had super convenient easy update functionality, it still has to download the update files and/or deltas from somewhere and that'll likely be over http so it's almost no effort to put up hyperlinks on the game card to the same files or something of a similar nature. I don't think in this case it is an issue where anyone needs to give up anything really.

I'm personally in favour of GOG writing a more fully functional gaming client that has lots of features and making it available as another optional piece of software users can choose to use or not. It would only be adding new value for those that would want to use it and it wouldn't be replacing anything that is here now if it was designed specifically as an option and not something mandatory. The problem is that many people hate such an idea even being an option at all because they equate it to the Steam client and believe that any piece of software that provides any functionality that even comes close to things the Steam client does, automatically means the end of the world is coming and that it is a "slippery slope" that means it will become mandatory any minute now and that DRM is soon to follow and that the Earth is going to explode and all life in the universe will cease to exist and ...

I don't think however that because people fear something that it automatically means their fears are true or even likely. I certainly don't think GOG should avoid creating such optional software for people who want to use it to be able to choose to do so out of fears of people who never want to use it and fear the end of the world.

The only thing we don't really know is what GOG.com's thoughts are about making such a piece of software an option to have available and whether or not they're working on such a thing.

Here's something to think about... under the premise that such a program might exist some day as an optional option that is optionally available to people to opt into using it, and not mandatory but just an OPTION.... What features would people want to see such software optionally include optionally?

For me, I'd like to see in no particular order:
- automated easy software updates
- automated downloading and archiving of games, content, patches, extras
- game launching functionality, and ability to view game cards off the website if currently online
- ability to buy games from GOG inside the client application as an alternative to the web store
- some simple social networking features such as instant messaging and friend lists
- ability to share your GOG wishlist with your friends and them with you, and the ability to be able to buy people things right from their wishlist such as a surprise birthday gift or what have you, as well as the ability to share the wishlist with the public if you enable that too.
- some kind of forum integration, so you can go from the game page to it's related forum in-app
- ability to redeem game codes and add them to your library

Those are some of the features that I personally appreciate and enjoy the conveniences of from some other game distribution platforms that are out there right now. It's all functionality that is not absolutely needed, but which as an option can give some subset of the gamers out there conveniences that are useful to them and potentially even to compete with some of the other platforms out there, only as an optional piece of software rather than one strictly required. That alone would be a big bonus.

Who knows what they'll surprise us with later this year, guess we'll have to wait and see. :)

Update:
More features for this would be fantasy gaming client:
- Ability to install the games, either right from your hard disk archives, removable media location(s), or optionally via the online account, transparently downloading them and optionally adding to local archives if desired.

Just to avoid confusion, by "in-app purchases" what I meant was the ability to buy a game from the GOG store as a possibility in a different UI. It's possible somebody might confuse that to mean buying in-game items or other stuff which is not what I was intending. :) In other words, just an alternative storefront interface presented inside a different program UI. One thing I personally don't like though is the increasing trend for games to offer all kinds of microtransactions and see all kinds of DLC spam in stores like purchasing a purple pair of shoes for your in game character that are purely aesthetic but cost $1 or other nickel and diming nonsense. Ugh, that stuff is annoying. :) Drives me nuts when I go to a storefront online and sort by price low to high and have to wade through 20 pages of trivial garbage DLC items for various games to actually get to the list of games. Definitely don't ever want to see that stuff on GOG, but if it ever were to show up here (which I doubt) I'd have to vote to request that users be given a way to filter out ever having to see it. :o)

Well when in-app means buying games from GOG within the GOG client I'd see that as a plus myself. I'd like the thing to be my complete interface to GOG such that I don't need to involve a web browser to access everything from the store to my games to the forums which of course is functionality one already finds in the Steam client. I see all that as being nice positives with no downside.

I liked your client wish list and would add to it some stuff I like in the Steam client:

Time tracking of games played if you launch them from the client
Screen shots you could take if the client was running in any game
A Mac client of course!
A Linux client too, etc. - If Steam can do it so can GOG.
Social features including a running feed of friends gaming activities, purchases, shared screenshots, etc.

All this stuff could be really great and I imagine a lot of people would really like it. Adding value in this way had a lot to do with Steam's adoption and success. I see no reason why it couldn't be a really good thing for both GOG and GOG's customers.

And if it isn't too much trouble, retaining the old shelf and download methods would be nice for those wanting them but if for some reason it would be, I'm all for out with the old and in with the new personally. I don't consider myself to be in a position to know what sort of impact on GOG's resources maintaining both options would be.
Yeah, I actually had the same knee-jerk response too initially. I am not fond of IAP.

Yeah, poor choice of words on my part. :)

Agreed, all good suggestions and very importantly none of them would require any game integration/modification to have, nor require anyone to install or use the software against their will which is not only cool but IMHO critically important.

I updated my post to change "in-app purchase" to a wording that more closely reflects what I actually meant. ;o)

Judas, know if this support solution ever made it over to your support guys?
http://www.gog.com/forum/rogue_trooper/hoppa_chase_level_frame_rate_drop_solution

The fix was to use an XP compatibility mode setting on the exe, so should be easy to apply for an updated installer.

Well, I know from another user who got it in the current sale that this fix isn't applied to the game, but when it was first mentioned I advised the guy to send it over to GOG support so that it could be applied to the installer, saving anyone else from having the issue. No idea if he sent it in, though.

All files updated.
I'm still working on the renamers, but they should still work fine.
Just waiting on a couple of game checks and then everything should be as up to date as I can get it.
If you find anything wrong, i.e. you know of an updated game or related extras, then please let me know via a PM.

http://1drv.ms/1fM5Vms

TIA :)

You may want to move the Guilty Gear games to the removed category, at least for now. :(