This.

The D&D Anthologies are great value for money, glad to see them back. On a sale the price on these can't be beat, and they're practically the GOG versions anyway. GOG really should sell the same collections.

Mucho dinero.

It wouldn't surprise me if GOG holds some kind of legal ace in regards to the D&D collection games. They were the ones that got the licenses figured out for the digital resale. If they were smart they brokered something that gave them unlimited sales rights. It is already highly probable that they had a one year exclusive deal after their release. They managed to negotiate this while still being in beta, so they must have some heavy draw in the negotiations. Heck, maybe GOG even holds parts of the digital sales license. It is telling that those games are using the same build that GOG made for all the other releases.

wasn't there a post about the goldbox d&d collections being released on some platform a while back? what happened to that - just someone telling fibs?

They were pulled a few weeks ago when the rights fully moved from Atari to Hasbro. Probably the other retailers simply have to redo the arrangements with Hasbro, something GOG originally had already done.

That was about the Gold box and other SSI era AD&D games appearing in the Gametap client under coming soon and rumors spiral out from there

If there was concern, it was completely unwarranted. We already knew GOG had brokered a deal with Hasbro and everyone they were suing (or were they suing Hasbro? I can't keep those things straight) to get the games here in the first place. There was no danger of them leaving here, only the potential for them to finally show up on other sites, thanks to GOG's negotiations (GOG's deal set a precedent that others could follow). You might even say these games showing up elsewhere was inevitable, so unless they are offering a phenomenal deal on these games somewhere else, this is really non-news. At least one of those GS collection might be considered a good deal, but still not worth the dramatic announcement or the OPs frustration over a few of us pointing out the obvious that he seemed to have missed.

These games WERE available everywhere else. They were even the GOG versions. They were taken down about 2 months ago from Impulse, Atari's websites, and Gamersgate. That's what this thread is about, not that they are finally showing up on Gamestop. Given that those sites sold the games for a couple years and that they were taken down very fast, the question was raised about the few sites the Dungeons and Dragons games didn't get removed from (GOG and Steam, though Steam only sells Neverwinter nights 2). The OP is not trying to stump for Impulse but simply posting the news that Hasbro is clearly working with retailers regarding the license so there's no reason to worry.

And all I'm saying is that there never was a reason to worry. GOG's deal was the first deal to be made with Hasbro directly in conjunction with the lawsuits; all those other sites had pre-lawsuit deals with the publishers, but not necessarily Hasbro, given the wrangling over the license. That's why they were removed from those sites and why they weren't removed here. Like I said, the games showing up on other sites is not really news, it was inevitable after Hasbro regained the digital rights at the end of last summer. All they needed to do was finish the paperwork then re-negotiate deals with the distributors. It's not surprising at all that some sites would end up having the titles removed, only to have them return once Hasbro worked through those negotiations. About the only place I would expect they won't be returning to is Atari's store.

Those packs are the main reason I haven't dipped into the D&D's here yet. Last sale had the D&D anthology with BG1&2, IWD 1&2, Planescape Torment and Temple of Elemental Evil for a little over 6 dollars for the lot. And they're the updated/compatible versions same as GOG.

So yeah, they're a phenomenal deal I'd say :)

NWN2 on GOG complete for $9.99 kthanks.

Did you finish reading past the one line you quoted?
The "D&D Anthology: The Master Collection" GS is offering actually is a good deal compared to GOG. It's practically "buy 2, get 4 free" at it's current price (20 bucks), but I wouldn't go so far as to call it "phenomenal". If they were actually selling it at 6 bucks, that would be one thing, but they aren't.

Saw them in my local "Media Markt"

Indeed. Well, I would pay more than that, but I definitely want that game here. :)