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General discussion (archive)GOG or Humble Store?(45 posts)(45 posts)
(45 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted August 22, 2013
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HiPhish: Humble Store is not really a "store", it's just an outsourcing solution for developers. Similar to for example Fastspring. There is no store front, developers simply use it as a middleman to sell games from their own site. If you don't know or don't want to write your own solution you just let the middleman take care of it and in return they keep a cut of your revenue. They don't promote your game, they don't display it in their catalogue, they don't have direct support for customers (or do they?) and they don't organize any special sales, all that is up to you.
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Rincewind81: Legend of Grimrock without easy modding via Steam Workshop.
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HiPhish: Just use Nexus Mod Manager
http://grimrock.nexusmods.com/mods/modmanager//?

I haven't tried it myself, but if people actually recommend the Nexus Mod manager over Steam Workshop for Skyrim it can't be that bad.
I know that there is the nexus and other sides for mods, but i wrote easy. And Steam Workshop is a very easy and comfortable way to manage, install, update and delete mods. Next in this list would be Don't Starve - now with Steam Workshop... Ok, you can mod the GOG version manually, but I am a bit lazy...
Posted August 22, 2013
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nijuu: Not strictly true. At least when you visit Steam or GOG you can find whats on sale. Many people don't even know HB store exists let alone devs having sales on it.
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Rincewind81: As mentioned before, strictly spoken the humble store can't be compared to GOG or Steam. Because it is just a Plugin or payment widget for the developers, not a Website oder Digital Store like GOG or Steam. If you want to compare this to Steam or GOG you must count every Developer with a Humble Store Plugin. And if you visit their Websites you can find whats on sale, too. ;)
Why is it even called a store then? :P
Posted August 23, 2013
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geoconker: I think the main reason I still prefer GOG over HS is that GOG seems to be more reliable overall. The customer support is nice and I don't see GOG going away in the next few years, unlike HS - I tend to think some day I'll wake up and see a message from HS saying they had to shut down their service. Not sure why >_>
You clearly weren't around in September 2010 :-P

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timppu: And also I think GOG handles patching better (as in, GOG offers update patches, while HB just offers you to redownload the whole installer again).
You dislike messy installer names in HS but applaud GOG's patching? I've found that a lot of people have got issues with GOG's patches - especially the numbering, making it difficult to figure out whether or not one has the newest version.
Posted August 23, 2013
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timppu: And also I think GOG handles patching better (as in, GOG offers update patches, while HB just offers you to redownload the whole installer again).
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Lhademmor: You dislike messy installer names in HS but applaud GOG's patching?
When I say that GOG offering patches is better than not offering patches at all, that can hardly be called "applauding".

Earlier GOG used to be like HB is now, ie. you didn't get patches, but you had to re-download (and re-install) the whole installer/game each time the game got updated. I think it was generally considered as an improvement over the old way, that GOG started offering the updates also as separate patches.

I didn't claim GOG's patching system is even near perfect, but if you think HB's no-patches system is better than GOG's patching, then I think you always have the option not to download separate patches from GOG either, but the whole installer (when it finally gets the patch integrated).

Anyway, since you are the OP, I guess you had made up your mind already in the beginning that Humble Store has no cons whatsoever compared to GOG, but it is superior in every possible way (even the way it doesn't offer DRM-free patches). So I guess this thread is more of a Humble Store awareness and promotion discussion, rather than a honest question and discussion about pros AND CONS of each store.

Oh I forgot from my original list: The Humble Bundle/Store web/account pages suck ass compared to GOG's pages.
Post edited August 23, 2013 by timppu
Posted August 23, 2013
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HiPhish: Humble Store is not really a "store", it's just an outsourcing solution for developers. Similar to for example Fastspring. There is no store front, developers simply use it as a middleman to sell games from their own site. If you don't know or don't want to write your own solution you just let the middleman take care of it and in return they keep a cut of your revenue. They don't promote your game, they don't display it in their catalogue, they don't have direct support for customers (or do they?) and they don't organize any special sales, all that is up to you.
At least I recall HB/HS staff commenting on whether HS will be getting an update to the version you can download from Humble Store, so that sounds like support to me. They didn't just redirect you to the game developer/publisher to get updates, but appeared to be the one requesting the update to arrive to HS.

Special sales: what are the Humble (Indie) Bundles then? Aren't the same people behind Humble Bundles and Humble Store? At least www.humblestore.com redirects me to www.humblebundle.com. Also on this unofficial(?) site http://humblestore.webs.com/ it says:

We are an unofficial site for the Humble Store, a Steam-esque game store which currently does not have an official database. humblestore.webs.com hopes to fill that gap by offering a complete guide into the world of Humble Store. This is not a scam- our links take you directly to the store page. We also provide info on the regular Humble Bundles that the creators of Humble Store run.
Anyway, I find it incoherent and double-standardish to imply in a "Where should I buy my games, GOG or Humble Store?"-discussion that you can't compare the two, at least if we are talking about the cons of HB/HS. If GOG and HS can't be compared to each other, doesn't that mean this whole thread is irrelevant?
Post edited August 23, 2013 by timppu
Posted August 23, 2013
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Smannesman: Also if you buy RL and really hate Steam, I wouldn't mind taking the Steam key off your hands :P
I may be mistaken, but I think that would be illegal.
Posted August 23, 2013
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Rincewind81: ...
You made me curious, so I went to see how complicated it is to add mods to legend of Grimrock manually. I'm on OS X and can't use the Nexus Mod Manager anyway. I went ahead and downloaded this mod:
http://grimrock.nexusmods.com/mods/65//?
I had to doanload *one* ZIP file, extract it and place *one* file into a certain folder. Just waiting for the Steam client to launch and log in takes longer than "installing" a mod for LoG manually. Seriously, it's actually less convenient to use Steam!

I hate to be the "kids these days" guy, especially since I only got into PC gaming a few years ago, but this is just ridiculous. All you have to do is move one file into one folder. If you want to talk about inconvenient modding look at System Shock 2 where you have to merge folders and overwrite files in the proper order. However, even System Shock 2 now has mod managers where you just place a bunch of ZIP files into a folder, set the load order and the manager takes care of the rest.

You can read about modding Grimrock on the official website; the folder you need to place mods in is "Documents\Almost Human\Legend of Grimrock\Dungeons" on Windows and "~/Library/Application Support/Almost Human/Legend of Grimrock/Dungeons" on OS X.
http://www.grimrock.net/modding/

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timppu: ...
If I gathered a bunch of Fastspring links and collected them on a site, would that turn Fastspring into something like the Mac App Store? No it wouldn't, it's still just an unofficial collection of links. Besides, I'm not saying you can't compare Humble Store and GoG, I'm just pointing out that they are not the same thing. Apples and bananas are not he same thing, but you can still compare them to a certain extent.

Personally I'm fine with the Humble Store, I don't really care about extras like wallpapers or avatars and I don't need community forums. Just give me my games DRM-free, that's all I'm asking for. I bought FTL and Dungeons of Dredmore via Humble Store.
Post edited August 23, 2013 by HiPhish
Posted August 23, 2013
I would favour GOG for 'political' reasons. In that they're the only one with a proper DRM-free stance. Humble have been disappointing me frequently recently with lots of Steam only bundles and some Steam only games in their store.
Posted August 23, 2013
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ydobemos: I may be mistaken, but I think that would be illegal.
Sssshhhhhhh.. what happens on GOG, stays on GOG.
Posted August 23, 2013
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timppu: Anyway, since you are the OP, I guess you had made up your mind already in the beginning that Humble Store has no cons whatsoever compared to GOG, but it is superior in every possible way (even the way it doesn't offer DRM-free patches). So I guess this thread is more of a Humble Store awareness and promotion discussion, rather than a honest question and discussion about pros AND CONS of each store.
Sheesh, calm down man. I didn't even know about Humble Store until a few days ago when I bought Gone Home through the dev site.
And btw I've got close to 90 games on GOG, and still consider it my go-to place for PC gaming. If I ever gave the impression that HS is far superior to GOG, it sure wasn't my intention. I've got no reason to claim that (nor the opposite), because I don't know the Humble Store concept that well.
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SirPrimalform: I would favour GOG for 'political' reasons. In that they're the only one with a proper DRM-free stance. Humble have been disappointing me frequently recently with lots of Steam only bundles and some Steam only games in their store.
Good point. The stern anti-DRM-stance seems more important than dev supporting, at least to me
Post edited August 23, 2013 by Lhademmor
Posted August 23, 2013
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HiPhish: I hate to be the "kids these days" guy, especially since I only got into PC gaming a few years ago, but this is just ridiculous.
Hey, I am over 30... :D
You made me curious, so I went to see how complicated it is to add mods to legend of Grimrock manually. I'm on OS X and can't use the Nexus Mod Manager anyway. I went ahead and downloaded this mod:
http://grimrock.nexusmods.com/mods/65//?
Yes if you want to install ONE mod and know exactly which one... Steam offers a Mod Browser, Ratings and Downloadcharts and an easy way to explore and try several mods.
I had to doanload *one* ZIP file, extract it and place *one* file into a certain folder. Just waiting for the Steam client to launch and log in takes longer than "installing" a mod for LoG manually. Seriously, it's actually less convenient to use Steam!
Ok, if you don't count browsing, searching, downloading, read the FAQ where to put the files, C&P the files to the destination and keep Information about the installed mods it is more convenient.

Installing and uninstalling mods via Workshop is done with ONE click with the mouse (Subscribe or Unsubscribe)...
Posted August 23, 2013
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HiPhish: If I gathered a bunch of Fastspring links and collected them on a site, would that turn Fastspring into something like the Mac App Store? No it wouldn't, it's still just an unofficial collection of links.
Humble Store is much more than just a collection of links. They have support, they organize promotions/sales (Humble (Indie) Bundles), they host the files, they take a cut from the sales etc. So it is much more than a mere links page, like some torrent site.

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HiPhish: Besides, I'm not saying you can't compare Humble Store and GoG, I'm just pointing out that they are not the same thing. Apples and bananas are not he same thing, but you can still compare them to a certain extent.
I got the vibe that it is ok to compare them, as long as you don't mention any cons of the Humble Store. Because to all of them the reply would be "You can't damn Humble Store for having incoherent installers and not offering patches, because they don't even try to control it but leave it up to the game developers/publishers.". Yet, to me as a customer, it certainly affects how I feel when making purchases from the site. So of course I can mention those as cons of HS/HB, when compared to buying same games from GOG.

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HiPhish: Personally I'm fine with the Humble Store, I don't really care about extras like wallpapers or avatars and I don't need community forums. Just give me my games DRM-free, that's all I'm asking for. I bought FTL and Dungeons of Dredmore via Humble Store.
I'm fine with HS/HB too (I have several dozen games from them) and I am after only the DRM-free installers really (just like in GOG), but I still recognize that getting the DRM-free installers from GOG is generally a better experience for me, for the reasons I mentioned before. It doesn't really matter to me why it is a better experience, e.g. "HS doesn't try to control it the same way like GOG.". Well then, it is clearly a downside on HB/HS that they don't control it.
Posted August 23, 2013
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Lhademmor: Good point. The stern anti-DRM-stance seems more important than dev supporting, at least to me
Well I guess you could say I want to support the devs and GOG.
Posted August 23, 2013
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Rincewind81: ...
Yes, but you are not factoring in the time it takes for Steam even to launch. Even when you have Steam launch automatically when you boot up you pay that time upfront. Of course people who have Steam running all the time don't notice this, but for me the Steam Client is actually a downside. Let's just agree that giving the user a *choice* is the best way to approach modding.

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timppu: ...
It is OK to name the downsides of Humble Store, but those come from Humble Store not being an actual Store, but just a middleman. That's like complainign that frozen pizza doesn't taste as well as fresh pizza; it is a valid point, but that's to be expected from frozen pizza due to its nature. In the end everyone has to decide for themselves what they prefer; at least you are given a *choice*. These days most games are Steam exclusive, which is driving me crazy.

EDIT: I see the Humble Bundle as a different service than the Humble Store. You will see games in the bundles which you can't buy via Humble Store (like Shank or Torchlight) and they are not based on a fixed price, but on donations. They just happen to place games from both Bundle and Store in the same library, because it would be stupid to do otherwise.
Post edited August 23, 2013 by HiPhish
Posted August 23, 2013
I prefer GOG, its more of a store I can come buy stuff at as opposed to going to a developers site to buy (and only if I know of a game). GOG may take a larger cut, but they also advertise and promote. As an example, I would have never know about FTL had it not shown up here, can't buy it off their website if you don't know about it in the first place. Saying this, I don't have a problem with th Humble Store, its just GOG is my first choice.
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussion (archive)GOG or Humble Store?(45 posts)(45 posts)
(45 posts)