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General discussion (archive)GOG says big sales are bad for gamers.(259 posts)(259 posts)
(259 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted April 06, 2012
I really think that the argument of lacking consumer disciplin or lacking "emotional connection" is retarded. I bought my girlfriend of 3 years a cheap as fuck metal chain when we first met and she still has and loves it. The pricing does not affect how much you like something if it is really great. I also found loads of my favourite games with 50 hours+ on steam sales and the devs got at least some money which is more than the 0€ they would've gotten without the sale. You sound way too much like EA. "Don't be so entitled and pay more"

I also want to add that like 50% of GOG's games are from defunct developers. Every cent made with these games is going straight to GOG's wallet and the rightholders and to no developer at all. This doesn't really fit the good guy act.
Post edited April 07, 2012 by Infernoplex
Posted April 06, 2012
If discounted games are bad what about free game promotions?
Purchased fallout a while ago and now it's free, that's ok mind you. Would like to grab a gift code for later but it doesn't work.

60 dollar game new, two years later it's a 1 dollar game on sale? That's a bit much, but consumers have been trained to follow deals. Why not argue waiting 10 years for a game to become free?

Initial price reductions should occur, not only will this aid initial sales (no idea what the optimum price range would be, also doubtful to occur when people line up for certain franchises) it would decrease the second hand market (maybe even the theft/underselling market).


Then again I'm going to be pre purchasing Guild Wars 2 at a high price, if it was on sale... I'd buy two.
Posted April 06, 2012
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Infernoplex: I also want to add that like 50% of GOG's games are from defunct companies. Every cent made with these games is going straight to GOG's wallet and to no developer at all. This doesn't really fit the good guy act.
That goes for pretty much any digital game seller to a lesser degree mate.Id say many buy from gog for the classic games themselves rather than support a developer (indies being excepted i guess)
Posted April 07, 2012
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Infernoplex: I also want to add that like 50% of GOG's games are from defunct companies. Every cent made with these games is going straight to GOG's wallet and to no developer at all.
You really don't know how these things work, do you? Do you think GOG just picked random "abandonware" and said "Lets sell it, there's no one to sue us"?

The IP rights to those games are still around, whether in the hands of the original developers, original publishers, or the publisher that bought the publisher that bought the publisher that published the original game. GOG is not making any more on those games than they do on any others.
Posted April 07, 2012
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Infernoplex: I also want to add that like 50% of GOG's games are from defunct companies. Every cent made with these games is going straight to GOG's wallet and to no developer at all. This doesn't really fit the good guy act.
We sign agreements with the rights-holder to every single game we offer for download, free or paid.
Posted April 07, 2012
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Hawk52: Simply put, their argument is wrong.
I can't even begin to list all the games I've bought on sale that have become some of my favorites of all time. It's a lot.
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F4LL0UT: Sure, you can get good games on sales but I agree with Guillaume. When I pay 30 to 50 bucks for a game I buy it because I "respect" it. Before the special sales started on Steam I used to play every single game I had there - now I haven't played about a third in my library and have only seriously played like 3-5% of them.

The main problem however is this one: by buying any game you cast a vote. You give money to the developers or their publisher and this way they know which projects are good, which one show the right direction for the future. If you just pay for games that you don't even bother to play, this evolutionary process is being disturbed.

For example this might happen: some indie developer made some game, hundreds of thousands of people buy it just because it's on sale. Seeing the success the developers assume that their game was awesome and people want to see more like it. Then they develop a sequel or something but it fails epically. People don't really bother buying it. They actually bought the previous game but didn't like it at all or aren't ready for a sequel yet because they don't know if the previous game was any good as they had no chance playing it because their games library ist just too huge. As a result we either get worse games or even destroy some developers just by being ignorant consumers. That's terrible!

But sill my main problem is that I generally loose respect for games, even the good ones, when I'm drowning in them. They really do loose value.
You sir, are my hero - I completely agree with you about what you said. The magic dies a little from gaming when we have SO MANY games to play and all are bought dirt cheap.
Posted April 07, 2012
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Infernoplex: I also want to add that like 50% of GOG's games are from defunct companies. Every cent made with these games is going straight to GOG's wallet and to no developer at all. This doesn't really fit the good guy act.
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TheEnigmaticT: We sign agreements with the rights-holder to every single game we offer for download, free or paid.
Well, I meant every single cent that could go to the actual developers goes to "rightholders" and you guys.

I don't want to sound like a hater and I really love gog but I disagreee strongly with sales being bad for the "emotional" part of attachment. In fact I think YOU are what is wrong with gaming when the pricetag of a game is directly linked with how intense the experience is. I had some of the most awesome gaming moments of my life with free games(Dwarf Fortress or Cave Story for example). It's at least as retarded as people who buy Smartphones or anything else because of the pricetag and the social status attached to having it instead of one that is the actually the best or suits your needs.

The most important thing for me is how good the game itself is, the convenience of the service( No DRM etc) and how much money goes to the actual dev team I might want to support. That's also why I pledged for Double Fine and Wasteland 2.
Post edited April 07, 2012 by Infernoplex
Posted April 07, 2012
If GOG doesn't want to have big sales, then that's perfectly fine. There's no need to try and justify it like that :/

FYI I've never bought a game on sale just because it was on sale.
Posted April 07, 2012
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maycett: If GOG doesn't want to have big sales, then that's perfectly fine. There's no need to try and justify it like that :/

FYI I've never bought a game on sale just because it was on sale.
Unfortunately i think that is something a lot of us can't say lol.
Posted April 07, 2012
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Infernoplex: Well, I meant every single cent that could go to the actual developers goes to "rightholders" and you guys.
Just as a side note: even with brand new games, you (generic "you", the custumer) have absolutely no clue or guarantee that the actual developers get any money from sales at all.
They could have been contracted, and i think this is often the case with mid-range studios working for big publishers, to develop the software for a fixed amount of cash, and get zero royalties from the start.
Posted April 07, 2012
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SLP2000: But still - is it most important thing to say in the interview?

If you read the comments under this article, you'll see many negative responses.

And it's not the whining "you give away Fallout, but I already have it", it's something much more serious, "I will decide what's good for me".

This wasn't the best thing you could say.
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TheEnigmaticT: What they published of the interview did end up coming off unfortunately; the point isn't that gamers don't have enough sense to make up their minds on what to buy and when. The point was that it seems to me that we've lost a lot of our emotional connection with games, and I think pricing's part of it. I used to be thrilled when I got a new game and I'd generally play the dickens out of it. Now, it's so easy to get games at such ridiculously cheap prices that I'll buy games I don't even want on the off chance that maybe I will want the game later when it's been patched further, or when the beta's done, or whenever.

But I'll probably never get around to it. Because I'll have bought something else in the meantime.

I think that games on crazy signaling promos are teaching gamers as a whole that most games aren't worth much, and they're encouraging the mentality of "enh, why the hell shouldn't I buy it?" I think losing that emotional connection with our games is bad for the industry as a whole--we care less about bad games, but we care less about good ones too and in the end we care less about games--and so it's bad for the gamers who buy games, too.
Quoted for mothereffing truth.

I know I suffered from this - bought over 500 games over last three years, most on sales, played maybe 1/3 of those, the rest I cannot force myself to get through...so I just wasted money basically.

I have gotten rid of that habit and now buy only games I want to play IMMEDIATELY, but I know there are plenty of people that still keep buying games just so that "maybe one day" they will play them.
Posted April 07, 2012
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Aro: If discounted games are bad what about free game promotions?
Purchased fallout a while ago and now it's free, that's ok mind you. Would like to grab a gift code for later but it doesn't work.

60 dollar game new, two years later it's a 1 dollar game on sale? That's a bit much, but consumers have been trained to follow deals. Why not argue waiting 10 years for a game to become free?

Initial price reductions should occur, not only will this aid initial sales (no idea what the optimum price range would be, also doubtful to occur when people line up for certain franchises) it would decrease the second hand market (maybe even the theft/underselling market).


Then again I'm going to be pre purchasing Guild Wars 2 at a high price, if it was on sale... I'd buy two.
Uh what?

L.A. Noire: The Complete Edition - 39,99€ / it was 75% off couple of weeks ago(2.49$ in Ukraine)...
And this is a new title... Same with Total War 2,Darkness 2 and a lot of other games... Yes we all like promos.
Posted April 07, 2012
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SLP2000: But still - is it most important thing to say in the interview?

If you read the comments under this article, you'll see many negative responses.

And it's not the whining "you give away Fallout, but I already have it", it's something much more serious, "I will decide what's good for me".

This wasn't the best thing you could say.
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TheEnigmaticT: What they published of the interview did end up coming off unfortunately; the point isn't that gamers don't have enough sense to make up their minds on what to buy and when. The point was that it seems to me that we've lost a lot of our emotional connection with games, and I think pricing's part of it. I used to be thrilled when I got a new game and I'd generally play the dickens out of it. Now, it's so easy to get games at such ridiculously cheap prices that I'll buy games I don't even want on the off chance that maybe I will want the game later when it's been patched further, or when the beta's done, or whenever.

But I'll probably never get around to it. Because I'll have bought something else in the meantime.

I think that games on crazy signaling promos are teaching gamers as a whole that most games aren't worth much, and they're encouraging the mentality of "enh, why the hell shouldn't I buy it?" I think losing that emotional connection with our games is bad for the industry as a whole--we care less about bad games, but we care less about good ones too and in the end we care less about games--and so it's bad for the gamers who buy games, too.
Well said my good man, well said! I totally agree.
Posted April 07, 2012
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Infernoplex: Well, I meant every single cent that could go to the actual developers goes to "rightholders" and you guys.
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Antaniserse: Just as a side note: even with brand new games, you (generic "you", the custumer) have absolutely no clue or guarantee that the actual developers get any money from sales at all.
They could have been contracted, and i think this is often the case with mid-range studios working for big publishers, to develop the software for a fixed amount of cash, and get zero royalties from the start.
Exactly, for example if one bought New Vegas, all money goes to Bethesda and zero to Obsidian, because Obsidian was paid by contract beforehand.
Posted April 07, 2012
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Infernoplex: Well, I meant every single cent that could go to the actual developers goes to "rightholders" and you guys.
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Antaniserse: Just as a side note: even with brand new games, you (generic "you", the custumer) have absolutely no clue or guarantee that the actual developers get any money from sales at all.
They could have been contracted, and i think this is often the case with mid-range studios working for big publishers, to develop the software for a fixed amount of cash, and get zero royalties from the start.
I never said that but the chance of money or contracts going to a team that doesn't even exist anymore is marginal smaller.

All I wanted to say is that I don't care wether you(gog) have big sales or not I just don't think you should attack other companys for having them especially since many people who otherwise wouldn't have bought many of these games weren't able to play them at all. And don't blindly support everything guys.
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This is my favourite topic
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General discussion (archive)GOG says big sales are bad for gamers.(259 posts)(259 posts)
(259 posts)