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General discussion (archive)Reasons that keep GOG from releasing the expansions?(94 posts)(94 posts)
(94 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted January 19, 2012
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svmariscal: Just out of curiosity. Syndicate wasn't released together with the first batch of EA titles because of one of these obscure legal reasons.
Was this mentioned by GOG staff? I remember only their comment about SS. Anyway I wonder if appearance Syndicate announces new batch of EA games.
Posted January 19, 2012
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tburger: Was this mentioned by GOG staff? I remember only their comment about SS. Anyway I wonder if appearance Syndicate announces new batch of EA games.
Yes I believe they commented on the issue about both SS series and Syndicate at the first EA press conference back in june, and it's been stated in several posts in this thread:

http://www.gog.com/en/forum/general/gog_com_s_catalog_gets_huge_with_addition_of_classic_ea_titles/page1

but GOG never went much farther than "there are legal issues and we are working on them". Apparently they are indeed working hard at it :)
Posted January 19, 2012
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spindown: Someone pointed out in the Syndicate announcement thread that the Syndicate expansion was developed in-house by Bullfrog, the same developer that made the main game. So the "external studios" explanation would not apply at least in that case.
Yeah, but the worldwide marketing deals may have been different. There's multiple things that make these things pretty complicated. GOG only releases worldwide or not at all. If you have to pick between seriously time consuming legal issues for a base game or an expac, of course you pick the base game.

I do find it a bit odd people get so upset about the expac thing, I mean, the base games in a lot of these were already awesome and contained serious bang for your buck. Would an expac be nicer? Oh hell yeah! But it's certainly not required in most cases.
Posted January 19, 2012
i find this a bit odd, TBH. surely not every single expansion to every EA game ever made was made by a different developer than the main game?

the Alien Crossfire expansion to Alpha Centauri was developed by Firaxis. a budget-priced DVD release containing both games is still being sold, at least in the UK.

to me it looks like GoG simply didn't bother to include the expansions in their distribution contract, which would probably have raised the licensing cost. i don't know. i just don't believe that the 'outside-developer' argument could possibly explain all the missing expansions.

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orcishgamer: I do find it a bit odd people get so upset about the expac thing, I mean, the base games in a lot of these were already awesome and contained serious bang for your buck. Would an expac be nicer? Oh hell yeah! But it's certainly not required in most cases.
i disagree completely. expansions were often more than just additional content. they often modified and improved the base game as well, adding gameplay features and technical improvements such as higher resolution support. in many cases, the expansions make the base game the edition it was always supposed to be, and it hurts the game to be released without those improvements 10 or 20 years later, especially if physical copies of complete editions are sill in circulation (such as the Alpha Centauri Gold or Complete Pack that can still be found in brand new condition on Ebay).

the practice hurts GoG.com because it makes the physical copy more attractive than the digital one.
Post edited January 19, 2012 by Fred_DM
Posted January 19, 2012
The weird thing to me is that this missing expansions issue is so specific to EA. Sure, there are a handful of games from other publishers that lack expansion packs, but GOG has almost always managed to secure the rights to sell complete editions. Only in the case of EA this seems to be nearly impossible for some reason that I don't understand.
Posted January 19, 2012
I would also guess that it was a f*ck up on GOGs part. They probably only had games in the original agreement and forgot about the exp, or thought they were included.

Especially bad with SMAX, Privateer and WC 1 + 2.
Post edited January 19, 2012 by SimonG
Posted January 19, 2012
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SimonG: forgot about the exp
Wouldn't that be solved rather fast under normal circumstances, given that the base games are already being licensed?
Posted January 19, 2012
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Fujek: Wouldn't that be solved rather fast under normal circumstances, given that the base games are already being licensed?
you'd think it would be, but then again, licensing contracts can be incredibly tricky, and tedious to negotiate.

maybe EA wanted the expansions to be sold separately on GoG at $5.99 each, and GoG said 'no'?
Post edited January 19, 2012 by Fred_DM
Posted January 19, 2012
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SimonG: forgot about the exp
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Fujek: Wouldn't that be solved rather fast under normal circumstances, given that the base games are already being licensed?
EA wouldn't just ad them for free, and GOG probably won't gain as much as with the original games. They can't sell them extra and adding them and raising the price wouldn't go down well with the community.

Therefore, GOG can only lose money in the process. Most people, like me, have already bought the games, so they don't need an incentive to sell more.
Posted January 19, 2012
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Fred_DM: licensing contracts can be incredibly tricky, and tedious to negotiate
Most certainly! But if one considers that EA already agreed to distribute several games this way, it would only seem logic that the expansion rights should be negotiated faster.

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Fred_DM: maybe EA wanted the expansions to be sold separately on GoG at $5.99 each, and GoG said 'no'?
Several people already stated they'd purchase the expansion on GOG separately, so if that's the case, I'd expect a poll at least on GOG's side.
Posted January 19, 2012
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SimonG: Therefore, GOG can only lose money in the process. Most people, like me, have already bought the games, so they don't need an incentive to sell more.
i picked up all the EA games i wanted during the sale when they were all 50% off, so i won't complain about the lack of expansions. not at that price.

however, i would be willing to pay full price, $9.99 if need be, for complete editions. just saying... there is incentive there...

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Fujek: Several people already stated they'd purchase the expansion on GOG separately, so if that's the case, I'd expect a poll at least on GOG's side.
sounds like a good idea. i'd probably vote yes because getting the expansions that way would be better than not getting them at all.
Post edited January 19, 2012 by Fred_DM
Posted January 19, 2012
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Fred_DM: however, i would be willing to pay full price, $9.99 if need be, for complete editions. just saying... there is incentive there...
You and me both, but you know how bitchy gamers are today. If GOG would raise the prices to $9.99 there would be one shitstorm here. People even complain about sales only having 30% for $6 games ...
Posted January 19, 2012
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SimonG: I would also guess that it was a f*ck up on GOGs part. They probably only had games in the original agreement and forgot about the exp, or thought they were included.
Yes because GOG.com has a long history of forgetting about games, not releasing bonus content, not adding bonus content when they can, and generally not caring about the releases once they go live. Guys seriously? ...

I'm sure that there's some legal mumbo jumbo in the way, GOG has always provided us with the best deal they could get and if they don't include the expansions, they probably have a good reason for that.
Posted January 19, 2012
I think the main reason is who actually owns the expansion the developer or the actual publisher?

If it is the developer then gog has to track these guys down and after many many years developers could have disbanded etc which may make aquiring the approval and the materials needed near impossible.
Posted January 19, 2012
Another thread full of the very same speculations as last time.
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Community
General discussion (archive)Reasons that keep GOG from releasing the expansions?(94 posts)(94 posts)
(94 posts)