I've recently thought about it and come to the conclusion that, ironically, awesomeness of some users attracts those far less awesome (I'm trying to be polite here). Let us take gifting threads as a perfect example. It's awesome that some well-off users buy games for less wealthy people. But it's well known over the Internet so it attracts parasites (I'm far less polite now;) They come here just because they want free games. To achieve it they are active, become recognizable and get what they wanted. Heck, it's even safe to assume that some of them have multiple accounts just to increase the odds. Sooner or later they will show their true nature and things will get nasty. And even if they overdo and become unpopular, what's the problem? It's enough to create another account and abuse the generosity of some users even farther. And that sucks.

I'm not sure if that's the reason, perhaps I'm absolutely wrong here. But I've decided that I won't make any random giveaway (I did them rarely anyway). I think it's better to make a riddle or a sleuth game because parasites are usually far too lazy to take part in that.

PS Oh, right! I should make some sleuth game soon...

Wow, some old users around.

I get what TheJoe is saying, but compared to some other forums, these forums have nothing on "villainy" and most of those forums are even moderated.

I do recognize that the current structure really won't work on the long run and as TheJoe said, it might damage GOG's reputation. That's why we should at least get an Off Topic section for people like TinyE to play around (sorry for the side-jab, mate :D).

But the main problem is that the Forums aren't that important, since most of the costumers just buy their games and don't bother about them. So they're not a priority, I guess. Still can't wait till we get poper forums with proper sections (and maybe proper moderation?).

Retards gravitate ro cool people?

I kid I kid

I'm new here but I think that while you may have a point the answer is simpler. GOG has become bigger. I've seen it before with other forums. Think of it like a small town that suddenly finds itself growing into a city. The massive influx of people into any community over a short space of time will inevitably change it.

Within a small community a new arrival on their own will adapt to the community they find themselves in or else leave (or at least keep mostly to themselves). The community will carry on as normal. The same is not true when you have a lot of people coming. They don't have to adapt to the established community because they can form a sub community of their own with other new arrivals.

I could go on but I'm being boring and I might be wrong too. I'm new so I might be missing a lot. It's just what I've seen repeated elsewhere many times before.

I'm going to ask you (again) the following then.
What is "On Topic" for the GOG.com General Discussion forum that you are asking for? And at what point does a discussion switches from On topic to Off topic? Would discussing Molyneaux's Curiosity be On topic or Off topic, and why?

You find the forums chaotic, I find them lovely, since they do act more or less like a real life conversation would (including boring people to hell and having them lash out). The forums could use a better search engine and a few more sorting options, but I am against a seperate Off Topic, unless someone manages to properly define the On Topic part of it.

There's loads of shitty discussion boards which do have proper forum software, moderation and are divided. These boards used to be great because the community was great. It's not great anymore because... Well, the community ain't great anymore. You might be correct that by allowing users to only focus what they are interested in, boards might become a bit more bearable - but only for a very limited time, until a few more idiots start residing here. It all comes down to people in the end.

I do miss some of the old guys, but there are also new interesting people dropping in all the time - I mean, fuck, tinyE almost makes up for Weclock's absence.

Almost. Just... Almost. Weclock was a master of his art.

This is turning into a really interesting thread and a lot of valid points are being raised here. The fact gog is a lot bigger than used to be, the fact that due to some very generous people on the forum gifting games that suddenly their is an influx of people just here for the freebies.

I do applaud gog for trying to keep the community as informal as possible in the start though we where just a bunch of old games enthusiasts woth the gog vision of classic games being released and that a number of the forum including myself are old time gamers who remember said games and wished for their return. Gog is more than that now the old games are still their main focus but with a lot newer indie titles a number of new people here who are here for the newer games expansion is good means more money for gog but their is a cost as more people coming here means more on the forums and sadly some people just do not know how to treat others with respect or think it is fun to insult or act big hidden behind an avatar.

I think some controls need to come in but i also dont want a strict forum where people are banned left and right for saying the wrong thing.

I dont know it is a hard one this how to police the forums in such a way to keep it fun and interesting for people and that different views can be expressed but without the name calling and sometimes downright hostile actions of others.

What happened to Delix? (Hope I got the name right)

Oh, and lowyhong?

I joined the forum only a few months ago, and have been wondering what happened to lugum exactly?

I don't recall him posting at least after the big online arguments about XBone's alleged online DRM started. Could be a coincidence, of course. And while I probably disagreed with him about many things (like console gaming, XBox360 gamepads, DLCs and whether Euro countries should bail each other's out :)), I've always respected him as he seems one of the more mature users in the forum.

Anyway, I don't see why it should be a big deal who is or isn't where and why. I've had long leaves from many other forums, e.g. left one forum where I was quite active for like 5 years or so, without making a big number of it. Times change, so do I. I am quite confident I will leave GOG (forums) at some point as well, without making a big deal out of it. Maybe I've just become bored, or don't fancy some other users here, or just found something more interesting in life. And it might not be permanent, or turns out to be such. Who cares?

I kinda dislike the "moist-eye forum exits" where someone proclaims what is soooo wrong with the forum/community and why he is leaving, especially naming the users he dislikes. I think the only thing they demonstrate by doing that is what a big number the forum was in their life, and how big emotions it and some of its users raised in him. Awww, cry me a river, little princess. Someone becoming bitter of some forum and its users probably tells more about that person than the forum and the other users.

I never understood the board's fascination with weclock. I never found his posts/eroticstories/gasmaskvideos/whatever, to be very good/funny/entertaining/whatever and he just came across as an attention whore who tried too hard to be weird.

TinyE has made me crack up several times and obliterates Weclock

The thing is,these days, you contribute very little to the forums. I find it ironic that people who complain about the "decline" of the forums don't actually post anymore. Maybe your just as responsible for any "decline" in the forum content. By not posting on-topic, your letting it get filled with off-topic. It's now the norm to post "off-topic". If you want more discussions on games, start one! Instead of complaining about the lack of game topics.