I joined shortly after the 'Monk Incident' it was that incident that introduced me to here, but I never heard of them before that so I just wondered about GOG before then

What year did it go live?
What were the original games and publishers?
What features were here or not present then?
How did people find out about them at the start?
What was it that attracted the first users here back then?

and anything else you can add would be intersting to read, it would also be nice if one of the staff of GOG could say what it was like for them back at the start if possible

I started browsing the site in 2009, joined in 2010

Before GOG went out of Beta, it looked like this

http://darthvid.com/blog/image/2008/gog.com-front.png
Also: The very first publishers to join GOG were Codemasters and Interplay

GOG also had an "upcoming game" feature, where it told users about the upcoming releases in the near future

It was basically the same as you see it now, except the top navigation bar wasn't irritating and it was easier to browse through the catalogue (partly because there were less than 100 games, partly because you could actually display search results). It also had much fewer games. We didn't have a shelf and it used to be fairly obvious how to change your forum avatar.

Initially it was in a private invite only beta. I'm not sure who the initial invitees were but they were then allowed to invite others before the open beta began around the time I joined (GOG started in 2008).

Discovery during the open beta was basically brought about by the free games. I was told Simon the Sorceror was here without DRM and with ScummVM and then I saw the two free games, then Stronghold came out so I had to stay.

As far as I remember, Interplay was one of the first - if not the first - publisher to sign, so Fallouts 1+2 have been here since the beginning.

So that's GOG. Yo.

Well, the earliest forum post is from September 14th, 2008. The first game release post indicates Redneck Rampage and Stonekeep were the first new additions, so if you arrange the catalogue by date added, the games listed before Redneck Rampage and Stonekeep are;


SHATTERED STEEL
$5.99
DESCENT 3 + EXPANSION
$5.99
EARTHWORM JIM 3D
$5.99
MDK 2
$5.99
F/A-18E SUPER HORNET
$5.99
SHOGO: MOBILE ARMOR DIVISION
$5.99
DIE BY THE SWORD + EXPANSION
$5.99
M.A.X. + M.A.X. 2
$5.99
KINGPIN: LIFE OF CRIME
$5.99
LIONHEART: LEGACY OF THE CRUSADER
$5.99
MESSIAH
$5.99
CONQUEST OF THE NEW WORLD
$5.99
MDK
$5.99
FREESPACE 2
$5.99
FREESPACE + EXPANSION
$5.99
FALLOUT TACTICS
$9.99
1NSANE
$5.99
FALLOUT 2
$5.99
DESCENT + DESCENT 2
$5.99
INVICTUS: IN THE SHADOW OF OLYMPUS
$5.99
JAGGED ALLIANCE 2: UNFINISHED BUSINESS
$5.99
ORIGINAL WAR
$5.99
SACRIFICE
$5.99
GIANTS: CITIZEN KABUTO
$5.99
FALLOUT
$5.99
EVOLVA


There was no PM system, otherwise everything else is pretty much the same.

I followed an ad to buy Fallout.

Think that covers it.

It was more or less the same, except for the games.

4 years of 'service progress', eh?

Well let's give credit where credit is due

They didn't have the legion of fanboys that Valve had when they released Steam, they didn't have the money other mega corporations have, they simply tried to appeal to a "Niche audience" and be different

in 4 years GOG grew from absolute zero into actually something

Which means absolutely 0 relative to the service they provide. (again, don't mention number of games and users)

A PM system during the 4 years it has been running?

Well, they actually grew to something that is well recognized by the devs, and is an obvious choice to release your game, as long as it fits this site.

Not to contradict a previous post here, but there were forum post dates earlier than 09/14/08. I've been a member since 09/08/08.

I heard about GOG through a gaming web site but can't remember which one. You'd come to the placeholder site and sign up for the invitation-only beta phase. During the early part of that beta, there was a "Buy One, Get One Free" promo that encouraged users to try it out the purchasing and start using the service.

Overall, though, the service has stayed pretty much the same in regards to the format of the product pages, forum organization and functionality. There was only a $5.99 and $9.99 price point (what?!) and a lot less publishers.

Wait, there is actually a way to change the avatar? How? I must have burned an hour of my life to try and change mine - to no avail. :-(

By all means, correct away. I didn't join until 2009. That was just the earliest thread I saw when I visited the last general discussion page and I wasn't about to go hunting.

Click on "My Account", hover the mouse over your avatar picture in the upper right of the screen (not the one in the top bar), see "change picture" text popping up, click on that text, choose a file.

Go to "My Account" and hover your mouse over your avatar that's displayed there and a little box will appear with the text "Change Picture".

Edit: Argh, beaten.

In the My Account section, click on your avatar in the top left and the bubble that appears. Yes, it's totally unintuitive.

EDIT: I am old and slow.