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General discussionOpen letter to GOG(194 posts)(194 posts)
(194 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted May 11, 2017
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Miljac: Thank you for support everyone!
Thank you, Miljac! ;p
Post edited May 11, 2017 by richlind33
Posted May 11, 2017
Very good letter. It's nice to see that there's still people who can stay civil even when they're disappointed. +1
Posted May 11, 2017
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Miljac: Being optional and non intrusive is the way to go. Some say you should leave checkbox to install it unchecked by default, and that would be much better. But even better (my personal opinion) would be if you only included download link to galaxy. That way, you will not bloat installer with galaxy client.
I'm just a member of Galaxy Client development team (formerly website team) and I don't think I can answer most of your concerns.

About including Galaxy Client installer - yeah, including all of it in the game installer is probably not the most optimized solution.
I think it's nice for it to be seamless, so it wouldn't require new users to click the link, download and install manually, but simply have a checkbox for that.

It would be really nice to have (optional to run) galaxy-client-downloading functionality in the game installers instead of having Galaxy Client installer embedded there. We'll see how that turns out in the future. The advantage here is having it working totally offline.
Post edited May 11, 2017 by Johny.
Posted May 11, 2017
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Miljac: Being optional and non intrusive is the way to go. Some say you should leave checkbox to install it unchecked by default, and that would be much better. But even better (my personal opinion) would be if you only included download link to galaxy. That way, you will not bloat installer with galaxy client.
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Johny.: I'm just a member of Galaxy Client development team (formerly website team) and I don't think I can answer most of your concerns.

About including Galaxy Client installer - yeah, including all of it in the game installer is probably not the most optimized solution.
I think it's nice for it to be seamless, so it wouldn't require new users to click the link, download and install manually, but simply have a checkbox for that.

It would be really nice to have galaxy-client-downloading functionality in the game installers instead of having Galaxy Client installer embedded there. We'll see how that turns out in the future. The advantage here is having it working totally offline.
I hope this does not mean to imply you would get rid of game installers...
Posted May 11, 2017
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Johny.: (...)
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Lord_Kane: I hope this does not mean to imply you would get rid of game installers...
I never thought of it... Thanks, that's a brilliant idea! :D

Just kidding. :P Added the word "optional" to my post above.
Post edited May 11, 2017 by Johny.
Posted May 11, 2017
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Lord_Kane: I hope this does not mean to imply you would get rid of game installers...
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Johny.: I never thought of it... Thanks, that's a brilliant idea! :D

Just kidding. :P
I exist in a quantum state of ANGER at that comment and laughter because I found it funny, but I take thats a "no".
Posted May 11, 2017
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Miljac: Being optional and non intrusive is the way to go. Some say you should leave checkbox to install it unchecked by default, and that would be much better. But even better (my personal opinion) would be if you only included download link to galaxy. That way, you will not bloat installer with galaxy client.
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Johny.: I'm just a member of Galaxy Client development team (formerly website team) and I don't think I can answer most of your concerns.

About including Galaxy Client installer - yeah, including all of it in the game installer is probably not the most optimized solution.
I think it's nice for it to be seamless, so it wouldn't require new users to click the link, download and install manually, but simply have a checkbox for that.

It would be really nice to have (optional to run) galaxy-client-downloading functionality in the game installers instead of having Galaxy Client installer embedded there. We'll see how that turns out in the future. The advantage here is having it working totally offline.
I don't really see the point of being able to install Galaxy offline. Those who want it probably rather download it once then have it included in every single installer. Let's assume the average user has 500 games on GOG. If he wants to back them all up, that would be an extra 75GB of wasted space/bandwidth just by the redundant Galaxy installers (assuming the installer is about 150MB).
Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Posted May 11, 2017
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Lord_Kane: I hope this does not mean to imply you would get rid of game installers...
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Johny.: I never thought of it... Thanks, that's a brilliant idea! :D

Just kidding. :P
What about a simple flag setting in the users account. classic/client . That way old users can keep installers clean, and new users can go the client route if they want.


Personally still think its the wrong way of doing it having the client bundled with the offline installer.

If you want to push the client for inexperienced users coming from Steam, then its best to hide the manual stuff all together.

For users that have client enabled, the downloads on library page should link to the Galaxy installer, with a stub for the chosen game.
Posted May 11, 2017
I've PM'ed this to Johny but though others might want to input

Johny, I know you're going to be bombarded with messages and forum posts at the moment, but I'd like to add my thoughts. I believe the goal is to assimilate Client based users (steam/uplay/Origin). IF this is true, then including the galaxy client into the offline installers will not help.

Steam doesn't let you access your library via the webpage. At best you can list your games, navigate to the Store page where you have 2 options [Install Steam] [Launch Game]. If you wish to make a seamless experience for migrating users, then that is a far better option.

An account based flag, set at account creation will allow new users to choose their experience. Client based users don't get the option to download the offline installers on the library page with out going into a seperate offline install menu, but for each game have the option to [Install Galaxy] [Launch Game]

Lastly, Galaxy is not obvious enough on the web page. "Get Galaxy Client" should be on the black bar, not tucked under support.
Posted May 11, 2017
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Miljac: Being optional and non intrusive is the way to go. Some say you should leave checkbox to install it unchecked by default, and that would be much better. But even better (my personal opinion) would be if you only included download link to galaxy. That way, you will not bloat installer with galaxy client.
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Johny.: I'm just a member of Galaxy Client development team (formerly website team) and I don't think I can answer most of your concerns.

About including Galaxy Client installer - yeah, including all of it in the game installer is probably not the most optimized solution.
I think it's nice for it to be seamless, so it wouldn't require new users to click the link, download and install manually, but simply have a checkbox for that.

It would be really nice to have (optional to run) galaxy-client-downloading functionality in the game installers instead of having Galaxy Client installer embedded there. We'll see how that turns out in the future. The advantage here is having it working totally offline.
Johny, the problem with including the Galaxy client in the installer is that you're not impacting new users - you're mostly impacting existing users who are already opting out of using Galaxy.

There's no point to installing client software offline, the whole point of clients is that they manage updates and multiplayer, social connections, shopping, etc. All of that depends on internet connectivity. So the goal of 'completely offline installation of client' is just nonsense.

Anyone who is completely offline is already going out of their way to avoid game clients in general; now you and GOG are trying to trick them into installing a client they don't want and won't provide anything useful for them. Do you see why people are so upset and why this change is not wanted?

This is scummy. It's what I expect from toolbar developers, not a company that I've trusted for several years.
Post edited May 11, 2017 by Gilozard
Posted May 11, 2017
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Johny.: [..] simply have a checkbox for that.
It would be really nice to have (optional to run) galaxy-client-downloading functionality in the game installers instead of having Galaxy Client installer embedded there. [..] The advantage here is having it working totally offline.
Thanks Johny.
I agree with this:
- optional checkbox
- external download

Duplicating Galaxy's setup in every standalone installer is just a waste of space.
Those users who need Galaxy offline and haven't installed it yet (how many?) can easily store a copy of the last version beforehand.
Posted May 11, 2017
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Johny.: I'm just a member of Galaxy Client development team (formerly website team) ..
Does this mean, you are going to re-implement everything on the website into client, and then - abandon the website? I hope it doesn't...
Posted May 11, 2017
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Johny.: I'm just a member of Galaxy Client development team (formerly website team) ..
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Lin545: Does this mean, you are going to re-implement everything on the website into client, and then - abandon the website? I hope it doesn't...
He means that the website team IS the galaxy team now. Or do you think otherwise considering the actual state of the site?
Posted May 11, 2017
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Lin545: Does this mean, you are going to re-implement everything on the website into client, and then - abandon the website? I hope it doesn't...
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russellskanne: He means that the website team IS the galaxy team now. Or do you think otherwise considering the actual state of the site?
LOL :D While Lin545 was clearly joking, russellskanne: this is not the case. I am a lonely migrant. :P

About other posts on page 2 - I think I've already targeted those concerns in my first post here (and chatted with mechmouse). Thanks for your feedback. :)
I agree that for users that are backing up installers - it's a waste of space to have full client installer bundled in the game installer.
Post edited May 11, 2017 by Johny.
Posted May 11, 2017
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Johny.: It would be really nice to have (optional to run) galaxy-client-downloading functionality in the game installers instead of having Galaxy Client installer embedded there. We'll see how that turns out in the future. The advantage here is having it working totally offline.
I'd be interested in a 100% honest answer to this :

Why do you need to have the "galaxy-client-downloading functionality" in the game installers rather in the game-downloading interface of the website itself ?

In other words why do you place this check and option at the level of already downloaded EXEs, instead of placing it that the level of obligatory "select download" procedure on your website (another convenient bottleneck which is a just as unavoidable as the install process itself, but would spare you to have to tweak each indiviual game packaging) ?
Post edited May 11, 2017 by Telika
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionOpen letter to GOG(194 posts)(194 posts)
(194 posts)