Mentalepsy: They teased a few new games for a couple days. That was amusing enough. Then they announced some new games and site features. That was cool. Then they said there'd be another new publisher arriving soon. OK. Looking forward to it.

Sorry. Can't complain.

spindown: Why is it that you can't express dissatisfaction on the internet without being called a whiner? I think bazilisek explained very calmly and clearly why he and others, including me, are not thrilled about GOG's latest antics.

Some of the people defending GOG after their new PR stunt are missing the point. We are not complaining because we don't like what GOG announced today, but because they intentionally used misleading marketing to fool people into expecting something awesome that turned out to be little more than hot air (The Witcher 2, the new downloader etc. don't count because they were not part of the tease).

The GOG marketers knew exactly what they were doing by releasing these mysterious clues on the front page -- namely getting people to get each other all excited and to expect that EA or LucasArts would join GOG. Please don't insult our intelligence by pretending otherwise.

Don't waste my time is all I'm asking, basically. Your announcements are interesting enough, there is no need to create hype and false expectations. I happen to like this place, but cheap PR stunts only serve to erode the sympathy I feel towards GOG.

Mentalepsy: They teased a few new games for a couple days. That was amusing enough. Then they announced some new games and site features. That was cool. Then they said there'd be another new publisher arriving soon. OK. Looking forward to it.

Sorry. Can't complain.

Mentalepsy: They teased a few new games for a couple days. That was amusing enough. Then they announced some new games and site features. That was cool. Then they said there'd be another new publisher arriving soon. OK. Looking forward to it.

Sorry. Can't complain.

stonebro: The only disappointment was that there was no announcement of any of the upcoming games - even the Atari ones. That tells me any real announcement of a new publisher is still months away - it's unlikely it'll be announced in May due to the release of TW2, then june / july is basically summer ... we'll have to wait until August, at least, for confirmation.

When it comes to hype though it's more the community that is gleefully turning the hype-o-knob to 11 and ripping it out every time there's even a faint echo from gog staff about upcoming releases. We'll be discussing what EA and LA games we want now again until September perhaps. Like we haven't been doing that from 2008.

Mentalepsy: They teased a few new games for a couple days. That was amusing enough. Then they announced some new games and site features. That was cool. Then they said there'd be another new publisher arriving soon. OK. Looking forward to it.

Sorry. Can't complain.

spindown: ...but because they intentionally used misleading marketing to fool people into expecting something awesome that turned out to be little more than hot air (The Witcher 2, the new downloader etc. don't count because they were not part of the tease).

The GOG marketers knew exactly what they were doing by releasing these mysterious clues on the front page -- namely getting people to get each other all excited and to expect that EA or LucasArts would join GOG. Please don't insult our intelligence by pretending otherwise.

jpinsa: Look I gotta admit, I like GOG a lot, but they have a small minded business mentality. I know this cause I worked in a company that operated this way and the common things with this kind of thinking is.

- They try to create loyalty. It's amazing to me how loyal folks are here at GOG, compared to Steam etc. The way GOG achieves this is by dangling the carrot in front of the donkey. I must confess, I too come back to the site to see what's new, even though it irritates me.

- They always have a surprise or secret that they are going to release. Again you don't see this at Steam, you just go to the site and "voila" there is new stuff. The problem with this is that people get disappointed with the "surprises" as has been VERY evident today. There has been more negative feedabck to todays announcement than positive posts.

- They over-hype products that are really just ordinary. Look at every game release, there is a huge rant about how great the game is and why you must have it. Now this is common in sales, but smaller companies tend to do it more. Also as has been mentioned, they pat themselves on the back for things that are par for the course and that other companies are already doing. Take the whole LucasArts debacle, I'm pretty sure if it gets released here it will be the event of events on GOG, yet on Steam you actually need to search to even find the LA games.

- They like to play the underdog card. This is done to win support for their cause and loyalty. Often these types of businesses have a "niche" market which is obvious in GOG's classic games. The problem again with this is that not having some of the greatest classic games causes unhappiness with fans which is VERY evident with LA & EA, amongst others.

- The employess are usually VERY passionate about the business, which is evident in GOG and there are even key people like The French Monk. Again with bigger companies, you don't have a clue who the head rooster is. Problem again with this is that because you give off a friendly casual personality, people want answers from you and when you are silent, it appears suddenly as if you don't care.

- There is always a promise of future greatness, in GOG's case announcing publishers on board. Again it isn't as obvios at Steam. Problem again, is now that you have mentioned LA etc, people WILL be expecting it, and if you don't deliver well.....

Now, now, before you flay me alive, this is just something I noticed in my own experience with working for a similar company and my own opinion and I am NOT in anyway saying that GOG is rubbish, if I thought that I wouldn't even care to write on these forums. I may be over analysing, but again it's just an exercise.

This is also not a Steam VS GOG post, just interesting how smaller and bigger enterprises operate. Again, there will be many that like the way GOG operates, many who don't and the neutral cats.

GameRager: 1. I've often wondered this myself. I agree mostly everyone expressed themselves perfectly in here also, btw.

2. I'm defending Gog because it's my right and perogative to do so....just as it's the naysayers right to complain about the announcements.....right? As for misleading marketing: A. It's GOG, so it's to be expected so why complain about and bring attention to that fact beyond what is necessary(Talking about only a few in here not everyone)? B: Other companies do it and some also like to be put in suspense, even for simple news like some of the announcements were. It's not like Gog was trying to be mean or anything by hyping the announcements. C. Part of the reason for the hype is the people keeping it alive...it seemed that some weren't acknowledging this enough or at all and putting most of the blame for the hype and their ensuing disappointment on Gog's shoulders when that wasn't entirely the case.

3. Again it takes two parties to over hype something. To pretend it's all Gog's fault is crap, imo.

4. Hype is what the ad game is all about, especially with smaller companies like Gog. If you don't like the hype try not to get into it or add to it, or try to disspell it even when you see it building up. Also since Gog does these things alot stop complaining like it's some big abuse on your intellect every time they do one if you KNOW they do them so often and it isn't like this is the first time they've done so and you're fully surprised about it.

AlexY: And as for the publisher "reveal":

But that's not all! At the very end, spotlight was on your favourite French Monk, who had some news regarding new publishers coming to the site. Microsoft, Electronic Arts, LucasArts, Take2 and SquareEnix - one of those publishers is already signed, while two more from the list are almost on board! Which and when is coming? Well, you'll have to wait a bit for that :)

They announced 5 huge publishers! 5! Did they tell the date? No. But they are coming, it's confirmed! Is that bad? Hell no! That's awesome!



I mean, this isn't like the stunt way back when - it's the usual teaser hype that works anywhere. What is there to nitpick about? They said "we have something to show you and some new hit games are coming too, and we're preparing for more". They never said they'll be showing the second coming of Christ (no matter how fitting it would be for Easter).

Just saiyan.

spindown: I wasn't questioning your right to defend GOG at all, on the contrary. I welcome any interesting discussion. I just thought that some people here misunderstood the reason people were complaining. It's not about being ungrateful about GOG's latest improvements but about their less than stellar marketing. You say that there are two sides to hype, which is true. But you have to admit that GOG are at an advantage here.

I guess I haven't been around long enough to develop the necessary cynicism toward GOG's marketing schemes. I have learned my lesson, though, so I won't get excited about their announcements in the future unless they contain specifics.

GameRager: 1. It's 3 of those 5 they listed, not all 5...one has been signed and the other two are being worked out and finalised.