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The DRM-Free Revolution Continues with Big Pre-Orders and Launch Day Releases!

Good news! GOG.com is going to bring you more fantastic launch day releases, preorders, and other exciting new content from some of our favorite developers. We've lined up 3 big titles that we will be bringing to GOG.com in the next couple of months for sale or preorder that we think will be hits with all of our gamers; and we have more equally exciting games coming up soon.

If you've been a member of the site for a long time, you may recall that when we launched sales of The Witcher 2 on GOG.com, we had to add in regional pricing. The game cost different amounts in in the US, the UK, the European Union, and Australia. We're doing something like that once again in order to bring you new titles from fantastic bigger studios. Since we don't accept currencies other than USD on GOG.com right now, we'll be charging the equivalent of the local price in USD for these titles. We wish that we could offer these games at flat prices everywhere in the world, but the decision on pricing is always in our partners' hands, and regional pricing is becoming the standard around the globe. We're doing this because we believe that there's no better way to accomplish our overall goals for DRM-Free gaming and GOG.com. We need more games, devs, and publishers on board to make DRM-Free gaming something that's standard for all of the gaming world!

That brings with it more good news, though! As mentioned, we have three games we're launching soon with regional pricing--two RPGs and a strategy game--and while we can't tell you what they are yet because breaking an NDA has more severe penalties than just getting a noogie, we're confident that you'll be as excited about these games as we are. For a limited time, we will be offering anyone who pre-orders or buys one of them a free game from a selection as a gift from GOG.com, just like we did for The Witcher 2.

If you have any questions, hit us up in the comments below and we'll be happy to answer (to the best of our ability).

EDIT: Since we've answered a lot of the common questions already here (and lest you think that we've ignored you), it may be handy for you to check out the forum thread about this and search for staff answers by clicking this link here. (hat tip to user Eli who reminded us that the feature even exists. :)
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donsanderson: Well this USA user isn't happy and I don't see why any of us should be.
You paying more than me doesn't strike me as any better than if the situation were reversed.
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EPurpl3: Lets be honest, Steam sucks, we will all continue to support GOG even after this and it is obvious that the prices will increase, but not for you. As long as we will all continue to support GOG and we have no choice regarding the pricing system than you should be happy that you wont have to pay more.
Continuing to support them after this is the reason why the prices will increase. Need a united front against it, those of us who do see these things and care, here of all places, otherwise of course the silent mindless apathetic zombie crowd will always win out. And that's what "they" (not necessarily GOG now, but those publishers) count on. Those who're either easily fooled or just don't think they can achieve anything by going against the stream will always be far more, so those of us who aren't in that category (though I'm sorry to say you seem to be, at least in this second one if not the first) need to make enough of a ruckus to cover their silence. Sometimes it may even work. If it doesn't, at least we tried, and at least we didn't soil ourselves by going along with something that's wrong.

Sure, this tends to apply to more important things than a games shop, but ideals are ideals, can't claim to stand for the bigger ones if you wave away the smaller ones. (Which should go for GOG as well, with this.)
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Tarhiel: Aand look what I have found out:

http://forum.worldofplayers.de/forum/threads/1332875-NEWS-Risen-1-and-2-soon-DRM-free-on-GOG?p=22430490#post22430490

Could this be one (or both) of the new "not-worldwide-flat-prizes" RPGs coming to GOG?
Considering the first two have been deeply discounted pretty much everywhere and there's a third about to come out, I'd say it's far more likely the first two are coming over on the third's coattails.
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EPurpl3: Lets be honest, Steam sucks, we will all continue to support GOG even after this and it is obvious that the prices will increase, but not for you. As long as we will all continue to support GOG and we have no choice regarding the pricing system than you should be happy that you wont have to pay more.
I'm upset with the decision because it's increased the possibility of them changing their minds about DRM-free being important enough to reject good opportunities. They've turned down good opportunities in the past over the issue of one world, one price, but have now changed their mind on that. If they're willing to change their mind on the importance of that one, it's a fair indicator of them being willing to change their mind on the importance of DRM-free.

Therefore, I would like to voice my opposition to them changing their mind on their stated principles now rather than waiting for them to change a principle that directly affects me.
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Cavalary: Continuing to support them after this is the reason why the prices will increase. Need a united front against it, those of us who do see these things and care,
Okay, thank you very, very much. I think you have settled the issue for me. Wish I had read this an hour ago, but now is better than never. You can count on OldFatGuy to stand united with you.

Attch is FTR.
Attachments:
capture.jpg (168 Kb)
Post edited February 24, 2014 by OldFatGuy
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EPurpl3: Lets be honest, Steam sucks, we will all continue to support GOG even after this and it is obvious that the prices will increase, but not for you. As long as we will all continue to support GOG and we have no choice regarding the pricing system than you should be happy that you wont have to pay more.
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Cavalary: Continuing to support them after this is the reason why the prices will increase. Need a united front against it, those of us who do see these things and care, here of all places, otherwise of course the silent mindless apathetic zombie crowd will always win out. And that's what "they" (not necessarily GOG now, but those publishers) count on. Those who're either easily fooled or just don't think they can achieve anything by going against the stream will always be far more, so those of us who aren't in that category (though I'm sorry to say you seem to be, at least in this second one if not the first) need to make enough of a ruckus to cover their silence. Sometimes it may even work. If it doesn't, at least we tried, and at least we didn't soil ourselves by going along with something that's wrong.

Sure, this tends to apply to more important things than a games shop, but ideals are ideals, can't claim to stand for the bigger ones if you wave away the smaller ones. (Which should go for GOG as well, with this.)
I totally agree but we cant win this one and that is why i will never buy one of those mega-ultra-humangus-super-amazing-games that they are about to release. In fact, i have only bought and i will only ever buy Good Old Games, from them. But i dont try to convince anybody of anything, i have done that too many times, trying to support a principle or even a group of people, and everything turned against me, even those people that i was trying to help. So i take only whats good from GOG and f*** what i dont like. If some day i will consider that they dont offer enough i will just stop using GOG.
Post edited February 24, 2014 by EPurpl3
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EPurpl3: Lets be honest, Steam sucks, we will all continue to support GOG even after this and it is obvious that the prices will increase, but not for you. As long as we will all continue to support GOG and we have no choice regarding the pricing system than you should be happy that you wont have to pay more.
Being honest, I'd rather pay more, as opposed to having some of the cost being piled up on someone in "Outoluckistan"
Post edited February 24, 2014 by Rusty_Gunn
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Cavalary: Somebody else made one.
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donsanderson: We've had our own for about 3 days now:
http://www.gog.com/wishlist/site/ban_all_regional_pricing_from_gog_stick_with_your_principles

Considering all the attention this has received the turnout is rather weak IMO.
I have been reading through every post in this current forum, and I would say that although there are now 3227 posts (at time), you could easily average it out at between 5-7 posts per member. I have personally posted at least 8 times in this. There are other very active forum members whos names and avatars I recognise at glance posting often, as they continue to attempt getting their point across to the staff of GOG.



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Shendue: Maybe they didn't realize that many of those europeans may actively BOYCOTT their site by not buying ANYTHING anymore, not just those 3 games. Now that would be painful for them.
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OldFatGuy: If that's going to be the case, I hope they will let us know somehow. I just broke down and bought two games from this weekend's sale because I've been unable to get a feel for whether or not the reaction is that strong or not, but if it is, I would like to support their efforts.
I bought Carmaggedon 2. There is no reason not to buy from GOG, even after the pricing change, as not buying will weaken the company financially and then guarantee they make bad decisions. It is better to continue buying the games you want at a price you feel is appropriate.
I am now off to look at GG's Red Carpet sale, so I have to admit, although I enjoyed GOG's one price strategy I am still willing to pay a little more if the price still looks right to me. The only thing I really throw a hissy-fit over is DRM. My e-mails to many large corporations over an unwillingness to buy their games would support this, and maybe it causes part of this.
Many members here admit - like myself - that they will tell a corporation, distributor, producer, individual that they want to play their games, but the DRM is the problem, now maybe some of these big corporations have taken this on board and when GOG next turned up on their door step to beg for games they agreed that there was a market for their games there as people keep pleading for the DRM-free but no-one ever goes GOG both DRM-free and $ pricing throughout. So the corporations finally decide to meet half-way, GOG gives them the pricing they are use to (and the added profits too) and GOG get the games DRM-free.

So we continue buying games and supporting GOG, but maybe if people want to show they prefer single currency prices they should begin writing e-mails to all of the developing behemoths demanding that pricing be fairer. The problem is that although I think Australians and Europeans should be paying prices closer to the Americans, there are still developing countries and financially weaker countries who should still be paying less. If regional pricing would leave them paying more appropriate levels then I could live with it. No matter which pricing strategy someone will loose out, and someone will gain. We can only hope for more equal pricing and for GOG to continue being honest with us.


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Novotnus: I'm one of those lucky bastards who own MI 3, 4 and 5 on still functional CDs :)
...along with Sam and Max Hit the Road, Full Throttle and Grim Fandango :)
(with MI I and II I have to settle for Steam versions :( )
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Grargar: Since we're talking about Monkey Island, does anybody know anything about the Special Editions? Do the retail discs demand Steam or somesuch? Are the classic audiovisuals fine, or are they marred by the new interface?
The retail disks do not need Steam to play. I bough them and although they are very enjoyable I was disappointed with the LeChucks Revenge as the opening sequence with the Monkeys is missing in the enhanced version, so I need to switch back to the original version to watch it.
Not that it matters too much as I enjoy playing them in their old forms with the addition of the voice acting.


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hedwards: And more than that, he'll be associated with the decision the same way that weathermen get blamed for bad weather. But, it comes with the territory when you choose to work in PR.
Exactly.
I may find TET entertaining to watch in the GOG Youtube videos and he sounds like a nice person, but this is his job and he is paid to face us in good and bad situations. In fact you could call this the true test of his abilities, can he convince us to accept this news as good for us, when we all feel a little disappointed (to utterly outraged) by GOG's choice of action and words.
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Cavalary: Continuing to support them after this is the reason why the prices will increase. Need a united front against it, those of us who do see these things and care, here of all places, otherwise of course the silent mindless apathetic zombie crowd will always win out. And that's what "they" (not necessarily GOG now, but those publishers) count on. Those who're either easily fooled or just don't think they can achieve anything by going against the stream will always be far more, so those of us who aren't in that category (though I'm sorry to say you seem to be, at least in this second one if not the first) need to make enough of a ruckus to cover their silence. Sometimes it may even work. If it doesn't, at least we tried, and at least we didn't soil ourselves by going along with something that's wrong.

Sure, this tends to apply to more important things than a games shop, but ideals are ideals, can't claim to stand for the bigger ones if you wave away the smaller ones. (Which should go for GOG as well, with this.)
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EPurpl3: I totally agree but we cant win this one and that is why i will never buy one of those mega-ultra-humangus-super-amazing-games that they are about to release. In fact, i have only bought and i will only ever buy Good Old Games, from them. But i dont try to convince anybody of anything, i have done that too many times, trying to support a principle or even a group of people, and everything turned against me, even those people that i was trying to help. So i take only whats good from GOG and f*** what i dont like. If some day i will consider that they dont offer enough i will just stop using GOG.
Self-fulfilling prophecy, that, about "can't win". Me, I'll do what I can for as long as I can, not because I think I'll succeed if I do (generally very pessimistic, spares one from disappointment at least, that appears when you start having hopes and believing in others, see the current situation), but because I know I'll fail if I don't even try. And if for major causes I can somehow get myself to take part in street protests over here (assuming you actually are from here too, as it says) occasionally for the past 2 years and very earnestly now since September despite severe social anxiety and other such issues, for fair gaming industry policies I can at least boycott a site and try to persuade more people to do the same than I may have persuaded to give it a try over the years so far.
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OldFatGuy: Thus, I thought you guys were done. I can't imagine, however, that this thread comes as a shock.
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TheEnigmaticT: Well, yes and no. We knew that, especially given how little I was able to get clearance to tell you guys, that this would not go over smoothly. The strength of the reaction has made TheFrenchMonk and w0rma rethink our messaging priorities and we're telling you guys things that we had not initially planned to go into the details of yet.
When GOG started introducing DLC, episodic games, and serial keys, you were quick to ask for feedback about what kinds of changes made customers uncomfortable. Going forward from that, there seemed to be little controversy, even though not everyone wanted to have such content here. Maybe if you'd first polled the community and let us tell you "Sure, we want that," "Only in these conditions," or "Never in a million years," it wouldn't have blown up so big. Polling might not be the best way to make business decisions, but it would have worked better from the PR perspective. I don't know what factored into GOG's decision here or how much flexibility was available. Asking for nuanced feedback when the decision has to be all or nothing obviously isn't going to help you.

Stealth-removing all the "fair pricing" notices from the website didn't help the situation. The only time in the past you've done something similar is the fake shutdown. I'm interested to see if GOG's next move is more in line with a positive change that intentionally sounded bad, or a bad change you were trying to whitewash. GOG's had its share of marketing hyperbole, but there's been very little whitewashing over the years. I'm open to the possibility the details will turn out a lot less disastrous than hinted. There are a lot of ways this could play out.
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EPurpl3: Lets be honest, Steam sucks, we will all continue to support GOG even after this and it is obvious that the prices will increase, but not for you. As long as we will all continue to support GOG and we have no choice regarding the pricing system than you should be happy that you wont have to pay more.
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Rusty_Gunn: Being honest, I'd rather pay more, as opposed to having some of the cost being piled up on someone in "Outoluckistan"
I'm sure very few people will actually believe us but I'm with you.
Of course I'm one of those guys who pays, at least a donation, for the FOSS I use. ;)
To all the people who say DRM-Free is a must but regional pricing is OK:

Why?

DRM uses lockout features to play your game. When it goes wrong you may not be able to play your game, and at best it is an extra step you might need to do.

Regional pricing uses lockout features to stop you buying a version of a game. When it goes wrong you may not purchase a game, or get access to one you already puchased. At best it is an extra step you might need to do.

When I try to buy a game and get told I have to buy it off the 'special' Australian store it is the exact same rage as when a game tells me I can't play it because it can't find a master server to tell me if I am a pirate.
Post edited February 24, 2014 by _Bruce_
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_Bruce_: When I try to buy a game and get told I have to buy it off the 'special' Australian store it is the exact same rage as when a game tells me I can't play it because it can't find a master server to tell me if I am a pirate.
The big difference is that if you do not want to pay extra you are stingy, You say you are not, let's switch places right now, you can live in my country and pay the USA price and i can live in yours and live in your country, earn the same wage you get and pay the Australian price.

If you think it is immoral that your government allows price gouging then take it to the government, they are the ones who can clean this mess, that GOG did not offered AAA games at regional prices in the past DOES NOT CHANGE the fact the it is normal for software companies to do so and it will continue until you make your government stop them..
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mangamuscle: If you think it is immoral that your government allows price gouging then take it to the government, they are the ones who can clean this mess, that GOG did not offered AAA games at regional prices in the past DOES NOT CHANGE the fact the it is normal for software companies to do so and it will continue until you make your government stop them..
The government has NOTHING to do with this. The purchase is international from an international store. The government HAS performed a study into this issue, and grilled MS/Adobe/Apple and others over the issue. Their conclusion was there was nothing they could do, particularly in cases like this where GOG does not operate in Australia so they have no control at all.

How do you think government can fix it? Apeal to the UN?
Post edited February 24, 2014 by _Bruce_
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TheEnigmaticT: We do, actually, have some games that I'm pretty sure will have people giddy with glee once they show up on GOG that will be available thanks to this change. But for the most part we're probably best off awaiting TheFrenchMonk's letter to you guys that's to be published tomorrow.
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tfishell: Without going into specifics, can you confirm that GOG do have some highly-requested classics in the works?
I for one would be intrigued to see how the community, in all of its current anger right now over regional pricing, would react if we got Grim Fandango, Full Throttle, or Day of the Tentacle on GOG thanks to this move. It also makes me wonder what game(s) it would take for GOG to relent on being DRM-free.
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donsanderson: Well this USA user isn't happy and I don't see why any of us should be.
You paying more than me doesn't strike me as any better than if the situation were reversed.
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EPurpl3: Lets be honest, Steam sucks, we will all continue to support GOG even after this and it is obvious that the prices will increase, but not for you. As long as we will all continue to support GOG and we have no choice regarding the pricing system than you should be happy that you wont have to pay more.
Sorry, but I won't be.

I'm in the process of doing a fresh download of all my games on GOG as we speak (110 games - almost half already downloaded) and, once they are done, I won't be back to buy more.

I've already found a supplier in Bangkok than can get me any game I want for as cheap as I get them on GOG, and often cheaper, so now that GOG has changed their ethics and morals, there's no longer any point for me to buy games here. Not when they are willing to support developers that price gouge their customers just so that GOG can get certain games on the site.

Some of us DO have principles, and some of us DO vote with our money for those principles.
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tfishell: Without going into specifics, can you confirm that GOG do have some highly-requested classics in the works?
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rampancy: I for one would be intrigued to see how the community, in all of its current anger right now over regional pricing, would react if we got Grim Fandango, Full Throttle, or Day of the Tentacle on GOG thanks to this move. It also makes me wonder what game(s) it would take for GOG to relent on being DRM-free.
I for one wouldn't care in the least. That doesn't say anything about "the community" of course, but I will say that those who'd say it's ok in that case have just accepted a bribe, and will likely accept another for the DRM part, or anything else, someday.