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Hey, GOGgers,

We're not perfect, we're exploring new frontiers, and we make mistakes. We thought DRM-Free was so important that you'd prefer we bring you more DRM-Free games and Fair Price was less critical and that it could be sacrificed in some cases. The last two week's worth of comments in our forums (nearly 10k!), show that's not the case. We didn’t listen and we let you down. We shouldn't sacrifice one of our core values in an attempt to advance another. We feel bad about that, and we're sorry. Us being sorry is not of much use to you, so let’s talk about how we will fix it.

One: DRM-free forever. Abandoning fixed regional pricing means it will probably take longer to get some games, but you've made it clear that sacrificing fair pricing for more DRM-free games isn't acceptable.

Two: We will adamantly continue to fight for games with flat worldwide pricing. If that fails and we are required to have regional prices, we will make up the difference for you out of our own pockets. For now it will be with $5.99 and $9.99 game codes. In a couple of months, once we have such functionality implemented, we will give you store credit instead, which then you will be able to use towards any purchase and cover the price of it in full or partially. Effectively gamers from all around the world will be able to benefit from the US prices.

This will apply to every single game where we do not have flat pricing, such as Age of Wonders 3 (full details here), Divinity: Original Sin, and The Witcher 3. If you remember the Fair Price Package for The Witcher 2, this will be exactly the same.

Three: We still intend to introduce the pricing in local currencies. Let us explain why we want to do it and how we want to make it fair for everyone. From the very beginning our intention was to make things easier for users whose credit cards/payment systems are not natively in USD. The advantages are simple because the price is more understandable and easier to relate to. There would be no exchange rates involved, no transaction fees, and no other hidden charges. However after reading your comments, we realized we have taken an important element away: the choice. In order to fix this, we'll offer the option of paying in the local currency or the equivalent in USD. This way, how you pay is always your choice.

Four: You are what matters, and we will be sure to involve you all more in what we're doing and why we're doing it. Let's start by meeting you at GDC - we’d like to invite you to meet us face-to-face Monday the 17th at GDC. Obviously, not all of you can come to San Francisco, so we want to invite all of you to an online event with us early in April to ask us whatever you would like. More details soon.

The bottom line is simple: there may be companies that won't work with us (although we will work hard to convince the most stubborn ones ;). Yes, it means we might miss out on some games, but at the same time GOG.com will remain true to its values and will keep on offering you the best of DRM-free gaming with Fair Prices.

Once again thank you for caring so much about GOG.com. We will work hard not to disappoint you again.

--Marcin "iWi" Iwinski & Guillaume "TheFrenchMonk" Rambourg
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Trilarion: The exception of the "we will always offer a compensation". So in these cases where it is absolutely inevitable and the games are also really much wanted, they should not offer a compensation but do what they wanted to do before yesterday. Kind or rolling back the back to the roots. But only if it's really, really necessary and onyl partially and only as an exception. The rule should be that there is an adequate compensation which makes the prices much more fair. Of course difficult to say when it really is necessary and nothing else works.
Too many conditions that could just as easily be applied to any highly regarded or desired game (either by GOG or by customers) that's playing too hard to get; turning the rule into the exception wouldn't be that far away after a while or a few titles.

Not sure if & how this could work and if I'd be ok with it - I only accept the latest model for regionally priced titles as the best possible compromise GOG could have made in the situation they got themselves in, I still object to the "industry-standard" regional pricing model and the way it's implemented and I want it gone. Just to be clear, I oppose the overcharging, not the better prices for poorer countries.
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hedwards: Interesting. I guess this is a part of why that whole $1=1 euro thing got started. I'm all for customer protection, but this seems excessive. I'm not even sure how they managed to determine where to advertise the prices appropriately.
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HypersomniacLive: The exchange rate of USD and EUR has mostly been higher than the highest VAT in any EU member, so I highly doubt it had anything to do with VAT - another thing that may not be known is that when the $1=1€ started it was even less justifiable as a number of countries had a lower VAT back then.

I'm not sure I follow you on the part I highlighted - could you elaborate, please?
Sorry, indefinite pronoun. I mean the regulations are excessive. If it's advertised in $ and the price in the shop is correct, including the VAT, that should be more than enough. On the rare occasion where I'm buying something which is in Euro, I don't really get an help, because there isn't really any good way of doing it. I'm not sure how this regulation does anything other than represent a pain for compliance.

My main complaint is buying something and not knowing how much it costs until I checkout, I'm guessing that the real reason for this rule is to hide to rather exorbitant amount of tax that's being paid. Which appears to be between two and three times as much as I pay.
Apart from DRM free and prices and Linux support what GOG could do already right now and what would give an immediate improvement of the service: optional automatic patching of the games. There are more and more release games which get updated and the GOG way is just awkward. I really do not understand why this haven't been improved already. Don't they want happy customers?

What exactly do I mean:
- Optional updating of downloaded installers by sending a diff/delta/just the changes and updating the locally archived installers, either automatically or manually.
- Optional patching of installed games by sending a diff/delta/just the changes and updating the locally installed files, either autmatically or manually, whereever this is applicable.

This is not that difficult although it requires some work. However it would make using GOG much easier.

Algorithms for automatic creation of diffs:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_encoding#Examples
Post edited March 13, 2014 by Trilarion
This. This is awesome. I am writing what is most likely my second post ever here (the first was on the regional pricing news post), and it is to say, great job, GOG. I am very aware that this is hurting you from a business standpoint. But, personally, I think less of a publisher who won't deal with GOG and get their game fairly priced (and DRM-free), rather than of GOG for not having it. This is how we'll show publishers (and also ultimately, physical retailers) that we will never accept their cancerous attitude towards customers, by giving our money to the shop that doesn't screw us to please the leeches. And keeping to your principles is why I will always prefer GOG.
Let me tell you a little story.

There was once a great rail.
All the trains were going one way.
Then, one train decided it'll travel the other way.
Naturally, it started to amass happy passengers.

Train was soon to arrive at a split-rail.
The driver was a kind-hearted man.
A bunch of kids kept whining and crying to him, so he let them drive the train a bit.
And, oops, they directed the train to the LEFT track instead of the RIGHT one.

Now, it's good to be kind to kids.
It does show you are a kind person.
But there are a lot of other passengers on the train.
And most of them are not going to get up and go kick the train driver's ass,
seeing how the train just took a different route.

After all, there aren't any other trains going in this direction, right?
Well, we'll just have to wait and see how many people leave at the next stop, now won't we? ;)
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iWi: we clearly mention the possibility of not getting some games in future.
Possibly from people who don't think drm-free gaming is damn viable reality, right?
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bmihoric: ... And most of them are not going to get up and go kick the train driver's ass,...
But that is not very nice of them.

But another story:

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

Robert Frost
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iWi: We just wanted to make sure, that we clearly mention the possibility of not getting some games in future.
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xy2345: That's okay. We don't have to have all the games. Chosing not to do business with someone is a valid business decision and may very well prove to be the right one in the long term.
That's a mature mind, thankful and sober. +1!
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hedwards: Sorry, indefinite pronoun. I mean the regulations are excessive. If it's advertised in $ and the price in the shop is correct, including the VAT, that should be more than enough. On the rare occasion where I'm buying something which is in Euro, I don't really get an help, because there isn't really any good way of doing it. I'm not sure how this regulation does anything other than represent a pain for compliance.

My main complaint is buying something and not knowing how much it costs until I checkout, I'm guessing that the real reason for this rule is to hide to rather exorbitant amount of tax that's being paid. Which appears to be between two and three times as much as I pay.
Maybe I wasn't clear in my earlier post. The regulation does not require for the price to be displayed in EURO, it can be in any currency so long as it's the final price the end-user customer is going to pay.

When we buy something in USD, we also don't know how much this is in EURO until we check our bank/ balance or the credit card statement is issued. Of course knowing the daily conversion rates of your bank/ credit card issuer helps you calculate the amount at the moment of purchase (that's how I usually do it).

The rule does not try to hide the taxes, in B2C the VAT percentage is known to the end-user customer (or at least it's their responsibility to know it) and they can deduct it from the final price, if the exact amount is not clearly displayed on their receipt.
The reason for VAT to be already included is that it's always applied to B2C (for businesses and customers) located in the EU) and not doing so is considered false or misleading advertising (or something along these lines).
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Trilarion: [...] Robert Frost
Made my day, completely free of the context at hand. Thanks much for bringing this poem to my attention.
Post edited March 13, 2014 by chevkoch
I read the news and I just wanted to thank you for your business model that really takes into account us, the gamers. It is really important for the companies to hear what they really are for from their customers. I appreciate the effort and I can guarantee that, with such a move, I will consider buying from you in principle, even you don't have any sale on. I wanted to share this since I would like more companies to consider DRM-free downloadable digital products from GOG platform.

I would like to note that, when Steam or Origin or any other service decide to close doors, we won't be able to play the games we bought. But with you, we have the game, even the services that provide them has closed.

Thank you and keep up with the good work.
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vicklemos: ......
I try to run some gog games through wine 100% with little success since I hate configuring wine; it pisses me off!
Also owning a crappy notebook running windows 8 (which I rarely use since it sucks ass so much) and knowing I just can't play 95% of my GOG catalogue gets me also mad, since that "thing" can't even run dosbox based games. Really, I ain't lying.
Yep, even to this day I didn't manage to fix it :(
Have you tried some program like VirtualBox? Maybe it's something for you...
I'm going to use it soon, because WinXP Support will end in one month, and I don't think a bit to update to 7 or 8 or change to Linux completely.
Post edited March 13, 2014 by gamefood
You bucked this one up. You just should've dropped that subject. Apologizing made it worse. Po raz kolejny.
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vicklemos: ......
I try to run some gog games through wine 100% with little success since I hate configuring wine; it pisses me off!
Also owning a crappy notebook running windows 8 (which I rarely use since it sucks ass so much) and knowing I just can't play 95% of my GOG catalogue gets me also mad, since that "thing" can't even run dosbox based games. Really, I ain't lying.
Yep, even to this day I didn't manage to fix it :(
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gamefood: Have you tried some program like VirtualBox? Maybe it's something for you...
I'm going to use it soon, because WinXP Support will end in one month, and I don't think a bit to update to 7 or 8 or change to Linux completely.
Thanks for the tip! :)
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gamefood: snip
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vicklemos: Thanks for the tip! :)
You're welcome! :)