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General discussionGOG.com's Plan for the Future Gets Some News!(1017 posts)(1017 posts)
(1017 posts)
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Posted November 18, 2011
If you've been checking out the news on gaming sites around the 'Net, you've very possibly heard that GOG has announced some exciting news about our plan for 2012 and beyond.

In particular, there are three main elements that make up our announced path for the next few years: adding newer games to the catalog, focusing on continuing our impressive growth, and bringing exclusive game releases to GOG.com. There are a few common questions we've seen about this, so before we link you to some of these discussions online, we thought we'd create a quick FAQ for you.

Q: Oh no! GOG.com is never going to sell another classic PC game again and my favorite game never made it here!

A: Don't worry, GOG.com will continue to release classic PC games. We are, however, looking to expand the availability window of games on GOG, so we won't focus only on PC classics anymore.

Q: Isn't your name Good Old Games? It seems kind of silly to sell new games on an old gaming website.

A: We've always been about our core values: DRM-free games, flat prices worldwide, and extra goodies included in our releases. So don't think about us as "Good Old Games"; think of us as "GOG.com", and perhaps you can work your way around that objection. ;)

Q: I see your terrible plot! When you guys start selling games with DRM, I will leave the Internets in disgust and never return.

A: Don't worry: we're devoted to those three core values that we mentioned above, and we know that if we ever abandoned them we'd quickly become just another digital distributor. Our goal is to become the best alternative digital distributor out there: the guys who do it differently, who respect their customers, and who can help change what the industry is doing as a result.


If you have any other pressing questions about our future plans, feel free to ask them in the forum and we'll do our best to answer as many as we can. Keep in mind that we can't always answer questions you ask for a variety of reasons, so apologies in advance if you happen to ask one of those kinds of questions.
Posted November 21, 2011
I'm happy to see the core values you mentioned remain as core values. I appreciate DRM-free software, not because I wish to pirate it, but because the situation I have here with regard to computers and the internet precludes me from being able to use Steam games on some of my computers. I cannot do so, because they cannot currently be connected to the internet, using the internet setup I have right now. Steam games, as I understand it, may be installed and run on any machines you have, however, to do so requires a connection to the internet to activate them.

I appreciate not having to worry about this with GOG games. Now my only problem is going to be my data cap per month (with larger, newer games), but I've got a workaround for that, when necessary. So, hooray, I'll be looking forward to seeing more newer games, as well as more of my favorite classics.
Posted November 21, 2011
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muscrat: Nice news, but why not introduce a connected sister site? Good New Games? GNG.com?

Hrmm,
Because implementing that would be a nightmare. Two completely different sites means more upkeep. Also, when would something warrant being switched? After all, at a certain point it would no longer be a GNG, and would need to change over to GOG. So how to make that work?
Posted November 21, 2011
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Adokat: Guess what, you MUST have an internet connection to digitally download a game. You noticed (that is, ignored) that I specified digital downloads for online activations.
Ah, that wasn't intentional: I missed that bit. You switched track from speaking of CD keys, a matter relating to physical media, to speaking of digital downloads. Even so, the principle is the same: I might prefer to download at the library, school, wherever but install on an offline gaming machine.

Tbh, tho, I wouldn't be here at GOG if the industry still used CD keys and simple disk checks. In general, I don't prefer digital, in large part due to the fact that I can't resell or give away a game that I no longer want. GOG's pricing, DRM-free policy, selection, and treatment of its customers is enough to overcome that. GOG is the next best thing to DRM-free physical media, and its success might have an impact on DRM used for physical media (long shot, I know, but I'm being optimistic).

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Adokat: Why is a single online activation so onerous? If your fear is that the 10 second activation process is out of your control, then would you not concede that receiving a CD key on the back of the manual is also out of your control? Surely printing errors can and do happen, and if the printed CD key is invalid you can't play your games. I get the distinction, I just don't see how it matters in any practical sense.
That is a case of a defective product: I contact the publisher or retailer and get a working copy. Once I have it, it's mine and within my control.

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Adokat: snip
You don't have full ownership if you have to be online to reinstall. You don't have full ownership if you can't resell your game. With digital downloads, I'll grant that it's difficult to preserve both of those rights at the same time. GOG preserves unlimited install without an Internet connection at the expense of resale. Another service could do the opposite (tho I'm not aware of any that do such). It's a complex issue.

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Adokat: Why should I care about being DRM free if it's impact on me is inconsequential when done right?
Out of curiousity: Who would you say does it right?
Post edited November 21, 2011 by ddmuse
Posted November 21, 2011
I had a question for the GOG staff, if they're still answering. Hopefully this hasn't been asked before, but I kinda feel iffy about scouring 20 pages worth of posts to see whether it has been asked or not :P

Anyway, my question was that when you start introducing newer games on GOG, will you be concentrating on releasing games that are "just good", or games that were met with high critical acclaim? More specifically, will you be introducing games that are still widely available, or are you going to introduce games that perhaps were excellent when they were released but slowly faded into obscurity due to poor sales (such as Psychonauts and Beyond Good and Evil) ?
Posted November 21, 2011
Hmmm I don't like this idea. For now gog was unique, old classics without tons of cdrap that is release nowadays. Seriously, DRM free and flat prices are ok but it was not most important thing about this page. It was all about delivering classics that are not available elswhere with full compatibility with new OSs. Will see what is going to happen but I am not optimistic (just please don't make this site another shit that advertise Call of Duty....)
Posted November 21, 2011
It's called evolution :)
GOG is building up and will be actively promoting Games without DRM.
I hope they succeed as they did with the witcher 2.
Get a trend going without DRM.

Let's rock!!!
Posted November 21, 2011
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muscrat: Nice news, but why not introduce a connected sister site? Good New Games? GNG.com?

Hrmm,
Maybe because they won't be good? *duckandrun*

As far as I can read from the official statements, "good" is not a core value of Gog. Just think of Gog as a name and you'll realize, the games don't actually have to be any good.

:)
Post edited November 21, 2011 by Trilarion
Posted November 21, 2011
Hmm well was inevitable I guess, though it is a bit sad. And you can call me elitist if you want, but after the Witcher 2 release, when I saw the subforum flooded with computer illiterate little brats, who asked the same damned thing 30 times without even clicking search, I don't like this. Every new release would get those people here, doing the same bollocks that happens on the steamforums. Imagine a BF3 bred guy checking out populous, and flooding the subforums with "What this sh*t? This bad graphics, me brain huuurt" UGH.
Posted November 21, 2011
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Adokat: [Snippy...]
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KOCollins: Years ago about 4 or so, the DRM of online Activations was considered by the vast majority of PC gamers as a terrible Copy Protection scheme. In time people got used to it, to the point where they were saying that it is better than the old Copyright protection or at least "no big deal"...Now Ubisoft has their little Constant Internet Connection DRM and people act the same towards that as they did the Internet activation DRM...If more and more companies though start requiring people to have always connectd DRM pretty soon, people will start going, well, that's not so bad, I don't even notice it anyways! Then the next DRM will become popular, where the game files are no longer even on your computer but on a remote system, where the companies have truly total control over your purchase.

Whatever one may think will happen, I will tell people this, if you give corporations power over you, they will take that power and use it to maximize their profits, that is really what they care about afterall. Maybe it doesn't matter to some people, but, I grew up in an age where when you bought a game it was yours forever...Yours. I have watched over the years as these game companies have slowly taken OUR rights to OUR purchases away from us, and gained control of them for themselves. I don't care how minor the nusciance may be for some, for me, it is outrageous. Though I too have caved in and use STEAM sometimes, though only when I have little other choice. I just hope everyone wakes up a little and doesn't let these companies get even more control...Look at just about everything else you can buy on this planet. Once you buy it it is YOURS...That is not the case with Games any more, and I hope I have explained to some why some of us may indeed have a problem with DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT. Makes me sick even typing it. lol Anyways that's my two cents about DRM and why I wish I could put it where the sun don't shine.
Amen brother. Well said. I am in full agreement. Unless it's a MMORPG or other kind of online-based universe game, there simply is no reason why we should relinquish any control or allow any "big brother watching," or ad flashing AT ALL. If we pay full value for the game, it should be 100% in OUR control.

This is one of the reasons I like supporting GOG even if I do buy a game that was previously available as freeware.
Posted November 21, 2011
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anjohl: The problem is that GOG is relatively expensive as it is. Their sale prices don't even approach steam prices,...
This statement may be true for countries charged with dollars but not valid for others. A price of newer releases is usually circa 30% higher than in my country. When charged in euros, many of their promos are still absurdly overpriced compared to a local market or other e-shops selling DVDs.

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DeadPoolX: ...However, Steam's DRM model is, by and large, benign. It's not invasive (all it really wants is an email address), can be run in offline mode and it doesn't affect your computer negatively, unlike some other DRM schemes...
Actually, Steam's model supports typical forms of protection too. Some of games has an activation limit or SecuRom. I don't want to criticize it here but I'd like to complete the information.
Post edited November 21, 2011 by Mivas
Posted November 21, 2011
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DeadPoolX: ...However, Steam's DRM model is, by and large, benign. It's not invasive (all it really wants is an email address), can be run in offline mode and it doesn't affect your computer negatively, unlike some other DRM schemes...
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Mivas: Actually, Steam's model supports typical forms of protection too. Some of games has an activation limit or SecuRom. I don't want to criticize it here but I'd like to complete the information.
You're right, some games do have that. However, that's not Steam's decision nor is it part of Steam itself.

The reason you'll see extra DRM in some games is because those publishers decided to keep it.
Posted November 21, 2011
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DeadPoolX: The reason you'll see extra DRM in some games is because those publishers decided to keep it.
I am aware of that fact, DeadPoolX. Yet it roofs a part of their portfolio and I thought it's good to mention it.
Posted November 21, 2011
If the catalogue starts getting messy, I'm just not going to bother at all. They need the new games entirely separate, including their own shelf if they must do this on the same site. I'm personally only interested in GOG for OLD games. Steam is my source for newer games & GOG is my source for older games (i.e ones that I can play on my HTPC & Netbook).
Yeah steam has DRM but I'm not obsessed with everything being drm free, I just avoid the ones with particularly bad DRM. The ones with the bad DRM (Like Ubisoft) are highly unlikely to go giving GOG their games DRM free because they love their over the top DRM and seem to be proactively pushing for people to pirate their games.

Edit: Forgot to add that with them putting newer games up they're not going to be under the radar so much anymore and will probably have to start dealing with regional issues (such as countries where games are unavailable/banned) and, in the UK at least, VAT.
Post edited November 21, 2011 by serpantino
Posted November 21, 2011
If GOG introduce new and not so new games without the DRM, then I'll transfer all my purchasing here. Gog will be my one stop shop for my gaming habits.

DRM is always a let down and preventing me buying from Steam and other digital gaming distributors that implement strict copy protections. I'll I want is to enjoy my games, hassle free and I really don't want to be bothered if I'm connected to the net or not (because I don't have a reliable internet connections). Besides I payed for the game and I want to owned it. DRM is like you purchase a t-shirt but you don't owned that shirt, you just have the right to wear it. and that sucks.
Posted November 21, 2011
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Darling_Jimmy: Having to enter a confirmation code that is emailed to me every time I launch the client is nearly equal to the always online nightmare because I always have to be online.
Logging in onto Steam - You are doing it wrong.
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General discussionGOG.com's Plan for the Future Gets Some News!(1017 posts)(1017 posts)
(1017 posts)
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