This makes no sense if they're referring to the DevPortal, since BKGaming's previous post shows they were well aware of it.

This whole incident is a cause for concern for me personally. I really wish someone from GOG would communicate with its community here about what they are doing to alleviate these kinds of issues going forward. The apparent breakdown in communication that has occurred here ultimately harms the consumer.

I have heard anecdotes for the last four or so years where developers try to contact GOG about getting their stuff onto the store, but don't get a reply at all. This makes me wonder if the update crisis ties into that.

Sometimes, I hope that it all boils down to a faulty spam filter. Aside from a sign of extreme incompetence, it would at least absolve GOG of being intentionally mule-headed.

But is that the only feature that this DevPortal has? They said that they had access to it, but they couldn't upload without input from GOG, so, maybe updating the game directly on Galaxy without GOG input is a feature that was implemented later? And GOG didn't tell them about it or GOG did tell them about it but they didn't bother checking it until OP started pestering them?

Or it's simply one of the features that simply don't work. This is GOG after all. They collect bugs like their users collect games. :-) So who knows what kind of bugs crawl through that DevPortal.

I know this is a nitpick but as someone who does tech support, asking nicely will usually get you your way.

That's something many folks no longer understand.

Having said that, the webhosting company I run, we're a FreeBSD house. Php on linux does have differences between php on Freebsd. Not many but we run a separate SVN/TRAC setup instead of directly pulling from the developer's websites. I have a feeling that many developers see the same issue with GoG/Steam.

Having a platform that says that it is DRM free, I would think that they WOULD have to approve everything. If they didn't a dev could sneak in DRM without GOG even seeing it, if it were an automatic push to Galaxy. Many companies are (ahum,EA) trying to monetize everything to death or add in DRM which isn't even a deterrent, just a big PITA to the customers and users.

I personally have passed up many a game that requires online access for even single player or has to be activated online for single player. I am that way with titles that I would buy because I had all the games before it.

GOG should be diligent about what updates go through and if a dev thinks that is too hard then they just need to not even be on GOG. As to GOG not answering support, that is something else, though every time I have contacted support I had a resolution within 48 hours, every single time.

That goes beyond tech support. I worked for B&N for ten years and of course I've been an innkeeper for the past twelve, and being polite will work wonders. Being rude will net you squat.

One of my managers at B&N had the opposite approach and used to insist you got better service at restaurants the meaner you were. I used to ask her if she had any idea the amount of pubic hair, finger nail clippings, and boogers she had unknowingly ingested over the years. :P

Have done tech support before and know what you mean. Most times they come at you with guns blazing and expecting answers before you even know what the question is in the first place. It is sometimes hard to stay completely sain and calm when dealing with people like that.

As the saying goes "You will attract more bees with honey than with vinegar" (That version sounds better than the flies one)

Point is, be nice and respective with your first support request.

They would still test the patch when they package it for the standalone installer. You can also rollback a patch on Galaxy if some dev did that. I imagine if that was to happen GOG would immediantly pull the update from Galaxy or even remove the game from sale.

It's a risk but not a bigh enough one to purposely slow down patching...
Maybe they are confusing the DevPortal with GOG's old way of patching? Maybe they really didn't have access. But either way it looks like someone from GOG is indeed reading the this thread at the very least.

Game updates on GOG are a mixed bag, The Categories* below don't represent from best to worst:

Category A: Games where their updates come here almost at the same time as Steam. There are many titles that fall in this area.

Category B: Games where the devs release the updates on GOG a little later (usually a week or two), also some devs such as Klei (makers of Don't Starve) release lots of patches on Steam for their game, and then they release the latest one with all the previous fixes a bit later on GOG, not bad since they show they haven't forgotten us.

Category C: Games where the dev forgets GOG exists and leaves their game(s) in an abandoned state (Omerta, Nuclear Throne).


I think the answer is "it depends". I see FiolaSoft as an honest and good dev, they're also quite communicative with their fan base, This was probably a miscommunication between them and GOG. I often saw a similar scenario in the store I used to work. Some customers were like "this is a bad service I'm never coming here again bla bla", while another customer would say he'll come again and the service was great.

But does anybody know what the problem is with Omerta on GOG? I mean Tropico from the same dev & publisher combo is up to date. In fact the other games, when just one of the parties, is involved are properly updated. So there must be something wrong with this game.

GOG might be "quiet", but it is the developers' fault. It's not about updating their game here being more costly, it is them being lazy/greedy and lately, even rumors like Valve cutting them a better deal under the table (in order for them to update on Steam first or on Steam EXCLUSIVELY), has been heard circulating for some time now... Even over there at Steam's grounds!

Don't hate the victim, hate the fat man stuffing Himself with all cakes and fat loot; the monopoly player!

I myself would never ask for a refund on such grounds, though. The only time i kindly requested for a refund, was at Beamdog's a$$pull on classic Baldur's Gate series and it ruining them with demented content. For me, the real problem is when they do "update" their games and "enhance" them, oh god, whenever they "enhance" them...

Besides, judging from Steam, not all updates are "good". Some of them change the balance of gameplay, others REMOVE content (like those old GTA titles and their compatibility/soundtrack), break the game which then needs fixing, introduce new bugs and so on. But yes, whenever the update is about fixing an issue, then it is a real SHAME that publishers (are bribed to) "forget" all about GOG.

It depends. Sure GOG could deliver good service, update installers, respond quickly to developers and automatize much of the system. But even then it will always be an additional burden using multiple delivering channels and always some people complain about anything.

The best is probably to collect stories of serious issues where chances are that GOG could have acted better and then threaten GOG with not buying anymore with them should they not improve in this regard. That might have a positive impact.

Let's have trash updates from devs wanting to mess their customers around because it's become the norm with steam. Or how about we don't.

These devs could have released patches like it was done in the olden days, where people went somewhere like fileplanet to download a patch so it's hardly a gog problem.