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General discussionIntroducing: GOG Galaxy, the DRM-Free online gaming platform(917 posts)(917 posts)
(917 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted June 06, 2014
Freedom of choice. Optional client. Cross-play. Coming soon to all gamers!

Earlier today (or was it yesterday for you?), during the [url=http://www.gog.com/news/cd_projekt_red_gogcom_summer_conference]CD Projekt RED and GOG.com’s Summer Conference we dropped the news about our next big step forward! GOG.com has always been home to more and more of the the best games in history (for Windows and Mac), both classic and new. Differing in shapes, flavors, and sizes they had one thing in common: they were mostly single-player, and our focus was mainly on the experience of a singular gamer. If that's your thing, nothing really will change. You can always enjoy your favorite games 100% DRM-free on GOG.com, with no need to activate your game online or remain connected to play your single-player title. Just like GOG.com has always been about.. But what if you want to play with your friends?

Today we are excited to announce GOG Galaxy, a truly gamer-friendly, 100% DRM-free online gaming platform that will finally provide the GOG.com community with the easy option to play together online. GOG Galaxy will allow you to share your achievements, stay in touch with your pals and get the updates for your games automatically. We've developed this technology to improve your GOG.com experience. We think GOG Galaxy really deserves your attention and we hope many of you will give it a try! But, here's the great thing: it is totally optional, so it's all up to you! If you do not want to play online, or use our optional client to access these features, then no worries, you will always be able to play the single-player mode 100% DRM-free, and download manually the latest updated version of your favorite title from our website. Now, for one more feature we call cross-play. We always believed in an open world for gamers, with no obligation to be tied to a specific platform or client; and this is why GOG Galaxy will allow gamers to play with their buddies who use Steam, without any need to use any 3rd party client or account, nothing, nada. We’re taking care of connecting GOG.com and Steam players, so just sit back, relax and give it a try.

See the outtake from the CD Projekt RED & GOG.com Summer Conference

Talking of which, we are proud to announce the soon-to-come launch of the beta phase for The Witcher Adventure Game, a faithful adaptation of the board game of the same title. It allows up to 4 players to play together, whether they use Steam or GOG.com. Cross-play at its finest! If you wanna get the chance to try it out, please visit and sign up to get in the queue for your beta access key. You can also simply take advantage of our amazing [url=http://www.gog.com/tw3]pre-order offer for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which includes 2 beta access keys for he Witcher Aventure Game, delivered to you as soon as we start handing them out to public.

We believe GOG Galaxy has the power to provide the best of both worlds. Playing the single player mode of your favorite game, 100% DRM-free, while still having the OPTION to use our soon-to-come client for an enhanced experience (auto-patching, achievements, and much more) or play online with other GOG.com (and Steam) players if you so wish.

There will be more GOG Galaxy titles coming up this year, so stay tuned for more news and get the word around!
Post edited June 06, 2014 by G-Doc
Posted June 07, 2014
I have to say that in my opinion this direction is bad, eventually this will become mandatory for multiplayer (gog might not make it a requirement but the devs probably will) and then mandatory to play (again devs might see this as a good idea even if gog does not), sadly this smells like the rise of a new steam 8(
Posted June 07, 2014
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Erich_Zann: Bear in mind that "I don't care for" and "I don't care about" are two very different things. "I don't care for" means "I dislike", but some non-native speakers - like me - tend to incorrectly write "I don't care about" even when they mean "I don't care for". Slip of the quillboard.
This did occur to me near the end... If that is the case, it's a completely valid statement, and I take things back. You will find, however, that some people actually try to feign indifference in an attempt to make a point.
Either way, we certainly agree both that it is vital to explain what we don't wish to see and to present feedback on what bothers us presently. The minute difference between us is that I don't expect bad things... I guess you might call me a bit of an optimist :).
Let us wait and see. As far as I can tell, the API can become an open industry standard that anyone can tap into for his multiplayer needs. The client itself should be a nice addition for communication, update management and profile sharing... but its greatest strength will lie in being completely optional. One could find a hotspot, download updates, and then play games offline without a hitch.
Posted June 07, 2014
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halldojo: (gog might not make it a requirement but the devs probably will)
(again devs might see this as a good idea even if gog does not)
1. I don't get what you're trying to say... Devs/Publishers already see DRM as a good thing (since a veeeeery long time now). They already asked GOG to sell their games with 3rd party DRM. GOG said "No, thanks." Why should this change?

2. Remember regional pricing? Multiply this by the square root of Pi*Shut-Down-Stunt² and you'll have an idea of how the uproar will look like. GOG won't do this. If they do, they can look into becoming a Steam key reseller, just like any other useless store.
Posted June 07, 2014
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DrearierSpider: Yes, you were the original person that I was referring to. How was I supposed to recognize that you were being sarcastic/making a bad joke from plain text? And I'm fine with people having opinions that aren't my own, as long as they can be logically argued. I don't think anybody has any logical reason to complain about Galaxy, as it's entirely optional and won't change GOG for you at all if you don't want it. I apologize for the confusion though, I didn't realize you were joking.
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zero_koop: Here is a logical reason to not like Galaxy: it takes company resources away from other areas of the business. Even if you don't like or use Galaxy, by buying games from GOG you in fact paying for Galaxy because your payments are funneled into the development of that project. Think outside the box. For the record, I love the idea of Galaxy and I can't wait to try it out. I'm just playing devil's advocate.
Honestly, that's a fair point, I didn't think of that.
Posted June 07, 2014
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SCPM: I think GOG Galaxy is a fantastic idea, as many publishers and devs claimed that they can't have a GOG release for their games because they 'need' Steam's API for achievements and multi-player. I hope we start seeing big games we missed out on because of those excuses.
This. GOG has lost a few games recently and in the past over this issue with downing of the gamespy portals. It certainly can add matchmaking to games that need it and it would even be possible for game servers to be brought up for those games that need it. I don't know about most of you, but I find the possibility of a fixed Neverwinter and Baldur's Gate online experience absolutely intriguing. It's possible the online parts of these games will work better than when the game was first out. I hope GOG succeeds on this.
Posted June 07, 2014
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real.geizterfahr: 2. Remember regional pricing? Multiply this by the square root of Pi*Shut-Down-Stunt² and you'll have an idea of how the uproar will look like. GOG won't do this. If they do, they can look into becoming a Steam key reseller, just like any other useless store.
How is that supposed to be a counterpoint? Regional pricing is still happening despite the uproar ...
Posted June 07, 2014
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Libelsema: If GOG Galaxy uses ownership check it's not DRM free, because ownership check = DRM.
They say it's optional unless you want to play multiplayer.
To me it's nearly the same than saying that Steam DRM is optional unless you want to play the game.
The Guy in the video says, that players have to be online to play multiplayer anyway, but the need of internet to play a game isn't DRM.
The need of a service, checking if you are authorized to play the game (or parts of it) is.
The reason I want to play DRM-free games is not that I have a poor internet connection or services like Steam are spying at me.
It's because I want to own the (whole) games I buy.
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JohnnyDollar: I'm curious, could you please elaborate? Tell us what kind of client GOG needs to deliver so that it adheres to being DRM-free.
It's not about the client. It's about the games. GOG Galaxy is not only a client. It's a service that has to be implemented into the games themselves. That means that GOG-DRM is implemented into the games, which wasn't the case before.
Posted June 07, 2014
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JohnnyDollar: I'm curious, could you please elaborate? Tell us what kind of client GOG needs to deliver so that it adheres to being DRM-free.
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Libelsema: It's not about the client. It's about the games. GOG Galaxy is not only a client. It's a service that has to be implemented into the games themselves. That means that GOG-DRM is implemented into the games, which wasn't the case before.
gog have repeatedly stated the client will be fully optional and not require you to be online or to have it running to launch and play your games. they have stated you will need it only for multiplayer.
Posted June 07, 2014
-Galaxy is optional
-It replaces the GOG Downloader
These two contradict themselves for me. I need the GOG Downloader for games bigger than 1 GB as my connection can't handle those as a direct download.
I will require Galaxy in order to get my larger GOG games.

Still looking forward to Galaxy. Just saying.
Posted June 07, 2014
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johnnygoging: >the client will be fully optional
>you will need it only for multiplayer
LOL
Posted June 07, 2014
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Libelsema: It's not about the client. It's about the games. GOG Galaxy is not only a client. It's a service that has to be implemented into the games themselves. That means that GOG-DRM is implemented into the games, which wasn't the case before.
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johnnygoging: gog have repeatedly stated the client will be fully optional and not require you to be online or to have it running to launch and play your games. they have stated you will need it only for multiplayer.
As I said before. It can't be "fully" optional and required for multiplayer at the same time.
Posted June 07, 2014
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johnnygoging: >the client will be fully optional
>you will need it only for multiplayer
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N3xtGeN: LOL
a little thinking on your part would go a long way to adding a lot of context to the situation to the point where it might not be considered lolworthy. but yes, in and of itself, it's a bit of a fallacy.
Posted June 07, 2014
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Pheace: How is that supposed to be a counterpoint? Regional pricing is still happening despite the uproar ...
I know that GOG's still working on regional prices for the whole store. But after the uproar they added a "We'll pay the difference out of our own pockets"-insurance, which essentially guarantees that we'll get fair regional prices. GOG is not going to pay us for buying games (which they would have to do if they would allow $1 = €1)!
Posted June 07, 2014
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real.geizterfahr: GOG is not going to pay us for buying games (which they would have to do if they would allow $1 = €1)!
You mean like they did with The Witcher 2, how they are doing with Age of Wonders 3 and The Witcher 3, and how they will be doing with Divinity: Original Sin?
Because for the older catalog, it wouldn't be $1 = €1
Posted June 07, 2014
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Diversion: What about older games that from the beginning allowed you to host games either on the net or on LAN, will they be changed to work only on Galaxy (the multiplayer part that is)? Will this option remain?
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JudasIscariot: We have some ideas on the older games but we're still working on getting everything sorted :) I personally hope we can have Galaxy facilitate the multiplayer options on older games so that you can just click and play them just like in the old days :)
Sounds contradictory. Let me give an example to avoid misunderstandings. Xwing Alliance and Age of Empires were games that allowed the now defunct MSN Gaming Zone to handle matchmaking. However if you so wished you could totally bypass MSN Gaming Zone and simply host a game and give your friends your IP to connect to wether on the net or on a LAN.

Are you saying that if similar games are in your catalog you will alter the game in such a way that this possibility is removed and that you must use Galaxy in order to play multiplayer?

I'm sorry that does not sound good. You are then making my game dependant on external software that may or may not be accessible in the future. That is DRM no matter how you slice it.

I am not opposed to Galaxy in itself but if the ability to host a game without using additional software was in the original game then it should remain.
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Community
General discussionIntroducing: GOG Galaxy, the DRM-Free online gaming platform(917 posts)(917 posts)
(917 posts)