Yeah on this I agree. Not much big classic releases.

I'm actually really happy about this I hope it comes out soon! :)

What I fear is that most old games don't sell that well. You see it in every release thread, good old game comes out, priced at 5.99, and there are at least as many "too expensive, will wait for a sale" as there are "instabuy".
There were people complaining about Sword of the Samurai being too expensive at 5.99, for Mammon's sake.

You could maybe develop the Galaxy thing as modular as possible, then you could appease to all possible preferences while keeping support low.

I was kinda disappointed to hear that I needed to be connected to the Internet to play games on the Internet ;P.

In contrast to many comments so far, I keep thinking of the best that could happen; of the potential influence this could have. As far as I'm concerned - the future looks very promising...

My GOG client checklist:

DRM-Free
GOG always and forever DRM-Free, and never negotiable.

Optional
Client completely optional and this includes manually being able to download, install, patch, backup and play including LAN multiplayer.

Open Standards
Never use proprietary APIs, always use Open standards.

Compatibility
Let there be client clones or even better, let other competing clients connect to GOG. Please don't be like the competition that wants monopolies. The core is not the client, the core is GOG service of choosing the best DRM-Free games, making sure they run properly, and giving the best support in the industry.

Open Source
Fully or partially open source cause again what matters is not the client but rather GOG service and being the best store to buy DRM-Free games.

Multi-OS
From the start be it multi OS.

Privacy
Total privacy and no gather or data to send back to GOG, or at least ask permission before sending.

Interoperability
Don't focus cross-play with only one competitor but rather with anyone in the industry that wants to join in these open concept. Duopoly is as bad as monopoly.

Single source
Don't duplicate resources, and the client uses the same sources as manually installing and patching.

Modular
Completely modular, with individual DLL files, so if someone doesn't want a feature its not even loaded into memory or take up resources. The client can be all little and light as possible or as fully featured.

Interchangeable
Completely interchangeable between client and manual usage, meaning I can download and install manually, and still use the client to autopatch and play multiplayer and vice-versa, use the client to download and install and still be able to manually patch and play. Any combination possible.

Automation
The client is just an automation mechanism, and everything it does can be replicated manually, so basically in the future if the client becomes incompatible with something, you just remove it and any game will run the same.

Backup
Client having an option to backup installation and patch files and those being able to run manually without the client in the future, so no need to re-download just cause you want to manually install.

Core
The core of GOG always be Good Quality DRM-Free games, and not the client, contrary to the competition that wants the client to be in the center cause the focus for them is not on games or the customer but rather wanting power and control over the gamer.

Web
Web should remain the central hub of GOG, the common place to all customers both manually downloading and installing and using the client. I would totally avoid making the client a buying option for obvious security reasons.

Step by step
Start by implementing a client with a limited set of features and then slowly build up from that, and always making it very modular. The key words are light and versatile, not big and rigid.

Don't rush
The competition took many years to develop a client, and everyone that was a gamer in 2004 remembers the nightmares many encountered, so its better to have it late and stable than soon and buggy cause first bad impressions are the ones most hard to forget. I believe a 2015 feb 24th release to coincide with TW3 is too early.

It seems some people would rather have NOLF here than a working client so they are not excited at all. Even if you don't share the sentiment I think it's understandable.
You're the first one to mention it I think. :) The list of triple_I gives a good impression how different a GOG client can be.


Most new games sell even worse. The release threads of the latest Indie games here got maybe a 20 posts only. This is like: "we don't want this game, not even on a sale". And the brandnew top quality game Age of Wonder III - not many said they pre-ordered and after release people stopped talking about it quite fast.

So how does GOG make profit at all?

"Optional" is such a nice word. More game distributors should use it more frequently.

I do wish the first rection to any news was not to immediately find some way to interpret it to possibly mean something you can complain about.

Also, all sides might want to accept that their style of playing games might not be everyone's, and that everyone has a right to enjoy their games the way they want to. I don't much care about achievements either, but that doesn't mean my playing experience is somehow poisoned by their mere existence. And as the article -stresses- that it'll all be optional... I for one would say GOG has deserved not being called a liar straight out of the gate by now.

Different strokes I guess, 15$ for yet another cartoony (no, it's not "pixel art" most of the time) shovelware "puzzle-platformer" is too expensive.
6$ for some of the best games ever made isn't.

As for Age of Wonders 3, maybe it isn't that good ? I refuse to pay 60$ for digital goods, no matter the quality, so I wouldn't know.

Yeah, I know that they're just afraid of changes, but they don't have to about this as much as they do.
Still, it's less bi***ing around than on the RSI forums when they announced that the release of the dogfighting module was pushed back. :D

And what did I here once? Just about 20 % (or was ist 40 %?) of the happy customers give feedback, but about 80 % of the unhappy clients are complaining.

This looks amazing, does the optionality extend to each single feature one wants to use? I'd enjoy silent achievements if possible as the option not to force or being forced game feeds from/to friends.
I'd also enjoy if the multiplayer option is extended to classics like DotEmu did with Metal Slug 3.

I love this! I didn't need it when I only had a handful of games on GOG, but now when I have dozens of titles, downloading and updating them becomes quite annoying. So for me at least, this is great news.

Hmm, has anyone done that here? I fully agree that customers can be very vocal about criticisms and concerns but do they really allegate GOG being a liar a lot here on GOG? Maybe I have just missed it.

Wouldn't it be nice if the client would follow all these points written down by triple_I?
http://www.gog.com/forum/general/introducing_gog_galaxy/post127