....

See attached

Rule of thumb: If you introduce a mechanic into your alleged "stealth" game and it ends up making the whole thing look like a scene from Hot Shots Part Deux, it shouldn't be there in the first place.

Well, maybe not every stealth game is like this, but I appreciate that Hitman isn't "instant fail" for getting detected. The health system would then come into play when there is no other recourse for the player but combat. Also not sure if this is the case in the game but if there were environmental hazards that could reduce health, that would also be an instance I'd prefer it not just regenerate by standing around in a safe area.
It would certainly beat the form in which the game released (needing the online for progression). I know opinion varies...some people have said it would be okay compromise by having a "100% save," others no. I don't think we have an official count of each "side."

It is my understanding the game is designed inextricably with online for the progression, so if that's the case then I know IOI can't simply "toggle a switch" to make the game work fully offline. To me, that is defective design and we should think long and hard about whether we really want such a game here.

I know you are for, generally, less curation (or at least relaxing of the standards GOG had used the last few years). To me, curation is an ideal way to weed out games like this that are imo defective in design and make sure they don't come here. Imagine if curation, instead of inexplicably rejecting stuff like Konung 3 and not responding to stuff like Selaco, acted as a line of defense against any DRM-like games getting on here.

The problem of course, is that CDPR seems to want their own DRM-like games such as GWENT, Cyberpunk "My Rewards,"etc.

Also I will concede that it may be hard to draw the line, like Tomb Raider 2013 came here but stripped of multiplayer. I could see someone making the argument (similar to mine above) that unless the game (here, multiplayer mode) was redesigned to have all content DRM-free, it should be rejected. But I think stripping out DRMed multiplayer is a better proposition than having "DRM-free" singleplayer games where you can't actually "play" them for yourself.

Those screenshots show massive failure. If you might have died in the firefight without regenerating health it wouldn't make it less of a failure, because the failure was getting into that situation.
Dying was never my reason for failure when playing a Hitman game because the challenge doesn't come from avoiding death, it comes from avoiding detection. If you have to shoot that many guards then you've already failed the latter.

Avoiding death was already easy, so it doesn't matter if it's slightly easier in this one. That mechanic is not responsible for the scenes in your screenshots, it's whoever was playing the game.

If you're not aware, despite my "less curation" stance, I absolutely agree that the Hitman GOTY we originally got was completely unacceptable. I do want Konung 3 and Selaco here of course.

DRM'd multiplayer doesn't really concern me personally (though I'm fine with gutted multiplayer too since I don't personally care about multiplayer, especially if the game is relatively old like TR 2013), but single-player content does and this absolutely went over my personal line.

My overall point was GOG doesn't really have any leverage in this situation - there's not much money to be made here - so while I'm glad the game was removed in the state it was in, I don't see it coming back unless most would accept a solution that IOI wouldn't have to spend much time on, which I guess would be the save game inclusion.

Maybe a separate thread and poll should be made to see how many people would find the "save game inclusion" solution acceptable; if you have time consider doing that. (I will if I remember. :p)

nah, I'm here checking almost daily, not interested in the game itself in the slightest but really hoping some day (the sooner the better) GOG will be able to be trusted again as there's not many other options

nope, again: I'm not interested in the game, but I'm here for the principles, that would be breaking them and again, making me unable to trust GOG ever again, that's unacceptable on the platform level

that being said: I'm fine with online only games being published here and with DRM free single player games having a multiplayer portion - optimal would be if there was a server you can use for LAN built in or at least available, butI'm not expecting that much, just make sure the single player part is 100% DRM free, doesn't require you to update even if there are some patches and so on too

Okay, well, if the "save game solution" isn't not good enough for most other users too, I don't expect the game to ever come here and we'll just have to accept that; IOI won't invest time and money in a "true" DRM-free solution because there's very little money to be made here.

Which is okay with me personally though it's unfortunate the wishlist entry will never be completed.

I thought that was the case, cool, understood. And yes I think those games belong here as well, particularly Konung as the rest of the series is here (I believe there are a few other instances like Atlantis, Commandos, Men of Valor where Zoom-Platform got a sequel that GOG doesn't have).

Multiplayer (or lack of) I don't know how could be calculated as obviously forum users aren't the end-all be-all, but neither are reddit users; there are plenty of "silent" customers who aren't counted but who have some sort of opinion. I think GOG would simply need to define DRM-free clearly and make the decision for themselves in this case.

GOG lacks leverage but has some left. They have certainly done themselves no favors with their DRM creep, as a company like IOI can rightly say "what's the big deal about singleplayer content locked behind online? You yourselves do that with Cyberpunk 'My Rewards'" (to illustrate how GOG has eroded their own leverage).

Iirc Hitman was briefly in the best-seller list even despite the overwhelmingly negative reviews and horrid online-required design. How many people refunded after seeing what it was, I couldn't tell you though. But there is definitely a desire for these bigger releases here. When priced fairly and without shenanigans, they seem to sell big.

To me, this indicates there is an audience here of people like me who will happily reject buying these games for years while they are in DRMed states, but are willing to buy them here. And yes, poll conditions are if I remember as well, haha. Thanks for the good continued discussion.

What if one is a player who likes to eliminate most/all game enemies...even in such games?
(i.e. a pile of game enemies in a screencap doesn't necessarily indicate a poor player)

Of course there are people enjoy playing games in ways they weren't intended, there always have been. My only point was that the "feature" has little to no impact on the way the game is intended to be played and wouldn't really bother me. I accept that the change would impact people who go out of their way to subvert the actual goal of the game.

Just for the record, an 1 hour ago, chandra about Hitman

"We did make a statement regarding the Hitman GOTY release on October 8th last year and removed the game from the GOG catalogue on the same day. We admitted that we shouldn't have released it in its current form and apologised for letting you all down and for the anger generated by this situation. Once we have any updates about this release, we will let you know."

gog.com/forum/general/customer_experience_update_what_weve_done_so_far_and_next_steps_b5a92/post38

So, no update yet. We'll need to wait.

Dev introduces a "feature" that outright REWARDS the player for playing the game wrong.
Primey thinks this is a-ok, because, hey, the player played the game wrong all along, so it makes perfect sense to introduce a "feature" that accomodates and encourages this play style.
Peak reasoning from Primey, there!

Blood Money had a system where you not only made money from mission to mission but where the "knowledge" of the world about you was influenced by your behavior in the previous missions.

Don't tell my you never tried the 3 other options just to see what will happen. And what the newspapers will write about what happend?

1. Walkt to your targets, don't care about any witness or camera and shoot your target right into the face. After that just walk out and while doing so shoot everyone who is attacking you.

2. Just kill everything but leave cameras alone.

3. Just kill everyone and take the cam material.

In that game you were able to upgrade your assault rifle with a 100 rounds mag for a reason.
And can buy strong armors.

Oh, I thought you were saying/implying/etc that the gamer who made that screencap was unskilled(as such I pointed out that some are skilled but like to clear game levels of enemies)....my mistake.

Also for some others(who want more challenge, like with the old health system, or for other reasons) it might be an annoyance/etc as well.

Off the top of my head: if one has an easier time due to regen health, they might feel less likely to play "as intended".