That's how it would have worked before the introduction of regional prices. But now:

a key reseller from Russia buys all 500 for about $100, sells for twice the amount which is still super cheap for many other regions, and the publishers "lose" about 400$. :)

Where's that quote from by the way?

So? Known flaw of regional pricing and also, only affects regionally priced games (while the restriction affects all). We told GOG not to break one of its core values (same price worldwide) and it has bit them in the ass when they did. <sarcasm>What a surprise</sarcasm>.

Now, to "fix" the problem (which won't be fixed anyway) that was caused by breaking a core value, they are going to break another one and start presuming we are criminals? I'm sure that will go equally well.

How about instead of just continuing a chain of breaking their principles, they realise, "maybe we should go and re-adopt them?"

Do people not realise that this is how companies that start with good intentions become exactly the thing they hate? Slowly boiling frog and all that.

Sorry, it's from the upcoming policy changes.

There is another problem with this by the way.

There is absolutely no way to know that they actually "lost" the $400.

It is exactly the same as the "mythical" lost sale.. presuming that had they not bought the cheaper one from the reseller, they would buy the full priced version from GOG.

If you accept this as an argument for adding the restriction, you are accepting the "Lost Sales" argument for DRM.

And just to add to this as people are probably going to be confused as to why I am making a big deal out of this.

One of GOGs reasons for not having DRM is because they don't treat the customer like a criminal.
By implementing this policy change, they are going to be treating the customer like a criminal.

Therefore, that is one less reason against adding DRM (the principle has been weakened by the abandonment of the supporting principle).

GOG is always under constant pressure to add DRM'd games to the catalogue because if they did, they would make more money. GOG have already demonstrated they will sacrifice a principle for more money (dropping one-price-for-everyone so they could sell more games).

Every time GOG drop a principle, doors are opening and bolts are undone to DRM come here too.

Bear in mind:
GOG stood out because of its 2 price points. They're gone.
GOG stood out because of its world-wide price. That's gone.
GOG stood out because no DLC. That's gone.
GOG stood out because they presumed all customers were acting in good faith. That's gone and going.
GOG stood out because.. no DRM on games in their catalogue. We're going to see this go too.

And that people would have laughed in your face if you claimed that GOG would drop these things... at one time.

So, they put themselves in a terrible position and now they need to find a way out. That's all there is to it, really. I can't blame them for trying. Steam can simply limit cross-region activation and trading, Gog obviously can't. Of course, it also seems to be a mostly ineffective countermeasure, as key resellers can just operate through multiple accounts...

On the other hand, 90% of the giveaways I see on Gog are about Steam keys bought for few cents or less, gifting of Gog keys is rare, and I don't really remember the last time anyone mass gifted same game, so in the end I don't think they're stepping on the toes of many regular customers here.

Thanks, I wasn't following that anymore. They put this bit at the end though: "Sure you can dear, just ask mommy first". :P


*We* normal users can't now that. But Gog does have their sale figures. If they are taking a move in that sense, I guess something's already happening.

But even if that was not the case, here's this simple question: why else would they want to restrict gifting at all?

And no, I don't accept the lost sales argument as an excuse for DRM, or any other argument for that matter. I'd much prefer it didn't exist at all. But, as I've made a point of not pirating my games, I can tolerate DRM as long as it's not too invasive (i.e. I use Steam and Origin too, sorry).


edit: GOG FIX THE QUOTING SYSTEM ALREADY PLS, KTHX

They all ready said that if you would like do a big giveaway or something to contact them and they will work around that limit, it just a general limit for obvious reasons... 5 per day is more than reasonable anyway. No offence but I've seen your other comments on this and it just seems you're wanting to start drama over something silly in my opinion...

EDIT: Didn't realize Avogadro6 already quoted them, but I'll leave it again.

World-Wide Price was replaced with a Fair Price system, which might not be to your liking but does give you a fair price technically. So it's not like you didn't get something in it's place. GOG at-least attempted a middle ground here, something other stores don't really do.

DLC? So? Why can't it have DLC? GOG sold old games that didn't have it. GOG sells newer games now that have DLC. This is a logical choice. Do you want this place to remain niche?

GOG is not a small site with few users anymore, the bigger it gets the more it will need to protect is business and it's customers. Good faith only get abused unfortunately.

There is still is no DRM, and I doubt that will ever change. But no matter what, people are going to think the worse.

The truth is GOG bends over backwards for there customers all while trying to grow, its not an easy challenge by any means.

Yeah, so I have to go and ask GOG for permission to do a big giveaway, while the key resellers.. continue what they were doing anyway, because it is easy to work around. As I've said, the restriction won't stop them. It'll only get in the way of honest users.

So disregarding everything else, it's a pointless waste of time which they could better spend.. I don't know, finally fixing the forum search? At least that would help someone!

I'm not offended. It doesn't matter what it seems like because what it seems like may just be you having experience with other people who "want to start drama over something silly", seeing as there are plenty of them.

I'm not trying to start drama, I'm just explaining that GOG is doing something it said it wouldn't do.. again and that if people don't tell them to pack it in, they'll continue doing so and by the time it gets to something big, they'll use your previous silence against you.

I never said if any of those changes were good or bad, just that they happened.

Yeah, I've had my good faith abused too and you know what? Screw those people who abuse it, I'm not retracting it. I'll take the hits to be that awesome guy who will buy you a game on sale because you can't afford it right now and get repaid several years later after I've long forgotten about it. Why? Because most people here are genuine and I will treat you like a genuine person until you demonstrate otherwise.

Lots of people doubting GOG would drop a lot of their principles, but they did and them being dropped were what people were worried about.
yeah, I just have to ask for permission to do something that is completely reasonable and shouldn't require permission.. like.. a server to play a single-player game? Oh no, wait, that would be DRM..

GOGs sale figures only tells them what sales they made, it cannot, by definition, tell them what sales they may have made given X (resellers) being absent. Those people buying those cheap may very well never purchase the game above the price the reseller paid anyway.

I don't have anything against steam or gog... I enjoy so much both platforms :)

but I hate the new BattleNet ... ruins all my starcraft 2 experience...
Broodwar FTW!

You forgot to mention "GOG stood out because of Good Old Games".

As for me, I'll add a bit more:

Steam

Pro: Cheap games (regionally priced for my country)
Trading system
Community system (GOG looks so pathetic in this aspect)
Auto updates
Workshop
Dota 2 (yes unbeatable game)

Con: Now all region locked

GOG:

Con: Bad pricing for me
No community features
Bad gifting system
No auto updates (will be fixed by Galaxy)

Haha, so I did! Nice catch :)

You say that with such vehemence. Fair pricing. Did you ever stop to think that there may not BE a GOG anymore if they hadn't done what they did? In the end, they have to make business decisions to keep their employees employed and keep feeding their children. But no, it's GoG being STUPID for going back on one of their core values in order to keep as many publishers and games on their shelves as they can so people will continue to patronize them and keep earning them money. (I am in no way insinuating that this is exactly the case, but just one possibility)

Unfortunately for you things don't always work the way you want in your fantasy world where a resold key at a significant discount isn't a lost sale at all. Maybe the people would wait for the discount, or maybe they'd save up and finally cave for the full price. If they can buy it for pennies on the dollar though, that's saying that the person was willing to pay for it, and some people who WOULD pay full price will end up buying for much cheaper because it's there and legal.

if I didn't, that may have been caused by.. I don't know.. GOG saying they were doing really well?

And they can also do this by selling games with DRM too. You cannot justify it using this argument without justifying them selling games with DRM in the same breath.

Exactly. If it is there and legal, why is GOG trying to stop it? Because they don't like it? People who sell games don't like piracy either and they implement DRM to stop it. Seriously, if you are okay with this, you are okay with DRM because it is the same solution to the same problem (it's just cheap vs. free) and will be just as effective (namely not at all).

If GOG aren't happy with people acquiring the game at the cheap price point they are selling it at, they shouldn't sell it at that cheap price point. This is like me punching you in the face for being in my house after I invited you in.

GOG should just accept that some people will get the game cheap (through a reseller), like it just accepts that some people will get the game free (through piracy). You can't stop either of them, it is pointless to try, and only the people you care about, and care about you, will suffer.

Totally agree. It has to be all or nothing. I like steam, but hate the DRM and some of its policies, but Im willing to overlook them because of great sales and it being a universal platform. GOG just isn't that big. I don't NEED GOG as much as I NEED steam. GOG is a nicety right now. DRM-free is that nicety. If that changes, Im downloading my entire game list, blocking GOG from my connection and forgetting the sight exists. Nothing on GOG that I can't get somewhere else. You understand my meaning of course.

GOG does have to expand. I understand that. And I'm torn whether or not regional pricing is needed to make business succeed.

But I'm with xyem on this one. Regional pricing was first. And now with Galaxy, which I can't wait for so I can play some classics with multiplayer lobbies, it adds DRM. You games will be authenticated. You can no longer play with a buddy on a computer in your house. You'll be forced to have one account for each game you buy. Some games were forced into that (like Neverwinter Nights) by design. But others were not. And by the way that GOG started, they said you could play in your household by buying one copy.

xyem isn't talking about a fairy tale when he talks about GOG's primary vision and core principals. It's real. They're beginning to abandon their core identity in pursuit of a few extra sales. What I see is GOG sliding, just like xyem is saying. And if they slide enough, they will lose their identity and the whole reason people shop here.

I can't invite my brother over and we play AvP together. Because of DRM. And it's DRM that GOG wrote and built into the game. It authenticates your account. It's DRM. And GOG promised that DRM would stay far, far away. But it's here. And they're coding it themselves.

I hope that in the near future, AvP will have a DRM-free copy so I can LAN within my own household. But I don't think it will happen. I don't think they're paying attention or caring. And that makes me lose some serious hope in the company as a whole.

I'm not throwing GOG away and I'll continue to shop here b/c most of their stuff is DRM-free right now and I know they're going through a massive transition. But if things don't shape up soon and if Galaxy ends up putting DRM in all multiplayer functionality to Galaxy-enabled games, then I'll shop wherever is cheaper.

If regional pricing and DRM are what is needed to succeed in this business, then I would at least hope that GOG was brave enough to go down fighting. But it's 100% clear to me now that the DRM-free fight is just a gimmick to make money. I don't blame them, it works. But it wasn't to sway the gaming industry, as was reported. It was to make money off of old games and pay the mortgage. That's okay. But I think a lot of people here (especially the old folks) had a passion to take on the industry with fair practices and give the wheel to the consumers.

Not so, time has revealed.

I'm still glad that GOG still has many fairly priced games and DRM-free games. And I hope that the company continues to focus on fair practices. Things can always change.