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Showing you how government works, in case yours doesn't!
Speaking from one organization that has had an unpopular shutdown to another: America. What are you doing? America? Stahp.

Shutdowns are never popular, and all of the polls show that this is not a big hit with most Americans either. Americans may be looking for something fun to do, since all their parks are closed for the moment. Thankfully your favorite purveyor of digital games is here to help. It occurs to us that one of the problems may be that there are people on Capitol Hill who don't know what a functioning government looks like, so we thought we'd help and point a few out with a special 24-hour 50% off [url=http://www.gog.com/promo/shutdown_promo_091013]Shutdown Promo.

The Guild: Gold Edition is a great place to see where the term "Machiavellian Politics" originated from. If you're looking to find a land where earning power was the key to success in the political arena, look no further. Meanwhile, in Capitalism Plus and Capitalism 2, you can get the best economic sims that money can buy half off and see for yourself how a demand economy functions. Tropico Reloaded is 50% off as a reminder of what can happen when governments go awry, and Alpha Centauri (with the Alien Crossfire expansion!) has more different styles of governments modeled than you can shake a stick at. So, really, these games are a quick lesson in civic government. Because we're concerned for you guys.

There has been a lot of furor over health care in America leading up to this shutdown, and we think it's a shame so many people are upset about medicine and how to treat each other. To help further our educational mission for this promo, we figured we'd put Theme Hospital in the sale as well, because that way you can judge for yourself just how tricky it can be to balance the needs of sick patients against limited budgets. Finally, for reasons entirely unrelated to who may or may not have been involved in shutting down the US Government, we also appear to have Redneck Rampage on sale 50% off.

Finally, we would like to express our condolences to everyone who's been furloughed by the shutdown. More than that, actually, we'd like to offer you the games pack of our special Shutdown Promo for free. Send an email to [url=]thanksobama@gog.com[/url] with your picture holding the official furlough letter you received, before Friday 11 October 2013 at 12:00 EDT and we'll give you The Guild: Gold Edition, Capitalism, Capitalism 2, Tropico: Gold Edition, Alpha Centauri + Alien Crossfire, Theme Hospital, and Redneck Rampage free.

We hope the games will keep you all occupied while you're waiting for someone on Capitol Hill to get their act together. Meanwhile, get The Guild, Capitalism Plus, Capitalism 2, Tropico: Gold Edition, Alpha Centauri + Alien Crossfire, Theme Hospital, and Redneck Rampage 50% off (or free if you met the requirements above), in our special Shutdown Promo! The offer lasts until Thursday, October 10, at 12:59PM GMT.
Awesome!

If life gives you shut downs, make shutdown promo.
That's the spirit GOG!
Laughed at the promo, laughed again at the republican tears in the thread. Don't really need any of these games but I am buying some anyway, because the laughs were worth at least the cost of a couple games.
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DeadlyRamon: As a taxpayer who doesn't understand why non-essential workers are usually retained on the taxpayers' dime, I'm a big fan of this partial government shutdown, though it does suck that I already own all of the games in this promotion.
'Essential' works on degrees. Currently we're having a salmonella outbreak and we don't have enough workers in the FDA to trace the source as they fall into the non-essential category, so we can't really do a lot about it right now.
I'm amused. :)

While I know some people who were furloughed, they aren't gamers so I doubt they'll take advantage of your offer - but it is a nice offer!

Although ... really it should be thankscongress@gog.com since Congress is actually the responsible party for (not) passing budgets
Post edited October 09, 2013 by crazy_dave
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jamyskis: I do keep my stuff well backed-up, and I can only shake my head in disbelief at people going on about how the "internet is their backup source"
/headdesk
Other users are the backup source for files that are of public interest and exist in hundreds of thousands of copies, not any single service. Obviously, no one except the NSA would have my private photos in case skydrive is cancelled.
GOG

Oooh you are naughty, but I like you.
low rated
Hey GOG...please stay out of politics! Your "holier than thou" attitude isn't appreciated. There will always be two sides to every controversy. You risk alienating gamers that don't appreciate your political point of view.
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brianhutchison: GOG

Oooh you are naughty, but I like you.
Only people over a certain age and from the UK are probably going to recognize that reference, but it made me smile.

GOG - love the promotion, it's part of what makes you great.
Polkatari...........seriously?
I use to obsessively play Capitalism Plus when it was released; does Capitalism 2 offer a significant change/upgrade in gameplay to justify owning both?
I'm offended!
Either everything's fair game or nothing is.
Funny how you guys also offer Redneck Rampage in the promo.
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DeadlyRamon: As a taxpayer who doesn't understand why non-essential workers are usually retained on the taxpayers' dime, I'm a big fan of this partial government shutdown, though it does suck that I already own all of the games in this promotion.
Well, the word "essential" as it keeps being thrown around in reference to the shutdown is used to denote employees who are deemed necessary to keep the peace and ensure safety on a day-to-day basis. Those considered non-essential include the people who inspect products such as food, automobiles, and pesticides to ensure their safety, many of the civilian employees who support U.S. troops in non-combat roles, employees that administer funding for things like shelters for domestic abuse victims, and so on. I suspect that most people would consider at least some of these positions essential in the long run even if they take the view that the government shouldn't be involved in other things affected by the furloughs such as quality-of-life services (parks, museums, etc.) and research (NASA and Department of Energy researchers, Department of Labor statisticians, Census Bureau economists), so "essential" as it's being used is a bit misleading.

I guess the underlying assumption behind the essential/non-essential distinction is that the shutdown won't last long enough for longer-term problems to be an issue, but as kodeen pointed out, we can already see the negative consequences for safety in things like the salmonella outbreak. And to give some other examples of the consequences of "non-essential" furloughs: aging veterans who can't visit memorials/monuments that have been closed, entire towns whose economy revolves around national park tourism closing up shop, companies who can't get the loans or regulatory approvals they need in order to continue operating. Even if you don't think it's the role of the federal government to manage such things in the first place, surely you can recognize that abruptly cutting off its ability to do so without changing the underlying the laws and regulations first (and thus denying people and businesses the ability to plan for such changes in advance) is not a good idea.
Post edited October 09, 2013 by Huehuecoyotl
The fact that I own every game in this promo is both kinda cool and disappointing at the same time. :)
I think the Republican idea is that the only "essential" government job is that the rent-a-cop holds the door open while they continue looting the building.
Post edited October 09, 2013 by rahal