I am a bit of a GOG loyalist but I can objectively say that the GOG forums have issues. It's clear they're finally trying to fix the most prominent issues but I still think they should switch over to something like SMF or even the software they have for the CDPR-operated Witcher and Cyberpunk forums.

That said, the simplicity of the GOG forums and the fact that a lot of people here are from my era of the internet (early 2000s) or before, it reminds me of the better days before social media, Reddit and Discord took over gaming and ruined internet socialization. Yeah, we have plenty of toxic jerks, we also have plenty of crotchety old codgers as well. However, when we get away from the toxic/heated discussions and get back to talking about this hobby we all love, it's an absolute blast to hang out here. I came to GOG for a giveaway back in 2017, stayed because of CD Projekt, and It's this nostalgic vibe that encouraged me to hang out in the community. Since then, I've become a huge fan of DRM-free media as a whole and even consider myself to be a bit of a DRM-free advocate.

So yeah, the forums play a huge part in the way I enjoy games and see the industry today. I almost never engage on Steam's forums (crap software overall, worse than GOG's in my opinion) but I lurk the GOG forums every day and post whenever I see a topic I want to chime in on. As a guy with nearly 15 years of experience in running forums (and I've been a regular user on forums for even longer), getting the chance to relive the bygone era of true internet discussion through GOG's forums is absolutely something I'm grateful for, in spite of the issues we deal with here.

Sooo... you gotta nice forum 'ere. Shame if uh... sumthin happened to it, nowaddamean? Mebbe you'd like to give a small "donation" to the Forum Protection Fund? I'm sure my boys here would preciate your generosity.

You couldn't find the bowspirit of a ship even if the captain's parrot led the way!

[All in good fun, of course.]

Now they are even cooler, I made Starfield track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIbZSbF7BqA

what's wrong with them other than their existence?

The existence of the threads or the straight up bigotry a lot of people spouted? Or are you talking about LGBT+? Yeah, I wonder why people don't accept their existence, other than needing a bogeyman to distract from real, actual problems in the world.

the only bigotry I've seen there are from those who calls others bigot [Modded]?

or just have it burned down to the ground

I've never been active on the Steam forums, are they even worse?

It seems to depend on which game forum you're on. I don't interact with the general Steam forums so I can't say how they are. That said, I really do not like Steam's forum software. While GOG's forum software is definitely quite lackluster (though I admire its simplicity for nostalgia's sake), it feels a lot more enjoyable to post here than it does on Steam's forums.

They're ookaaayyyy, maybe some of the threads are even "nice".

All the bigots have long ago come out of the closet (heheheee), but they really out-did themselves in that one. What a sad thing to see, that was.

Steam forums might be less toxic due to stricter moderation I suppose on some of the sections, but the crowd there seems much more...immature? Is that the right word?

Old farts abound over here. Nothing wrong with that.

[Modded. Stop trolling.]

you need help, friend

[Modded. Stop trolling.]

At least you'll get to play your GOG games on a generator-powered laptop.
While most steam and epic users won't even manage to play their games and unlock their achievements :P