It's pretty much the same thing I said.

There is a big difference between criticising the seeming uselessness of the patrons program and inventing wild theories how this is some conspiracy to attract NightDive, who have already been on board with GOG since before its inception. Me dismissing your theory does not make me a "boot licker", but you are welcome to keep sulking and theory-crafting if it makes you happy. There's no gaslighting here. Stephen Kick, the head of NightDive, has told his company's origin story a million times in various interviews and documentaries.

Going back to the uselessness of the patrons program, think for a second what it would mean if it actually did have something "useful" to offer. I don't think you would want that. It would divide the user base even further and essentially enshittify the store for non-patrons. Be glad that it's "useless". That's the "logical answer" right there.

It's nothing like you said. Stop gaslighting people and boot licking.

Okay, I hope that tinfoil hat is comfortable in the summer.

If you frequented the forum and / or discord often enough, you'd know I don't lick the boot. I complain plenty whenever it is warranted. I just don't let that devolve into ridiculous conspiracy theories.

GOG is a business and is going to preserve what customers are actually purchasing regardless of how Patrons decide to vote, so I think that letting them vote on anything is to give them the illusion that they're getting something for their money.

The patrons could decide to go full on FAFO and vote unanimously for something super niche (like VR games) or something that would be super polarizing (like online multiplayer games with no offline or single-player) just to see what GOG would do about it - GOG is still going to preserve things that the majority of customers are actually buying.

If GOG had the intention to offer essentials exclusively to Patrons, I can only hope they would be wise enough to avoid doing so. However, there are several things GOG could offer as perks that are currently unavailable and would almost certainly draw attention to GOG and its program, leading to an influx of new customers and potentially increasing subscriber numbers without creating a division between regular customers and Patrons.

One strategy would be to capitalize on Sony plans to cease distribution of games on physical media, as well as to demonstrate the benefits of signing up for a GOG store account to become customers, and, more importantly, for a 6 months or 1 year Patron subscription [necessary to receive this certain perk], targeting Steam, Epic, Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft subscribers, renters, and customers. ;-)

What are you even talking about? How can Patrons vote on something that's not even a candidate? Are you confusing the Dreamlist with the preservation program vote? They are separate things lol.

These two are mutually exclusive. There is not a single thing that GOG can offer without creating a two tier user base. The moment they start offering "perks" is the moment everyone that does not pay becomes a 2nd class citizen. And the more non-patrons mock the patrons for "paying for nothing", the more they push GOG towards creating such two-tier-user-creating perks.

This whole paragraphs says absolutely nothing. You are talking about undefined perks without giving any examples. Capitalise on Sony's plans HOW? Start selling physical games? Which ones? Is there even demand amongst GOG/PC users? Are you trying to appeal to PS5 users? Do they even have gaming PCs? Are you expecting them to build gaming PCs during this AIpocalypse?

What would that 6-12 months streak give? Discounts? Free games? What if I already own a game they are gifting? What if I was subscribed for 5 months, then had 2 month pause? Do those count for nothing?

Be specific, otherwise it's not a suggestion.

And in general, I do not want them to start handing out any perks, because it would divide the community even further.

Around three years ago, GOG announced that they were going to add more online‑only titles. The only one they had been offering was Wolfenstein: ET. Perhaps they abandoned this plan, or perhaps they would add more, provided patrons showed an interest if asked.

Patrons can request whatever they wish, but GOG makes it clear that they may consider unsolicited suggestions, wishes, or ideas-but whether they do is on them. Patrons can cast votes in official polls and may be asked for their opinions on what they would like, but their subscription fees do not grant them any special rights or power to make decisions.

Some subscribers joining the official Discord came with a false idea what they were paying for, and what they would get in return, active involvement in a decision making processes, exclusive access to GOG staff, a true voting power on important matters. If they had read the Patron FAQ and Terms of Service they would have realized, that all they would get is a badge on games entering the program from the point their subscription enters into affect, access to the Discord and some videos. Allowing them to vote on games or a genre started only just recently. Being able to access the DC has its intrinsic value now.

GOG may have to come up with ways to increase subscriber numbers, they appear to be stagnating, and there are numerous ways to achieve this goal, as I've suggested in my previous reply to Sargon, but it would be more important to offer something to their current subscribers to retain them, as well as things to offer attracting new ones.

I would still not consider subscribing to the program becase my opinion about it is still the same. As long as GOG isn't fixing all of the technical issues, as long as they are not implementing functions, every other store/rental platform has had for more than 20 years, to improve the overall shopping experience, the introduction of a working tag-system and more. The good news is that they are working very hard to change and improve store, client, and website, communication with their customers, and maybe-at a later date, they will also tackle the forum and all of its specific issues. Once those essentials have been covered, most of the issues fixed, and additional functional and optional improvements becoming available, I may sign up. The ultimate decision will depend on the incentives they'll have to offer me, because what they are doing with the program is still the same as they did since their inception, 26 years ago.

I haven't had the intention to outline what I had in mind because I forwarded a couple for their consideration and for my personal benefit should it proof viable and achieving or even exceeding expectations (revenue, profits and sub numbers). I can say that it has nothing to do with selling physical media, offering discounts or free games. They could be for other ideas I haven't yet put before them. None of them will lead to a division of customers into first and second-classes or potentially costing them active subscribers due to making wrong decisions or attempts to monetize on what they never should.

The individual in question claims that polls are manipulated, but they have no proof to back it up. That's not really an opinion..

How would I know what they can and cannot vote for.
You don't see a patron mark next to my avatar.
There's really no need to be condescending and act like I'm a complete imbecile while you have complete omniscience.

I made that post assuming that GOG actually lets the patrons determine, which would also mean that patrons get to nominate specific games / genres that they will be voting on. Otherwise if it is just a situation where GOG is telling its patrons, "which of these choices that we have unilaterally decided you get to vote on do you actually want," then you're looking at a situation where GOG has already anticipated a specific vote outcome such that the patrons only have the illusion of choice.

Maybe dodgy but Thief was the most popular game out the list. I can see why it would of won.

As you will have recognized by now, Patrons effectively determine what GOG will work on next, but their choices are limited to the titles GOG can offer, and they cannot make demands or ask GOG to work on something for which they lack the rights.

If GOG included the Dreamlist, the only candidates would be titles that have reached the final stage of negotiations with publishers and developers and are very likely to appear in the store and in the program. A look at the numbers clearly shows how little value and meaning votes on it have. Titles with over 100,000 votes will never make it, while there are virtually hundreds of titles with 1–20 votes total that are regularly added to the catalog and/or their program.

It's just for show, and both have one thing in common: they successfully convey the perception that your decision matters, one is paid, the other is free. As such, both are fulfilling their purpose, and to the benefit of GOG. ;-)

Yes, and it's his conspiracy thinking that I was describing.

Patron tags can be hidden. Additionally, you could have read the start of this very thread where I suggested this very thing: You try spending a month arguing and getting insulted by someone (pferreira1983) who clearly knows nothing about the patrons program, has never interacted via Discord, where most of the information lies, is clearly not interested in learning anything about it, and instead keeps doubling down on wild conspiracy theories about the vote being rigged to attract NightDive, who have always published on GOG without needing any convincing.

Yeah, I think you too would be pretty fed up at that point after seeing even more people join the "assuming wrong" team. At least you are honest about it, so respect for that.

If people on the forum wanna complain about something, they should complain about how forum has become second class to discord. And all this arguing out of ignorance is proof. All information gets revealed on discord, before it ever reaches the website/forum... if ever. You wouldn't even be getting delisting alerts any more if discord users hadn't nagged the staff into resuming the forum posts. So I would ask people to join discord and stop assuming. Or demand that discord access be made free.



That is exactly right. Thief is a very popular IP. There is nothing crazy about it winning the vote. It independently won on discord too lol. What, did GOG somehow rig discord's polling feature too? Sadly, I would not be surprised if some made that claim too next.

Apparently Nox is the one that needs fixing the most, so I hope it wins.

I agree that Patrons should be able to select from the entire catalog too. Maybe you could have a GOG-narrowed selection, then Patron chosen, then GOG-narrowed, then Patron chosen, and see how that pattern goes...