So when will i be able to hide this annoying " game preservation / be a patron " advertisement from the front page ?

Once you start using Firefox, ~fox, Vivaldi and uBlock Origin to put them on your personal filter list. ;-)

From what i am able to guess, there are still less than 10k "Patrons", which, if we compare it with other gamer-subcriptions "it is close to nothing". 30 million on Xbox-Gamepass, 50 million on Playstation +, for multiplayer-access-only and some features that should be "standard" because with 5 USD a month most likely there is no option for "renting a game"; unless perhaps someone is able to use the cheap Indian- or comparable market.

Gamers still are paying for without "harsh judgement" on the platforms involved; not even necessarily for being able to rent "most" (not all) games, just so they can use the features that are included on Steam or even GOG.

Sure, such an option does not exist on GOG, as on this platform gamers are not a renter... they can own something, which is a different approach that currently is with rather limited "concerns", for whatever reason.

To the mainstream, GOG barely seems to even exist, even if GOG is taking care of matters that should be of interest toward a huge mass of gamers.

Anyway, GOG is able to increase a lot, this is the good story, so "hope" is always very valid.

Personally i am not supporting GOG "even more" as i already pay the highest market prices woldwide as a regular buyer (they are the only platform i do this... any other platform is facing my "workarounds") and it will be "my share of the support" i am able and willing to give... for many years already. Nonetheless, for those who are capable and/or willing of... i see no reason "why not". GOG simply is doing the stuff that works for them, such as any other company... there is no "fixed approach". I am not sure how much of use it is so far but i assume the around half a million coins a year can still be used for some stuff. It would be even better if GOG simply may get more buyers... which in theory could only increase; there are just way too much gamers still not even considering GOG and GOG is improving their game-library year after year.

Well I assume with Gamepass and PS+ you get cheap, or sometimes free, games. Currently there are few incentives to join the GOG Patron Program.

But GOG's comparatively tiny size is why I'm more willing to cut them some slack compared to major companies. And why I think it's better to look at major releases here as occasional pleasant surprises rather than expect it to be the norm, possibly ever.

Well, to me the biggest gain is not always very personal... instead if i am able to see something important to me "able to bear sweet fruits"; which is a indirect gain that might not be as overwhelming such as some spicy drugs (free games, achievements, a sea of friends, support in general)... yet... slowly i may see some fruits by supporting it (DRM-free, able to effectively preserve games dear enough to me for not being thrown away in some years, and able to provide a healthy-balance in a environment full of monopoly-force); especially if even more gamers with the same mental-force may be able to build a more sturdy ship. It may never become a luxury-yacht but it can raise to the level of a very good explorer-ship with strong sails on it, with limited need of expensive maintenance nor a lot of external force.

It's not a conspiracy theory and considering you're arguing with others to be in denial I would say you're being a boot licker.

Exactly. It's just an illusion that the Patrons are having an effect. GOG would still preserve the game as they have others anyway.

You obviously haven't been reading my posts then.

Dude it worse than some people I meet on Steam. How is anybody supposed to criticise GOG with his behaviour...

Over time I have little patience with people like that. Seriously, WTF is he on? You cannot blame me for thinking the poll results were fixed when the results are EXACTLY what Nightdive decided to remaster as well.

Can we just admit the poll is a sham to justify people spending money on it? All these games are being preserved as it is so I don't get the poll's existence other than engagement. I apparently have no proof that I'm correct yet he has no proof he's correct that I'm wrong.

I certainly can, because you are looking for patterns that aren't there. Thief 1 also won the poll on discord. Did GOG hack a discord feature too, to lure in NightDive, who always publishes here voluntarily anyway? I am asking this again, this time with attachments.
The very first patrons vote to win was Rayman 2. What was the conspiracy there? Did we get Rayman Legends or its remake? No. Did we get anything from Ubisoft at all as a result of that vote? No. Is it only a conspiracy when it aligns to some non-existent pattern you invented?

Yeah, others who also did not know anything about how the patron system worked, but at least they admitted as such. And yeah, keep throwing insults my way, they definitely strengthen your argument.

There is a big difference between legitimate criticism and inventing nonsense. If you want to call the patron subscription useless - you can. Although I would argue that making it "useful" would make everyone worse off. Then it would become a de facto mandatory subscription and who would want that?

However your whole NightDive luring conspiracy is utter nonsense and the whole reason for this whole argument.

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Update01: Also, I just saw your post on the other thread... Considering my original response was already quoted, I will not edit it. I will try to calm my tone going forward though.

Assuming the timing is correct and it is newer than the post in this thread, I will accept it as a peace offering. Like I said, you can criticise the patrons program all you want. We do not have to agree and we can certainly debate it. What I do fundamentally disagree with is the NightDive argument. There is no need for GOG to try to lure in NightDive in such a way, and GOG would not have been able to spoof a Discord vote either - it is a 3rd party app. Plus, Thief is just a popular IP, certainly compared to the other nominees. That is all.

I assume GOG is preserving what games they choose to (like Hatred) in in addition to what people choose via voting, so i think the voting is legit.

Would you consider GOG giving away free games as part of the program a step too far? Does that turn it into a "subscription" which many people (or at least forum users) seem to not want?

There's a LOT of people paying $5 a month. GOG might be making more on that than actual game sales.

Why are people arguing about membership benefits when the point of the program is to generate some working capital for a business that's struggling?

I guess it depends. How many games per month? Would they be direct additions to the subscriber's library or keys that are free to be given away? If it's the former, would people who already own those games get any kind of compensation?

If it was a pure Humble / Amazon Price clone that handed out several keys a month, I'd be okay with it. If it was something like additional cloud storage space, universal checkout discounts, support priority, etc, I'd be against it, because it would inherently make the store worse for non-patrons.

Yes, the current patrons system is "useless", but that uselessness is what makes it actually optional.

It's more how they're doing it and I very much doubt GOG is struggling.

It's a huge coincidence and looks dodgy to those that don't blindly defend the company. You forget GOG has promoted and done work with Nightdive. They most likely have contacts with each other.

At the end of the day I realise GOG want engagement but they could just be more upfront about their Patreon. People will defend something that looks that dodgy though because they put money into it.

They preserve various games regardless of polls. I so far don't don't see the point of a poll.

It's to add value to the Patron Program and make people feel like their input matters. But you don't believe the polls are legitimate, right?

It is something that this program could go without. While it's officially fun, nothing is changed by voting apart from the position in the queue. Please understand that position in the queue in Britain is a sacred thing and when some people can buy special tickets and excuse others to place themselves in front them.... Just doesn't look right x D

Dear Pferreira1983, this vote is for fun and all the games in the queue are going in ^ Sooner or soon°
A charity goes to fuel this program and subscribers can vote on position in queue.... Resembling ~global politics : )

I absolutely agree, it's engagement but it's too much of a coincidence that the results of the poll just happen to be the same game Nightdive is working on. Could be a coincidence but they have communicated with each other before so not outside the realm of possibility. It just looks dodgy.

I think GOG need to look to see if the poll is necessary. They already preserve games (I get notifications of games that do that) regardless.