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tinyE: Has the irony of a country that rejects 'Commandos' but embraces David Hasselhoff hit anyone yet?
But ... but ... it wasn't commandos that brought about the collapse of the Berlin wall! ;)
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tinyE: Has the irony of a country that rejects 'Commandos' but embraces David Hasselhoff hit anyone yet?
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Leroux: But ... but ... it wasn't commandos that brought about the collapse of the Berlin wall! ;)
Seriously, didn't it piss you off as a proud German, after all the years of hell your country endured because of that fucking wall, it finally comes down, and how does Berlin celebrate? They bring in the Hoff to do a fucking concert on top of the rubble. XD The least they could have done was make him bring the car with him!
It's all about: Fear, surprise and ruthless efficiency.
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tinyE: Seriously, didn't it piss you off as a proud German, after all the years of hell your country endured because of that fucking wall, it finally comes down, and how does Berlin celebrate? They bring in the Hoff to do a fucking concert on top of the rubble. XD The least they could have done was make him bring the car with him!
That invitation was actually a desperate attempt at bribery. With this flattery they were hoping to convince David Hasselhoff that he should replace KITT with a Trabant, so that they could sell all the redundant cars to gullible Knight Rider fans from Western Germany. Unfortunately, the morning after the party, for some reason the Hoff could not remember a thing about that deal ...
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Shmacky-McNuts: Getting tired of reading drug happy asshats posting stoner advertising here. PM each other with that crap and stop cluttering up the game forum!
WNine whine whine prudish lush.

You get the same advice I'd have given John Douglas. If you don't like what's on the radio, reach over, grab a knob, and give it a good twist. Bam! No more content that offends your delicate sensibilities.
Post edited February 27, 2015 by EBToriginal
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markrichardb: You know I've always wondered, do Europeans always dream in their home language?
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Shmacky-McNuts: Funny you should mention this. I spoke with many non-first language english speakers. They say they always think in their native tongue, then think of the words in english.
Sometimes I dream in English, rarely in Italian, I can "think" in English but that happens like 35% of the time, but being raised with German in Germany it's hardly surprising.

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Darvond: Don't complain to GOG, complain to Germany. They might be a keystone of Europe and they might have Nintendo's Euro division by the bollocks, but that doesn't mean sudden pressure from 15+ countries around the world could help change the ways.
German laws don't prohibit selling and buying these Games for 18+ audience. Its just gets more complicated acquiring them because they have to be hidden from the children.
Since GOG wants to go "FULL German" and wants more customers but can't be bother getting an 18+ verification in place it takes the Steam etc. route and censors the games away.
Additionally, it all was fine and dandy before GOG wanted to become a "German" store. Most of the Germans here have been pretty happy with writing in English, I suppose, but I might be wrong...
Most of them are probably above 18 years old and want the rightfully uncensored version though...
So complaining to GOG for making things worse (again) seems more than reasonable to me.
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Ciris: We've updated the "Herzlich Wilkommen" post with information about the locked games.

Update text:

"Two games from our catalog had to be made unavailable in Germany: Commandos Ammo Pack and Commandos 2+3. Offering or promoting these games is considered a serious criminal offence according to German law, and we have to abide by this law to avoid the risk of serious legal action taken against GOG.com and GOG.com employees. Rest assured that if you've already bought a game - nothing will retroactively disappear from your shelves."
Sorry but I had to lower your rep for this comment, something that I generally don't do :P

Do you guys also abide by Sharia law when selling games to countries that use that system? This is a serious question and is in no way meant to criticise or praise Islam. Given the discrepancy between legal systems around the world, it must be a monumental task to adhere to all of them!

As has been mentioned above, I always thought that the point-of-sale of digital goods determined the legality of such transactions. I guess you guys are wanting everyone to use VPNs or other means of hiding their IP and country of origin. If I am to choose where I appear to come from, I guess it would be in my best interest as a loyal customer for the past 1382 days, to choose a country of origin that has the cheapest prices?

This decision makes no sense whatsoever on so many levels :( Another strike against my formerly favourite online store.

Edit: I also wanted to ask what GOG's response would be if someone happened to create a giveaway for these restricted games and only accepted entries from those who are restricted from purchasing them? Would you take it upon yourself to do something about it? Have you banned gifting restricted games to those from countries they are restricted from? That is the loophole I have used and will continue use to say "Eff you censorship" <3
Post edited February 27, 2015 by Tarnicus
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Khadgar42: Thanks for letting me know, but they only way I would feel better would be if GOG would stop all regional crap, demolish all attempts of separatistic language movements and start becoming a global company again. But as a multilingual profiting from my several languages I'm obviously biased...
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markrichardb: You know I've always wondered, do Europeans always dream in their home language?
No. I rarely think and dream in Polish my native language. More often than not I find myself struggling to find the proper word in Polish as I only use that language to communicate with a couple of friends and family.

It might have been answered already but is the English shop with banned games no longer available to Germans?
Post edited February 27, 2015 by lukaszthegreat
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markrichardb: You know I've always wondered, do Europeans always dream in their home language?
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Shmacky-McNuts: Funny you should mention this. I spoke with many non-first language english speakers. They say they always think in their native tongue, then think of the words in english.
It depends how fluent and familiar you are with the foreign language. For example for me, when I speak or write in English, 90% of the time I don't have to think first in Finnish and then translate it to English in my mind.

Usually this rest 10% happens only with some rarer words, or some idioms (e.g. I know the Finnish idiom, but I am unsure if there is a corresponding idiom in English; like when I said "ass bridge" in a phone meeting ("aasinsilta"). I was sure English doesn't have such idiom, but I used it anyway.

For languages which I know less (e.g. Swedish, German, French, Thai...), I usually think first in Finnish and then translate it to the foreign language, unless it is some very often used phrase.

Naturally I dream in my native language, Finnish. It is a much richer language than English anyway, making more interesting and vivid dreams. :) English (and Swedish) are quite simplistic languages in comparison.
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Khadgar42: German laws don't prohibit selling and buying these Games for 18+ audience. Its just gets more complicated acquiring them because they have to be hidden from the children.
Since GOG wants to go "FULL German" and wants more customers but can't be bother getting an 18+ verification in place it takes the Steam etc. route and censors the games away.
Additionally, it all was fine and dandy before GOG wanted to become a "German" store. Most of the Germans here have been pretty happy with writing in English, I suppose, but I might be wrong...
Most of them are probably above 18 years old and want the rightfully uncensored version though...
So complaining to GOG for making things worse (again) seems more than reasonable to me.
As a good chunk of GOG's customers are German, this would have had to come with or without the German translation. I'm surprised that GOG managed to do it for as long as they did. But I guess they are getting to big to hope to stay under the radar anyway.
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Tarnicus: [...]
Do you guys also abide by Sharia law when selling games to countries that use that system? This is a serious question and is in no way meant to criticise or praise Islam. Given the discrepancy between legal systems around the world, it must be a monumental task to adhere to all of them!

[...]
I just uprepped yours for bringing in the Sharia law...
I want gog to abide to every legal system it has customers in and then basically stop selling any game at all.
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Ciris: We've updated the "Herzlich Wilkommen" post with information about the locked games.

Update text:

"Two games from our catalog had to be made unavailable in Germany: Commandos Ammo Pack and Commandos 2+3. Offering or promoting these games is considered a serious criminal offence according to German law, and we have to abide by this law to avoid the risk of serious legal action taken against GOG.com and GOG.com employees. Rest assured that if you've already bought a game - nothing will retroactively disappear from your shelves."
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Tarnicus: Sorry but I had to lower your rep for this comment, something that I generally don't do :P

Do you guys also abide by Sharia law when selling games to countries that use that system? This is a serious question and is in no way meant to criticise or praise Islam. Given the discrepancy between legal systems around the world, it must be a monumental task to adhere to all of them!
Very valid point!
Many of the games offered here are forbidden by Sharia and therefore in countries that follow this law.

BTW: Reminds me of this topic in "99 Levels to Hell"
http://www.gog.com/forum/99_levels_to_hell/is_this_a_prosatanic_game

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Khadgar42: I want gog to abide to every legal system it has customers in and then basically stop selling any game at all.
Exactly. There are countries that are worse and more arbitrary than even Germany when it comes to censoring, so good luck!
Post edited February 27, 2015 by Klumpen0815
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Khadgar42: I just uprepped yours for bringing in the Sharia law...
I want gog to abide to every legal system it has customers in and then basically stop selling any game at all.
I agree that there needs to be some consistency, and the easiest way to implement consistency is how GOG used to operate. Adhering to every legal system in the world would be an absolute pain for all involved.

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Klumpen0815: Very valid point!
Many of the games offered here are forbidden by Sharia and therefore in countries that follow this law.

BTW: Reminds me of this topic in "99 Levels to Hell"
http://www.gog.com/forum/99_levels_to_hell/is_this_a_prosatanic_game

Exactly. There are countries that are far worse and arbitrary than Germany when it comes to censoring, so good luck!
That was my thinking also. Thanks for linking that thread as it gave me a chuckle :)

Hotline Miami 2 has been banned from Australia, and hence is regionally restricted on GOG, although I could find no record of the decision on the Australian Classifaction site. The game does not interest me and I have been quite put off by what I have read about it - having a scene where the player character rapes another and there is no choice in the matter does not fit with my ethos, however I tend to side with freedom of expression, no matter how abhorrent it may be, especially that I am supposedly an adult (the jury is still out on that one and I'm nearing 39 :P).
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markrichardb: You know I've always wondered, do Europeans always dream in their home language?
Depends on the dream. When I don't know the people who are in my dreams (or when they're Germans) I dream in German (my native language). But when I dream of Spanish friends, I'm dreaming in Spanish.
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Tarnicus: The game does not interest me and I have been quite put off by what I have read about it - having a scene where the player character rapes another and there is no choice in the matter does not fit with my ethos
This has been stated false repeatedly in the press.
There is no such scene, but a scene where a movie is made in-game that involves a staged rape scene.
They even removed the animation of the character pulling down his trousers.