karnak1: In my opinion GOG has been going downhill for some years now. Stupid decisions, poor communication between the store and its customers and a severe lack of professionalism concerning the store maintenance. From my own professional experience I suspect all this is the result of a very, very incompetent and stupid management. If CDP manages to replace the store's management for someone skilled then things can definitely improve.

But I gotta give credit, where credit is due: GOG also has a severe issue with its customer base. I think it has one of the most divisive clientele I've ever seen. After all this time it's still divided between:
- People who are only interested in DRM-free old games.
- People who are only interested in DRM-free AAA games.
- People who are only interested in DRM-free indie games.
- People who buy on GOG but also buy on other stores
- People who only buy on GOG
- People who are interested in DRM-free games but want client-related perks (achievements, cloud-saves, etc)
- People who are only interested in the DRM-free offline installers
- People who want DRM-free Linux games
- People who don't care about DRM-free and only want to buy their games where it's cheaper
- People etc etc etc....
As someone who has once worked on customer service, it can be a real pain the ass to try to please many greeks and trojans at once. It takes some marketing and communicational skills, which GOG clearly lacks nowadays.

And - second and most important factor - the gamer base has turned to s#!t. Regardless of what happens to GOG I gotta admit that, in these last couple of years, I've grown disgusted with the way the gaming industry is going.
Maybe it's me just getting old... But until 2019 I always fascinated by the specific "magic" of videogaming. And this magic seems to be vanishing. Fast. If GOG vanishes then I don't think I'll even bother to pirate the vast amount of crap which is created nowadays.

Personal anedocte: some years ago I used to know plenty of guys who bought games on GOG. Because of DRM-free. Most of these guys have now stopped buying games here and now almost buy exclusively on steam.
Is it because of GOG's incompetence? Lack of game updates? Poor customer management?
Nope... basically all of these guys now only buy on steam just because they want the "shiny new game" which was only released on steam.
Now: I'm not criticizing them for buying on other stores. Everyone should be allowed to buy any game they want, wherever they want, be it on GOG, steam, zoom, epic, whatever.
My only gripe is: why people who once cared for DRM-free gaming and still have a backlog of 500+ unplayed games will give money to buy a DRM'd game which they probably will never play in their lives?!?? (thus helping to further encourage DRM and anti-consumer policies)
Nope... whenever I see stuff like this happening I loose all faith in the industry and even in humanity in the long run.

Anyway... It was thanks to GOG that I managed to replay some of the wonders from my teenagehood. As well as discovered new treasures.
Personally I only have good things to say about the GOG staff. The "foot soldiers" who try to keep things afloat despite all the incompetence of the upper echelons. I really, really hope that GOG manages to find its way and keep marching forward.

My only advice and my 2 cents: fire whatever Top Brass Dumbfucks are ruining the store with their incompetence and put some able and skilled people running the affairs.
(thanks to whoever had the time & patience to read my rant - if any of the GOG staff reads this, know that you have my support. I know you're doing your best)

Ancient-Red-Dragon: Had GOG only ever sold ancient and obsolete games with horrible graphics, as many seem to want, then GOG would have been bankrupt many years ago before now, and this forum would not even exist to host this very thread.

I'm not saying all old games are bad; some aren't.

But my point is: the common philosophy promoted on this board, that GOG could have thrived if only it had continued to sell old/obsolete games exclusively, that is not realistic at all. Really, what would have happened in that case is that GOG truly would have died shortly after the time when they proclaimed it dead as a re-branding PR stunt.

I agree that GOG has gone downhill in recent years, but that has nothing to do with them starting to sell more modern games, which is a good thing, not a bad thing.

karnak1: In my opinion GOG has been going downhill for some years now. Stupid decisions, poor communication between the store and its customers and a severe lack of professionalism concerning the store maintenance. From my own professional experience I suspect all this is the result of a very, very incompetent and stupid management. If CDP manages to replace the store's management for someone skilled then things can definitely improve.

But I gotta give credit, where credit is due: GOG also has a severe issue with its customer base. I think it has one of the most divisive clientele I've ever seen. After all this time it's still divided between:
- People who are only interested in DRM-free old games.
- People who are only interested in DRM-free AAA games.
- People who are only interested in DRM-free indie games.
- People who buy on GOG but also buy on other stores
- People who only buy on GOG
- People who are interested in DRM-free games but want client-related perks (achievements, cloud-saves, etc)
- People who are only interested in the DRM-free offline installers
- People who want DRM-free Linux games
- People who don't care about DRM-free and only want to buy their games where it's cheaper
- People etc etc etc....
As someone who has once worked on customer service, it can be a real pain the ass to try to please many greeks and trojans at once. It takes some marketing and communicational skills, which GOG clearly lacks nowadays.

And - second and most important factor - the gamer base has turned to s#!t. Regardless of what happens to GOG I gotta admit that, in these last couple of years, I've grown disgusted with the way the gaming industry is going.
Maybe it's me just getting old... But until 2019 I always fascinated by the specific "magic" of videogaming. And this magic seems to be vanishing. Fast. If GOG vanishes then I don't think I'll even bother to pirate the vast amount of crap which is created nowadays.

Personal anedocte: some years ago I used to know plenty of guys who bought games on GOG. Because of DRM-free. Most of these guys have now stopped buying games here and now almost buy exclusively on steam.
Is it because of GOG's incompetence? Lack of game updates? Poor customer management?
Nope... basically all of these guys now only buy on steam just because they want the "shiny new game" which was only released on steam.
Now: I'm not criticizing them for buying on other stores. Everyone should be allowed to buy any game they want, wherever they want, be it on GOG, steam, zoom, epic, whatever.
My only gripe is: why people who once cared for DRM-free gaming and still have a backlog of 500+ unplayed games will give money to buy a DRM'd game which they probably will never play in their lives?!?? (thus helping to further encourage DRM and anti-consumer policies)
Nope... whenever I see stuff like this happening I loose all faith in the industry and even in humanity in the long run.

Anyway... It was thanks to GOG that I managed to replay some of the wonders from my teenagehood. As well as discovered new treasures.
Personally I only have good things to say about the GOG staff. The "foot soldiers" who try to keep things afloat despite all the incompetence of the upper echelons. I really, really hope that GOG manages to find its way and keep marching forward.

My only advice and my 2 cents: fire whatever Top Brass Dumbfucks are ruining the store with their incompetence and put some able and skilled people running the affairs.
(thanks to whoever had the time & patience to read my rant - if any of the GOG staff reads this, know that you have my support. I know you're doing your best)