I never said anything about keeping it restricted to Galaxy, I just said they could replace standalone installers with that, even here on the site. I don't expect them too, but I was really just making a point with you... standalone installers aren't the only means to provide a game.

They may be the best way, I don't know... I'm not for having that debate.

Well I did take a very defining step considering my DRM free stance, GOG. I made a Steam account, I downloaded their client and bought the Alien Isolation Collection for around 12 bucks and X Com Enemy Unknown complete(Humble Bundle Spring Sale, lots of DRM free games too, for example Legend of Dungeon for 2.62 bucks, a fun roguelike) for around 8 bucks.

If you do not care about your customers, why should I support you anymore. I joined GOG for DRM free games, I supported this company even with buying games I did not consider to play, just to support your vision and this company. I see that you are moving further and further away from your initial vision and goals. Then I can join aswell the big guys with a third party client developed since Half Life 2 came out.

What this world does not need is another proprietary mandatory third party client.

I might reconsider my decision, if you cleary state your goals moving forward for this store and the client. No empty phrases, clear and direct: Staying a DRM free store? Enhancing Galaxy, make it mandatory?

Why not stop this bomb dropping? Why not make a sticky at the start of year mentioning milestones, intended changes if ti touches the stores visions or core principles? Why not communicate and develop with the community, there are a lot of tech savy people here and I already read a lot of ideas/alterantives in several threads.

better safe than sorry

if you keep dismissing a risk because the risk aint there yet, you sure will have no way to deal with it once it happens because of the constant denial and carelessnes

bad things dont happen in a plushy pink smoke "poof" effect out of thin air... ugly things get built step after step
and if you dont recognize the earlier stones of the building, by the time you are in the jail, you already are locked in without ways to prevent it anymore

so, no, vigilance and defiance aint stupid and useless; because if you accept one step, the, peeps will consider that you can be tricked into accepting another step, then another, then another....
while if you say no from the very start and keep the stance, that's it

Writing scripts is WORK. If GOG's hypothetical strawman customer can't even install a game without tripping over his or her dick, suppose it takes him/her 8 hours to write a script (I'm being generous here, I'd probably take a month and end up bricking my pc). You know what it means, right, at 7.25 an hour? The game should be fucking free.

Yeah: They COULD but their choice was another one as we clear see here. And they could also use other technologies like Docker for example: Having a complete package for download. But again: No another choice. That's the thing and the answer is very clear: CD Projekt wanted an own client. They've got one. You want to guess what happens next when Cyperpunkg 2077 will be released here? There will be the next big amount of new Galaxy-users here. Happy hour for GOG and its userbase? No, but "Happy Hour" for CD Projekt.

Just in case someone is looking for other DRM-Free game stores you'll find a few listed in this thread:

https://www.gog.com/forum/general/sites_like_gog/page1

not only doing that (because, yes, its practically makes gog behaving like a typical scam app dealer of addwares/bloatwares/malwares, and that is unexpected enough to begin with)

but also the tone, the way ot announcing it to us, with a condescending tone, treating us as dumb children with the whole package of "Good News ™" vibe added in for good measure

As I said it was an idea floated by GOG, they would do the work... I think they already have though to compensate for Galaxy but I can't say for 100% sure.

But it looks like Galaxy runs a script after installation though to handle this, because with Galaxy the files are uncompressed (and not an installer) and unlike Steam the registry matters on GOG. I'm just talking from a Windows point of view.

But yea it was to make a point, I don't think that a viable solution really... not for the site anyway. As a backup solution in Galaxy to preserve games and for those of us not wanting to download the installers in addition... possibly.
Yea well I choose to be little less cynical, I'm going to see how this plays out... if this is the worst of it, I can live with it just fine doesn't mean I don't dislike it though.

If it get's worse, I'll cross that bridge when we get too it.

Here is a joke.Gog sent me an email about my WALLET FUNDS NOT BEING USED.I THINK THEY ARE GOING TO START CHARGING INTEREST,LIKE THE BANKS.

The problem with replacing those installers is this:

Between 2008-2014 those installers were the sole means of distributing games through GOG, and having access to them was a selling point for many of us. We bought games knowing we had access to them, and we assumed we would always have access to them so long as GOG remained in business.

Removing those installers would be just as bad as GOG removing GOG Galaxy at this point, since there are members who signed up in part, or for that reason alone. It was a selling point that we don't want taken away.

I don't mind Galaxy, I have it installed for downloading backups, but I don't want them to use Galaxy as an excuse to remove the installers, and I can see them doing just that by claiming it's too complicated to keep up multiple installations, while the majority use the Galaxy versions etc.

If you don't believe that can and will happen, just look at the old bundled games (such as Police Quest Collection), they took it upon themselves to unbundle those games in favor of separate game installers just for the sake of Galaxy compatibility, leaving no option to download the older bundled versions.

I never assumed anything. I download every game as I purchase it, and I download every update as I get notified about it. I've dedicated a lot of hard drive space to backing up installers for nearly 500 games. I'm not too keen on buying a new hard drive just to store a bunch of copies of the same program that I don't want.

They may be but that is an unrealistic expectation of GOG... that's like asking a company that has been in business for 50 years to make the same product they did in 1967. Technology changes, expectations change, your type of consumers change (and usually pretty often)... they may offer a comparable product still but it's unlikely to be the same product from 50 years ago.

I know some people are going to not like me saying that, but it doesn't make it any less true... and you all can keep on down voting rep means nothing to me.

For me the reason is that I don't know what the other option would be. Let's say it is "Galaxy offers an option to create your own offline installer", as you suggested. So does it mean I first need to download and install each game, and then after that, one by one, somehow create an offline installer for it?

Let's remember at this point that I have 1356 games on GOG. What you suggest sounds like very very cumbersome and slow, just in order to download my GOG games into a local collection. I would apparently have to install all of the games, even though all I really wanted was to create backups of them for later use.

Downloading offline installers is pretty clean and easy way to create my local backup collection, and with third party tools like gogrepo it is even easier.


In a way, I like how e.g. the Humble Bundle Android client works (for HB Android games). First of all, the client is optional (for 99% of their games). It is pretty easy to download and install games with it, and I think it also checks if a new version is available.

However, it actually downloads standalone .apk installers, which can be used independently later. So it appears when you tell the client to "download and install" a game, it downloads the apk and installs it for you, but leaves the apk in your device. So there are no extra steps required to create a backup (standalone installer) even though you used a client, you already have those installers on your device, as long as you know where to look for.

we should start a thread/wish about "gog, lets partner up with hdd resellers to grant us discount on new biggers hdd, on the house" ;)

because, yep, i'm doing the same as you here, and the brand new 3TB hdd is now already overloaded... and now gog would have me push over 80gb of redundant crunwanted app inside as well ?

Good for you. I spent $1000+ on parts for my rig. I enjoy building and using computers, and I'd like to use mine.

There isn't anything wrong with either of our opinions. It has nothing to do with not having a spine, it's about being able to say "I can live with this, and I want to enjoy myself" instead of "This is bad! I should be ashamed of myself!" People wanting to enjoy themselves and not care about an unobtrusive form of DRM is a bad thing? Pfft, then send me straight to hell for my sins.

I know what Steam is going into it, and my tolerance for it is enough that I can use it with no problem. I used to know what GOG was, this doesn't feel like GOG anymore to me, thus my desire to use it is dwindling fast. I'll take my money to Steam and have my fun there. Others can take their money to other DRM-free stores or directly from the dev. It's all good in the end if people are enjoying themselves. GOG is the only one losing out in this case.