Posted May 10, 2017
high rated
Hi GOG, long time customer here
Maybe I am not as vocal as some, but I have a something to say now, so I'll make it as open as possible. I want to make this post as an open critique, so let's get the good stuff out of the way first, so we can concentrate on the bad and the ugly.
THE GOOD
I love this site, I love it to a point that I bought my games almost exclusive through GOG in past 3 years. You continue to bring DRM free titles for us to purchase and that is awesome. And believe it or not, that's about it. That is only good thing I can think of at this very moment, it is a very good thing, but the only one. Your last sneaky announcement about galaxy being sneaked into installers made me sad, because it was the first time I felt like something is being really forced on me on GOG. I didn't mind grey site change, I don't love, but do understand the need for regional pricing, I don't mind galaxy but I do not like the way you are trying to 'force' it at all.
And yes I really do love GOG, I am a true fan, my actions can sometimes even be described as fanboyish (preaching to friends about DRM free games, and how GOG promotes it). And because I love this site so much is exactly the reasons why I am writing this. You are heading down the dangerous path, you are losing trust of your customers. I for one, would not like for that to happen, because I still believe in your core values. I still believe that some of you believe in them. Don't fool yourself, you are loosing trust, it IS happening. I've narrowed my concerns down to three problems, so let's get hammering.
THE BAD
Problem:
You don't respond to your customers concerns as you used to. Your business has grown, I understand that, and with that it becomes more difficult to maintain that loving relationship with customers. You still do respond I know, but almost exclusive after some shitstorm has already happened. It makes us (customers) feel like interacting with every other company out there, through walls and walls of smokescreens by marketing and PR.
Solution:
Be less reactive and more proactive when addressing your customers concerns. Don't wait for shitstorms to happen, prevent them by at least acknowledging the issues.
Problem:
The term 'DRM' or 'DRM free' is not universally agreed upon, and while here [https://support.gog.com/hc/en-us/articles/212181769-So-what-s-with-this-DRM-thing-] you clearly state that we 'won't find any DRMs or other intrusive copy protection in items available at GOG.com', intrusive copy protection is subjective term. To some it means that they can play their games in a singleplayer offline, others extend that to a multiplayer portion of the game too. It has spawned many discussions which potentially hurt your reputation.
Solution:
Update your FAQ and clearly state what DRM free means to you. I personally don't consider any kind of authentication for multiplayer to be DRM, but that is beside the point. The point is that everyone should know what you mean by term 'DRM free', so they can adjust their expectations to as what kind of content you are delivering.
i.e. 'we consider DRM to be any form of authentication that in a case of authentication system failure prevents the player from playing his game in a single player mode'
THE UGLY
Problem:
Galaxy is an optional client I get that, I don't mind it, I am using it, but being optional is not good enough. With your last decision you will make it intrusive [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intrusiveness], and intrusive is as bad as mandatory, and all that under some lame excuse that it is friendly to new customers. You have made galaxy a bloatware to anyone who regularly backs up their library and bloatware is not the term you want galaxy to be associated with.
Solution:
Being optional and non intrusive is the way to go. Some say you should leave checkbox to install it unchecked by default, and that would be much better. But even better (my personal opinion) would be if you only included download link to galaxy. That way, you will not bloat installer with galaxy client.
Response (by Johny.):
and [url=https://www.gog.com/forum/general/open_letter_to_gog/post44]here
Response (by Destro):
Here
Let's get some things cleared up, shall we?
I'm not sure if this post sounds too cheesy or not, but I don't care. I have my concerns, and I openly invite anyone who agrees with me not to let this post leave the first page until we get some official commentary. Spam it with ups and +1 as much as you need to get the job done.
UPDATE 1: added response from Johny addressing Galaxy concern
UPDATE 2: added Destro's response addressing Galaxy concern
Maybe I am not as vocal as some, but I have a something to say now, so I'll make it as open as possible. I want to make this post as an open critique, so let's get the good stuff out of the way first, so we can concentrate on the bad and the ugly.
THE GOOD
I love this site, I love it to a point that I bought my games almost exclusive through GOG in past 3 years. You continue to bring DRM free titles for us to purchase and that is awesome. And believe it or not, that's about it. That is only good thing I can think of at this very moment, it is a very good thing, but the only one. Your last sneaky announcement about galaxy being sneaked into installers made me sad, because it was the first time I felt like something is being really forced on me on GOG. I didn't mind grey site change, I don't love, but do understand the need for regional pricing, I don't mind galaxy but I do not like the way you are trying to 'force' it at all.
And yes I really do love GOG, I am a true fan, my actions can sometimes even be described as fanboyish (preaching to friends about DRM free games, and how GOG promotes it). And because I love this site so much is exactly the reasons why I am writing this. You are heading down the dangerous path, you are losing trust of your customers. I for one, would not like for that to happen, because I still believe in your core values. I still believe that some of you believe in them. Don't fool yourself, you are loosing trust, it IS happening. I've narrowed my concerns down to three problems, so let's get hammering.
THE BAD
Problem:
You don't respond to your customers concerns as you used to. Your business has grown, I understand that, and with that it becomes more difficult to maintain that loving relationship with customers. You still do respond I know, but almost exclusive after some shitstorm has already happened. It makes us (customers) feel like interacting with every other company out there, through walls and walls of smokescreens by marketing and PR.
Solution:
Be less reactive and more proactive when addressing your customers concerns. Don't wait for shitstorms to happen, prevent them by at least acknowledging the issues.
Problem:
The term 'DRM' or 'DRM free' is not universally agreed upon, and while here [https://support.gog.com/hc/en-us/articles/212181769-So-what-s-with-this-DRM-thing-] you clearly state that we 'won't find any DRMs or other intrusive copy protection in items available at GOG.com', intrusive copy protection is subjective term. To some it means that they can play their games in a singleplayer offline, others extend that to a multiplayer portion of the game too. It has spawned many discussions which potentially hurt your reputation.
Solution:
Update your FAQ and clearly state what DRM free means to you. I personally don't consider any kind of authentication for multiplayer to be DRM, but that is beside the point. The point is that everyone should know what you mean by term 'DRM free', so they can adjust their expectations to as what kind of content you are delivering.
i.e. 'we consider DRM to be any form of authentication that in a case of authentication system failure prevents the player from playing his game in a single player mode'
THE UGLY
Problem:
Galaxy is an optional client I get that, I don't mind it, I am using it, but being optional is not good enough. With your last decision you will make it intrusive [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intrusiveness], and intrusive is as bad as mandatory, and all that under some lame excuse that it is friendly to new customers. You have made galaxy a bloatware to anyone who regularly backs up their library and bloatware is not the term you want galaxy to be associated with.
Solution:
Being optional and non intrusive is the way to go. Some say you should leave checkbox to install it unchecked by default, and that would be much better. But even better (my personal opinion) would be if you only included download link to galaxy. That way, you will not bloat installer with galaxy client.
Response (by Johny.):
and [url=https://www.gog.com/forum/general/open_letter_to_gog/post44]here
Response (by Destro):
Here
Let's get some things cleared up, shall we?
I'm not sure if this post sounds too cheesy or not, but I don't care. I have my concerns, and I openly invite anyone who agrees with me not to let this post leave the first page until we get some official commentary. Spam it with ups and +1 as much as you need to get the job done.
UPDATE 1: added response from Johny addressing Galaxy concern
UPDATE 2: added Destro's response addressing Galaxy concern
Post edited May 15, 2017 by Miljac
