Oi! Don't give GOG PR any ideas.

Well, no. Paradoks has a perfectly good point that this seems as a way for forcing anyone, who now wants the take advantage of the current freebie but doesn't want to use the client for a reason or another, to install the client, even if "they can uninstall the client afterwards".

Really? Install and uninstall a client, just to redeem one freebie game?

What if from now on all future freebies in GOG can only be redeemed using the client? Will you say it is silly to complain about it as you can always install the client, redeem the game, and then uninstall the client, over and over again?

Another question: what do you feel is the motive for GOG doing this, make it possible to redeem a free game only through the client? Why not allow it for non-client users?

Next logical step indeed would be that you can download and install games only with the Galaxy client. While I possibly could live with that myself (as long as the procedure was simple and the downloaded/installed game would be fully portable ie. I can play it on another PC without Galaxy), I can understand why it would irk many people.

The main reason for me not to use the Galaxy client at the moment:

- I play only single-player GOG games and I don't care (enough) about achievements nor cloud saves, so running the client just to play some simple single-player game seems silly, if it works just as well without. Yeah, I feel the same about Steam too, hence I normally play only a multiplayer game in Steam.

- I am still under the impression that an installed Galaxy client messes up with my offline-installed GOG games, even if I don't want it to. So if I've installed a GOG game with an offline installer and click the launch icon, it doesn't only launch the game but also Galaxy, even if I never asked it to.

Yeah yeah you can try to make alternative shortcuts to the game executables... but that is extra work, and sometimes quite complicated (e.g. DOSBox games).

I have installed Galaxy once many years ago to try it out, but it had some dependency problem and failed to run on my PC, so that was that. I have had no reason to try it later.

I would ask why not just keep the game free at this point as I have seen it go up for free more then 5 times. only difference is each time more tedium is added in order to access the game. Seriously, just chill with that and stick to what you guys are good at before you cause your own downfall.

They are not prioritizing Galaxy users they are trying to incentivize peoples to install Galaxy and they are doing that by offering a free game. It's like saying that Gog prioritize peoples with e-mail when they offered the same game to peoples who subscribed to their newsletter a couple of months/years ago.

Also as mentioned you only Galaxy to redeem the game, afterward you can uninstall it and still download the game via the offline installers.

Client Farm

Isn't it obvious? Or is it? The answer is: maybe.

Jury's out, you to be the judge. Elephants shouldn't throw rocks in glass houses. Giraffes, ok.
I was actually going to use that argument... but then I noticed The Witcher doesn't even support Linux. :(

Then I was going to use the argument "But maybe some Linux user still wants to reclaim the game in order to play it in WINE"... but then I figured someone would shoot that down with "Well then, use WINE to run Galaxy to redeem the game. Problem solved.".

Damn it this is hard, I lose arguments even to myself!

Further to my previous post
[https://www.gog.com/forum/general/the_witcher_enhanced_edition_now_free_for_all_gog_galaxy_users_6edf2/post40],
I had a look at GOG Galaxy features, just to confirm that I hadn't missed something.

[It's interesting that https://www.gogalaxy.com/en/ doesn't even seem to list the specs for the client (OS etc), but that's an aside - Steam doesn't either. Likewise, I don't think either lets you download and save a full installer, only webinstallers?]

Anyway, GOG Galaxy's features and how they relate to me as a player:

"One library
Import all your games from PC and consoles, build and organize them into one master collection."

My master collection is my list of games on GOG. I don't have a console.

"Game stats
Keep track of all your achievements, hours played and games owned, combined across platforms."

I don't want any of that. In fact, I dislike achievements. I install a game, I play it. I don't want anything else tracking. There's too much tracking going on nowadays anyway.

"Game launcher
Install and launch any PC game you own, no matter the platform."

Isn't that a lie? I thought the game launcher didn't work on Linux? Or XP?

"Full customization
Create custom library views by filtering, sorting, tagging and adding your own visuals like game backgrounds and covers."

I can't imagine anything more pointless.

"Games discovery
Follow upcoming releases, and discover games popular among your friends and the gaming community."

I am only interested in the games on GOG, not the ones that might come. I get that by visiting GOG. I don't want all that useless info. I have lots of friends, but none play computer games, so all those features are pointless for me. And I have no interest in what some random "gaming community" plays.

"Your Friends
Check what your friends are doing across platforms and chat with them."

Again, none of my friends use GOG or Steam. Even if they did, I doubt if I'd want to interact with them in that way.

"One friends list
Bring together your friends from all platforms, and see their online status."

There are none.

"Activity feed
See your friends’ cross-platform achievements, game time milestones and recently played games."

Even if I had friends on GOG, this sounds like a kind of nightmare.

"Leaderboards
Compete with friends and see who is the master collector, completionist or spends the most time playing."

Sounds awful, even if I had friends on GOG.

"Cross-platform chat Soon
No matter on which platform your friends are, you can chat with them."

See above.

"Your Privacy
Designed to protect your privacy."

Which I already have by not using the client.

"The all-in-one solution for the present-day gamer."

I play games every day, and have since my Atari 2600, pretty much. In no way do I think of myself as a "present-day gamer" if all the features above are somehow requirements of that culture.

"Community platform integrations
Connect more platforms and add new features with open-source integrations."

I want fewer connections, not more.

"Sync between devices
All customizations and changes to your library are saved in the cloud and synced between all your devices."

Irrelevant to me. I install a game, I play it, I uninstall it and move to the next.

"Save custom views
Save any view like a customized library or favorite games and friends to access them instantly."

Irrelevant.

"Your GOG client
The best way to run and update your GOG games."

I find that patronising. The best way FOR ME is an offline installer.

"Auto-Updates
Keep your GOG.COM games always up to date."

In all the years I've used GOG, this has never been an issue. I download and install a game, I play it, I uninstall it.

"Cloud Saves
Your saves are automatically backed up to the Cloud and are synced between your computers."

As above: I download and install a game, I play it, I uninstall it.

"Multiplayer & Matchmaking
GOG GALAXY-powered multiplayer games offer matchmaking and online play."

I only play single-player offline games.

"Rollbacks
Restore your game to prior versions, if an update breaks it for you."

By using the offline installers, an update won't ever break my game, because here are no updates.

So reading all that confirmed how much I would hate to have to use a client. At best is is a cluttered nuisance and a barrier for me; at worst it may prevent me playing some games (as discussed at [https://www.gog.com/forum/general/the_witcher_enhanced_edition_now_free_for_all_gog_galaxy_users_6edf2/post40],).

Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with a client existing for people who want to use it, despite the company's resources going on something irrelevant to me rather than things I'd like; but clients should never be mandatory, because for many users and situations they're just an unnecessary impediment.


--

Ah, spotted this on the Galaxy site (I'd missed it):
"GOG GALAXY 2.0 Open Beta requires Windows 8 or newer."
My desktop PC in Win7, so I couldn't use it anyway.

(No point telling me to use Win10 - I already know Win7, love the interface, have it set up how I want, have software that works on it but may not in Win10; and I have a Win10 laptop and absolutely hate it. The UI is a mess, and often forced updates break things completely, or lock me out of the laptop for an hour. I dual boot Win7 with ZorinOS Linux, and hope to move fully to Linux at some point.)

This is a borderline case. So far and no farther, please.

If you don't want to then don't.

And ? Again if you don't want to just don't, it's freebies, it's not anything you paid for or that they "own" you, it's something they give for free, if they decided to give it for free only to peoples subscribed to their newsletter, only to those using the client, or only to those e-mailing them a selfie of them wearing a pink tutu, that's their choice.

Where is this banner suppose to be? Or it doesn't show up if you already have The Witcher? Last one I got extra I gave away to someone.

Nope. I see a moving banner, I see "Connect GOG GALAXY 2.0 with multiple platforms and unite all your games and friends scattered across them in one powerful app.", and I see "GOG GALAXY 2.0 Open Beta is available for Windows and Mac. Please download the installer on your PC." No download link.

I haven't tried it myself but I've heard Galaxy doesn't work in wine well at all.

The game on the other hand might be totally playable.

does that link work for you?
https://webinstallers.gog-statics.com/download/GOG_Galaxy_2.0.exe

Edit: It's finally working. No more error messages popping up. Though this support article link still can't be accessed:

https://support.gog.com/hc/en-us/articles/360010216193?product=gog

The sky is falling! The sky is falling! *rolls eyes*