Nope, all manually using TeraCopy as the MD5/CRC copier.
I download a game, then copy it to each drive, in its own folder that contains a cover image and a copy of the game web page.

Drives can die anytime, and a huge undertaking to copy that many games to a new drive, and also risky. Far better to just have lots of copies, and then copy gradually over days and maybe weeks, if one drive needs replacing.

While I am glad there is something, it often proves less than useful and a pain to wade through, so I just don't bother any more. Sometimes there is an up-to-date changelog in the forum topic for the game.

However, I have been finding that over time, the Changelog often does get updated, just maybe weeks or months later. As an aid with that, I TAG all such games as UPDATED in my Library, so I can recall each one for later checking. It seems you get another notification for just the changelog being updated, when it does finally happen.

I just cannot see it happening. It would be bad for everyone, even for those who don't like Steam or don't support it. Total trust would instantly dissolve and stay that way for a very long time, and no section of the gaming industry would be unaffected. There would be millions of angry consumers, perhaps doubly so because they think us GOGers are the fools, and to be proved they were instead would be unbearable. There would be court cases like you wouldn't believe. And the acceptability of DRM from that moment on would be a total negative.

Too big to fail, just like major banks.

Some actually do that with some games here, iirc.

And nice/good post....+1

Damn, that's some amazing dedication....kudos. :)

(Also I am curious: do you save the webpage in html form or picture form?)


Still, the odds of losing 2 drives at once would be very low, one would think. Also one more drive wouldn't help if they all failed at once(rare, I know, but still possible).

How is it a pain to check the latest posts for game titles and if your OS version has an update?

I usually also just update games when the purple dot appears or the thread says one of my games has an update...it saves me a ton of time and worrying.


I don't think they are too big to fail, personally, but that it is very very unlikely.....heck, look at blockbuster and more recently the slow failure of gamestop.

I have gotten most of my boxed games at GOG now, and will probably never use the disc versions again. At this point I have no intention to get rid of the boxed versions though, for some of the reasons you say.

That said, most boxed games were a waste of space ... a single disc and maybe a manual rattling around in a large box. Talk about pointless clutter, even if the boxes looked good in many cases. The move to DVD cases was smarter, but even they are overdone, especially where the manual is on a disc. CD cases were better.

What you say is true though, about digital formats over physical versions. Virtual library shelves just don't quite cut it. At least not yet. Perhaps something in the future might be a good form of replacement .... much like a photo album being permanently on display with a screensaver slideshow device etc.

HTML - right-click save as, stored in a folder called _Html, copied then to the game folder.

Its not really about two drives dying at once, though you are certainly taxing a drive when you copy a lot of files from it, especially if you do it fast, and incautiously. It is really about the time taken to do another copy, all in one hit.

I find the listings to be done in a way that is less than ideal for wading through. In other words a lot to look through, to find the relevant bit to yourself, and often it barely says anything ... nothing like what a changelog entry would say.

I just find that wasteful of additional space, if the update wasn't of much importance or even relevance. Sometimes it is just an updated installer or a different language version. Doesn't matter much if just a few Mbs, but sometimes it is a few Gigabytes.

Not sure if you replace your original game files, I don't. Retaining the ability to restore an older version can sometimes be very important. Updates sometime break or change things, not always for the better.

I don't think you can begin to compare them to a monster like Steam.
Most of the gaming industry, goes through Steam.
Many millions of gamers use Steam, so losing access to their games would be like World War 3.

Drive are gonna fial at some point, though, no matter how good you care for them....and having 1 more drive doesn't necessarily mean one is very much safer than with 1 less(when talking about backups more than 2).


I don't know what to tell you....I just look for titles of games while skimming the posts, and then OS versions if one matches a game I own.


I am a bit "autistic" in that so I update each time my installers.

As for replacing files....I keep the current ones and the last ones before that. If I needed a very old version I know where to get those(of bought games, I mean).

Many used blockbuster when it was popular and so do people who use gamestop.....many relied on/rely on such for their entertainment and likely felt it when they folded/shrunk in scope.

I'm with Gandalf on this! After having experienced GOG for a good few years now, there is just no way i could go back to how it used to be in terms of DRM and the negative effect it has on my gaming.

Yeah for many Publishers they are just concerned about those initial couple of weeks, when typically a game makes the vast portion of it's profits.

So sadly we can blame our own buying habits on the iron grip of DRM in gaming :(

Tbh I wouldn't mind a hybrid system where they DRM the game for the first few weeks or a month then cut it out for everyone else who wants it that way.....then we'd all win in the end. :)

Yes, as beautiful as big boxes are, there is no reason to have such a big physical representation of a computer game. I am fine with just jewel cases, honestly. Just something! I do appreciate the move to more eco-friendly means of distributing digital media, but I do want something that helps me remember!!

I like the big boxes and also the bigger manuals with pictures so maybe a bit bigger than that for me, personally.

Why this isn't standard practice is beyond me. Only the hardest of hardcore DRM haters would complain if they simply removed it once the game was pirated or after a specified amount of time.

And I'd be one of those still complaining, as my beef is with the very concept.

I dare you to fit 400 pages of manual into a jewel case. ;-)
And a sturdy cloth map. Scratch'n'sniff cards, metal coin, novella...

It's called compromise...you get something and give something....not very hard to wrap one's head around.

Also it would be much better for some than what we have now for many games.

Thanks to star farce some of my disc games no longer work so now I need to hunt for cracks before they all disappear.

No

BUT..... The answer is not that simple....

If companies would release physical copies more often I would be ok with cdkey drm, but only as long as no internet connection is needed. But then again. If you loose the cdkey you're screwed. Best thing is if it's a psycial copy wich is completely drm free.