1. First heard about GOG when they announced the existence of the project 3 years back, that they would offer a download service to play old classics. Well I like sites like Abandonia and Abandonware-France, but often they didn't offer games that I wanted to play. GOG does, so that's why it got my attention - to be able to play games that I might have missed out over the years.

2. Hassle-free installation. I applaud Qbix and the other DOSBox devs, but I used to have trouble setting these games up properly. Games would either be too fast or too slow, and sometimes I just want to play and not spend an hour trying to tweak CPU cycles and whatever else. Plus, I format my PC quite a lot, and sometimes I'd forget to back up these games.

3. Fallout. Why get all the cheapo Interplay re-releases? Just get a boxed copy off eBay, then buy a digital copy here as backup.

4. Master of Orion 3. It's not what I was expecting as both an old and good game.

5. Support is very inconsistent these days, ranging from slow to non-existent. You also rarely get to see people like Firek and Cook posting much anymore. There's EnigmaticT for the damage control though.

6. Better forum features pl0x

7. GOGMix. It's a rather useless feature IMO, and probably not worth all the fuss that was partially created as a result of it last year.

8. TBH, IDK. I already am contented with what's available, but if I have to choose, I'd say SSI's gold and black box series (because I can't be arsed to download and slowly tweak them), System Shock 2, Telengard, Knights of Dragon Pass, Rocket Jockey, if only because they're all so darn rare to find.

9. Hostile Waters. Freaking classic.

10. Slipstream 5000. Honestly, it saddens me that few give a shit in its release thread.

11. Heck no, I like GOG and its community (give and take some), but why would I give $2 for a game that doesn't work?

12. Yeah as long as they work.

1. First joined gog mainly for the fallout games, then kept coming for some good games that might not be available elsewhere.

2. drm free games a very distant second

3. Planescape Torment- it's a true good classic game that is available exclusively here

4. I dunno. Pick one of the games that is generally regarded as crap or a non- classic

5. ehh I know this isn't going to win me any popularity points, but I don't think the community as a whole is as great as it's cracked up to be.

6. a polish food buffet

7. add a better search engine

8. I don't want to think about it

9.Hostile waters

10. Empire Earth. It has a high user rating but I honestly don't think I've seen it mentioned on the main forum more than 5 times

11. no

12. yes

Let's come to the next pair of questions.

3. What released title(or bundle) on GoG.com do you think best represents the key ideals of GoG.com and why?

One quarter of the participants gave a general description of what best representants are. This included:
-All old Dos games/old adventure games (like Atlantis), difficult to run under Windows (4 votes)
-All of them (2 votes)
-All of them except Witcher 2 (2 votes)
-Anything good that young people wouldn't play because they don't know of (1 vote)
-All bundles (1 vote).

Three quarters decided to write down games:
1. Baldurs Gate series (6 votes)
2. Planescape Torment (4 votes)
3. Might & Magic 6 Bundle (3 votes)
4. Moto Racer 2 (how they handled DRM) (2 votes)
5. Fallout (2 votes)
6. Arcanum, Battle Isle Platinum, Blood, Duke Nukem 3D, Freespace 2, HoMM, HoMM 3, Ishar Pack, Jagged Alliance, Magic Carpet, Giants, Master of Orions 1+2, MDK, Realms of the Haunting, Total Annihilation, Wing Commander III, Witcher 2 (for bring the GOG principle to modern games) (each 1 vote)

These games are either truly great classics and/or feature a lot of bonus material and/or were very difficult to obtain and run prior to GOG.

4. What released title(or bundle) on GoG.com do you think least represents the key ideals of GoG.com and why?

8 (22%) participants said they had no idea here or no problems with the games they had bought. Another 4 (11%) said that Every game is good for someone (as long as cheap and DRM free) and another 4 said that in general all bad games, that do not run properly and/or are 10$ and not worth their money and never on sale and/or new bad games just here to make some bucks do not represent GOGs principles.

20 (56%) participants gave examples.

Games that are either overpriced or really bad or do not run properly on modern systems:

1. MoO 3 (4 votes)
2. Interstate 76 (2 votes)
3. HoMM (should be 6$) (1.5 votes)
4. Spellforce 2 (expansion sold separately, more expensive than anywhere else) (1.5 votes)
5. Amerzone, Blood 2, Dungeon Keeper 2, Earth 2140, Empire Earth II, Pinball Games, Sensible Soccer, Simon the Sorcerer 3D (each 1 vote)

Games that are incomplete or better versions were available:
EA games (1.5 votes), Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon, Spellforce 2, Cannon Fodder (each 1 vote)

Games that are too new:
Witcher 2 (2.5 votes)

Games that are already freely available
Ultima IV (1 vote)

Here comes the bunch of answers for the next 3 questions:

5. What annoys you the most(if anything) about GoG.com?

6 (16%) participants found nothing annoying.

List of annoying things:
1. Many good games are still missing (especially System Shock 2) and there are not enough new releases. Also the release timing is uncertain. Games which are ready are hold behind deliberately (see EA batch). (8 votes)
2. Missing expansions/Incomplete games (eg. EA games) (6 votes)
3. The site and forum is lacking functionality/features (3 votes)
4. Games were removed from the catalogue without notice (2.5 votes)
5. Not enough promos which are not covering all games and not frequently enough. (b]2 votes)
6. Games marked as Win7 compatible still have problems; Missing extras (manuals and other things; (1.5 votes each)
7. Biased user reviews; Broken wishlist; Buggy games; Inferior versions published (eg. Lords of the Realms); Lack of support feedback; Loosing a game due to licensing restrictions; Not enough multi-language support; No enough tycoon games or racing games or RTS; Too much focus on Tycoon or moto racing games; No official Linux support; No visible progress in fixing issues with games in the catalogue; Publishers still refusing to be on GOG; Slow improvement of the site; The past incident involving monks (<=1 votes each)

6. What features(if any) you would add to GoG.com?

5 (14%) participants do not want to add any features.

Among those who want:
1. Improved game shelf (subshelves, adding comments, sorting (for genre), categorizing) (5 votes)
2. Wanted/Wishlist working and functional (5 votes)
3. Împroved forum with easier and functional search also for names or displaying user posts. Also searching in the front news only. (3 votes)
4. Notification about updates on games (PM or email) (2 votes)
5. User profile pages (2 votes)
6. Gift cards (6$/10$) (1.5 votes)
7. Amiga Games; Auto CD-Key generator; Better GOGmixes; Community section in the site for contests, gifts; Community voting on compatibility including hints and fixes; Directly linking of Youtube videos for each game; Favorite list with email notification when available; Friends system; Live chat; Moderators for the forum; More games including modern games; More programmers; More Win7 support; Permanent bundles with 10% discount; Release schedule of upcoming games; Something like Steam trading; Statistics on the forum (total number of members, posts); Subscription of forum threads with email notification; Weight reviews (higher from profiles that share the same games); Shareable wishlist; Working downloader (grabbing extras with one click) (<=1 vote each)

7. What current features(if any, aside from the "wanted on GoG.com" wishlist) on GoG.com would you change or remove? If change, how would you change them?

11 (30%) participants don't want to change anything, Some even don't use many features of what is now existing, One even doesn't need any wishlist at all.

Among those who want:
1. Public wishlist / Most wanted list working with stupid entries removed (4 votes)
2. More price points (but not above 20$) or no price points at all. Maybe just a general price range. (4 votes)
3. Improved game shelf which is easier to organize, has subshelves, sorting options and more informative. Also more color options for the game shelf. (3 votes)
4. Alternative versions (eg. Amiga games); Bestseller lists with time evolution; Better gifting system; Find own posts in forum, sort for newest post first; Fix downloader (not 100% working); Fix gameshelf (sometimes click is recognized as dragging); Free attached marketplace for artwork related to games; Improve GOGmixes (more important, searchable database); Notification if a game from the wishlist is on promo; Remove ability to review games that you don't own/not have downloaded; Remove games not compatible with Win7; Shareable friends list; Sorting Options; Support bringing back lsit of support threads and suchlike; Text chat with other members (<=1 votes each)

Remark: The answers to all these questions overlap. Often people are annoyed by something they would add differently or change or remove.

Not all given answers have to be meaningful.

1 - Old games on current OS.
2 - Old games on current OS.
3 - Need more info.
4 - Same.
5 - Lack of old games working on current OS.
6 - Nothing jumps out at me.
7 - Mixes. Can beuseful if you find someone who put some time into them, but they can be searched, browsed, etc. Its all potluck.
8 - Syndicate, Chaos Gate, Corsairs, Moonbase Commander, Legend of Bruce Lee.
9 - No concern for these.
10 - Lords of the Realm 2.
11 - Nope.
12 - Nope.

I like filling out GOG surveys so... why not? :)
Here it is:

1. What is the number one reason you choose to use GoG.com?

DRM free games.

2. What is the second reason(if you have one) that you choose to use GoG.com?

Great promos. And the shelf looks cool.

3. What released title(or bundle) on GoG.com do you think best represents the key ideals of GoG.com and why?

Heroes Chronicles - it's old, it's good, hard to find and I like it (there are some other titles that meet the same criteria but this one scored extra points in hard to find category).

4. What released title(or bundle) on GoG.com do you think least represents the key ideals of GoG.com and why?

Witcher 2 - just because it's a new release and it does not fit the scope of the site. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they released it here, DRM free. It is just a little bit weird to see it near Zork... :) But it will get old eventually and blend in...

5. What annoys you the most(if anything) about GoG.com?

The fact that I have to hunt for the games that require multiplayer cd-keys and make a special request for them.

6. What features(if any) you would add to GoG.com?

(read GOG, read... this is important: )
- See 5 above: automatic key distribution.
- Some way to be informed of downloadable files on my account that have been updated/added.
- A way to see my support tickets history.
- Possibility to delete old PMs.

7. What current features(if any, aside from the "wanted on GoG.com" wishlist) on GoG.com would you change or remove? If change, how would you change them?

- Search function in forums... it's almost useless. You need a tremendous ammount of luck to find what you are looking for.
- GOG mixex. It's very hard to browse/search trough them. Actually I think it is a useless feature. They would better transform it in a public wishlist(s) for every user.

8. Since I would assume the wishlist would be many peoples answer to the above question, what 5 games do you wish to see on Gog.com the most? (Please only make a short list without descriptions for easy reading.)

Titan Quest
Ignition
Quake 3 gold
Screamer 2
Lotus: The Ultimate Challenge

9. The following games were removed from GoG: Colin McRae Rally 2005, Hostile Waters: Antaeus Rising, Obscure, Republic: The Revolution, and TOCA 3. Even though their return is completely out of GoG.com's hand and the 2 racing games have almost 0 chance of returning, which title would you most like to see return?

Colin McRae Rally 2005 - I pull my hair for being so stupid not to buy it then. And I could not find it on torrents also... ups!

10 Which one title currently in GoG.com's catalogue(if any) do you consider a hidden gem that just doesn't get the publicity it deserves?

Slipstream 5000

11. One of the pillars that GoG.com endeavors to follow is that the old games are configured to work on newer operating systems. While most will agree that the results often vary, would you buy games at a new price point say $2 for games that GoG admits fully they cannot get working(basically they are hopelessly broken overall but you can buy a license and have easy access to the game files - I fully realize this isn't likely to happen)? Would you buy games like this if there was not a new price point?

No. I think not. I can't think of any exception.

12. Would you support newer titles on GoG.com as long as they are DRM-Free?

Yes. Even if the site's name will have to change. The people and ideas behind it matters.


PS:This is a good survey. GOG, take notes! ;)

Here are the results for questions 8, 9 and 10.

8. Since I would assume the wishlist would be many peoples answer to the above question, what 5 games do you wish to see on Gog.com the most? (Please only make a short list without descriptions for easy reading.)

The answer to this ended up in a kind of most wanted list also showing the usual suspects and a lot of games (unknown to me) that are probably on the invisible personal favorites' lists.

Among the answers not pointing to specific games or series were:
Amiga classics, Bethesda's games, Blizzard's old games, id software games, Humungous Entertainment games, old SSI games (Ravenloft, Dark Sun, Forgotten Realms Unlimited)

Also people didn't want specific games and gave reasons like
- just surprise me with unknown good games
- no point in wishing what's not there

Among the wishes for specific games we had

1. System Shock 2 (8 votes), System Shock (4 votes) or the whole series (2 votes): (14 votes total)

2. LucasArts/ LucasArts adventures (escpecially Grim Fandango (3 votes), Day of Tentacle (2 votes), The Dig, Monkey Island) (12 votes)

3. Thief 1 or 2 or the whole series (7 votes total)

4. Syndicate (Wars and Plus); Doom 1 or 2; Civilization x (especially 2); Age of Empire 1 or 2 (4 votes each)

5. Remaining Wing Commander (Prophecy Gold); Populous III The beginning; Pharaoh (+Cleopatra expansion); Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind GOTY; Deus Ex; Road Rash; Remaining Ultima Series (especially 9) (2 votes each)

6. Airline Tycoon, Alpha Centauri: Alien Crossfire, American McGee's Alice, Anachronox, Archimedian Dynasty, Armies of Exigo, Arsenal: Taste of Power, Assasins Creed, Battlezone (Gold) + Battlezone 2: Combat Commander, Blade the Edge of Darkness, Carmaggedon Series, Carrier Command, Colonization, Command & Conquer Series, Crusader: No regrets, Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, Dark Sun 1 & 2, Dune (Cryo adventure), Dungeons, Dust: A Tale of the Wired West, Flashback and Fade to Black, Freelancer, Frogger 1 and 2, Goosebumps: Escape from Horrorland, GTA games, Half Life, Heimdall 1&2, Hexen, HoMM 5, Hunter Hunted, I have no mouth and I must scream, Ignition, Imperium Galactica 2, Impossible Creatures, Jade Empire, Jaws Unleashed, Jazz Jackrabbit, Jedi Knights Saga, Jill of the Jungle, Journeymann Project 2, KoToR 1, Lands of Lore Series, Legend of Kyrandia, Lego Island, Little Big Adventure 2, Loom, Mafia, Mechwarrior 1+2, Mediaval TW 2 Gold, Moria, Nethack & Angband (free, but for completeness), NFS Series, Operation: Inner space, Outlaws, Pac-Man Adventures in Time, Pirates Gold, Privateer 2, Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy, Quake Series, Queen: The Eye, Quest for Glory, Re-Volt, Silver, SimCity 2000, Sinking Islands, Speedy Egbert/Blupi, Starfleet Commander Series, Stars!, The 7th Guest, The 11th Hour, The Neverhood, The Sims, Theme Hospital, Theme Park, Throne of Darkness, Tie Fighter, Titan Quest, Total War Series, Vampire the masquerades: Bloodlines, War, Inc, Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat/Dark Omen, Wolfenstein Series, Worms, Zanzarah (1 vote each)

Comment: Some of them like Litte Big Adventure 2 or SimCity 2000 have arrived at GOG in the meantime. :)

9. The following games were removed from GoG: Colin McRae Rally 2005, Hostile Waters: Antaeus Rising, Obscure, Republic: The Revolution, and TOCA 3. Even though their return is completely out of GoG.com's hand and the 2 racing games have almost 0 chance of returning, which title would you most like to see return?

13 (33%) participants didn't care about these games or haven't heard about them and therefore do not want any of them to return.

Those who want one to return:
1. Operation Flashpoint (9 votes)
2. Obscure (6 votes)
3. Republic: The Revolution (4 votes)
4. Hostile Waters (3 votes)
5. TOCA 3 (2 votes)
6. Colin McRae 2005 (1 vote)
7. All of them (1 vote)

Comment: OP Flashpoint returned as ArmA after 30 completed surveys. This is really good news since it dominates the ranking even with the votes only from the first 30 surveys.

10 Which one title currently in GoG.com's catalogue(if any) do you consider a hidden gem that just doesn't get the publicity it deserves?

5 participants had no idea about a hidden champion at the moment of filling out the survey

1 said he doesn't know about correct sales numbers, therefore cannot answer, another one said GOGers know all good games already so there are no hidden champions

The rest said
1. Original war, Arcanum, Betrayal pack (especially Krondor) (2 votes each)

2. Beneath a Steel Sky, Blood, Cannon Fodder, Capitalism Series, Descent, Desparados, Divine Divinity, Eclave, Expendable, Freespace series, Gorky 17, Gothic, Heroes Chronicles, I-War, I-War 2, Kingdom, Last Express, Master of Magic, Master of Orion 1, Moto Racer 2, Nox, Outcast, Planescape Torment (before GOG presented it), Postal, Spellforce 2, Total Annihilation, Unreal Gold, Warlords Battlecry III

Comment: There doesn't seem to be the one hidden gem, but alot of good games in the second row of popularity.

And now for the last two questions

11. One of the pillars that GoG.com endeavors to follow is that the old games are configured to work on newer operating systems. While most will agree that the results often vary, would you buy games at a new price point say $2 for games that GoG admits fully they cannot get working(basically they are hopelessly broken overall but you can buy a license and have easy access to the game files - I fully realize this isn't likely to happen)? Would you buy games like this if there was not a new price point?

18 participants said yes and 19 no.

Among the Yes sayers:
1. I like tinkering with software (6 votes)
2. Only if really cheap and includes bonus material (4 votes)
3. Only if (user) fix available somewhere (3 votes)
4. Only if happens not too often (2 votes)
5. Only if runs at least on one Windows version (eg. XP), Only if crashes happen not too often, Only if sourcecode is made available for legal creation of fixes (1 vote each)

Among the No sayers:
1. Don't like tinkering, Would be 2$ thrown away, Expect games to work, Not if game is unplayable, Buy to play, not to collect (13 votes)
2. If GOG testers didn't find a way, how can I...; Could alienate customers who want working games; Already Steam for cheap and broken games; And also would be more worried about state of the other games; Don't want to be tester; No, but wait for better technology in the future (1 vote each)

12. Would you support newer titles on GoG.com as long as they are DRM-Free?

30 (80%) participants say yes and 8 (20%) say no.

Among the Yes sayers:
1. Sure, always, absolutely, thrilled and even for other plattforms. (9 votes)
2. Only if a new site is created for it (or separate part of the site). (4 votes)
3. But focus must remain on good old games. (3.5 votes)
4. If price is right (~10-20$) (3 votes)
5. But only good games (or indie games); My hardware is not good enough, so might not be able to buy (2 votes each)
6. If Assasins Creed 3 is coming; Even with regional pricing; Only if my slow broadband connection allows download; If other publishers do not increase price of GOGs, If price is not higher than versions with DRM; If a Demo is available (1 vote each)

Among the No sayers:
1. I am fine with old games, I am here because of old games, I do not in general buy new games, because old games are cheaper (5 votes)
2. It shifts focus away from good old games; I prefer Steam for new games, If new titles are focused on online play (1 vote each)

So, that are the results. I hope if has been informative. :)

I can get games I can't find anywhere else They're DRM free Commander Keen 3.5 - Keen Dreams
Commander Keen 6 - Aliens ate my babysitter
Dangerous Dave in the haunted mansion
Rockman 123
Touhou Koumakyou ～ The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil Rayman Forever More games are more games ;) If that would also mean the posibillity to have other platform's games (PC-98, Famicom, Apple 2) I'd also pay them at the 9,99$ price point Surely ^^ Especially if these were normally just distributed in an single country and hard to get

1. All of their stuff is DRM free.

2. Reasonably priced classics hard to find elsewhere.

3. All of the D&D Infinity Engine games. They are still really fun to play classics that weren't easily obtained anywhere else and have a good amount of mods available to breathe new life into them.

4. The EA games without the expansion packs. I've come to expect all of the expansions and updates to games sold on GOG. Without them a game feels incomplete.

5. The slow release schedule. I really wish there were more things going on every day at GOG. A new release, new promo...something. They have improved on this compared to what it used to be, but I'd really like to see more new stuff every day.

6. The ability to automatically get CD keys for games that require them upon purchase.

7. I'd like to see each game page include a video clip of the game in action.

8. Startopia, Darkstone, Heroes of Might & Magic V, Diablo and The Sims

9. Obscure

10 Journey to the Center of the Earth. While it's not totally amazing, I had fun with this game and it seems like it doesn't get much attention.

11. Possibly. It would depend on the game and how likely I thought I'd be able to get it working myself.

12. Yes. Absolutely!

Actually I thought that it also might be worthwile to summarize the summary. To make short statements about what people think. Of course there is partly also my interpretation contained.

1. What are the most important reasons to use GOG.com?

The single most important reason is the unique game catalogue, i.e. that GOG specializes on old classics, which before were difficult to obtain or difficult to run on modern systems.

Also, the DRM free property is very important. Probably it appeals in two ways. First it adds to the hassle free use of the service, no extra programms needed, archiving simple. Second it appeals in a principle way, DRM free seems to have a value on its own to some.

The friendly community and fair prices complete the picture.

To make it even shorter:
- GOG has games nobody else has.
- These are very good games many people played already in the past.
- The service is very easy to use.
- There are no obstacles in using the software.
- The prices are competitive.
- You'll find help here.

This whole package makes GOG very attractive.

2. What are key ideals of GOG.com, what aren't?

A game that is extremely good, but was programmed for older OS systems like DOS, now available again, fully compatible with Windows, for a very good price and with lots and lots of bonus material, but without DRM - that clearly represents an ideal game of GOG.

Baldurs Gate series, Planescape Torment, Might & Magic 6 as well as Fallout are examples for these.

On the other side we have games that are unstable or incomplete or overpriced (and never on sale) or just too new so they don't really qualify. Although there is the notion that every game has a place earned here.

MoO 3, Interstate 76, HoMM, Spellforce 2 and Witcher 2 are examples for these.

3. What annoys user most about GOG.com?

Most annoying are the large number of good games missing/low number of new releases each week. Although this is only partly in the hand of the GOG people, also the uncertainty about the release schedule is criticized.

Then come incomplete games (not the most full versions including all expansions), not enough features on the site and removal of games from the site without notice.

4. What feature would you add, remove or change to GOG.com?

Two things are most wanted:
- The most wanted games list
- An improved game shelf with more sorting options and sub-shelves

Then come:
- An improved forum (e.g. ability to find (own) posts)
- More price points or no price points at all
- User profiles, eg. with friends/favorites lists (shareable)
- Notification about updates of games, or when a game from the wishlist is on promo or when a game from the favorite lists is now available
- Better gifting options, gift cards (6/10$)

My opinion: So, there is a lot to do for GOG.

5. Which games do you wish to see on GOG.com the most?

There are surprisingly many different games that people wish to see (Over 110 distinct titles named by only 38 participants).

The most popular title however is the System Shock series followed by the LucasArts catalogue (especially the adventures).

Then comes Thief series, Syndicate, Doom, Civilization, Age of Empire, Remaining Wing Commander, Populous III, Pharaoh, Morrowing, Deus Ex, Road Rash, Remaining Ultima.

6 Which game in the current title is considered a hidden gem?

Also here surprisingly many answers. There doesn't seem to be the hidden gem.

Slightly more often voted was Original War and Arcanum.

7. Would you buy seriously flawed games for a new price point of approximately 2$ from GOG.com?

Here the people are divided almost equally in supporters and opponents of this idea.

The opponents just don't want any hassle. They expect working games and don't want to play tester.

The supporters either anyway like tinkering with software or would only agree with severe limitations, i.e. for a really cheap price, with bonus material and only if a (user) fix is available somewhere.

My opinion:Since the marginal costs of extending the portfolio are very small (it doesn't cost alot to add a new game to the site) still nothing speaks against such offers. Only they will probably not be used by many customers.

8. Would you support newer titles as long as they are DRM-free?

The large majority would do so. However some would demand a new site for it. Others have concern that the focus is shifted away from the good OLD games. And the price is also a concern, it should be competitive and in the range of 10-20$.

Among the people who refuse it are some who have concern about their hardware's ability to run modern games or not enough broadband capacity or a general refusal to buy new and expensive modern games.

Again, since the marginal costs are low, one would easily expect increased profit of added modern games, especially since most users seem to be willing to buy, if the price is right.

A risk is that GOG looses its focus and its unique reputation for good old games, becomes less distinguishable from other DD services. A separate site could be a solution.

My opinion: They should try it, but I guess since piracy is an issue and they compete with it, they will have problems getting many DRM free games here, even if they want. Also these games must not be more expensive than the versions with DRM (no disadvantage policy). On the other side, if they get AAAs like the newest Assasins Creed or Civilization here, it will be instant buy up to 30$ for me.