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GOG.com is getting an update today! Learn about the new features and improvements.

Today some new features and improvement are coming your way on GOG.com. Our web dev team did their best to improve your experience with our store and implement some of the requested changes. The update also facilitates a new kind of bundle deals, allowing you to save money when completing game series in your collection. All of the new features and improvements will be rolled out today. If you don't see something mentioned here working for you yet, just wait a bit and check again in a couple of hours. Let's go into some detail and sum up all the changes, shall we?

Let's start with the new sweet deals we've prepared for you. A while back we did a test run of game series bundles that allowed for purchase of full series of games at a reduced price. This will now be a permanent feature on GOG.com. We've prepared over 80 such offers, so those of you who like to see a complete set of your favorite games series in their virtual shelves, can achieve that goal up to 57.89% cheaper (that would be the case of Telltale's Sam & Max series). If you already have a game, or some games, featured in the bundle, you can always complete the collection and get the remaining ones with a discount.

Sam & Max game series discount

The gamecard pages are getting an overhaul. The new version brings more focus to the game's trailer, as we have those available in most cases nowadays. As they say, an image is worth a thousand words, and a trailer is a set of images displayed at ~29 frames per second. Then, we've altered the way that screenshot thumbnails are presented, just to make watching all the visual content for the game easier and more intuitive. All this doesn't mean we're giving up on text! The "what's cool about it" bullet points, as well as the description are still a prominent feature of the design, now displayed side-by-side with the frame informing you about other associated titles and deals.

Ever since we introduced DLCs to GOG.com, the most popular comment from you guys was: "make them display relative to their main game, not as a separate product". That was our intention from the start, but it took some time to whip-up such a system. Today, we're happy to say it's ready. The DLCs will no longer display as separate boxes in your collections. They'll be merged and folded out from the main game box. Similarly, in the catalog, if a game offers DLC it will be all linked together, and the downloadable content will be also enumerated in the appropriate gamecard. All downloadable content items will be listed with a "DLC:" prefix in GOG.com catalog, to avoid any confusion. Entering a game's title in the search engine will display all the available expansions as well. This mechanics doesn't only focus on DLCs, but will also allow us to support new types of gaming content, like episodic titles.

Sword of the Stars: The Pit + DLC in the catalog

We're almost there, just two more things we'd like to point out. The catalog search and sorting has been updated to work faster, so browsing our offer should go a lot more smoothly now for you. And finally, a new system of check-out notifications has been implemented, to inform you about the system requirements of the games in your order. It will also warn you, if you try to buy a DLC or an episode that requires a title you don't have in your collection.

We hope you'll find that our newest update improves your experience with GOG.com! Be on the lookout for a special contest we'll be launching very soon, that will involve you taking an in-depth tour of the new gamecard layout.
Post edited August 05, 2013 by G-Doc
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adambiser: For those who prefer a wider information box and have the Stylish addon in their browser, try this out for the gamecards:

[coderific codery]

EDIT:
Now resizes the Youtube videos iframes.

I've attached a screenshot of The Witcher 2 so you can see what it does before trying it out.
Awesome. Thanks a lot...
Post edited August 05, 2013 by Randalator
@GOG

Regarding the newly added bundle/ series discount box.
I think you need to revisit them and make the necessary corrections.

From what I could find:
1. Most are labeled as "Title games", but some are labeled as "Title series games".
2. A number of them show the games titles in all small letters: interstate series games, kings quest games, tomb raider series games, worms series games.
3. King's Quest games has an additional spelling error (as shown above).
4. Regarding the Journey to the Center of the Earth gamecard:
4.1 The dev/ publisher's name is missing a g in that box.
4.2 That box also reads "Buy together and save", but it's a single game. What am I missing?


I hope it's ok to point this stuff out.
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Leroux: I have to agree with what others criticized about the gamecard design though. The left side of the screen is not a good place for the pictures, as the eye tends to wander to the right where the "Customers Who Bought This" widget is now featured much too prominently for my liking - I think the info and ads for the game itself should get the priority over further purchase options of other products, at least for a company that presents itself as caring about the games and their customer service more than about making a quick buck from shopping addicts. And I don't like that I now have to scroll down to see all the pics and read all the text because the screenshots are separating the blurbs from the more detailed information. The prior design was much clearer, easier on the eye and less confusing, therefor it made a much more professional impression on me. Why change a winning team? Did a majority express dislike of the old look?

Suggestion: Move the screenshots to the right and the recommendations for other games to the bottom. I don't mind scrolling down to find out what other customers bought, but before I buy anything else, I first want to see the game in question presented in the best way, with textual and visual info at the top of both columns, not squeezed into a long column on the left side of the screen.
You cannot repost this often enough. :)
My opinion about the changes:

• DLC integration: fantastic, that’s the best thing about the rework!
• Series discount: nice bonus. :)
• GOG gamecard redesign: I begin to think that “whitespace” seems to be kind of modern, no matter what, even if it does not make any sense. Do you have a designer who studied guidelines and human perception? It’s not very convenient squeezing the video and screenshots in the 60% wide left column (where the whole page width is already limited to 950px). A tend to support the idea in putting screenshots/video up front using the whole width.[/list]

More features … no, that’s it. So in summary, there is one new feature, one (bad) redesign and one additional sale option. I hope there will be more, like:
• public wish list (off by default)
• public games list (off by default)
• subforums to the general forum: gifting threads and off-topic.

Thank you for your effort and keep going. :)
Post edited August 05, 2013 by ZivilSword
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Vitek: It doesn't for me (Firefox 21.0).
Hm, not anymore. I guess it was a temporary hiccup as a part of transition.
Post edited August 05, 2013 by Mivas
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mondo84: I think it would be more helpful to have browsing at specific price points rather than under a certain value. For example, if someone wants to browse all the $9.99 games, the only way to do that includes $5.99 games as well.

Another way to do it would be having isolated ranges rather than all games less than $X.XX. Something like:

$0 - $5.99
$6 - $9.99
$10 - $19.99
$20 and up
+1 also.
Great changes. There will always be more than can be done, but this is a nice update for sure.
Thumbs up for permanent bundle discounts and better DLC integration. A good first step to a more user/customer friendly experience, and I expect more changes and updates like this in the near future.

On the other hand I have to join the moaning about the new gamecard layout. First of all, I don't like the strict separation into left side and right side. It appears kind of cut in the middle. I also don't like how the text info is split up by the graphical content in between. And I absolutely don't like how the screenshots are squeezed into this narrow space they are now.

While I could understand and tolerate that you want to have the "other games from this series + bundle discount" box in a more prominent spot, the overall structure is now completely unappealing to the eye for me. Sorry guys, but the gamecards were totally fine like they were and really didn't need to be rearranged.
My reaction seems to be par for the course--good on the DLC stuff, good on the bundles, not so good on the game card design; half the screen is now wasted trying to sell us other games (through the site-generated recommendations and the user-generated mixes), and is thus useless in evaluating the game that I'm actually thinking about buying, while actual useful information, like the screenshots, are de-emphasized.
Post edited August 05, 2013 by BadDecissions
I must be a HUGE idiot but what am I missing with the "game card" design? Assuming I'm looking at everything I only see minor tweeks here and there and nothing to warrant so many people being upset about it. Does it have something to do with a cookie I don't have activated or the age of my OS because without this thread I don't honestly know if I would have even noticed the changes.
I really don't like the new game card design. It puts the reviews way down and alone, with nothing on the side. It's also harder to read the description now that the width is shorter. And overall, it's just less pleasant and attractive. This is definitely a case where that phrase works: "If it isn't broke, don't fix it".

The other improvements are great, though!
Post edited August 05, 2013 by scriptbr
Another agreement. I like the changes with DLC and permanent bundle discounts, but not a fan of the new game cards. The old layout was better. Even if you don't make any big changes to the new card layout, move the recommendations to between the game description (video, screenshots, etc.) and the user reviews or below the reviews. This would put it in a good place so I can see other possible purchases, but not interfere with me deciding if I want the game I'm looking at. Don't worry. You're still my favorite.
Maybe a compromised version between GOG's and adambiser's style?

1. Screenshots and vids could be placed directly under the "Bonus content" bar and outside the description box.

2. The description (What's cool about it, Overview, Age ratings and System requirements) remains in a column placed either to the left or the right.

3. DLC, series discount, recommendations and GOGmixes also remain in column-boxes placed to the left or right of the description column.

4. User reviews format and placement remain unchanged.

This way, screenshots and vids utilize the entire page width and become more visible, the description gets uncluttered and the other column-boxes are still placed more prominently than before.
Great to see touches like these to the site, though now we need 9 more games to get to 600. :) I'm not that crazy about the new gamecard layout either, but I'm not creative enough to think of anything better than what others have mentioned.
Now, I'm just waiting on being able to checkout multiple separate keys for the same game, and for the community wishlist to leave beta. ;) And more games of course! Thank you for all the hard work, GOG!
Gotta say the main information feels far too squashed to the left now. Also, still no link to a game's forums? You know that's way more important than a trailer for a lot of people.
@anyone using Didero's script "GOG.com Add Forum Link"

The script still works but it needs a small change.

Replace these includes
// @include http://www.gog.com/*/gamecard/*
// @include http://www.gog.com/gamecard/*
// @include https://secure.gog.com/gamecard/*
// @include https://secure.gog.com/*/gamecard/*

with the following ones
// @include http://www.gog.com/*/game/*
// @include http://www.gog.com/game/*
// @include https://secure.gog.com/game/*
// @include https://secure.gog.com/*/game/*

and you're good to go.