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ZyloxDragon: Reason 4: data mining. I mean the internet already collects everything when we browse and how much more information can be gathered when connected to multiple services?

https://www.polygon.com/features/2019/5/9/18522937/video-game-privacy-player-data-collection

Ever since I found out some games still transmits achievement information to GOG without running Galaxy, I've become somewhat more cautious.
Well until connecting multiple services doesn't work 100% flawlessly and stable, which currently isn't the case with all those 'steam offline retry' and 'uplay doesn't show ll games' bugs, they won't be able to data mine much.

I also deinstalled, reinstalled that Pile of S**t already 10 times now because of such bugs, and I now stopped to connect anything to spare my nerves. Those bugs annoyed me so much that I even considered to cancel all GOG pre-orders, because just the idea of ​​playing these games with that bugfest, no thanks, then I would rather buy it for Xbox One X or Xbox Series X.

So those bugs in GOG Galaxy 2.0 definitely also have an influence on my buying behavior, which is something to consider if you release something like this. Because you know, if I have get welcomed with new bugs every time I start it, I stop using it and if I stop using it for what should I buy games for it in future.

I will check it again in 2021 and hope it then at least survives a few startups without loosing all connections and data.
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In my support ticket, in spite of having noted prior to the suggestion that I was no longer using Galaxy 2.0, it was recommended that I use the link in Galaxy 2.0 to submit feedback. I've since found links to Mantis (the platform that Galaxy 2.0 is meant to be linking to, though when I had it installed it instead linked me to the normal support page). I didn't bother at first, but since my ticket has been closed for a while without any noteworthy changes having been made, I've gone there and submitted feedback:

https://mantis2.gog.com/view.php?id=85673

Galaxy 2.0 BETA being forced on users who OPTED OUT OF BETA TESTING.

Severity: Major
Reproducibility: Always

As noted, Galaxy 2.0 is in a very rough state, even by the standards of beta test versions. There are serious platform-breaking issues (loss of access to games, even just within GOG's own platform, let alone supported external platforms, being a notable example). Many features from the older Galaxy client are entirely absent in spite of promises to the contrary, or much harder to access. The main page doesn't correctly save user preferences, and the only way to change that is a janky workaround at best. Basic UI principles are ignored. And none of these problems are new to the "post-launch" state of the STILL BETA 2.0 - every single problem had been reported, multiple times, in multiple places, prior to pushing it onto everyone.

And just to make it worse, this launch was forced on users in the middle of a pandemic, while your support platform was ALREADY OPENLY WARNING USERS OF 4 WEEK WAIT TIMES even before you went live with this change. It would almost kinda sorta maybe make something that vaguely resembled an attempt at not complete incompetence if you had launched it right BEFORE the pandemic hit and been surprised to be losing access to your normal support timetable. But pushing a known, openly-still-labelled beta onto customers in the middle of that known support queue? There isn't any excuse you can present to justify it.

Steps to reproduce:
1. Have any pre-2.0 Galaxy version installed. I used 1.2.67.58 but any prior version should work.
2. Ensure your account has beta participation disabled.
3. Launch while online without taking (or having already taken) steps to prevent Galaxy from auto-updating.
4. End up with a BETA client that is obviously in beta while still retaining your "opt out of beta testing" preference. Which is no longer being respected by any measure.

NOTE: Reproducible even on OSes which Galaxy 2.0 doesn't officially support.
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And so far, there has been, as best I can tell, exactly ZERO progress on any reported issues on Mantis during the entirety of July. There were updates made to a number of reports dating back as far as April, mostly to tag reports as "clone", in the first few days of July, and since then the only actions have been user reports and assignment to relevant staff members, who have in some cases applied tags and added exactly zero notes and exactly zero discussion, planning, or progress on any report I could find any evidence of.

So that doesn't look promising.

EDIT: I now have a new "Galaxy not updating correctly" support ticket.

...because incorrectly updating to a beta build in violation of my "opt out of beta testing" setting is not correct update functionality. And Galaxy has a nasty habit of doing that lately. Incidentally, the new ticket has been quoted a 12 - 24 hour timeframe for a response. Last time they made it to 3 months on one of my tickets before I got a reply. Lets see if they make their deadline this time around, shall we?

And I'm making a point of expecting the ticket to be kept OPEN until they fix things this time around, since they've already demonstrated an inability to fix problems when I let the ticket close. For anyone keeping score, they demonstrated that by addressing exactly none of the complaints they promised to look into before the middle of June. I'm also adding a formal complaint about the lack of public acknowledgement of the massive platform-breaking issues preventing Galaxy 2.0 from being viable as a non-beta platform.
Post edited July 30, 2020 by obliviondoll
obliviondoll, what would be the most efficient way to lend support to your ticket?
Should I open a similar ticket?
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sludgefriend: obliviondoll, what would be the most efficient way to lend support to your ticket?
Should I open a similar ticket?
The "easiest" way, though the least likely to be noticed by GOG staff if current indications are anything to go by, is to do what you already did and reply here.

Beyond that, a support ticket might help, but from what support have said, contact through Mantis is probably more likely to get a result. I posted a link to my own report 2 posts above yours. I don't know if you can, or should, add a note there, or if you're better off submitting your own complaint similar to (or the same as) mine.

Either way, my report has so far still received exactly 0 updates since being submitted and assigned to a GOG staff member.
the problem with the breakage some of it was gog updates but others was actually the other companies which breaks the plugin. it happend few times for both ways.

also if it's like Bethesda and Rockstar, it's basically normal login no API which means every time you log out of gog or restart your computer, it forgets your login stuff.. which it isn't a bug

usually when steam breaks, all intergreations break with it. thats how you basically tell if it's gog or not.

hope this helps with some info, also i agree it shouldn't been pushed out like this
Post edited August 08, 2020 by KnightW0lf
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KnightW0lf: the problem with the breakage some of it was gog updates but others was actually the other companies which breaks the plugin.
it's funny how playnite doesn't have any of this problems. like, not at all.
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KnightW0lf: the problem with the breakage some of it was gog updates but others was actually the other companies which breaks the plugin. it happend few times for both ways.
You're going to need to explain this to me a bit better.

When GOG Galaxy 2.0 loses its connection to the GOG server and can't access your GOG games because it can't contact GOG to verify your account details with GOG... which "other companies" are breaking a "plugin" to cause this?

And when GOG Galaxy can't find GOG games which were purchased through GOG and are linked to your GOG account...?

Because those, not the multiplatform integration glitches (some of which are also GOG's fault), are the concerns I'm taking issue with here.
Thanks for listing the mantis link At least I can go threw what they've worked on now and actually fixed (which so far is really minor bugs) and get an idea if I'll lift my firewall rule to try it out again. I have the last installer for version 1 so I can always go back at least and just do the same until they fix some of the major bugs in that list that seem to have not been touched in a month or two.

My reply to the forced upgrade to a beta when having opt out of beta tests was as follows so I don't have hopes for it at all to say the least.


(GOG.com)

May 12, 2020, 9:11:50 AM GMT+2

Hello, and my sincere apologies for not being able to get back to you sooner.

1.2 is the old version of the app and we are not supporting it anymore.
All features that you know from 1.2 are in their final version and work the same way in the 2.0. At the same time, all features added in GOG GALAXY 2.0, like linking external gaming platforms, are fully optional. They don't interfere with using the app as your GOG client to update, install and launch your DRM-free games.

Best regards,


GOG Support Team

Removed the persons name but still no mention on anything to do with the forced upgrade when I have opted out of betas just this.
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Thurasiz: All features that you know from 1.2 are in their final version and work the same way in the 2.0.
this is why we can't have nice things.

i must be imagening the removal of the tagging system.
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Thurasiz: All features that you know from 1.2 are in their final version and work the same way in the 2.0.
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Sepix: this is why we can't have nice things.

i must be imagening the removal of the tagging system.
And the removal of the option to have a game list that persists on screen without needing repeated extra effort to add new games onto the list separate from purchasing them every time you buy a new game.

And the removal of a high-contrast or light mode view.

And the removal of random games at times from some people's libraries but only in the Galaxy client.
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obliviondoll: The "easiest" way, though the least likely to be noticed by GOG staff if current indications are anything to go by, is to do what you already did and reply here.

Beyond that, a support ticket might help, but from what support have said, contact through Mantis is probably more likely to get a result. I posted a link to my own report 2 posts above yours. I don't know if you can, or should, add a note there, or if you're better off submitting your own complaint similar to (or the same as) mine.

Either way, my report has so far still received exactly 0 updates since being submitted and assigned to a GOG staff member.
I feel so powerless, here... Same as it ever was, I guess. I worry that filing an additional Mantis complaint will be seen as trying to push things, but I just haven't been using GoG, recently. I think - I'm gonna try submitting my own, just so that it's seen.

Thanks again, for all the coordination and information you've provided.

Edit; I've submitted this. I believe it is written in a way that is concise and focuses on points in addition to, rather then merely repeating, other submitted reports.
Post edited August 11, 2020 by sludgefriend
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Sepix: this is why we can't have nice things.

i must be imagening the removal of the tagging system.
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obliviondoll: And the removal of the option to have a game list that persists on screen without needing repeated extra effort to add new games onto the list separate from purchasing them every time you buy a new game.

And the removal of a high-contrast or light mode view.

And the removal of random games at times from some people's libraries but only in the Galaxy client.
And the removal ability to sort games by purchase date

And the removal of the sidebar with a list of recently played games

On the plus side though screen space is now occupied by a list we can't remove of which (mainly non-Gog) games have been played by random strangers. I can't tell you how often I requested that "feature", thank you Gog for finally including it in the buggy beta you're forcing me to use.
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obliviondoll: And the removal of the option to have a game list that persists on screen without needing repeated extra effort to add new games onto the list separate from purchasing them every time you buy a new game.

And the removal of a high-contrast or light mode view.

And the removal of random games at times from some people's libraries but only in the Galaxy client.
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jconde: And the removal ability to sort games by purchase date

And the removal of the sidebar with a list of recently played games

On the plus side though screen space is now occupied by a list we can't remove of which (mainly non-Gog) games have been played by random strangers. I can't tell you how often I requested that "feature", thank you Gog for finally including it in the buggy beta you're forcing me to use.
Thanks for those, I knew I was missing a few things.
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Re: Galaxy 2.0 STILL not correctly being treated as beta.

-----ORIGINAL TICKET-----

This was a serious and widely-known and discussed problem prior to my previous contact with support. I have found a link to the Mantis reporting tool, and submitted a report there about it as well, which has received exactly zero meaningful action in over 2 weeks. On noticing that, I checked the history on Mantis, and found more than the recent 4 week timeframe on support tickets had passed without any meaningful updates having been made to any visible reports on the platform. There are major service-breaking problems with Galaxy 2.0 which were known before it was forced on users, and which are still without resolution. There is NO REASON - not just no GOOD reason, but no plausible bad reason either - to keep the Galaxy 2.0 beta as a forced update in violation of user preferences about beta testing.

My previous complaint about this was responded to, and promised to be passed on, in mid-June. No action has been taken regarding the problem. Nothing AT ALL has been improved on ANY of the major issues raised. Galaxy 2.0 still lacks crucial basic functionality, down to things as simple as merely RECOGNISING GAMES CONNECTED WITH A GOG ACCOUNT in some instances. That is a bug which was identified and reported while the beta client was still actually being correctly treated as beta, and is the kind of issue that NEEDS TO BE RESOLVED before pushing software out of beta. You still have Galaxy 2.0 labeled as being "beta" because it's not ready. But you are not treating it as beta, you are treating it as a released platform even though it isn't ready for you to do so.

You can't have it both ways. As much as your platform isn't making this mistake in as severe a manner as Steam (which is literally harming some customers), you are making the exact same mistake as Steam. And you are going to see the exact same result - which is customers LEAVING your platform until you fix it. This is already happening. Many people have directly promised - and are following through on that promise - not to buy anything on GOG until you fix it. I've actively avoided purchases on your site on several occasions in spite of a desire to own the game in question and a good sale price on that title. I'm not ENTIRELY avoiding you, but I'm being far more picky than I normally would be about the price points at which I'll spend money with you. Because you are currently not providing acceptable service.

I want this support contact to go on record as NOT just the complaint about the lack of proper access to the last known stable Galaxy version (which was the most recent iteration of 1.2) and the massive platform-breaking issues contained in the 2.0 beta (which you can find in my previous complaint to support about the problem), but ALSO as a set of three separate formal complaints about:
1. the gross mishandling of the Galaxy 2.0 forced beta.
2. the timing of the forced beta (in the middle of a time where you have a known compromised support turnaround time), and
3. the lack of ANY - let alone ADEQUATE - official response to user feedback addressing these concerns.

I wish for all of these issues to be addressed AND RESOLVED in full before you close this ticket.

Thank you for your time.

-----REPLY MORE THAN A MONTH LATER-----

Hello,

Thank you for your message - I will forward it to an appropriate team.

We are sorry to hear that you’re dissatisfied with our services, as well as for the lack of responses on Mantis; I can assure you, however, that all your messages reach the GALAXY team and are a useful source of feedback. Please keep in mind that the GOG GALAXY 2.0 is still in its Beta stage and, while our GALAXY Team is doing all they can to make it better and better, this unfortunately takes time.

As per my previous message, I’m afraid that I’m unable to comment on if or when certain functionalities will be implemented. I’m also not at liberty to discuss company’s business decisions regarding the app. We appreciate your understanding on this matter.

Please keep in mind that GOG GALAXY is and will remain optional - you can manage your GOG library and download your games using our website.

If you are experiencing any issues with games not being recognized by GOG GALAXY, please let us know which titles are affected, so we can investigate further. If possible, please send us a screenshot which illustrates it.

I apologize for the inconvenience and such a late reply.

-----MY RESPONSE-----

YES.

GOG GALAXY 2.0 IS IN BETA.

THIS IS THE PROBLEM.

That right there is the core of what's WRONG here. I have, and many other have, knowingly and specifically OPTED OUT OF BETA TESTING for the Galaxy client. In spite of that fact, we had to take extra steps using a third-party workaround to prevent the LAST KNOWN STABLE VERSION of the client from automatically updating to a BETA VERSION which is not ready for launch yet. WHILE. OPTED. OUT. OF. BETA. TESTING.

I am disappointed in the delays in support ticket responses. NOT because you don't have good reason for those delays. I'm disappointed because a massive part of the reason is your company's own decision to force the use of the clearly-not-ready beta version of the Galaxy 2.0 client on your users. That poor decision NEEDS TO BE ROLLED BACK until the client is actually in a fit state.

Yes, Galaxy as a whole is optional. But that ALSO isn't the problem. I want to use a game launcher for my games. And I want to play games which are focused on online play, for which the launcher is MUCH LESS optional. But I do NOT want to be FORCED into updating to an unfinished and obviously unstable beta version of the Galaxy client. THAT is the problem, not any imagined forcing of use of a client in the first place.

And as for Mantis, in the history of all tickets there, here's the list of closed tickets which were both for actual service-impairing issues, AND were closed due to a reason other than being duplicates:

-

You'll notice there is no list. You have vast numbers of severe problems, which, as noted, includes issues where users are losing proper access to games on their account when relying on the new client. No, I don't have screenshots or specific examples from my own experience. I have seen evidence that problems this severe were being reported and have been known about since beta, and the root cause of the issue has not even been properly addressed on Mantis, let alone resolved. It has also not merely not been addressed, but not even responded to in the forums, nor has there been any official response in the forums to ANYTHING, even in the discussion topic which expressed a desire to communicate with users about Galaxy 2.0 - this lack of communication is a massive red flag and has been a significant motivating factor in a series of decisions to NOT buy videogames and to spend money elsewhere at times when I've had money to spare. Your other service-breaking problems, of which there are many, have similarly gone without any public response, and without any resolution to the problem.

The severity of the issues, the fact that many have been known since before the Galaxy 2.0 beta became a forced update, and the lack of communication with customers, all come together to contribute to this problem. The delays in support are understandable as a result of the current pandemic, BUT exacerbating the delays by forcing an unfinished beta client onto your customers is making the problem MUCH worse than it needs to be. The slow progress on Galaxy 2.0 WOULD be understandable as a result of the pandemic ONLY IF you weren't forcing users who opted out of beta testing to be opted into beta testing against their informed refusal of consent by "updating" 1.2 into a provably-inferior 2.0 version. And THAT is the point of this contact, NOT just a general dissatisfaction with the time Galaxy 2.0 is taking to get any progress.

Bring back Galaxy 1.2 as an OFFICIALLY SUPPORTED PRIMARY CLIENT VERSION until you are in a position to provide proper support, a proper update schedule, and an actually polished product for Galaxy 2.0's launch. That is not the current situation, so you should revert the client until it is, while maintaining the availability of 2.0 for those who wish to keep using it.

Thank you.