Posted November 30, 2021
Blastprocessor42
DRM-Free Now And Forever
Blastprocessor42 Sorry, data for given user is currently unavailable. Please, try again later. View profile View wishlist Start conversation Invite to friends Invite to friends Accept invitation Accept invitation Pending invitation... Unblock chat Registered: Dec 2013
From United States
tfishell
Remorse: The List, if you like FPS psych horror
tfishell Sorry, data for given user is currently unavailable. Please, try again later. View profile View wishlist Start conversation Invite to friends Invite to friends Accept invitation Accept invitation Pending invitation... Unblock chat Registered: Oct 2010
From United States
Posted November 30, 2021
Yes, the ones that stand out to me. You can pick out and post the comments that stand out to you.
edit: actually you know what, I'll take your criticism into account. I'll delete the quotes for unnecessary negativity in the thread, though I do think GOG should take a look at those links and see what people are saying.
I think GOG forum users might get the wrong takeaway from GOG's financial difficulties - some might think GOG is losing money because they're lagging in showing support for DRM-free, those comments suggest it might be more an issue of GOG losing exclusives and a dropped focus of "old games on new machines" (and that DRM-free is just a nice bonus). But I don't think GOG really has a "choice" but to focus on DRM-free (which I'm fine with of course) and maybe scale back their hopes for business growth. (I could be wrong about the above, of course)
edit: actually you know what, I'll take your criticism into account. I'll delete the quotes for unnecessary negativity in the thread, though I do think GOG should take a look at those links and see what people are saying.
I think GOG forum users might get the wrong takeaway from GOG's financial difficulties - some might think GOG is losing money because they're lagging in showing support for DRM-free, those comments suggest it might be more an issue of GOG losing exclusives and a dropped focus of "old games on new machines" (and that DRM-free is just a nice bonus). But I don't think GOG really has a "choice" but to focus on DRM-free (which I'm fine with of course) and maybe scale back their hopes for business growth. (I could be wrong about the above, of course)
Post edited November 30, 2021 by tfishell
Lord_Kane
Leaf Kaigai Nikki
Lord_Kane Sorry, data for given user is currently unavailable. Please, try again later. View profile View wishlist Start conversation Invite to friends Invite to friends Accept invitation Accept invitation Pending invitation... Unblock chat Registered: Mar 2009
From Canada
Posted November 30, 2021
SCPM: "GOG should focus more on it's 'core business' activity which means offering a hand-picked selection of games with its unique DRM-free policy".
Ancient-Red-Dragon: They absolutely should not do that. "Curation" is and always has been a useless feature that both:
a) wastes GOG's money via GOG paying curators to perform an absolutely useless task
b) repels consumers from buying games that they would have bought from GOG, but cannot do so, because GOG's 'curators' banned those games for no good reason.
'Curation' should be the #1 first thing on GOG's chopping block as they "reorganize" the GOG business.
Doubling-down on 'curation,' however, as that statement indicates they intend to do, is an absolutely horrible idea.
If they keep making bad decisions like that, to double-down on curation, and to misrepresent curation as if it's a core reason as to why people buy from GOG, then they will continue to lose money, and soon the "reorganization" talk will turn into the declaration of bankruptcy on GOG's part.
Lord_Kane: so what does this all mean? is GOG at threat of closure in the next 12 months? or is that CDPR is willing to keep pumping money into GOG hope that things turnaround? what? The fact they added a useless bot to their support system is to me alone not a good sign.
Ancient-Red-Dragon: My interpretation of GOG saying: a) they are going to "reorganize" their business and
b) the continued & habitual financial losses that GOG takes on most quarters are a "challenge"
...is that CDPR will continue to let GOG operate for a while longer to see if they can change things in order to start making profits with GOG.
But IMO, the connotation behind that PR speak is that they are also implying they will probably close GOG down eventually if GOG keeps failing to make profit.
I'd say it's highly possible that GOG might shut down in the next 12 months. Hopefully that doesn't happen, but it certainly is a reasonable possibility that could happen.
The time for everyone to start backing up their libraries is right now.
Post edited November 30, 2021 by Lord_Kane
WinterSnowfall
Bastard Lunatic
WinterSnowfall Sorry, data for given user is currently unavailable. Please, try again later. View profile View wishlist Start conversation Invite to friends Invite to friends Accept invitation Accept invitation Pending invitation... Unblock chat Registered: Apr 2012
From Other
Posted November 30, 2021
WinterSnowfall: That's probably for the best... never quite understood why Gwent was handled by the GOG division anyway.
Gersen: Because it uses Galaxy infrastructure. DebbieL: I actually think that going ‘back to basics’, as it were, would be a tremendously good thing for GOG. I’m baffled by their apparent desire to ‘compete’ with Steam by becoming more and more Steam-like, rather than focussing on their own unique selling points such as DRM-free. All it seems to have achieved is pissing off their long-time fans, leading some to leave the site altogether, and embroiling them in one PR disaster after another.
I also see the DRM-free niche the place for GOG to be and the place GOG has always belonged to. They're biting off more than they can chew by trying to be a "better Steam", because they clearly lack the commitment and financial investment from their parent company. CDPR does not have any plans to go the Valve route and renounce their game dev business in order to take over the gaming digital store front world. Nor should it, because that would be madness. The world doesn't need yet another Steam, it needs some of that Good Old Games magic of old... and I think it's willing to pay for it.Post edited November 30, 2021 by WinterSnowfall
Bluddy
New User
Bluddy Sorry, data for given user is currently unavailable. Please, try again later. View profile View wishlist Start conversation Invite to friends Invite to friends Accept invitation Accept invitation Pending invitation... Unblock chat Registered: Jun 2010
From United States
Posted November 30, 2021
It's very hard to figure out what strategy can work for GOG at this point. They have a few small user bases, each of which benefits from some features the store provides. You have the die-hard DRM-free people, the people who successfully use Galaxy 2.0 for all their platforms, the people who like buying the older games because of better support than Steam, etc. In the meantime, new AAA releases (and even older ones) that people buy in massive quantities mostly don't arrive here, or arrive so late that they're not relevant. Indie devs care less about DRM but often aren't allowed in, or need to support GOG's proprietary APIs, which is just too much work for such a tiny store.
Orkhepaj
SuperStraight Win10 Groomer Smasher
Orkhepaj Sorry, data for given user is currently unavailable. Please, try again later. View profile View wishlist Start conversation Invite to friends Invite to friends Accept invitation Accept invitation Pending invitation... Unblock chat Registered: Apr 2012
From Hungary
Posted November 30, 2021
Darvond: A lot of people are still sore over the "stupid shit" that their media people said years ago.
Blastprocessor42: Unsurprising. Resetera loves to get angry about all kinds of inconsequential crap. I wouldn't worry about that one. that happens usually
Post edited November 30, 2021 by Orkhepaj
Gsom900
New User
Gsom900 Sorry, data for given user is currently unavailable. Please, try again later. View profile View wishlist Start conversation Invite to friends Invite to friends Accept invitation Accept invitation Pending invitation... Unblock chat Registered: May 2011
From Russian Federation
Posted November 30, 2021
What an awful way to start a day =(
But i see where its coming from:
1) Focus on Galaxy and dropping support for win7 for it.
2) Galaxy 2.0 is a fun idea but still requires you to have all the stores installed and i'm not that amnesiac to forget which game i have on which store. Forums, store etc have been stuck in development forever. Not that its a bad thing, i like minimalistic approach, but these forums are really not that comfortable to use and social features of gog are of no use. Not even comparing to Steam, its just no good on its own.
3) CP77 fiasco. Guess i wasn't the only one who expected the 'personal responsibility' game, not what got released at the end. If im not mistaken the game still cant be considered 100% playable. And no one bothers.
4) Really big brain move on recent DRM changes. More and more games require having galaxy installed, some games have straight DRM included, i immediately skip anything with that, sorry.
Being a niche store at the heart, sooner or later you'll satisfy the need of your niche customers. Im pretty sure everyone now has all the classics bought and several modern classics as well, witcher series included. New big games suck, and there are no 'new' old games for obvious reason.
Gotta focus on service, maybe even open-source OSs'. Also CP77 is still recoverable, if no mans sky could do it, CDPR can as well. I hope it all turns out well for all of us.
But i see where its coming from:
1) Focus on Galaxy and dropping support for win7 for it.
2) Galaxy 2.0 is a fun idea but still requires you to have all the stores installed and i'm not that amnesiac to forget which game i have on which store. Forums, store etc have been stuck in development forever. Not that its a bad thing, i like minimalistic approach, but these forums are really not that comfortable to use and social features of gog are of no use. Not even comparing to Steam, its just no good on its own.
3) CP77 fiasco. Guess i wasn't the only one who expected the 'personal responsibility' game, not what got released at the end. If im not mistaken the game still cant be considered 100% playable. And no one bothers.
4) Really big brain move on recent DRM changes. More and more games require having galaxy installed, some games have straight DRM included, i immediately skip anything with that, sorry.
Being a niche store at the heart, sooner or later you'll satisfy the need of your niche customers. Im pretty sure everyone now has all the classics bought and several modern classics as well, witcher series included. New big games suck, and there are no 'new' old games for obvious reason.
Gotta focus on service, maybe even open-source OSs'. Also CP77 is still recoverable, if no mans sky could do it, CDPR can as well. I hope it all turns out well for all of us.
Orkhepaj
SuperStraight Win10 Groomer Smasher
Orkhepaj Sorry, data for given user is currently unavailable. Please, try again later. View profile View wishlist Start conversation Invite to friends Invite to friends Accept invitation Accept invitation Pending invitation... Unblock chat Registered: Apr 2012
From Hungary
Posted November 30, 2021
low rated
tfishell: Another discussion, on Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/r4zxa0/cd_projekt_information_details_from_latest/
"Maybe the store took hit in sales when it turned out to be kissing China's ass? It sounds stupid, but many people were buying from GoG based on principles. "I buy from GoG because I want to support them" was quite the frequent phrase. Now that it got revealed that CDP are not that moral, many people might have turned away from GoG." https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/r4zxa0/cd_projekt_information_details_from_latest/
probably the case
Gsom900: What an awful way to start a day =(
But i see where its coming from:
1) Focus on Galaxy and dropping support for win7 for it.
2) Galaxy 2.0 is a fun idea but still requires you to have all the stores installed and i'm not that amnesiac to forget which game i have on which store. Forums, store etc have been stuck in development forever. Not that its a bad thing, i like minimalistic approach, but these forums are really not that comfortable to use and social features of gog are of no use. Not even comparing to Steam, its just no good on its own.
3) CP77 fiasco. Guess i wasn't the only one who expected the 'personal responsibility' game, not what got released at the end. If im not mistaken the game still cant be considered 100% playable. And no one bothers.
4) Really big brain move on recent DRM changes. More and more games require having galaxy installed, some games have straight DRM included, i immediately skip anything with that, sorry.
Being a niche store at the heart, sooner or later you'll satisfy the need of your niche customers. Im pretty sure everyone now has all the classics bought and several modern classics as well, witcher series included. New big games suck, and there are no 'new' old games for obvious reason.
Gotta focus on service, maybe even open-source OSs'. Also CP77 is still recoverable, if no mans sky could do it, CDPR can as well. I hope it all turns out well for all of us.
there are plenty of good games today , probably even more than in the past , you just have a closed mindset But i see where its coming from:
1) Focus on Galaxy and dropping support for win7 for it.
2) Galaxy 2.0 is a fun idea but still requires you to have all the stores installed and i'm not that amnesiac to forget which game i have on which store. Forums, store etc have been stuck in development forever. Not that its a bad thing, i like minimalistic approach, but these forums are really not that comfortable to use and social features of gog are of no use. Not even comparing to Steam, its just no good on its own.
3) CP77 fiasco. Guess i wasn't the only one who expected the 'personal responsibility' game, not what got released at the end. If im not mistaken the game still cant be considered 100% playable. And no one bothers.
4) Really big brain move on recent DRM changes. More and more games require having galaxy installed, some games have straight DRM included, i immediately skip anything with that, sorry.
Being a niche store at the heart, sooner or later you'll satisfy the need of your niche customers. Im pretty sure everyone now has all the classics bought and several modern classics as well, witcher series included. New big games suck, and there are no 'new' old games for obvious reason.
Gotta focus on service, maybe even open-source OSs'. Also CP77 is still recoverable, if no mans sky could do it, CDPR can as well. I hope it all turns out well for all of us.
hmm maybe they should have a monthly payment option looks like that is the new cool thing for stores :D
Post edited November 30, 2021 by Orkhepaj
Gsom900
New User
Gsom900 Sorry, data for given user is currently unavailable. Please, try again later. View profile View wishlist Start conversation Invite to friends Invite to friends Accept invitation Accept invitation Pending invitation... Unblock chat Registered: May 2011
From Russian Federation
Posted November 30, 2021
there are plenty of good games today , probably even more than in the past , you just have a closed mindset
Orkhepaj
SuperStraight Win10 Groomer Smasher
Orkhepaj Sorry, data for given user is currently unavailable. Please, try again later. View profile View wishlist Start conversation Invite to friends Invite to friends Accept invitation Accept invitation Pending invitation... Unblock chat Registered: Apr 2012
From Hungary
Posted November 30, 2021
low rated
Post edited November 30, 2021 by Orkhepaj
p1881
Overlord-Mode
p1881 Sorry, data for given user is currently unavailable. Please, try again later. View profile View wishlist Start conversation Invite to friends Invite to friends Accept invitation Accept invitation Pending invitation... Unblock chat Registered: Mar 2013
From Germany
Posted November 30, 2021
Bluddy: It's very hard to figure out what strategy can work for GOG at this point. They have a few small user bases, each of which benefits from some features the store provides. You have the die-hard DRM-free people, the people who successfully use Galaxy 2.0 for all their platforms, the people who like buying the older games because of better support than Steam, etc. In the meantime, new AAA releases (and even older ones) that people buy in massive quantities mostly don't arrive here, or arrive so late that they're not relevant. Indie devs care less about DRM but often aren't allowed in, or need to support GOG's proprietary APIs, which is just too much work for such a tiny store.
- The quality of actual good old games has been dropping rather sharply: at this point you have to invest more time into actually searching for the gems among all the rubble as the catalogue get bigger and bigger - The train-wreck called Cyberpunk 2077 where CDPR is still in full damage-control mode while even failing to meet their own utterly low-effort goals for 2020/2021
- The recent debacle of Hitman where CDPR, with full intent, tried to brute-force the sale of a game despite it being hard-wired with DRM to always need a server connection, and then first feigned surprised, then used "People are review bombing" as a pathetic excuse just to do a 180° once the news hit global media and they removed the game
- GoG Galaxy is still rather lacking:
-- Several of the big stores, including Steam, are still lacking an official integration
-- Forum, and its integration, are stuck in the mid-2000s
-- For me still a massively missed opportunity to not immediately include a curated list of mods for each game, where available, for a store with the primary scope of selling old games which run on current operating systems
- Quite a lot of games just aren't available on GoG, even though I do want them to be as I prefer to actually own the games and have offline installers of them
- Depending on the game the version can be (far) behind their counterpart on e.g. Steam
Post edited November 30, 2021 by p1881
Fuz
New User
Fuz Sorry, data for given user is currently unavailable. Please, try again later. View profile View wishlist Start conversation Invite to friends Invite to friends Accept invitation Accept invitation Pending invitation... Unblock chat Registered: Nov 2008
From Italy
Orkhepaj
SuperStraight Win10 Groomer Smasher
Orkhepaj Sorry, data for given user is currently unavailable. Please, try again later. View profile View wishlist Start conversation Invite to friends Invite to friends Accept invitation Accept invitation Pending invitation... Unblock chat Registered: Apr 2012
From Hungary
Enebias
0451
Enebias Sorry, data for given user is currently unavailable. Please, try again later. View profile View wishlist Start conversation Invite to friends Invite to friends Accept invitation Accept invitation Pending invitation... Unblock chat Registered: Aug 2013
From Italy
Posted November 30, 2021
So, in substance, how are things going for the store?
I have a hard time sorting opinions from facts.
I have a hard time sorting opinions from facts.
Lifthrasil
Bring the GOG-Downloader back!
Lifthrasil Sorry, data for given user is currently unavailable. Please, try again later. View profile View wishlist Start conversation Invite to friends Invite to friends Accept invitation Accept invitation Pending invitation... Unblock chat Registered: Apr 2011
From Germany
Posted November 30, 2021
high rated
I agree with what others have said here.
- Curation is not the solution, but part of the problem. Even if people complain about shovelware at Steam, it still is bought. One person's shovelware is another's treasure. So GOG is paying 'curators' who's only task it is to prevent GOG from profiting from some games. That is a very strange business model.
- GOG should instead return to their original core principle: DRM-free. Starting with their own game, Cyberpunk.
- GOG should return to the open communication with their user-base, that they cultivated in their early days. Honesty instead of marketing language. It's one of the reasons why many customers chose to support GOG, even if that meant higher prices.
- GOG should have the courage to own up to past mistakes and apologize for them. The way they pretended not to have known that Hitman was DRM-ed and the way they tried to blame their bending over to China on 'many messages from gamers' and the way they pretend to be deaf about the DRM on some games really doesn't encourage one to buy here.
But instead, I guess, they will continue their downward trend on their path from being a store 'by gamers for gamers' to a store 'by PR-managers for nobody'.
.........................................................................
- Curation is not the solution, but part of the problem. Even if people complain about shovelware at Steam, it still is bought. One person's shovelware is another's treasure. So GOG is paying 'curators' who's only task it is to prevent GOG from profiting from some games. That is a very strange business model.
- GOG should instead return to their original core principle: DRM-free. Starting with their own game, Cyberpunk.
- GOG should return to the open communication with their user-base, that they cultivated in their early days. Honesty instead of marketing language. It's one of the reasons why many customers chose to support GOG, even if that meant higher prices.
- GOG should have the courage to own up to past mistakes and apologize for them. The way they pretended not to have known that Hitman was DRM-ed and the way they tried to blame their bending over to China on 'many messages from gamers' and the way they pretend to be deaf about the DRM on some games really doesn't encourage one to buy here.
But instead, I guess, they will continue their downward trend on their path from being a store 'by gamers for gamers' to a store 'by PR-managers for nobody'.
.........................................................................
Enebias: So, in substance, how are things going for the store?
I have a hard time sorting opinions from facts.
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/gog_is_losing_money_and_refocusing_on_handpicked_selection_of_games/post1I have a hard time sorting opinions from facts.
Post edited November 30, 2021 by Lifthrasil