Yes, GOG needs to go back to its roots of focusing on DRM-free, championing that cause and convincing publishers to release their games DRM-free, as well as focusing on curating good games. If the well is 'running dry' of old games to release, imo that is not a justification for GOG to abandon their principles and embrace DRM/MTX. The clock constantly marches forwards and new 'old' games are being created every year (depending on where you draw that line).

Yeah - I've been lucky a few times; I got a big box version of Sid Meier's SimGolf for about £10 a couple of years ago, along with cheap copies of Starlancer and Crimson Skies. I've always fancied a box copy of Frontier Elite 2 and FFE, but I found it hard to justify - I got a package from Special Reserve in 1996 of Civ, FE2 and Lemmings when I joined and bought my big box copy of Grand Prix 2. Three great games, but it's a shame that they didn't come boxed.

Or, as Amok said(shown below), if you own a license for the game(like say an old broken/scratched disc copy) and live in an area where downloading said game copies in said instances is legal.

It was warranted because someone misinterpreted the law and needs clarifying to avoid spreading misinformation. Otherwise people get the wrong idea and continue or promote piracy illegally. I wouldn't have said anything had the initial interpretation been correct.

A friendly tip: you might want to remove the links in your one earlier post.

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Or maybe people might be sensible adults and look into such things before believing what they read (about anything) online?

I just wanted to clarify: I was more so talking about such responses here and elsewhere online in general, and not about any one specific person.

I called it a gray area, in this topic it is voiced in the right way. It was never legal to download but... it wasn't part of the criminal law either

link to topic : https://www.quora.com/Is-it-legal-in-the-Netherlands-to-download-pirated-media-movies-software-books-using-torrents

( ´･･)ﾉ(._.`)

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(Preface: I am not trying to endorse pir-a-cy with this post)

My stance on such game copies is this: if someone bought a game 1/2/3/more times, and their copy/copies got lost or damaged, then I have little qualms with them DLing a "seafaring copy". In such cases, I think said gamers have already paid their dues to the creators and then some.

(I also see little issue with old "out of print" games being DLed by others.....i.e. games no longer sold anywhere except via collectors[at insane markups] online)

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Just wanted to say I love this sort of "symbol art" :)

hmm,z

maybe i should have removed the faces....

anyways

yea, i'm against piracy..... luckily those short sighted ass wipes that cripple businesses atm... and ruin people's lives while they're at it .. will play a major part towards an increased internet safety standard
yes, same here, i'm glad windows gathered those under the win dot shortcut

But they make thread so much more fun to post in....I say the more the merrier :D :D :D

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Ontopic

I think GOG should sell whatever people might want to buy & play, old or new.

I disagree, more or less. I have no problems with old good games but I prefer new AAA releases if I have a choice.

I wish skyrim was here

OP - If you are an adult, you should have realized by now, that you can never go back, nothing stays the same ... the march of progress and all that jazz.

Anything that stops still for too long gets overrun.

The best that one can hope for, is that some things stand the test of time and get held onto, but honestly, growth is where its at, and some level of reinvention.

From where I have been standing these last few years, GOG tread a balancing act, that isn't easy, but they do it fairly well, with a regular slew of old games, plus plenty of newer ones. As can be seen though, they can't please everyone, and survival comes first.

After 12+ years, they must be doing something right, as can be seen by how hectic it gets for the servers during a big sale.

Like many here, I have many missing old games as wishlists that many here vote for. Many old games have been realized over time, but it is a long slow process.

GOG aren't the only body involved in what they eventually provide here. It seems pretty clear they have to jump many hurdles and juggle priorities, while working out deals etc.

When I look at my collection of game discs from decades ago, a huge majority have now been replaced by GOG versions. I see that as a good sign, and hope it continues for the rest.

it is not grey at all. even though your 'source' here is not very good (it is a random person on the interwebs, and he is confounding piracy with copyright infringment), he still starts with it being illegal. That is not grey at all - piracy is illegal, it is against the law.

Like most countries, however, it is difficult to uphold this law - how do the police know if you download a piece of software? and they do not prosecute until they have a clear case (usually the publishers report something, or going after the sharing sites, such as Pirates Bay being blocked or taken down). It is near impossible to go after random induviduals, and as piracy is a very low impact crime (some claim no-impact), the police are using the few resources they have elsewhere.

However, this does not make it a grey area at all - piracy is illegal, even in Netherlnds, it seems like. I am not saying you are a 'bad person' for pirating, or condemn it, but be aware of what you are doing and don't try to use lame excuses to justify yourself.

Really? it is not that difficult, i know Dutch law can be confusing for outsiders, and certainly those coming from 2d or 3d world countries ( though of course they do know how corruption works ). Another example might be how we have these stores selling weed on a semi legal base while in the past it was illegal to grow weed. Another example of a grey area.

So lets take this point by point

1. It is illegal by producers right to make their products available for free unless otherwise agreed upon by all the parties.
2. These rights are clearly defined by law.
3. In the timeperiod we are talking about their where some loopholes concerning the downloading of hacked software
4. The new internet rights of ownership ( downloading certain parts etc etc ) where not clearly defined by law
5. This combination of fuzzy described rights and laws aimed at a specific topic are then in a ' gray area ' since they are not defined to the letter
6. It is not that hard now, right ?

furthermore you seem to confuse my explanation with behavior, you should not. A bit of poor insight on your behalf if you don't mind me addressing that shortcoming.

And a last addition. In my book, abandoned software is more of a case of people who start living in a house or building that has not received a new designation rather then pure criminality which is the case of people purposefully hacking into a code of just released games or other media with the intent of spreading that software freely online.

Maybe the difference is small but.. it is there