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General discussion (archive)Linden Labs buys Desura(76 posts)(76 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted July 10, 2013
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rodvik: Hopefully it is not. We will be adding resources to the Desura team but have no intention of changing the service or its open nature.

I understand the concerns given how larger companies have adversely affected distribution platforms, I can assure you we have no disruptive plans at all. Hopefully the extra resources will help players and developers.

Anyways I dont want to be rude and talk too much about Desura on GOG which is also an excellent service.

Cheers

Rod Humble
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amok: As long as you want to keep supporting the openness and maintaining Desura as an indie platform, then I am fine with it.

Two questions though

1- Are ModDB going to be receiving any changes at all?

2- And, strangely enough, will it have any effect on Indie Royale? (I like Indie Royale)

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graspee: I'm angry about Linden Labs buying Desura and I'm not going to placated by soothing noises that are probably just empty PR damage-limitation.
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amok: can I ask why?
Thank you.

For 1& 2 zero changes. We hope work even more closely with Indie Royale.
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rodvik: Hopefully it is not. We will be adding resources to the Desura team but have no intention of changing the service or its open nature.

I understand the concerns given how larger companies have adversely affected distribution platforms, I ca assure you we have no disruptive plans at all. Hopefully the extra resources will help players and developers.

Anyways I dont want to be rude and talk about Desura on GOG which is also an excellent service.

Cheers
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Barefoot_Monkey: You're from Linden Labs? Thanks coming to offer some reassurance. Naturally almost all of us here are very fond of GOG, but many of us are also fairly invested in Desura too, and would be sad if a change of ownership caused changes for the worse - I know I'd hate to lose access to my games or if features I like - such as those nice optional installer downloads - stopped being available. Desura is a wonderful service... with a few rough edges. With some more resources it could really be amazing. I hope you treat it well and that it pays off for you in return. I'm feeling optimistic :)

Don't be shy about talking about Desura. The GOG forum isn't too territorial - we often discuss Humble, Desura, Steam and other distributors here. If you have anything to say then I'm sure many of us would be interested to hear

Happy delurking day! ;-)
Cheers and thanks!
Post edited July 10, 2013 by rodvik
Posted July 10, 2013
low rated
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amok: can I ask why?
Because I have hundreds of games on Desura and I fear that Linden Labs will change Desura for the worse. Here are some things they could do:

1 start charging for downloading of the games you own after the first time
2 charging game makers to put patches up
3 make new snooping drm software and require game submitters to add it to their code (not that likely but they could do it)

Well you get the idea. Or they could just turn it all off. Because they can.

No amount of empty promises that they aren't going to change anything is going to make any difference. Of course they will say that.

There are endless tales in the IT world of large companies buying up smaller companies then abandoning them later.
Posted July 10, 2013
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Barefoot_Monkey: You're from Linden Labs?
If he is Rod Humble, then he is not only just from Linden Lab, but he is it's CEO :)

edit -

This may also be of interest: http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,373/

edit 2 - and this http://www.rodvik.com/rodgames/. Had to dig up the link from my old "Off the beaten track" thread.
Post edited July 10, 2013 by amok
Posted July 10, 2013
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rodvik: Hopefully it is not. We will be adding resources to the Desura team but have no intention of changing the service or its open nature.

I understand the concerns given how larger companies have adversely affected distribution platforms, I can assure you we have no disruptive plans at all. Hopefully the extra resources will help players and developers.

Anyways I dont want to be rude and talk too much about Desura on GOG which is also an excellent service.

Cheers

Rod Humble

snip
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HypersomniacLive: Ok then, I guess then there's no problem if I take a snapshot of your reply and hold you accountable if/ when things change, even in the slightest, right? ;D

And since you came into the discussion and the info out there is the typical PR stuff (i.e. practically nth) - what exactly are your plans for Desura?

EDIT: argh, too many typos
Feel free to :)

Exact plans? Sure. Immediately add hardware. Add staff as requested by the Desura team to support their improvement plans. Advertise Desura to help bring more sales to indie developers. Extend Desuras open nature and reduce friction for developers.
Posted July 10, 2013
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amok: can I ask why?
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graspee: Because I have hundreds of games on Desura and I fear that Linden Labs will change Desura for the worse. Here are some things they could do:

1 start charging for downloading of the games you own after the first time
2 charging game makers to put patches up
3 make new snooping drm software and require game submitters to add it to their code (not that likely but they could do it)

Well you get the idea. Or they could just turn it all off. Because they can.

No amount of empty promises that they aren't going to change anything is going to make any difference. Of course they will say that.

There are endless tales in the IT world of large companies buying up smaller companies then abandoning them later.
I also got quite a lot of games there, but I will wait and see before any judgements. Lets first see how it goes. I am not ready to panic just yet.

And who knows, they might even manage to speed up Desura's patching procedure :)
Posted July 10, 2013
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amok: can I ask why?
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graspee: Because I have hundreds of games on Desura and I fear that Linden Labs will change Desura for the worse. Here are some things they could do:

1 start charging for downloading of the games you own after the first time
2 charging game makers to put patches up
3 make new snooping drm software and require game submitters to add it to their code (not that likely but they could do it)

Well you get the idea. Or they could just turn it all off. Because they can.

No amount of empty promises that they aren't going to change anything is going to make any difference. Of course they will say that.

There are endless tales in the IT world of large companies buying up smaller companies then abandoning them later.
The GOG staff could decide to do all that to your GOG collection tomorrow, too. You may say that's unlikely, but you don't know that it's impossible, in both cases you have no prove that they do or don't intend anything like you suggest. So why waste energy on being angry without a concrete reason, all because of what may or may not happen? I'm not saying you should take their word for it, but I think it's too early to get upset. If you're so afraid of losing your games, you shouldn't trust any company with them, not even GOG. The best solution in this case is always to download the installers and keep them in a safe place yourself, after all that's what DRM-free is about - the fact, that no change of company policies can take away what you paid for.
Post edited July 10, 2013 by Leroux
Posted July 10, 2013
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Barefoot_Monkey: You're from Linden Labs?
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amok: If he is Rod Humble, then he is not only just from Linden Lab, but he is it's CEO :)

edit -

This may also be of interest: http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,373/

edit 2 - and this http://www.rodvik.com/rodgames/. Had to dig up the link from my old "Off the beaten track" thread.
That is indeed me. Sorry you all have to look at my rather unflattering mugshot :)
Posted July 10, 2013
low rated
Of course any company could change the way they operate overnight, but it is far more likely when a new company takes over.
Posted July 10, 2013
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graspee: ...
They might also update Desura to contain a virus which will erase complete contents of your harddrive. Or they could add software to connect to your webcamera and spy on you. Or they could even start watching your porn!

Seriously, rodvik. Don't watch my porn. You would never fully recover.
Posted July 10, 2013
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amok: If he is Rod Humble, then he is not only just from Linden Lab, but he is it's CEO :)

edit -

This may also be of interest: http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,373/

edit 2 - and this http://www.rodvik.com/rodgames/. Had to dig up the link from my old "Off the beaten track" thread.
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rodvik: That is indeed me. Sorry you all have to look at my rather unflattering mugshot :)
no worries. I did like "The Marriage", it was an interesting concept.
Posted July 10, 2013
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rodvik: Hopefully it is not. We will be adding resources to the Desura team but have no intention of changing the service or its open nature.

I understand the concerns given how larger companies have adversely affected distribution platforms, I can assure you we have no disruptive plans at all. Hopefully the extra resources will help players and developers.

Anyways I dont want to be rude and talk too much about Desura on GOG which is also an excellent service.

Cheers

Rod Humble
Thanks for giving some info on what is planned. I will admit when I read the news my first thought was "Oh no!". I like Desura a lot as it gives indies a place to go in the PC market to get noticed and generate sales. That is especially important for games that don't manage to get a free pass on to steam and have to go through greenlight. Plus Indie Royale has been a good source of discovering new games and helping them get more exposure.

Hopefully things will work out well in the end.
Posted July 10, 2013
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rodvik: snip
Exact plans? Sure. Immediately add hardware. Add staff as requested by the Desura team to support their improvement plans. Advertise Desura to help bring more sales to indie developers. Extend Desuras open nature and reduce friction for developers.
As I said, I know nth about Linden Labs business practices and no one here gave me any concrete evidence or even reason as to why I need to get worried or upset. So, I'm not.
I like and use Desura and I wish it was more than the place indie devs turn to because/ when they can't get on other more 'prominent' digital stores - this sounds so awful for both devs and Desura.
The plans sound good and I sincerely hope they turn out well.

Thanks for participating here and sharing info with us.
Now that we got to know each other a bit, maybe in the future you could drop us a line or two on how things are going? As you can see, most of us are interested.

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rodvik: snip
That is indeed me. Sorry you all have to look at my rather unflattering mugshot :)
Pic is fine, though your avatar here rocks b^.^d
Posted July 10, 2013
Desura's not gonna start charging $100 like Steam Greenlight does, are they? I hope not.
Posted July 10, 2013
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graspee: ...
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Fenixp: They might also update Desura to contain a virus which will erase complete contents of your harddrive. Or they could add software to connect to your webcamera and spy on you. Or they could even start watching your porn!

Seriously, rodvik. Don't watch my porn. You would never fully recover.
lol +1
Posted July 10, 2013
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HypersomniacLive: As I said, I know nth about Linden Labs business practices and no one here gave me any concrete evidence or even reason as to why I need to get worried or upset. So, I'm not.
Here's a start:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Second_Life
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Community
General discussion (archive)Linden Labs buys Desura(76 posts)(76 posts)
(76 posts)