Don't worry, I'm not taking it personal, I just read your post, thought to myself "Yeah, I'm acting like a bit of an abrasive asshole." and thus had the urge to justify myself. It's all good. No bones broken. A good day to you, too!

So it's running in circles, if that's the case?

GOG: Wizardry won't be released here.
User: Why?
GOG: Can't say, ask the publisher.
User: Excuse me. Publisher?
XSEED: Yes?
User: Why was Wizardry rejected? Can you explain why GOG curation refused it?
XSEED: They said it was too niche. Sorry, go ask them, we're as clueless as you are.
User: … GOG?
GOG: ?
User: Why is it too niche?
GOG: Can't say, ask the publisher.

Rinse and repeat.

Niche is no different than cult classics that can grow over time with its fanbase, but they seem to feel every game need to be a big hit right away or else it's not worth publishing. Even Sony was smart enough during ps3 times to sign up any Indie devs that made games. and got them a lot of good PR and support but right now all GOG is doing squandering it with bad decisions.

Yeah, many console series that became big started from smaller devs with no big titles under their belt(or very few). Imagine if the console release gatekeeper had turned them all down. :\

Seems here on GOG ''Too Niche'' is an excuse when you want to reject a perfectly playable game. Next up the removal of all the games deemed ''Too Niche'' meaning removing all Japanese related games like the broken but awesome game ''Deadly Premonition'' Cause that game tanked when it got released but became a cult classic thanks to its Niche following.

IIrc SS2 also had very poor sales but became a cult classic for some as well....and it actually came here.

in the end, GoG has shown they are unwilling to change their stance on the matter, So I doubt they'll bother actually changing their dumb Curation. I'd rather they get rid of it and just remove games with bad reviews on them but that way at least people get a chance to buy them. It's better to have an option than no option at all.

Ashleee,

Thank you for your reply. It's much appreciated.

I respect your work in curation review and certainly understand it's a difficult process... and that any communication directly with the community regarding specific games can be a tightrope walk over issues -- legal and otherwise -- but devising a more transparent strategy / communication for community members / consumers to understand why some of their most wanted and / or wishlisted games are rejected by GoG would be an asset. The current system can play too easily into confusion, anger, and conspiracy theories (anti-consumer, political, etc.) that in fact undermine what's been built. TBH the current system makes wishlisting (a major component in community-building) seem almost meaningless.

I completely understand GoG cannot (and should not) curate everything -- no one wants another Steam trash can -- that GoG has limited resources with which to build its catalogue, and that GoG doesn't want to publicly burn any bridges with developers. I also understand there will always be some angry, sour-grapes community members no matter how hard you try to connect and communicate, but for many of us, we're just trying to understand...

... what GoG's current mission statement is...

... and why some seemingly good and wished-for games have been rejected?

If you can aid with understanding of these things, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you again.

Serious post:

You are the most civil rational person I have ever seen in here.
Sometimes it's hard to tell that you are actually complaining.

We could all learn from you; yes myself included, BIG TIME. It would certainly alleviate a lot of the hostility in here.

This is pretty much my position, I hate to see what used to be my favorite platform punch itself to death for no good reason, but it keeps on happening despite what anyone tries to point out. This curation "process" is outright foolish, and needs to be heavily revised or clarified.

Goes without saying that most devs would rather be featured on the frontpage, their game be tweeted about on GoG's account and whatnot for maximum exposure.

But take something like Hatred for example, which currently has a whooping 4500+ wishlist votes under its belt. Obviously this wouldn't necessarily translate to 4500+ sold copies but let's say something in a 4-digit ballpark nonetheless. With all involved parties giving their thumbs up, GoG would then go on and release it with little to no fanfare (except for the aforementioned standard new release post) to not take away the spotlight from those precious more important and more desirable "showpiece"-type of games.

Same could be done with other rejected titles like Grimoire, Underworld Ascendant or Redeemer which, again judging by their respective wishlist votes wouldn't necessarily need to be advertised and promoted. Word on the street or in this case, on the forums would be quite enough to prompt those who were and still are willing to pick up these games on GoG to do so eventually.

There are damn good reasons why business negotiations almost always take place behng closed doors.
A lot people here know absoultyley nothing about how running a business wokrs in the real world.

And releasing generic/broad information wouldn't compromise much if anything at all, and would assuage some people's fears/doubts while keeping them from divulging more detailed info.

Gog has in the past taken a look at many games that it has originally passed on and later approved them and welcomed them to the store once they have fixed up various bugs and such. In following it would of unethical and perhaps there are legal bindings to come out and state why a certain game is rejected so they leave it up to the publishes themselves; remember gog is a private company.

My main issues with Gog and the direction I think it should take (Yes I know I don't OWN the store.)

- Change the front page layout back to the old one or something better then the current mess.
- Less money spent on marketing and more games coming to gog.
- Scrap the 'stream team' that is making money off gog and it's name for themselves and often represents them poorly or with a negative image, talks about things gog probably wouldn't want to be associated with/ less eceleb bullshit. Steam dosn't have a twitter and you can always find different games being streamed on twitch.
- Less marketing 'stunts' like the controversial twitter posts.

I will continue to buy from gog now and in the future and am happy with my DRM free games.

*edit* Never mind. Not really interested in getting mired in this discussion.