Can't blame people for that, when GOG built its business on the very idea that they are better and different, compared to the rest of the modern games industry. They lured everyone in under the pretense of offering a better, more customer-friendly experience, then gradually over the years dropped all of the unique advantages and principles which made GOG special. So now, here we are, with GOG being little more than yet another Steam clone. Give it a few more years at the most, website downloads will be gone entirely, and Galaxy will be mandatory for all users. Which is excellent, because that would make it much easier to include always-online DRM, more micro-transactions, and all the other latest industry trends!

Maybe and maybe not. I won't pretend to know what is going on in GOG HQ. So far they have shown they are still willing to support installers and DRM Free, but to some people that support isn't good enough or where they think it should be. Maybe that will change but right now it's unknowable.

For me, I personally don't care about the installers though I reconize their value and understand why people do want them but for me I could care less. I care about perservation. That can be via a feature in Galaxy. That can be a zip folder with an install script. I really don't care as long as GOG gives some way to back up and preserve my games.

The installers are just one method that make that possible... making Galaxy mandatory for downloading doesn't mean it has to be the end of preservation. I can think of many solid business reasons why GOG may eventually go that route that have nothing to do with following the latest trends (ie microtransactions, always-online DRM, etc.).

I think I probably should have jumped ship when they started doing regional pricing. For me, that was when it all started going downhill, as that was the first time they removed one of their "core" tenants. It wasn't an idea that we had in our heads of what GOG represented, it was how they represented themselves to the world. It was on the home page, a big graphic of what made GOG different. It included a no regional pricing stance, goodies and extras with all games, all games sold were the complete package (all DLC included in the price). Actually, maybe DLC came first, then regional pricing, I don't remember, it was a turbulent time around here. Quite a few of my good friends on GOG jumped ship then, I chose to still believe in GOG and stay around. I've given them thousands of dollars since then in hopes they'd right the ship, after promises from their top dogs that this exact thing wouldn't happen. I was a sucker.

What's funny about that regional pricing thing, when it first launched GOG still had the graphic up on their homepage showing the ONE PRICE PROMISE. Remember that, guys? Funny.

In the beginning it's always just one game.

It was only just one game when they introduced regional pricing. Later it was three games and probably some more AA+ games, but "we will always fight for flat pricing". Today it's the whole catalogue (with very few exceptions).

In the beginning it was just one game that was regionally locked, today there are dozens.

In the beginning it was only one game that came without extras (I'm not asking for much, but give us a manual and some avatars at least), today it's every second game that gets released.

In the beginning it was just one game tha required Galaxy (for multiplayer). Today you have to jump through several hoops, if you want to avoid the client (even if you only want to play singleplayer).

You are right, for the moment there is only one game with microtransactions (and two that are always-online). But it's completely unrealistic to believe that it will be the only one in the future.

In commerce, anything that's "free" always has a catch, and every merchant that tells you something is free is a liar.

For those two ok, personally I still think that they should had kept Gog only for old games with the old rules and created a sister site (Good not so old games or something) for newer games with more lax ones. For regional pricing at least they offer compensations which, while not perfect, is better that the others shops.

They cannot invent extra where there are none and they cannot include extra for which they don't have the rights, and for recent games most of the extras are DLCs.

You just seem to forget that "in the beginning" there were plenty of games that had the multiplayer and/or all the online features disabled, or required you to use third party account to play multiplayer; today some of those games uses Galaxy instead and those that were playable using LAN are still playable using LAN, if anything things have improved compared to the beginning and the only hoops you have to jump through to avoid the client is download the classic installers.

Two ? what two ? currently there is only Gwent beta.

Thanks GoG, I really like the starter pack. Was a great way for me to support your game and get a good deal on cards.
Some people on here seem to think that it is spending money on "nothing". I see it as supporting the developers.

Other than that, Businesses change

I agree with that, as long GOG provides DRM-Free installers (which that means i can backup my favourite games and play them for as long as i want), i wouldn't worry much about the future. And even if the company chooses a route i don't like (for example, making Galaxy mandatory while ditching the installers) that won't make me regret about giving them my money; i'll just stop buying anymore games but that doesn't mean my already purchased games will lose any value, just like my retail games didn't after the release of Steam and the various clients who made gaming a chore. So, whatever happens to this store in the future, good old GOG will still live in my backup HDDs.

You are paying for a product, not making a donation. You may see it as what you want, but that is not what it truly is. The price is set by them and you have no control over this.

I have control over buying it or not. The buying of kegs ingame was to expensive for my taste and i did manage to get all bronze and silver cards by just playing the game. But i did want to support them. So this starter pack was a nice win/win for me.

And of course they decide the price. The creator of a product always decides the price. And then people either buy it or not.

I wasn't talking about what one should do as much as just listing alternatives to just giving up entirely and embracing Steam. One might choose or reject any of them for various reasons. My point was just that there are always alternatives.

Hm. This should be interesting to watch...I suspect we'll see a slow shift in the forum community as old, disgruntled members abandon the place and new ones join. Then as the new ones join, the old ones get even more disgruntled and leave in greater numbers. Considering this place seems to be the last remaining bastion GOG has of people who carry the old mindset and forum feeling, we may see a shift in the website and the community itself.
I see it's time for me to start contacting some people...

Gremlins Inc. (the DLCs except for the soundtrack and the artbook).

Yes, it's better than other shops. But it still consolidates regional pricing and sends a signal to developers and publishers that this business model is fine.

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