Oh for sure, the more games they release the more potential profit, but GOG needs to believe that the game is worth it's initial cost (whatever that may be, I know about about the music biz than the game biz).

There are other DRM-Free stores out there too (though none that are FULLY DRM-Free besides maybe Dot Emu). An Example would be ShinyLoot (who coincidentally also sell Salvation Prophecy, DRM-Free I believe), they don't have a client and the majority of their games are DRM-Free.

Wow, I didn't know Wrack was rejected by GOG. :( That game looked like a lot of fun. Here is the wishlist for it.

Hatoful Boyfriend.

If I had been forced to choose, I'd probably choose Hatoful Boyfriend.

Especially since Wrack doesn't seem to have a lot of levels and depends on community content because of it. Community content is harder to find when you don't have Steam workshop.

Why is a visual novel about fucking birds so damn popular. Look even if it was the next Lord of the Rings. IT'S NOT A GAME PEOPLE!

I feel like I'm in the Twilight zone or something.

What reviewer? I doubt it would be a regular paying customer considering we don't really review games we can't buy, so maybe reviews on Steam? But do you really take any reviews seriously for a beta project prior two weeks to the release of the game?

Wrack is an FPS and for that i might not play it, but the likelihood of me going to steam to try it out is close to nil. I kinda wish i knew what discussions they had, if they have a checklist, things that the game did right, did wrong, if it is just an unknown title or if there's isn't enough on the wishlist for them to consider (although the wishlist would be a bad prediction of how many will buy the game). It's not like we want to influence GoG too much, but having a reason why a game was rejected would be nice...

Assuming it ever was submitted to GoG....

Now I'm not accusing, but they could have thrown out the excuse they offered it to GoG and got rejected and make something up, and being out of the loop we just don't know. Maybe a representative at GoG could make a short video and put it under the wishlisted game why they rejected it... Or maybe that's too vocal and it's better to lie down and not make any noise.

Yeah the dev told me in an email when I asked a DRM free distributed version of the game.

Judging from the Steam sales though, I'd say GOG needs Wrack more then Wrack needs GOG. Which only makes it more distressing.

Because a Visual Novel doesn't have to be a "game" to be enjoyable?

Well, yes many good points here.

First things first. The reviewer would be a member of staff, I'm sure GOG has people who check the game before it's submitted to make sure that it works and everything, so that's most probably who the dev is referring to. No I don't have any real proof that GOG rejected the game but this is the second time a developer has told me that their game was rejected by GOG so I believe it. The first being retrovirus. I did contact GOG about it and they said it was none of my busyness so I dropped it. However now that's it happened again I though well maybe it was time that it did become our busyness. I agree that customers shouldn't too much influence. We don't want another flood gate Steam situation here and I do agree with that. But I do think a little influence is okay. I would like to know why a game is rejected and maybe even appeal system would be good. I remember the GOG staff implying during their stream that an appeal for the loss of Nodic games wasn't of the table. So MAYBE! One day if we're lucky we might get Nordic back but who knows.

Having more transparency on rejected games though, I think this will help devs adjust their games for this service and as well as make consumer aware of what to focus more in the wish list. For example if a game is rejected to say EA not wanting to allow it to be sold here. Then we the consumers can go and annoy EA with emails asking them to make it available
Look this conversation is not going into the right direction. There is a market for games like Wrack and I am a part of that market. There are sales to be made from this game, so there's no reason to reject it.

There's a market for any type of game . GOG looks at a game and decides whether they think it fits their community. If it's true Wrack was rejected, they seem to think it does not fit the GOG community.
Of course there is a reason to reject it. They wouldn't just do something like this without any logical reason.
I would appreciate more clarity from GOG, sadly it doesn't seem like that will happen anytime soon.

tldr: I agree with you, yes there should be clarifications and a possible appeal against rejection. Will it happen? If it does, it won't be anytime soon.

Your point about annoying EA (for example) with e-mails is probably exactly why they don't reveal any information.

Even in the very specific sense of the word for which Magic Tea Party wouldn't qualify, Hatoful Boyfriend is a game. There are objectives and ways to achieve them, you can win or lose, winning presents a challenge and the player should work for it.

sethsez It's no less a game than Planescape: Torment.

It seems to me like you very much do have something against Hatoful Boyfriend and Gone Home.
Since you started this thread, you've done nothing but slander them, calling them 'not fun', calling Hatoful 'not a game' and saying it's common sense that these games are bad.

Some people DO enjoy these titles. I played Gone Home and loved it, and I know many others did too. While I haven't played Hatoful, I do enjoy visual novels, and many others do like it. Please do not disrespect people by slighting a game they enjoy for no good reason. This wasn't meant to be a discussion about those games, it was about GOG's acceptance and rejection of games.
I don't have a problem with you not enjoying the games. That's your prerogative. But to outright state that they're objectively bad is wrong.
Your opinon is just that, an opinion. Not common sense, and not a view everyone will share. It's completely subjective, so don't act surprised when people disagree, and don't act like your word is fact. It is not.

Rod Serling would shake his head in shame.

And anyway, who are you to determine the classification of a game?
Does it have to contain guns? Does it have to involve a third or first person perspective?
Must it involve jumping or earning a score?
Ultimately, it's rather ambiguous, and arbitrary. At the end of the day, a game is some interactive form of media, where the player's input has some effect on the game and is generally for the purpose of enjoyment. A "game" does not have a very solid definition and can probably include different things for different people.
If not, do you consider table top rpgs, where storytelling often makes up a great deal of it, not a "game"?

At what point does something become a "game" and at what point does it become merely a "story"?
How much gameplay would something like Planetscape Torment need omitted for it be a book?
Of course, I'm being rather facetious, but my point remains: titles like Gone Home and Hatoful Boyfriend can be considered games, and you are certainly not the one to make that judgement.

Hatoful Boyfriend contains choices and decisions for the player to make which effects it's story, and the game experience. It has plenty of interactivity, it has different endings and many other traits that make it a game. Sure, it contains more story, more 'words', and less jumping and shooting than most typical games, but to discount it is just being close-minded.

Regarding your main point though, I actually do somewhat agree. GOG probably should have more transparency for its reviewing process and it would be nice to know why some games were not accepted, when asked.

EDIT: Thank you Starmaker. +1

Hatoful Boyfriend - I like Visual Novels and it's good that we at least have one here on GOG although it's just a parody of the genre.

After watching a few videos i'm absolutely not interested in Wrack so IMO it's no big loss that GOG rejected it. And besides i already have more shooters than i can ever play. :D

I also don't like Gone Home but Retrovirus looks at least decent.

That's a good point, or maybe annoy wasn't a good choice of words, but I want more games to be available on GOG.
If you like decent you'll probably like Retrovirus. There are a lot of shooters, but there really wasn't any reason for GOG to reject Wrack. If they can accept visual novels and Gone Home they should be able to accept an old school shooter. Especially where the musician who worked on Doom composed music for it.