I was a proponent of GOG developing a client over a year before they announced Galaxy. My idea was just a simple launcher with the option for direct installers, but more importantly some kind of integration with or similar to
GameRanger that would make it easy for people to play old games online (e.g. Duke 3D deathmatches with other GOG players). As far as I can tell Galaxy doesn't have any multiplayer support for old games, which would be a shame since that could have been a huge selling point.
GOG built up tons of good will and trust in their early years, while in the past 4 years they seem to have squandered much of that (based on casually looking at their forums every few days). They make an announcement, users get pissed, GOG apologizes and does something to make it appear that they're listening to their users, then later on users realize that the unwanted change was inevitable. GOG seems to continually test how much their hardcore or longtime customers will tolerate, then when they reach the edge pull back ever so slightly.
From
seven years ago - "We've always been about our core values: DRM-free games,
flat prices worldwide, and
extra goodies included in our releases."
They still have DRM-free games, at least. Years ago I believed GOG needed to grow and expand into newer games, especially indies (while many focused on Steam as GOG's direct competitor I felt it was Humble Bundle). GOG has clearly been successful in growing their business so they've done something correctly. Change and sacrifice were an understandable part of that process. However, it just seems like their website and overall infrastructure is a mess, albeit less than before. I suppose Galaxy is the best way to access and use GOG services at this point. I can't remember the last time I played a GOG game, though. Hell, I barely find time to play games from Steam.
