GOG.com is back in business. Revival in about 16 hours.

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From GOG.com
"First of all we would like to apologize everyone who felt deceived or harmed in any way by us closing down GOG.com without any warning and without giving access to your games. We apologize for that from the bottom of our hearts!

 Now it's time we put an end to all the speculations once and for all. It’s true that we decided that we couldn't keep GOG.com the way it was… so we won’t. As you probably know by now, GOG.com is entering its new era with an end of the two-years beta stage and we're launching a brand new GOG.com with new, huge releases.

The new GOG.com will launch at 8.00 a.m. EDT (2 p.m. CET). Later today we'll provide you here with 4 videos where you'll find all needed information about the current events, as well as news on the new GOG.com, the upcoming big releases and the summary of the last two years."


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATNd4qbNTf8


Good Old Gameshas been in its state of beta for the past 2 years and they are now officially launching with a brand new system.
So basically it was all fake, and this was done to spread the news with a lot of new releases like Baldulr's Gate series coming in.
 
How is this a deal?

And while I'm at it, GOG fails at marketing. Not having a "huge marketing budget" is no excuse for pulling shenanigans and gaming their once-loyal customers' like that, just for the sake of press coverage.
 
I get angry about a lot of things...but I'm just not upset about this.

I'd much rather have a hip, stupid company with a bad PR dept and excellent service/games, than some Activision drm-laced service that I know they'll shut down on purpose as soon as profits begin to fall, cutting me off from all of my purchases, I mean leases, and multiplayer servers permanently.

Is this stupid PR stunt really worse than Ubisoft's DRM scheme, where people couldn't play games they had paid for? Or Activision removing the ability to mod and create maps for a first person shooter on the PC? These actually have negative, permanent consequences. And they also involve your wallet. Are you/we going to never buy a product from Ubisoft or Activision again?

I've spent a fair share of money on gog, but if any service was to go down, at least I'd have access, drm free, to everything I ever downloaded from them. The fact that they stated in their opening statement that we'd be able to download our games on Thurs meant that even if they go down, I'd still have the product I paid for.
I'm more upset about servers shutting down for games I no longer play (Def Jam, Chromehounds), since there the option is removed. Here, in the *worst* case scenario, I'd still have professionally patched titles,...I just couldn't rely on them for free hosting of the files forever.

The fact that they actually fix things for modern systems before selling them (cough, Steam, cough) gives them a lot of leeway in my book, since I've spent many hours just trying to get old games to run.

Even after this horrible, stupid, ridiculous stunt, The GoG.com team still look like the good guys,...at least in my book, compared to almost anybody. Right up there with Valve and Stardock. And the dude making Minecraft.
 
[quote name='Jodou']I'd rather hear the explanation of how GOG pulling a stupid PR stunt is a deal.[/QUOTE]

Patched up for modern systems Baldur's Gate 1 + Exp for $9.99 once the countdown timer hits 0.

More games to come up and through the holidays.
 
[quote name='Phokis']Patched up for modern systems Baldur's Gate 1 + Exp for $9.99 once the countdown timer hits 0.

More games to come up and through the holidays.[/QUOTE]
That's nice. Where was that in the OP again?

Industry news is ------------------->
 
[quote name='Phokis']I get angry about a lot of things...but I'm just not upset about this.

Is this stupid PR stunt really worse than Ubisoft's DRM scheme, where people couldn't play games they had paid for? Or Activision removing the ability to mod and create maps for a first person shooter on the PC? These actually have negative, permanent consequences. And they also involve your wallet. Are you/we going to never buy a product from Ubisoft or Activision again?[/QUOTE]

Negative and permanent? That's awfully naive. When has the internet ever remembered anything for more than 6 months? Very rare. People made a big fuss about Assassin's Creed II, but a few months later and it's on sale? Hey, look! A game on sale! I still buy Activision/Ubi products. At least in their cases, they're make an attempt - however misguided - to protect the IP that they've invested in. Not try to drum up bullshit controversy.

I'm more upset about servers shutting down for games I no longer play (Def Jam, Chromehounds), since there the option is removed. Here, in the *worst* case scenario, I'd still have professionally patched titles,...I just couldn't rely on them for free hosting of the files forever.
Click to expand...
Newsflash: running these servers costs money. When the costs outweigh the benefits, guess what's going to happen? Things are going to get shut down. It's called business. Maybe in a fantasy world where everyone gets everything they want, you can have your servers and the developers can eat, too...

Even after this horrible, stupid, ridiculous stunt, The GoG.com team still look like the good guys,...at least in my book, compared to almost anybody. Right up there with Valve and Stardock. And the dude making Minecraft.
Click to expand...
Good guys, maybe. Really. fucking. Stupid good guys. And I will say it right here - I don't really care about GoG or what they do. I didn't give a shit when they said they were shutting down. I don't play PC Games anymore, but hey, if they want to bring these old games to the masses, hey, more power to them. But there is such a thing as professionalism... which they lack entirely. And that is what is so irritating about them. They're running straight up amateur hour.
 
[quote name='Phokis']Patched up for modern systems Baldur's Gate 1 + Exp for $9.99 once the countdown timer hits 0.

More games to come up and through the holidays.[/QUOTE]

Baldur's Gate works fine on XP / Vista anyways, so there is nothing there for GOG to really "patch up".

GOG gets a lot of credit for "being able to make these games run" but a lot of what they do is simple dosbox work or an outside group does the work for them (like with Age of Wonders, Triumph Studios did everything there.). It's more apt to say "they do the work in getting the licenses and making the games for sale", which is still an awesome thing.

The few games that GOG get the ability to really fix, like Interstate 76, they blow it. That game was a disaster. I know of a few others that have issues running (it was on their forums) that GOG won't acknowledge or won't fix, or the community (which are now not happy with them, judging by other forums) have taken the time to find fixes for.
 
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Most of us saw this revelation coming.

I'm not so pissed I'll never use them again, but I won't say it wasn't a moron thing to do. If the place was run by a couple 15 year old web gurus, it'd be expected. I doubt that's the case.

Now get me my No One Lives Forever 2.
 
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[quote name='Jodou']That's nice. Where was that in the OP again?

Industry news is ------------------->[/QUOTE]

Well, why don't you move then, seeing as you're a modera...oh, wait...you're not. Zip it.
 
I picked up a few games from GoG in the past. When I heard about the initial shutdown announcement, I was sad. Since everything is cleared up, I'm just happy that their service continues.

They could have simply went out of Beta suddenly but this was someone's idea at the group to generate buzz. I'm sure there were people within said group who opposed the idea, but someone moved forward with it to our frustration.

Haven't lost me as a customer, I just find the whole ordeal awkward (since no one really lost anything).
 
[quote name='jamezuva']I've never bought anything from them, and they still managed to piss me off with their stunt[/QUOTE]

I feel the exact same way. And while I've never bought anything from them, I will now never even consider it.


EDIT: Oh, and this is in NO WAY a deal. So get this thread out of here.
 
[quote name='bigdaddybruce44']Well, why don't you move then, seeing as you're a modera...oh, wait...you're not. Zip it.[/QUOTE]
You aren't a moderator either. Zip it.

See how this works? We can do this all day or you can all admit this isn't a deal and has no business being in the "Deals" section.
 
Really cheap stunt on their part and the video on their website is just annoying... I'm not sure if the video was supposed to come off as funny but it was just really bizarre. Oh well, if they really have Baldur's Gate w/ Expansions and no DRM can't say no to them anyhow. ;)
 
Kudos to people who were calling this on the other thread.

Take notes Cheapy, maybe you can kill off Wombat and then bring him back to cut the ribbon on a site redesign or some shit.
 
Wow...one of the worst PR moves ever. If they have any sense, and this stunt has me less than optimistic that they do, they'll have Black Friday on Steam type deals when the countdown hits zero as a way to say they're sorry to customers. Then again, maybe they're under the delusion that even negative buzz about them can still be considered good?
 
[quote name='MrDarkstorm']There will be deals when they come back so if you don't like this thread, stop entering it retards.[/QUOTE]

I get the necessary policing to prevent a flurry of non-deal threads in the deal forum from taking hold, but as a whole (not just this thread) I see a collective focus that seems to make me imagine it takes at least twice the time to post in disgust in a non-deal thread than it does to click back out of one. Exiting a non-deal thread or posting in one?

But again, I get the agitation, we want this forum refined and concise. Meh...*shrugs*
 
[quote name='animalspinners']Baldur's Gate works fine on XP / Vista anyways, so there is nothing there for GOG to really "patch up".

[/QUOTE]

hmm...I seem to remember BG having issues installing on drives with more the 2GB free space, or at least the version I have did. (I have the orginal 5 CD version)
 
[quote name='shrike4242']Off to the Gaming News forum, where this belongs.[/QUOTE]

Thank you.

[quote name='MrDarkstorm']There will be deals when they come back so if you don't like this thread, stop entering it retards.[/QUOTE]

That makes absolutely no sense. The possibility of future deals not mean a thread about it not being shutdown should be in the "VIDEO GAME DEALS" section.
 
Hey, look. It's a bunch of internet tough guys trash talking about a lame PR stunt from a company that otherwise does good work. I'll be sure never to associate with you ever again because you wore that stupid rainbow tuxedo to your prom.

If there's still no DRM when they come back, I'm going to find something worth buying just to say "hey, I think you're doing a good job, and I'm sorry I didn't recognize it before."
 
[quote name='jthieme']hmm...I seem to remember BG having issues installing on drives with more the 2GB free space, or at least the version I have did. (I have the orginal 5 CD version)[/QUOTE]

Maybe you're right, I've got the 2 CD re-release version and never had a problem playing through Baldur's Gate on Vista just last month. The only problem I had was the "black squares" problem, and I just had to tweak a couple of different settings to get that to work.

If that problem still persists when GOG releases this tomorrow, it will be obvious they did the minimal amount needed to get this up on their store, because that's probably the only major problem I remember there being on the Infinity Engine. I'm interested in this only because I'm about halfway through BG, and my CD drive has been acting up so switching discs constantly is a bit of a problem.

http://forums.bioware.com/viewtopic.html?topic=580209&forum=11

Here is a post doing a better job explaining the black squares than I did.
 
[quote name='animalspinners']Maybe you're right, I've got the 2 CD re-release version and never had a problem playing through Baldur's Gate on Vista just last month. The only problem I had was the "black squares" problem, and I just had to tweak a couple of different settings to get that to work.

If that problem still persists when GOG releases this tomorrow, it will be obvious they did the minimal amount needed to get this up on their store, because that's probably the only major problem I remember there being on the Infinity Engine. I'm interested in this only because I'm about halfway through BG, and my CD drive has been acting up so switching discs constantly is a bit of a problem.

http://forums.bioware.com/viewtopic.html?topic=580209&forum=11

Here is a post doing a better job explaining the black squares than I did.[/QUOTE]

I don't think GoG gets the source code for these old releases to be able to fix bugs/incompatibilites in the actual code. Typically they would only update the installers to make them compatible. So I highly doubt that issue would be resolved unless there is some sort of configuration setting that could be changed.
 
Hey,

Cut them some slack. They sell OLD GAMES with no DRM.
Of course they're a little crazy and weird.. but we love them for it.

Its like when Kramer does weird shit to Jerry's apartment, Jerry just puts up with it cuz Kramer is his good Friend.

If you love games, then GOG should be your friend.
All is forgiven.

-Mike
 
[quote name='jthieme']I don't think GoG gets the source code for these old releases to be able to fix bugs/incompatibilites in the actual code. Typically they would only update the installers to make them compatible. So I highly doubt that issue would be resolved unless there is some sort of configuration setting that could be changed.[/QUOTE]

I know GOG doesn't fix actual problems with the code, but I was under the impression they fixed any anomalies that were present by the game running under XP / Vista and newer hardware (which is what the black square issue is). I know for Outcast, GOG fixed a couple of key problems inside the game that were caused by newer systems, so they do that kind of work on occasion.

On another note, I was reeeeally hoping that they would find a way to get EA or Lucasarts on board, but I've all but given up hope. It's a shame, since EA owns the rights to so many classic PC games. I mean, cmon, time to capitalize on the "shock" name by throwing System Shock 1 and 2 out there.

Let GoG tinker around with making it run under XP and Vista, and you reap the profits. Everyone wins! What better way to promote the new Alice than re-releasing the old one.
 
[quote name='Chuplayer']Hey, look. It's a bunch of internet tough guys trash talking about a lame PR stunt from a company that otherwise does good work. I'll be sure never to associate with you ever again because you wore that stupid rainbow tuxedo to your prom.
[/QUOTE]

Not quite. I was once working in the game industry - and I don't mean blogging on some website that got a dozen visitors a day (on a good day). I left because I got sick of its bullshit.

Funny because my former coworkers - who are still in the industry - have publicly derided GoG for their bullshit tactics.
 
GOG's placeholder sites while they've been implementing the final steps of their upgrades have been playful, yes, but they couldn't have been much clearer that it was a PR stunt from the beginning. You either get it immediately like a normal person, or you go blog and post about how upset you are given your lack of comprehension.

All that aside, not purchasing games from GOG because of lack of comprehension is one of the best ways to drench yourself in the game industry's blood.
 
any press is good press.... you guys are all pissed off at GoG about their stunt but I guarantee none of you will stop buying from them if you see something you want there. On top of that, all of you guys bitching probably brought in people who have never heard of GoG (to see what the fuss is about) and will now be browsing their website and potentially buying stuff, thus increasing their sales. At the very least, they know about the site and might spread the news about this stunt to their gamer friends. Mission Accomplished GoG, good move...

And thirtytwoutside, for being a non-PC gamer who could care less about GoG, you sure seem to care a lot about this stunt. Why don't you just get over it and move on with your life. How the hell does this stunt affect you at all to the point where you stick around this thread defending your position on why GoG sucks for this stunt? It was not a bullshit tactic, you are just a cry-baby cynic who has nothing better to do than drill down on a company who utilized bad press in order to get press period.
 
[quote name='Chuplayer']Hey, look. It's a bunch of internet tough guys trash talking about a lame PR stunt from a company that otherwise does good work.[/QUOTE]
They have every reason to be angry. They just disappear with out warning leaving only a message that implies they shut down only to come back with a "sorry jk". Sorry I don't think that is the way you should treat customers.
 
[quote name='Chibi_Kaji']They have every reason to be angry. They just disappear with out warning leaving only a message that implies they shut down only to come back with a "sorry jk". Sorry I don't think that is the way you should treat customers.[/QUOTE]

Probably not, but there are far worse ways to treat customers. Seriously. There are far worse ways.
 
Everyone now seems to be in agreement that this was an obvious prank. I, on the other hand, don't claim to have realized that this was a joke from the outset. When I believed that GOG had shut down without notice, I was upset by the lack of professionalism. Although this prank is still unprofessional, I don't begrudge GOG for it. No harm, no foul.
 
I don't see why people are so upset. From the original wording, it made it seem like they were going through a redesign or something and not closing permanently. People are too serious business nowadays.
 
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