GOG.com just closed down - Publicity Stunt - Close Thread

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[quote name='Justin42']If they throw DRM over everything, I won't buy from them again-- it defeats the entire purpose of the site.[/QUOTE]


What is it with people thinking no drm is the entire purpose of gog?
The whole purpose of gog is to bring back old games and make them compatible with new versions of Windows, the no drm thing is just a bonus, and for the most part just a marketing thing because the majority of the games on gog never even had drm in the first place.
 
The DRM thing is the main point IMO. I suppose for others it's to get older games, but they weren't all older games, and many of them were available elsewhere. What makes GOG special is that it's the only download service where you own any game you buy from them.
 
[quote name='CoffeeEdge']So, what, you'd rather they really be gone?[/QUOTE]

Of course not. But I guess the best thing to do is wait and see before jumping to any conclusions.
 
[quote name='Foxamojo']What is it with people thinking no drm is the entire purpose of gog?
The whole purpose of gog is to bring back old games and make them compatible with new versions of Windows, the no drm thing is just a bonus, and for the most part just a marketing thing because the majority of the games on gog never even had drm in the first place.[/QUOTE]

Their prices always seemed a bit high to me, and were almost always higher than Steam, even on sale-- but I'd buy through GoG because of no worries about DRM.

To me, GoG was about finding older games with no drm, no licensing mess, no client software, etc. It was the whole package of being the "anti-Steam" (not saying I never use Steam, I do, but I'm not thrilled with the DRM and issues that if Steam ever disappeared that my games would as well, without having to jump through hoops or find cracks or whatever silliness that GoG avoids entirely)

If GoG relaunches as "Steam, but 30% more expensive!" I'm done with them.
 
I see 3 possibilities...

1.) GOG allows buyers to re-download games for a set period of time, then closes down for good.

2.) GOG relaunches out of Beta with a Steam-like client.

3.) GOG resurfaces briefly and transfers your licenses and right to download to Steam because Steam bought GOG out.
 
[quote name='ryanflucas']I see 3 possibilities...

1.) GOG allows buyers to re-download games for a set period of time, then closes down for good.

2.) GOG relaunches out of Beta with a Steam-like client.

3.) GOG resurfaces briefly and transfers your licenses and right to download to Steam because Steam bought GOG out.[/QUOTE]
number 3 would be awesomeeeeeeeee:hot:
 
Quote from gog.com:

"We have recently had to give serious thought to whether we could really keep GOG.com the way it is. We've debated on it for quite some time and, unfortunately, we've decided that GOG.com simply cannot remain in its current form."

It's obvious that everyone on this site is blowing this out of proportion, never anywhere does it say it's done, and all of their sentences are so open ended. "whether we could keep GOG.com the way it is...(so we're making it bigger and better). ...GOG.com simply cannot remain in it's current form (so we're making it bigger and better). Everyone just relax, while it isn't the best marketing ploy ever when launching your site out of beta, nowhere do I see the doomsday bell tolling for GoG. So put your pitchforks down, and wait for what tomorrow will bring (a bigger and better GoG).
 
It will be intresting to see where this will go, but part of the problem is this was just so sudden, at least for me, there was no warning just, bam it was shut down. Of course thats going to cause people to freak.
 
[quote name='blitztwn36']Quote from gog.com:

"We have recently had to give serious thought to whether we could really keep GOG.com the way it is. We've debated on it for quite some time and, unfortunately, we've decided that GOG.com simply cannot remain in its current form."

It's obvious that everyone on this site is blowing this out of proportion, never anywhere does it say it's done, and all of their sentences are so open ended. "whether we could keep GOG.com the way it is...(so we're making it bigger and better). ...GOG.com simply cannot remain in it's current form (so we're making it bigger and better). Everyone just relax, while it isn't the best marketing ploy ever when launching your site out of beta, nowhere do I see the doomsday bell tolling for GoG. So put your pitchforks down, and wait for what tomorrow will bring (a bigger and better GoG).[/QUOTE]

Huh...okay, yeah, you're right. Something else may be going on. Well, hopefully it's something for the better and not worse.

I don't get it though-if it is a stunt, it's sort of weird, and I don't see how they can relanch it better. I mean the site's already great, the interface, etc. Only thing that could be improved on is more games, games on launch date (for full price or whatever), console games (as their one survey pretty much said they were looking in to), etc.

More games in other words :)

Man, if they relaunched with still no DRM, but just changed the name because now it's also first run games...damn, I might just buy everything through there. Might well come back to PC as my main platform for that matter. (Heck, I semi-feel like I missed last gen because I jumped over to PC, and the stuff just looked so crappy, especially on PS2.)
 
[quote name='monogoat']Pisses me off because I wanted to install one or two of my games today.[/QUOTE]

You didn't already download them? Well, if not don't worry too much because it says they're going to do something so you can download stuff you've already bought (though once that goes active, do it right away in case the service really is going away).
 
There is a reason why the Codemasters Weekend Deal was planned to end on noon Sunday instead of Monday night.
The statement on the website is completely true.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
[quote name='gargus']This is the deals section.[/QUOTE]I guess it affects enough people on this site that the mods decided to leave this thread here.
 
[quote name='cheapo72']There is a reason why the Codemasters Weekend Deal was planned to end on noon Saturday instead of Monday night.
The statement on the website is completely true.[/QUOTE]

Whoa, really? I didn't notice that! Okay, that sort of makes me feel like something may be coming back? I hope?
 
[quote name='cheapo72']There is a reason why the Codemasters Weekend Deal was planned to end on noon Saturday instead of Monday night.
The statement on the website is completely true.[/QUOTE]
Doh I didn't even notice that the sale ended on Saturday. I was going to buy some of those games this weekend I just assumed it was like every gog sale and went till Monday so I was planning on getting the games today.#-o
 
[quote name='blitztwn36']Quote from gog.com:

"We have recently had to give serious thought to whether we could really keep GOG.com the way it is. We've debated on it for quite some time and, unfortunately, we've decided that GOG.com simply cannot remain in its current form."

It's obvious that everyone on this site is blowing this out of proportion, never anywhere does it say it's done, and all of their sentences are so open ended. "whether we could keep GOG.com the way it is...(so we're making it bigger and better). ...GOG.com simply cannot remain in it's current form (so we're making it bigger and better). Everyone just relax, while it isn't the best marketing ploy ever when launching your site out of beta, nowhere do I see the doomsday bell tolling for GoG. So put your pitchforks down, and wait for what tomorrow will bring (a bigger and better GoG).[/QUOTE]

There is not enough time in the day to post every forum that is talking about Gog.com's message in a similar fashion.
 
As long as digital distro is an option, this will always be an inevitability. Or do you really believe Shadow Complex will be available for download from Xbox Live in 10 years?
 
Well that's pretty effed up. Hope I can download the games I bought at least and back them up on something. I know, it ain't all about me, but I'm annoyed at the idea of flushing money down the toilet.
 
[quote name='11440']I don't know what's vague about "we're closing down the service."

So you were too clever to be duped? You're saying that your immediate reaction to this letter was either something's fishy about this or I can draw no conclusions from this vaguely worded message? If so, I commend you for your uncanny shrewdness. Or are you just hearing about this situation now and benefiting from 20/20 hindsight?[/QUOTE]

Yes, I am indeed the most clever person on CAG, and now everyone is aware of that.
 
I think they are just going to expand to include newer releases that'll probably have some form of DRM attatched. They'll probably keep a section for "Good Old" titles that'll still be DRM free as it was before. Obviously, if they were to do something like this, it would make sense to "end" GOG as it is now and relaunch. Accounts will transfer over and nobody will lose the games they've already purchased.

At least that's my guess.
 
I also think they're about to have a DRM-section for games. They'll probably release a Comrade-like program, too. Slowly and with a lot of cautiously veiled movements, they'll begin transitioning over to a very D2D/GfWL-like model. They won't do it all at once because to do it too quickly would be to anger the anti-DRM people who are their customers. They'll ease everyone into the new changes with sales and promises of continued support of the old style, too.

Then, you'll wake up one day and your copy of Duke Nukem 3D, Freespace, and Tie Fighter will have DRM that requires you input your social security number, the addresses of your family and friends, your bank account numbers, and a date for when they can come collect your retina scan and fingerprint info to assign to their database.

On that day, you'll know you were flim-flammed. And you'll sob into your pillow, which will secretly record your DNA to also be assigned to your copy of MDK. When your sobbing subsides, you'll go to your computer, sit down, double click that doom.exe icon and it will require you to give a voice sample for verification. Because you were crying so hard, your voice will be hoarse and it will not be able to identify you.

"Your voice does not match the record we have on file. Illegal access. Apparent piracy detected. Your games will now be deleted."

Rapidly, you'll begin hitting ctrl+alt+del to get close the program before it can complete its dark task, but unfortunately they'll have locked you out of your own computer by then.

A few HD icon blinks later, another message will appear. "Games deleted. Please refrain from piracy in the future. Have a nice day and please visit us again soon."
 
[quote name='Foxamojo']What is it with people thinking no drm is the entire purpose of gog?
The whole purpose of gog is to bring back old games and make them compatible with new versions of Windows, the no drm thing is just a bonus, and for the most part just a marketing thing because the majority of the games on gog never even had drm in the first place.[/QUOTE]

No drm WAS the entire purpose of gog to me. If they add drm or go to a client-based Steam style, I'll just get all my games from Steam. They have better sales and I don't feel like installing another client. The ONLY reason I supported gog.com as much as I did was because of the lack of drm, and it was listed very prominently on the site and in ads.
 
If this is a stunt it's not so hot. I've been reading various message boards. While no one is downright furious about this possible stunt, the general feeling I get from posters/customers is that this leaves an unpleasant taste in their mouths and their opinion of gog has lowered if anything
 
DRM NUFF SAID its been said before in the thread, its been hinted in there "we are changing" statement.. The STEAM merger idea would be wonderfull.... but I doubt it.
 
[quote name='clok1966'] The STEAM merger idea would be wonderfull.... but I doubt it.[/QUOTE]

Wonderful for who? If you went to the GOG forums, you would have seen that most of GOG's customers preferred the GOG model over the Steam model. The biggest plus GOG has over Steam is the lack of a required client. I myself couldn't care less about chatting while playing a game and like playing games without anyone looking over my shoulder. The biggest plus Steam has over GOG is the tremendous sales they have, which is often worth dealing with Steam. For the most part, GOG was never able to match Steam's sale pricing. Maybe the no-drm model had something to do with that.
 
[quote name='mogamer']Wonderful for who? If you went to the GOG forums, you would have seen that most of GOG's customers preferred the GOG model over the Steam model.[/quote]

Yeah, I saw that pop up a few times on here, and I was thinking the same thing. Like...why?
 
So when are they going to announce the closure? I want to be around when the digital vs physical arguments start lulz!
 
[quote name='Jodou']So when are they going to announce the closure? I want to be around when the digital vs physical arguments start lulz![/QUOTE]

Okay, all games are digital, and it's not downloads versus physical, the issue is activation versus no activation.

In the case of GOG, it really doesn't matter that (if) it's shutting down from the standpoint of retaining access to our games. That's precisely why buying games from GOG was smart. What sucks is just if they're not around anymore to sell us more games.

Obviously there's nothing else like GOG out there.
 
[quote name='ChestyMan']If this is a stunt it's not so hot. I've been reading various message boards. While no one is downright furious about this possible stunt, the general feeling I get from posters/customers is that this leaves an unpleasant taste in their mouths and their opinion of gog has lowered if anything[/QUOTE]

I think I'd be more surprised to hear that a gamer WASN'T unhappy/dissapointed about something.
 
[quote name='Wolfpup']Okay, all games are digital, and it's not downloads versus physical, the issue is activation versus no activation.[/QUOTE]
I think he's more interested in the drama than what the actual arguments are.
 
[quote name='Wolfpup']Okay, all games are digital, and it's not downloads versus physical, the issue is activation versus no activation.

In the case of GOG, it really doesn't matter that (if) it's shutting down from the standpoint of retaining access to our games. That's precisely why buying games from GOG was smart. What sucks is just if they're not around anymore to sell us more games.

Obviously there's nothing else like GOG out there.[/QUOTE]
God dammit, stop spoiling my fun!
 
[quote name='Wolfpup']Okay, all games are digital, and it's not downloads versus physical, the issue is activation versus no activation.[/QUOTE]No, the major difference is whether you've got the means to install the game because you have a disc available or whether you're hosed because you were counting on being able to DL the game from a service's servers. I see many people post about how they love Steam et al because they don't have to keep track of discs, etc. but I've always felt it'd be better to have a couple of DVDs in hand rather than having to DL 12+ GBs of files. Even on a fast pipe, it's hella slower than feeding discs.
 
This is horrible news. I love GOG.com! I hope they find a way to come back, or provide an even better service than they already did.
 
GOG updated their home page with this message:

First of all, we apologize everyone for the whole situation and closing GOG.com. We do understand the timing for taking down the site caused confusion and many users didn't manage to download all their games. Unfortunately we had to close the service due to business and technical reasons.

At the same time we guarantee that every user who bought any game on GOG.com will be able to download all their games with bonus materials, DRM-free and as many times as they need starting this Thursday.

The official statement from GOG.com's management concerning the ongoing events is planned on Wednesday. If you want to receive further information about GOG.com, please send an email to [email protected] if you're a media representative or to [email protected] if you're a user without a GOG account.
Click to expand...

So Thursday is the day to start downloading all the games and bonus materials.
 
Guess we'll find out what's really happening on Wednesday. Then watch the servers crash Thursday when the panic rush to download/backup everything hits, lol.
 
At the same time we guarantee that every user who bought any game on GOG.com will be able to download all their games with bonus materials, DRM-free and as many times as they need starting this Thursday.
Click to expand...

The site obviously isn't going anywhere.
 
[quote name='DirkBelig']No, the major difference is whether you've got the means to install the game because you have a disc available or whether you're hosed because you were counting on being able to DL the game from a service's servers. I see many people post about how they love Steam et al because they don't have to keep track of discs, etc. but I've always felt it'd be better to have a couple of DVDs in hand rather than having to DL 12+ GBs of files. Even on a fast pipe, it's hella slower than feeding discs.[/QUOTE]

err that is more of a storage issue. Really GOG games were easy to d/l, copy the install file to a disc and be done with it. You owned the file, where you stored it was your business. I always kept a back-upof the My gog stuff, so I'm not really affected.

Plus having discs doesn't mean you can play anything;, how many games today require some sort of online activation whether you installed them from a disc or not.
 
Yeah, that's why I think activation is the main differentiation, not whether it originally shipped on disc or not, since something on disc might require Tages or Steam or SecuROM, while GOG you can download, throw on disc, and it's no different from a retail game that doesn't have activation.
 
There's a few threads over on the Steam forums about this too. Someone made a screenshot of a page they received while try to access gog.com :


52781911.png


"We're overwhelmed by popularity of our service ;) Please check back soon!"

Also, see here for more rumors. Here's a copy of one: "...That being said, we managed to contact our anonymous source close to the GOG staff. What we learned is that service is going to be bought by one of it's rivals - Steam, to be precise. Please keep in mind that it's not an official announcement and we advise you to take this information with a grain of salt."
 
From what I remember, that is their generic page when they are getting hammered with people trying to access the page. It doesn't have any deeper significance other than everyone hit GOG at once when the news broke and the site couldn't handle it.

I was going to post that rumor about Steam, but there are so many rumors flying around I figured it best to just keep the thread about factual stuff. Hell, the NeoGAF thread has a bunch of theories now about shady financial deals and a mystery investor.
 
Oh man, if steam purchased GOG and I could get my GOG games thrown onto my Steam list, that would be incredible! I love GOG for what it is and I have purchased over 15 games from them in the past, but having that merge with Steam would allow all of my games to be on one service. I couldn't think of a better outcome. Unfortunately, I highly doubt that is the case.
 
[quote name='GaveUpTomorrow']Oh man, if steam purchased GOG and I could get my GOG games thrown onto my Steam list, that would be incredible! I love GOG for what it is and I have purchased over 15 games from them in the past, but having that merge with Steam would allow all of my games to be on one service. I couldn't think of a better outcome. Unfortunately, I highly doubt that is the case.[/QUOTE]

I couldn't think of a worse outcome. It would ruin some incentive Steam would have for cutting their prices during sales as low as they do. Competition rules, takeovers drool.
 
[quote name='Chuplayer']I couldn't think of a worse outcome. It would ruin some incentive Steam would have for cutting their prices during sales as low as they do. Competition rules, takeovers drool.[/QUOTE]

There are very few games offered by both GOG and Steam. I belive most of GOG's games were not available on Steam, and therefore had little to do with Steam's pricing.

I would be thrilled if all my GOG games were merged with my Steam account. I understand that publishers like DRM, and Steam is the sort of DRM I can deal with.
 
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