GOG.com

[Azdul]

Sadly this is how it goes. However despite its faults, GOG is one of the few places that allow you to back up your games and "own" them (besides itch.io, are there others?).
Of course, that advantage has only real meaning if you actually back up your library, otherwise what's the point - if you are relying on their hosting you might as well use Steam, which is better in all regards.
Kalanyr/gogrepoc is a great tool for that.

I use GOG almost exclusively - since Steam retroactively fucked up few games that I've bought - like GTA IV, San Andreas and Vice City.

What alternatives there are ?

• Zoom is another one - but the list of games for sale is VERY limited,
• I could buy physical copy of a game - but more often than not it will not work. I believe anything protected by Securom will not work on any supported version of Windows,
• I could sail the high seas - but finding version with latest patch with a crack for the latest patch that won't try to do something funny to my PC - takes time. And yes - reconfiguring address redirections is not something I take kindly to.

I guess true connoisseur would build complete 486 and complete Pentium III system and track down and buy physical copy for few hundreds of $$$.

People with too much time on their hands would download patch from long-defunct site using Wayback machine - and track down proper crack for decades old game - and solve few remaining compatibility issues with their PC - as I may have done for few games unavailable on GOG.

But I've got other shit to do - and there are many others like me - that's why every true classic released on GOG immediately jumps to the top of their charts. Which leaves random observers of these charts baffled .

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

Sadly this is how it goes. However despite its faults, GOG is one of the few places that allow you to back up your games and "own" them (besides itch.io, are there others?).
Of course, that advantage has only real meaning if you actually back up your library, otherwise what's the point - if you are relying on their hosting you might as well use Steam, which is better in all regards.
Kalanyr/gogrepoc is a great tool for that.

I use GOG almost exclusively - since Steam retroactively fucked up few games that I've bought - like GTA IV, San Andreas and Vice City.

What alternatives there are ?

• Zoom is another one - but the list of games for sale is VERY limited,
• I could buy physical copy of a game - but more often than not it will not work. I believe anything protected by Securom will not work on any supported version of Windows,
• I could sail the high seas - but finding version with latest patch with a crack for the latest patch that won't try to do something funny to my PC - takes time. And yes - reconfiguring address redirections is not something I take kindly to.

I guess true connoisseur would build complete 486 and complete Pentium III system and track down and buy physical copy for few hundreds of $$$.

People with too much time on their hands would download patch from long-defunct site using Wayback machine - and track down proper crack for decades old game - and solve few remaining compatibility issues with their PC - as I may have done for few games unavailable on GOG.

But I've got other shit to do - and there are many others like me - that's why every true classic released on GOG immediately jumps to the top of their charts. Which leaves random observers of these charts baffled .

Steam didn't fuck those games, Rockstar did. And several companies have fucked games over at GOG too. Games have had to be pulled out of the store because of it.

 

[Azdul]

Sadly this is how it goes. However despite its faults, GOG is one of the few places that allow you to back up your games and "own" them (besides itch.io, are there others?).
Of course, that advantage has only real meaning if you actually back up your library, otherwise what's the point - if you are relying on their hosting you might as well use Steam, which is better in all regards.
Kalanyr/gogrepoc is a great tool for that.

I use GOG almost exclusively - since Steam retroactively fucked up few games that I've bought - like GTA IV, San Andreas and Vice City.

What alternatives there are ?

• Zoom is another one - but the list of games for sale is VERY limited,
• I could buy physical copy of a game - but more often than not it will not work. I believe anything protected by Securom will not work on any supported version of Windows,
• I could sail the high seas - but finding version with latest patch with a crack for the latest patch that won't try to do something funny to my PC - takes time. And yes - reconfiguring address redirections is not something I take kindly to.

I guess true connoisseur would build complete 486 and complete Pentium III system and track down and buy physical copy for few hundreds of $$$.

People with too much time on their hands would download patch from long-defunct site using Wayback machine - and track down proper crack for decades old game - and solve few remaining compatibility issues with their PC - as I may have done for few games unavailable on GOG.

But I've got other shit to do - and there are many others like me - that's why every true classic released on GOG immediately jumps to the top of their charts. Which leaves random observers of these charts baffled .

Steam didn't fuck those games, Rockstar did. And several companies have fucked games over at GOG too. Games have had to be pulled out of the store because of it.

GOG and Zoom let me download offline installer. GOG Galaxy offers downgrades - and updates are not mandatory.

Steam lets me downgrade through Beta channel once in a blue moon (Skyrim) - and disabling upgrades requires jumping through too many hoops - including 'Steam offline mode forever'.

If Steam would let me download offline installer of specific version - I would still use it. But apparently keeping good relations with publishers was more important for Valve than keeping good relations with customers.

If the game is available on GOG or Zoom - publisher cannot just change the deal long after the refund period had passed - because the platform forces him to not be a dick (hello Ubisoft, Rockstar and Capcom).

 

[racofer]

A mix of GOG and high seas releases is the way to go. You keep the files and decide when/if to update. I eventually replace a high seas release once it becomes available on GOG, but usually the games I end up liking are available on GOG anyway.

And again: anyone using GOG and not having their library fully available offline is being stupid or have no idea what's the point of DRM-free. That's GOG's sole value as a digital store, despite their repeated attempts at screwing that up. For EVERYTHING else it's just a much inferior Steam wannabe.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Steam does have games in certain series that gog does not have which I find annoying. Sometimes they are released later. And games pulled is always a turn off.

 

[Bad Sector]

However despite its faults, GOG is one of the few places that allow you to back up your games and "own" them (besides itch.io, are there others?).

Zoom Platform, as was already mentioned is another DRM-free store. AFAIK they even have a policy on multiplayer games in that they'd only sell them if you can host your own server (a real one with an executable you download alongside the game, not a fake one like Discord's "servers").

Humble Bundle does provide DRM-free builds and you can filter games with those, though the site is largely a key seller.

GamersGate is similar in that it does have "DRM-free" games though with a weird caveat that what you download is a small installer that you need to login through and that does the actual download which runs the full installer. To get the actual files you need to run the full installer via the mini downloader/installer, ask it to keep the files around and copy the files while the installer is still running because for some reason it renames the installer executable.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

Gamersgate used to sell a D&D Anthology with the IE games and TOEE. The thing is that those were just GOG copies, older ones, from when the .exe would open the launcher, not the game directly. I wonder why they went with TOEE instead of NWN, which was an actual collection that was sold once.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

https://af.gog.com/en/promo/warhammer_skulls_2024?as=1649904300
Warhammer "Skulls" sale returns

https://af.gog.com/en/game/warhammer_rpg_bundle?as=1649904300
-Rogue Trader (Deluxe version, which doesn't include the DLC, that is in the Voidfarer edition)
-Chaosbane
-Mordheim
64%

https://af.gog.com/en/game/warhammer_strategy_bundle?as=1649904300
-Armageddon
-Sanctus Reach
-Battlesector
-Gladius
80%

 

[Azalin]

Also Gladius is a free giveaway for the next 147 hours

 

[racofer]

Also Gladius is a free giveaway for the next 147 hours

Dat DLC list. Thanks for the "free" game GOG.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

that's the business model for strategy games now

 

[Hag]

Kingdom Come : Delivrance at -80% for the next 2 days.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Look who popped up after I grabbed the freebie:

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

I personally had 3 games disappear out of my gog library - two I could retrace from looking through my purchases and only got them back after writing to the support. the third I still don't know what it was.
also, yes, the sole use I have for gog nowadays is to look at the section of newly released games. I don't follow any gaming websites, youtubers or anything. how else should I know what's being released?

The safest bet is to immediately download after purchase and catalog your GOG library on a hard drive. Update it every so often. If need be, duplicate on bluerays or something.

 

[Azdul]

I personally had 3 games disappear out of my gog library - two I could retrace from looking through my purchases and only got them back after writing to the support. the third I still don't know what it was.
also, yes, the sole use I have for gog nowadays is to look at the section of newly released games. I don't follow any gaming websites, youtubers or anything. how else should I know what's being released?

The safest bet is to immediately download after purchase and catalog your GOG library on a hard drive. Update it every so often. If need be, duplicate on bluerays or something.

Let's look at one example:

1. At one point there was Interplay Fallout 1 available for sale.
2. Bethesda bought rights to Fallout (but not to Interplay logo).
3. Just to be dicks - Interplay and GOG started giving away copies of Fallout 1 for free - for the last month when they could legally do so.
4. Fallout 1 was removed from GOG store - but not people's libraries.
5. Then - Bethesda started selling 'their' version for 2$ on GOG - without Interplay logo.
6. People who had Interplay Fallout - probably didn't want the Bethesda one. So it was renamed 'Fallout 1 Classic' and excluded from automatic upgrades.
7. Then - people started complaining that they've bought Bethesda one by mistake - and they already had Interplay Fallout 1 - so Bethesda one was added to libraries of everyone who had Interplay Fallout 1.
8. Then - Bethesda removed Fallout 1 from GOG in 2014 (to protect their own digital store from DRM-free competition)
9. After few years - Microsoft bought Bethesda and Fallout 1 was brought back to GOG.
10. And now people complain that newly bought Bethesda version does not have Fallout Bible ...

I would lose track who has a right to download what - so downloading offline installers is probably a good idea.

 

[racofer]

I personally had 3 games disappear out of my gog library - two I could retrace from looking through my purchases and only got them back after writing to the support. the third I still don't know what it was.
also, yes, the sole use I have for gog nowadays is to look at the section of newly released games. I don't follow any gaming websites, youtubers or anything. how else should I know what's being released?

The safest bet is to immediately download after purchase and catalog your GOG library on a hard drive. Update it every so often. If need be, duplicate on bluerays or something.

Let's look at one example:

1. At one point there was Interplay Fallout 1 available for sale.
2. Bethesda bought rights to Fallout (but not to Interplay logo).
3. Just to be dicks - Interplay and GOG started giving away copies of Fallout 1 for free - for the last month when they could legally do so.
4. Fallout 1 was removed from GOG store - but not people's libraries.
5. Then - Bethesda started selling 'their' version for 2$ on GOG - without Interplay logo.
6. People who had Interplay Fallout - probably didn't want the one with Bethesda logo. So it was renamed 'Fallout 1 Classic' and excluded from automatic upgrades.
7. Then - people started complaining that they've bought Bethesda one by mistake - and they already had Interplay Fallout 1 - so Bethesda one was added to libraries of everyone who had Interplay Fallout 1.
8. Then - Bethesda removed Fallout 1 from GOG in 2014.
9. After few years - Microsoft bought Bethesda and Fallout 1 was brought back to GOG.
10. And now people complain that newly bought Bethesda version does not have Fallout Bible ...

I would lose track who has a right to download what - so downloading offline installers is probably a good idea.

But you fail to understand that I simply HAVE TO GIVE MONEY to this publisher in order to support the devs that get nothing out of their game or else their already defunct studio will crash!

 

[Azdul]

I personally had 3 games disappear out of my gog library - two I could retrace from looking through my purchases and only got them back after writing to the support. the third I still don't know what it was.
also, yes, the sole use I have for gog nowadays is to look at the section of newly released games. I don't follow any gaming websites, youtubers or anything. how else should I know what's being released?

The safest bet is to immediately download after purchase and catalog your GOG library on a hard drive. Update it every so often. If need be, duplicate on bluerays or something.

Let's look at one example:

1. At one point there was Interplay Fallout 1 available for sale.
2. Bethesda bought rights to Fallout (but not to Interplay logo).
3. Just to be dicks - Interplay and GOG started giving away copies of Fallout 1 for free - for the last month when they could legally do so.
4. Fallout 1 was removed from GOG store - but not people's libraries.
5. Then - Bethesda started selling 'their' version for 2$ on GOG - without Interplay logo.
6. People who had Interplay Fallout - probably didn't want the one with Bethesda logo. So it was renamed 'Fallout 1 Classic' and excluded from automatic upgrades.
7. Then - people started complaining that they've bought Bethesda one by mistake - and they already had Interplay Fallout 1 - so Bethesda one was added to libraries of everyone who had Interplay Fallout 1.
8. Then - Bethesda removed Fallout 1 from GOG in 2014.
9. After few years - Microsoft bought Bethesda and Fallout 1 was brought back to GOG.
10. And now people complain that newly bought Bethesda version does not have Fallout Bible ...

I would lose track who has a right to download what - so downloading offline installers is probably a good idea.

But you fail to understand that I simply HAVE TO GIVE MONEY to this publisher in order to support the devs that get nothing out of their game or else their already defunct studio will crash!

I've bought Interplay Fallout back in the day (5$) - so today Hervé Caen can sue the fuckers doing 'spritual successors' to Interplay games.

Developers should create original settings and try fresh gameplay ideas - and we need people like Hervé to keep them honest.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

Bethesda didn't remove any logos from the original games though?

 

[octavius]

Look who popped up after I grabbed the freebie:

Not sure if it's supposed to be a face or someone with a magenta skirt bending over showing something white stuck up their ass.
Either way it's disgusting, and a fine visual representation of what GOG has become.

 

[Oberon]

>goy.com

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Release:
Skald: Against the Black Priory.
https://af.gog.com/game/skald_against_the_black_priory?as=1649904300

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Release:
Mortal Glory 2.
https://af.gog.com/game/mortal_glory_2?source=news&as=1649904300

 

[MerchantKing]

I don't feel so good anymore...

 

[NecroLord]

GOG celebrating Pride Month.
Fuck this company.
Day by day, what little respect I had for them chips away...

 

[catfood]

It's not like it's the first year they're doing it.