I've been fond of GOG as a service since its inception, I very much like how the company supports older titles, fixes them up, and gets them playable again on modern hardware. I appreciate the fact that they still serve DRMfree titles in a year where nearly everything requires some form of online connectivity at all times. I think the company does some really great things, and its because I love what they do that I'm going to call them out on their marketing.

Email subject: "Up to 90% OFF: Shadow Warrior 2, Freespace 2, & Production line."

That subject line is full of marketing practices which are disrespectful to the consumer in my opinion. I know that many companies do this.. and i personally hate it when they do, but I honestly expect better from sites like GOG.

The subject line says "Up to 90% OFF" and lists three recognizable games which are meant to draw the consumer's attention in conjunction with a large discount, and yet not a single one of the games being mentioned is 90% off. Shadow Warrior 2 is 60%, Freespace 2 is 66%, and Production Line is 20%. There is literally one title on the sale list for 90% off, and its not one of the ones mentioned.

This is not an isolated incident either, there are a bunch of emails like these, they aren't all the time, but they're frequent enough that without ever needing to read them at all, i already know they're lying to me. Heres two more I came up with just randomly scanning through a list of deleted email, and after checking, you guessed it, they're just like the one above:

2018-02-09 - Exclusive return: Close Combat 2, 3, 4; series up to -65% • Up to 90% off Gothic, Batman, Prison Architect, Don't Starve and more!
--- (Gothic 75%, Batman 40%, Prison Architect 75%, Dont Starve 67%) as seen in the mailer.

2017-09-30 - Up to 90% off System Shock, Turok, Shadow Tactics and more • Cuphead and The Guild 3 now available!
--- (System Shock 85%, Turok 75%, Shadow Tactics, 30%) as seen in the mailer.

If the title said: "Sale: 90% off We Are The Dwarves * Plus other great deals on Shadow Warrior 2, Freespace 2, and Production Line and more." I'd have infinitely more respect for the way the marketing is being done. But if you're going to list that theres up to 90% off, and then you provide a list of games right after that, then atleast one, (and preferably the first title) should be at the listed discount rate.

It seems like nearly every sale these days has titles that "are up to 90% off" anymore, making it basically just a marketing buzzword or tactic. I'd honestly rather just be told what each game in the subject line is on sale for. "Big Summer Sale: Doom 50%, Freespace 60%, Stalker, 75% and Many More!" (for example.)

Thats my two cents. It really bothers me when companies market to us in this fashion, especially companies that i have some respect for. It feels a bit slimy and deceptive, and I honestly dont know why more people dont complain about this sort of thing. Its 2018, why do companies still feel like the best way to market to their customers is to deceive them in some fashion? Does that -actually- work? The only thing i ever feel when companies do this is disappointment, and resentment.

Please do better.

You don't have to receive the promotional emails. You can change that in your settings.

And it's not "a lot" of companies that list sales like this. It's all companies.

Well the reason im subscribed is because I would -like- to receive promotional emails. And the reason im complaining is that the ones im receiving are somewhere between deceptive and bait/switch advertisements. As consumers we should protest when companies make use of these tactics. Respect is a two way street, and if we let them continue to use them without complaining then theres no chance that anything will ever change. So this is my attempt to try and generate some interest in the topic, and help to change these anti-consumer practices. I honestly hope and believe that GOG is better than this, so I'd like them to acknowledge that, and then make the changes necessary to step out and above the snakeoil salesmen tactics that are employed by most of the companies out there.

Yeah, I hate this as well, but as misteryo said, all companies do it. Every time I see an advertised sale with the words 'Up To', I automatically assume there's only 1 item with that deep discount and it's likely something I don't want anyway.

This is common and normal marketing. Never believe anything fwritten or given online ever, no matter how many likes are given. They are here to abstract you from you money plain and simple.

Yeah, I was kind of disappointed by that one too. I know it's common practice and you have to be smarter than the advertising but still... I expect better from GOG. You're supposed to be the noble knights of digital distribution. Trying to trick me into thinking SW2 is the big deal is beneath you.

Just don't get your hopes up that the discount percentage you want will be there. Exactly.

I keep waiting for 2% and it never comes.

(I agree with the OP and I upvoted it.)

I don't mind because I'm used to these and many other marketing practices.

In fact, I'm so used that whenever I see the word "SAVE" in a marketing context, my brain reads "SPEND" automatically.

Up to. It's the same type of parsing as "at least".

So if I tell you that there will be "at least" 3 cars, that means my showroom could have just four cars.

Very unfortunate, but very common practice. All the same, it's nice to see others feel the same way. Even better if/when a company listens. I wonder if they'll respond to this at all.

The one that got me recently was the FREE Warhammer 40K: Rites of War email.

I'm not upset. I just felt like sharing that fact.