Really? Not even just a little bit? It just sure seems like you are a little more invested than wallet voting.

I wasn't trying to single you out btw, if that was something you felt like was happening.

ShinyLoot, DotEmu and Desura haven't done anything to destroy my trust in them. GOG are untrustworthy because they originally made promises with lofty ideals only to abandon them.

Desura for example has never made any promises about DRM or regional pricing, so they can't break them.

Pretty much my take on this- I am all for voting with one's dollar, but let's not pretend that GOG is some cesspool, and there's an oasis out there some where. Everywhere is pretty much the same, I am just looking for DRM-free games and good prices, ya know.

Overall, though, I am sick of talking about this topic because I don't get anything out of convincing someone else that they're behaving irrationally, so whatever- free to do what you want, peeps.

edit missed a word

No, I don't feel singled out, don't worry.

Well maybe I'm trying to send a message to GOG, but certainly not the market in general. I'm wallet voting as well as trying to make sure GOG knows I'm wallet voting. If GOG goes out of business because of a boycott in response to the regional pricing thing (unlikely), then it'll be their own fault for destroying what they built up. I don't for a second thing that they'll be in trouble from a boycott though. I can't support this crap though, not after they spent so long pushing the lack of regional pricing as a prominent feature.

Then shame on Desura for not even trying. The reason we are getting more of those sites, ones who offer great deals and DRM free, is precisely due to GOG. They've led the way in this. They're the ones who alerted the industry to the fact DRM free really matters to people. Why not give them the benefit of the doubt for the time being instead of acting like GOG took your birthday away? You aren't going to find another site out there with this many classics and this many DRM free games. I personally wouldn't want to give that up.

I am definitely buying from
GamersGate
Steam
HumbleBundle
IndieRoyal
DotEmu
Desura


Wait...i hate DRM, Steam is out.
Oh, and don't have the others regional pricing too?...shit.
Than i'll just wait and see and if the price is right for me buy it :P

I just must not have even been paying attention. I remember the old video from a couple of years about but that was the last time I ever remember hearing about the concept. Granted I probably wasn't paying attention.

You're talking about the optional Steam Guard, and I'm well aware of what that is. But the variant of CEG anti-piracy protection used for CS:GO does indeed use a CUSTOM exe for each user. Each and every single user gets a different executable file. And the executable file will NOT run on a computer that's different from the one it was created on.

Edit: But maybe you just didn't understand what I meant by "if you change your computer", I don't mean if you modify one little thing in your computer, I mean if you change to a completely different computer.

DotEmu is the real underdog.

My suggestion to people: perhaps buy what you think the game is worth. You can wait for sales as a way to tell GOG, "I still like you, but I won't buy anything full price now with regional pricing."

Store A: "We stand for nothing! Buy from us!"

Store B: "We stand for X, Y, Z, and Q! Buy from us!"

Customer base: "Yay - we like that stuff from Store B!"

Store B: "Aah, crap - we can't do Y any longer while continuing to give you the other things you want from us."

Customer base: "Off with their heads!"

Store B: "But we still have X, Z, and Q, and more of the product you keep asking for!"

Customer base: "It's the principles, dammit!"

Store A: "We STILL stand for nothing! See? We haven't compromised the integrity that we never had in the first place! Buy from us!"

Customer base: <stampede to Store A>



<shrug>

/end thread.

Hear, hear!

And by Steam having no principles (not even something as basic as a return policy if the game doesn't run on your computer), and close to zero communication with customers, they have nothing to backtrack from.

I'll stick with DRM-free stores, at least they're not treating customers like criminals.

I hope you don't mind the minor editing :D

I haven't been up to date on all of this in the community, but here's my two cents based on a little reading I have done on the regional pricing controversy.

I feel for the people that feel used because you did a lot of free promotional and service work on GOG.com's behalf. I would feel betrayed too if I did that. I just don't feel that way because I quit doing that sort of thing for anyone a long time ago. If people asked me where to get a digital PC game, I recommended this store because it is my favorite but I never tried to persuade anyone to buy here.

I treat this store like a store. I'm not loyal to it, I'm loyal to what I value. They just happen to offer what I subjectively value the most compared to other stores in my cost-benefit analysis. My confidence is high here. They have to offer me something I want for me to give them something they want, and as of right now, what I value most (not having to ask a third party when, where, or how I can install or play a damn game) hasn't changed here. My price also isn't going to change, but I can definitely understand why people are upset if their price is affected by this change. I am a little worried about what the signs appear to be pointing at in the future if they decide they need "features" like region locks too, but I'll crack open a bottle of whiskey and drown my sorrows if and when that day comes, not now based on speculation. For now, I'll just make sure my games are all backed up in case that comes.

Right now my main concern is that the price of AoW 3 is way too high for a digital game and so will be the price of the digital version of the The Witcher 3. I don't value any DRM-free digital game more than $20, no matter how bad my itch might be to play a new game, and if I can control my itch, I will pay much less for a digital game. If the retail version of TW 3 is also DRM-free, then yeah, maybe I'll spend more than $20 for the box version.

In my ideal world, the retail versions and digital versions could do what they do best and coexist. Digital could be cheap and retail could offer goodies like the big boxes used to offer and charge what they need to provide that service. Sure, retailers would probably see a drop in sales so that instead of purchasing 1000 units they might have to purchase 500 instead but they have to do business things like economic calculation to determine if it is worth it to them. Not everyone will just automatically go digital because it's cheaper. Price isn't the only thing people value.

Even if digital cuts into retail so much that many retailers have to close shop or become a small niche, then that is what the market demands anyway and a successful business will either go where the demand is or successfully persuade people why their product is superior. Right now, it's kind of a Sophie's Choice anyway since most boxed games are just Steam keys.

Lastly, I've seen people concerned that this move points toward a Steam-like store (I'll use Steam since it is the most well known). While this is certainly possible, I don't think it would be a wise choice. Most customers value these stores for different reasons. I don't claim to have numbers (but neither does anyone else arguing differently), but I don't think it is a zero-sum game. Some people here were pirating games before they became customers, some (like me) just quit playing PC games altogether.

My point is that we all weren't Steam customers before GOG.com existed. Those that were and still are Steam customers because they value what Steam offers are going to continue buying Steam games unless GOG.com can do what Steam does better, and I don't believe they are in a position to do that. If you feel like what GOG.com offers is already better then it's because this store is NOT like Steam. Those of us who were not and are not Steam customers will not buy Steam games over GOG.com games unless Steam offers us something that we value more, which for most of us would be 100% DRM-free installers so we could browse titles there with confidence. We anti-DRM customers would go back to pirating or lose interest entirely in PC gaming if GOG.com moves in a Steam-like direction.

One store's folly is another store's opportunity though too, so maybe we'd all just give other stores like DotEmu or Humble Bundle more business instead. I don't like those installers or zipped folders as much though but if there's more business flowing they could fix that.

This is exactly it. I didn't really buy games often before I got into collecting titles on GOG. I had a handful of games I liked that had large active online modding and custom content communities, as these are the type of games I most enjoy. I am very glad to have DRM free versions of Neverwinter Nights 1 & 2 in one easy complete installer for each game. I went to great lengths to remove the DRM from my install of the Sims 2. With all the EPs and SPs it is a royal pain to install, so if a complete version came here (DRM free) I'd buy it in a second. If I'm really tempted I may buy here again once in a blue moon if I know I want the game, but no more impulse buys just because of liking GOG and a sale being on. I might check out dotEMU. Apart from that, I really don't need more games, my shelf is at 342. I really liked gifting here because it was a way to share favorite games with others and support GOG's formerly worthwhile efforts. My trust is so damaged, I no longer have any interest in adding value to their site in the form of help on the forums, giveaways and such.