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General discussion (archive)More GOG future news(23 posts)(23 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted November 22, 2011
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crazy_dave: True, but if I may, I think I can present both sides. I think the people who are against GOG moving towards newer games tend to be actually the newer customers - like me and more recent. Comparatively, they've only just found this site and its emphasis on classic gaming and would hate to see GOG lose part of its identity so soon nor do they feel it's ready to take on the behemoth that is Steam (which from the interview the French Monk has flat-out stated they aren't planning on doing with this move). Conversely people who have been on this site for awhile, who have seen GOG grow, are ready to see GOG take DRM-free, customer-friendly gaming to the next stage - newer games. Now obviously there are older and younger site-members on both sides of the issue, but this is the trend as I see it from reading the posts on the topic.

Regardless of the longevity of the poster, both sides each have a point: GOG is special partly because of its boutique nature with its emphasis on reviving classic games. But a healthy business needs to grow and, especially as time goes by, GOG will only be able to grow so fast on offering games 4+ years old. Further, showing that DRM-free gaming works in general and not just for old games is an important step to take for the game industry - the taking of which GOG is ideal for. I don't think they'll alienate anybody really, but I understand the reticence of some people with respect to GOG offering newer games. It's very much part of GOG's identity and specialness and not just because "Old" is in its name. :)
I think that is a very astute observation. If there are 2 releases per week and 1 of every 2 or 3 are newer then that is a pretty good compromise. GOG will still remain true to its roots and other options will exist for those that welcome that. Personally, I'm all about having more choices, in any capacity.

Do we even want to start conversing over the pricing changes?
Posted November 22, 2011
Personally I think that GOG was probably running low on old games it could licence and get working on modern systems while, at the same time, the publishers it was working with were offering some newer stuff that already works on modern system that it could just put out no fuss no muss if it wasn't for it's self imposed 3 year rule and the need for higher price points
Then it took a long hard look at itself, said "actually this is a bit dumb" and changed its rules
Posted November 22, 2011
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crazy_dave: True, but if I may, I think I can present both sides. I think the people who are against GOG moving towards newer games tend to be actually the newer customers - like me and more recent. Comparatively, they've only just found this site and its emphasis on classic gaming and would hate to see GOG lose part of its identity so soon nor do they feel it's ready to take on the behemoth that is Steam (which from the interview the French Monk has flat-out stated they aren't planning on doing with this move). Conversely people who have been on this site for awhile, who have seen GOG grow, are ready to see GOG take DRM-free, customer-friendly gaming to the next stage - newer games. Now obviously there are older and younger site-members on both sides of the issue, but this is the trend as I see it from reading the posts on the topic.

Regardless of the longevity of the poster, both sides each have a point: GOG is special partly because of its boutique nature with its emphasis on reviving classic games. But a healthy business needs to grow and, especially as time goes by, GOG will only be able to grow so fast on offering games 4+ years old. Further, showing that DRM-free gaming works in general and not just for old games is an important step to take for the game industry - the taking of which GOG is ideal for. I don't think they'll alienate anybody really, but I understand the reticence of some people with respect to GOG offering newer games. It's very much part of GOG's identity and specialness and not just because "Old" is in its name. :)
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whodares2: I think that is a very astute observation. If there are 2 releases per week and 1 of every 2 or 3 are newer then that is a pretty good compromise. GOG will still remain true to its roots and other options will exist for those that welcome that. Personally, I'm all about having more choices, in any capacity.

Do we even want to start conversing over the pricing changes?
The concern people have is that releasing new games here takes the site off target, makes it harder to promote and brings in a very different crowd than they've attracted in the past.

What's more it means that I would have to actually read the system requirements here before buying anything as there'd be more than just TW2 that might not run on any of my computers.

But, when it comes down to it, there are plenty of places where people can get DRM free new games, the games that are not DRM free tend to be that way because of the publishers, not because of a lack of stores willing to carry them. Adding them here makes little sense when the community is still growing quickly and showing no signs of slowing.

Ultimately, it could work, but it's an awfully large gamble for such a small benefit.
Posted November 22, 2011
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Fuzzyfireball: I apologize if this was posted elsewhere, but just in case it has not...

GOG director explains the distributor’s new direction, how “good old” principles still apply

http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/11/21/gog-director-explains-the-distributors-new-direction-how-good-old-principles-still-apply/
very nice read btw.
Posted November 23, 2011
Good interview.

I hope they maintain flat prices and a schedule of 2 old, classic games per week. Considering new games to be added as a bonus in the schedule.

They say 20 newer games in 2012, since there's 52 weeks a year, 1 new game for 20 out of these 52, not excessive.

I just wish publishers like Ubisoft and EA would wake up and release the missing expansions here...

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Dwarden: very nice read btw.
ArmA 3 launch at GOG? This is a suggestion. ;-)

It would sit nicely next to my GOG copy of OFP.
Posted November 23, 2011
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Coelocanth: I know there are a number of people that say "HOw can it be Good OLD Games if they release newer titles?", but I'm personally quite excited about this quote:
Keep in mind that our initial plan for 2012 involved adding 20 “newer” titles–that is to say, titles between one to three years old. These games are well past their initial sales rush and are in what you would call the long tail of their sales phase. GOG’s mission is to give these titles a second youth, making these games virtual “collector’s editions” with bundled-in extra goodies like soundtracks and wallpapers.
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Coelocanth: 20 'newer' titles, DRM-free? Yeah, baby! Bring it on.
I get the explanation, but basically nearly every PC game these days is in the long tail of their sales phase after the first month(s). This is like saying they'll have the newest games as well, just not for their initial sales rush.

It'll be interesting to see how it goes though. They're basically going to compete on No-DRM + Extra's (collector) edition then, but as someone here mentioned already, it was already apparent in the interview that there are quite a few people who have trouble seeing services like Steam as DRM to begin with, so that part in itself will take some good advertising to get mainstream probably.

Extra's ... just me personally, I've never cared for anything extra that doesn't particularly show up in game. But there'll be a selection of people who will prefer that kind of thing, naturally. Although I do believe most true 'collector' type people are the ones who want the 'Box of Goodies', rather than a virtual likeness.
Posted November 24, 2011
Awesome! yeah downloader it is then!

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justinpa: Hi Gog,

Just wanted to check if you have any plans to host a couple of servers around the globe?

To really just allow quicker and more "close to home" downloads?

Thanks
Justin
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TheEnigmaticT: I believe we already have a variety of servers in our CDN scattered around the globe. If you use our downloader app instead of the in-browser downloads, I imagine that you will be impressed with our D/L speeds. I've certainly found it speedy. ;)
Posted November 24, 2011
All-in-all, this will be interesting. I like the idea of GOG mixing it up with newer and classic games. This does not mean the missing classics will not be delivered. It just means they will be mixed in.
Many of us still want to see classic series like Ultima and Wing Commander continue here, and they likely will, albeit mixed in with newer fare like The Witcher.
I will probably sit the new games out, though, not because of anything against GOG, but because of a combination of many slowdowns from my provider combined with data caps.
I have to admit, for example, that I am more likely to buy the Atari packaged disc from the retail store just because of Internet problems.
Also, my laptop is a couple years old, and, while old games are fine, it may have issues with newer ones.
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This is my favourite topic
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General discussion (archive)More GOG future news(23 posts)(23 posts)
(23 posts)