I hope this topic hasn't been raised before, and if it has I apologize for opening it again.

Most of us here have at least a few games on GoG . Some of them, and indeed many of the ones available have multiplayer options. However servers and support for most of them are long gone and even if they aren't its sometimes hard to find people interested in playing.

Even if that is possible it usually involves a lot of work, sometimes technical stuff some of us (like me) aren't proficient in.

So this is my idea. Why shouldn't GoG have an integrated multiplayer service where we can connect and play these games together. Something like what Steam has. Of course, no one would expect this sort of service to be free (servers and whatnot) - and I'm sure it could be compensated to GoG with a reasonably priced subscription system. I think it would make GoG much more popular because it extends the appeal of the games significantly + it makes the community tighter and more dedicated.

What do you think of this?

I think something like this would be great, but I also don't think GOG would do it. But you never know...

Subscription service? Nu-huh.

I never said you'd be obligated to use it. It would be separate from the main site.

You can't really expect them to do it for free. What's wrong with having it as an added option?

Say you want to play for a month, any game in multiplayer with GoG guaranteeing stability and a place on the servers for say 5$.
You get bored with it - you don't renew. And that's that?

I would only pay monthly for it if it had some really nice features. Like Xbox live, but for good old games.

Why would GOG need to provide a paid service for multiplayer games when in the few occasions where the dedicated servers for those games are no longer available, there are already free alternatives in place that are very easy to use? Hamachi, for example.

Because it divides the community into people that pays and people that doesn't, which in my opinion is one ugly thing to do, since then that evolves into premium "goodies" or stuff like that. The advertising that having their own servers would create will likely turn into more game purchases and would probably be benefitial itself.

If you're interested, i'll refer you to this article i very much agree with.
No such thing as a free lunch

I agree with zkylon, to be successful this service needs to be free and open to all GOGers (meaning you need a GOG account, but you can play with the boxed version of the game, not necessarily the GOG version). Otherwise, the whole purpose, which is to federate as many players as possible to make multiplayer interesting, is simply defeated.
Besides, for such old games, I don't believe the cost of dedicated servers is that high. I mean, the server-side code has been designed to run on computers that are now 10-or-so-years-old. You could probably run a bunch of games on a single machine without too much performance problems.
For me, the cost is on the maintenance and user-interface side. But it can be far from negligible anyway.

Well its up to GoG to offer a model, paid or not - I'd just like to be able to play these games with other GoGers, without the fuss of having to set up the multiplayer options. I'm sure it would work out in their benefit (and ours) in the long run.

I like the idea, but don't think GOG's focus is on that anywhere in the near future.

I'd still like to see this thread get som GOG game multiplayer sessions going, even with hamachi or the likes(i don't play on steam!!!! )
i mean, imagine Interstate 76 online!!( can't remember if that game even had lan support)