
How GoG.com is growing beyond a back catalog - danso
http://www.polygon.com/2014/7/21/5913763/gog-com-back-catalog-new-releases
======
tempodox
I love GoG. They have one of the best online shopping experiences I have seen
yet. And they are the antithesis to Steam: No nagging ads every time I start a
game, no pointless “updates” to the client (just so it can nag with even more
ads), no DRM. GoG knows how to win customers with goodies instead of forcing
crap on them, like Steam does. Seriously, I only ever buy games on Steam if I
cannot get them anywhere else. Even Apple's AppStore sucks less than Steam
(and it's not easy to suck more than the AppStore).

~~~
stickmangallows
Do you mean the pop-up ads when you start Steam? You can turn those off under
Settings->Interface->Notify me.

~~~
tempodox
Thanks, I hadn't found that yet. Then again, I didn't look that hard,
either...

~~~
pdpi
It's pretty telling that your threshold for bitching about something on HN is
lower than your threshold for trying to solve it.

~~~
patmcguire
You've always been able to turn Clippy off.

You've always been able to go through twelve screens of settings and figure
out which Facebook radio buttons are the "don't share everything" option.

You've always been able to opt out of spamming all your email contacts when
you import from LinkedIn.

You've always been able to cancel your recurring subscriptions, you've just
got to call our customer support number, no it absolutely cannot be done
online.

Super obnoxious defaults are still super obnoxious if they can be changed.
I've used Steam for a while, and don't mind the ads that much, but it would
never would have occurred to me that I had the option to turn them off.

~~~
Lockyy
Have you considered that for a lot of people the ads aren't obnoxious because
they actually help keep them up to date on new releases?

~~~
arg01
I too like the ads. But programs with "tip of the day"s in them have had this
problem solved for a long time, just including a check box for never show me
again. You could make the argument with some programs that it interferes with
a minimalist design, but you'd have to admit this does not appear to be what
steam is going for.

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auxbuss
It's GoG's ethics that I love. They walk the talk.

I'm no gamer, but I bought The Witcher on Steam with the aim of playing it in
a language I'm learning. Seemed like a solid and fun challenge. But Steam's
version of The Witcher wouldn't even load on OSX, despite it being sold as
such.

GoG, rather kindly, offered a download for folk experiencing this problem,
providing you provided a valid key for the game. My complaint to Steam has
never been answered.

See, to me, GoG add value to the customer -- even though I wasn't one at that
point. They are focussing on things from a customer's POV. That's the kind of
business I want to do business with.

GoG is the current wearer of the "Don't be evil" crown.

~~~
shmerl
By the way, GOG offers downloads of Witcher 1 and 2 for anyone who purchased
the game elsewhere (retail, Steam, etc.) not just for those with that problem:
[https://secure.gog.com/witcher/backup](https://secure.gog.com/witcher/backup)

The company which develops the Witcher series (CD Project Red) actually owns
GOG.

~~~
timje1
This insight makes the line about not being a customer yet false - all
purchasers of the Witcher are CD Project Red, and thus GoG, customers.

Still not evil.

~~~
shmerl
_> all purchasers of the Witcher are CD Project Red_

I see no problem supporting them. They are actually advancing DRM-free gaming.

------
SixSigma
It's not just nostalgia that makes me a happy Gog customer. Many of the titles
I didn't completely finish, some have expansion packs I never bought, some I
only have for non-existent 5.25" / 3.5" floppy drives and some have re-
texturing and mods for modern systems to improve graphical resolution.

Plus many titles I never had the pocket money to buy and now they are pocket
change. With the Gog digital download system I can relax about keeping backups
and the like.

------
shmerl
GOG doesn't focus solely on old games anymore. They sell new games as well but
they still focus on good games though. And obviously they remain DRM-free and
work with publishers to convince them to release their games without any DRM
junk attached, which is praiseworthy.

It's good that they are attempting to compete with Steam more - we need that.
But in order to differentiate, it's not enough to make the client optional -
they can also open source it to improve trust. That would set them apart from
Steam even more.

You can vote for it on GOG's wishlist board:

[https://secure.gog.com/wishlist/site/release_the_future_gog_...](https://secure.gog.com/wishlist/site/release_the_future_gog_updater_client_as_open_source)

At the very least they can document the protocol / API of the client to enable
community alternatives. Vote for it as well:

[https://secure.gog.com/wishlist/site/document_the_protocol_a...](https://secure.gog.com/wishlist/site/document_the_protocol_and_api_of_the_galaxy_updater_client_to_enable_community_alternatives)

~~~
bryanlarsen
"The author didn't mention that GOG doesn't focus solely on old games
anymore."

That was the point of the article, although it took them a while to get to it.
It was called out in the title of the article.

(commented instead of down-voting because I don't want to bury your other
comments).

~~~
shmerl
Yes, sorry about that - I missed that part where he says that they augment GOG
with new titles. That kind of took a back seat in the story. I think it's
quite a major change and the one which allows them to actually compete with
Steam.

I corrected the comment to reflect it.

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reiichiroh
Sorry if this is a tangent, but for those of you that use Steam, try using
this: www.enhancedsteam.com

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cridenour
Does anyone remember their "scare tactics" when they rebranded? Told everyone
that they were shutting down - but launched the "new GoG.com" the next day.

------
oneeyedpigeon
Generally, GoG is great, they have a great user experience, sell most of the
best games from my formative years, and represent brilliant value. My one
complaint is the odd compatibility hole - I've been waiting for Settlers 2 to
become available on the Mac for what seems like forever.

~~~
shmerl
Since it's a DosBox game, why can't you take the GOG installer for Windows,
unpack it and run the game in your DosBox on OS X? Some minor .conf
modifications which are needed aren't hard to figure out.

------
NickWarner775
Great idea. I have never heard of this company before but I would love to
start playing my old favorite games again.

------
mreiland
GoG was never a back catalog, does anyone else find it annoying how these
"authors" decide they want to write about something and choose something as
stupid as talking about how GoG is no longer something it never was?

~~~
shmerl
For a while, old games were their main focus. Then they changed their
strategy. See
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GOG.com#Rebrand_to_GOG.com](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GOG.com#Rebrand_to_GOG.com)

~~~
mreiland
They are not, nor have they ever been, a backlog of games.

They started out as a company who charged for making older games work on newer
versions of windows.

A _company_ , not a backlog of games.

~~~
seanflyon
They started out as a company making old (back catalog) games work on newer
machines. So yes they were never a back catalog, they were a company that
maintained and sold a back catalog.

~~~
mreiland
and MS is a backlog-centric company because they still support a "back
catalog" of programming languages like C++ and C# version 1.0.

lets stop with the stupidity.

~~~
seanflyon
Microsoft does support their back catalog, but it is hardly their focus. They
focus primarily on current and future offerings of their various products. GoG
on the other hand came about as a back catalog company. That is what they did.
It's in their name. We all understand that they have branched out and offer
new games as well, thus the article about how they are no longer just a back
catalog company. I don't understand your hangup about this.

~~~
mreiland
and IBM is still supporting software and hardware from 40+ years ago, are they
a back catalog company too?

You're trying to redefine words to mean what you want them to mean, I hope you
don't approach technical decisions in the same manner.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05WS0WN7zMQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05WS0WN7zMQ)

~~~
seanflyon
IBM doesn't call themselves Old Business Machines. What words am I redifining?
"Back catalog" mean catalog of older items. "back catalog company" means a
company that focuses primarily on a back catalog. Please tell me why you are
so opposed to GoG being considered a "back catalog" company when selling and
maintaining a back catalog was the only thing they did.

Do you think I (or anyone else) mean it as some sort of insult?

~~~
mreiland
So now a company is required to have it in their name in order for it to be a
'back catalog', and since IBM doesn't have it in their name, the fact that
they do a hell of a lot of work with older tech doesn't mean anything.

It isn't about any insult, it's about the absurdity of calling GoG a backlog
at all. What impresses me the most about your response is how my taking issue
with a misunderstanding in the first place is pigeonholed as being insulted
(because how could anyone disagree on the basis of the argument itself! of
course I must be insulted).

~~~
seanflyon
You are insisting that Good Old Games never primarily focused on old games.
That is absurd.

My first guess was that there was some miss-communication and tried to be
extremely clear on what I was saying. Maybe I am still not understanding you.
Are you actually arguing that GoG never had selling and maintaining a catalog
of old games as its primary focus?

My second guess was that you reaction was an emotional response to something.

I am trying to understand your point of view. So far I have been unsuccessful.

~~~
mreiland
As a rule of thumb, when you find yourself telling the other person what their
argument is, you're generally involved in a strawman.

~~~
seanflyon
I apologize if I miss-characterized your position. Are you are insisting that
Good Old Games never primarily focused on old games?

~~~
mreiland
Again with the bullshit, this conversation is over.

~~~
seanflyon
Asking what your position is is now "bullshit"? You are right, this
conversation has been over for a while.

