It said the service was shutting down. Sounds like it to me. Not that I care too much, I suppose. I got most of the games I wanted from them before all of this.water_wendi said:The message didnt say they were totally shutting down.
BobsRevenge said:While the PR was purposefully misleading, it never actually said they were totally shutting down.
It emphasizes the fact that DRM-free is awesome, sure. But one of the things I like about these services, and what makes me pay for them, is that I always have access to a copy 'in the cloud' of all the games I've bought. That, at least for me, is part of their value proposition. And judging by all the people who mentioned buying stuff only to download it much later, I'm not the only one who relies on that part of their service. Sure they said they would provide someway to get our stuff out in a week when they announced the fake closing, but they still pulled an integral part of their service offline to get some press.mantidor said:It actually enphasizes their strong point, if this happens to Steam you are screwed. With GOG you would've lost nothing.
I'm not saying it was a clever move, but I can see where they are coming from.
Yeah, I guess I'll download all the games I got from them now. I hadn't done it before because I'd assumed they'd always be around somewhere. Now I know to at least keep a backup.Snow said:It emphasizes that the fact that DRM-free is awesome, sure. But one of things I like about these services, and what makes me pay for them, is that I always have access to a copy 'in the cloud' of all the games I've bought. That, at least for me, is part of their value proposition. And judging by all the people who mentioned buying stuff only to download it much later, I'm not the only one who relies on that part of their service. Sure they said they would provide someway to get our stuff out in a week when they announced the fake closing, but the still pulled an integral part of their service offline to get some press.
Fair warning before they pulled this stunt. What about a consumer who wanted to download and play Fallout in the week they were "shut down"?water_wendi said:Umm.. they did give fair warning? They said you would be able to download your games later this week in the original message.
duckroll said:Maybe the Polish have a different sense of humor? Could be cultural? I really have no idea.
That would actually be hilarious and a great story to tell at parties. :lol :lolShogun said:This is like the time Merrill Lynch said they lost all the money in my 401K then threw a pie at my face. Totally awesome.
BobsRevenge said:That would actually be hilarious and a great story to tell at parties. :lol :lol
firehawk12 said:Maybe I'm naive to trust "big companies", but I just assume MS and Sony will be around in the long term.
duckroll said:So when was the last stunt you saw involving a retailer/service provider pretending to shut down due to problems, and then having a joke press conference later telling everyone it was just a prank?
GOG.com said:First of all we would like to apologize everyone who felt deceived or harmed in any way by us closing down GOG.com without any warning and without giving access to your games. We apologize for that from the bottom of our hearts!
Now it's time we put an end to all the speculations once and for all. Its true that we decided that we couldn't keep GOG.com the way it was so we wont. As you probably know by now, GOG.com is entering its new era with an end of the two-years beta stage and we're launching a brand new GOG.com with new, huge releases.
The new GOG.com will launch at 8.00 a.m. EDT (2 p.m. CET). Later today we'll provide you here 4 videos where you'll find all needed information on current events, as well as news on the new GOG.com, the upcoming big releases and the summary of the last two years.
Ogs said:
No, we don't have different sense of humor. It wast stupid prank and cheap publicity stunt.duckroll said:Maybe the Polish have a different sense of humor? Could be cultural? I really have no idea.
Chrange said:Terrible decision, PR-wise. There are bound to be people who think the site is closed for good and moved on to another site, or other people who have just now heard about it and that fleeting impression is that it's closing or closed. I wonder if the expanded coverage will bring in more potential customers than it turned away.
notworksafe said:Yeah, I guess I'll download all the games I got from them now. I hadn't done it before because I'd assumed they'd always be around somewhere. Now I know to at least keep a backup.And I should have known that before this too.
The discs already work in Win 7 64-bit. The install is still a bitch though, ill give you that :lolManos: The Hans of Fate said:Ironically it's cheaper for me just to get the discs. Then again with them I have a chance it's going to work in Win 7 64bit and no install time.
Shogun said:This is like the time Merrill Lynch said they lost all the money in my 401K then threw a pie at my face. Totally awesome.
Stallion Free said:System Shock 2/Thief.
Do you think you will be able to play your 360 Live Arcade games on the next console?firehawk12 said:Honestly, I'm assuming that my games won't work on the Xbox 720 or the PS4. But if it comes down to that, I expect that they'll do something to at least give me confidence in buying their next console. Of course, maybe they'll screw us in 5-10 years and at that point we can bitch about it then but I just believe that companies aren't going to alienate their core userbase.
Naive, I know.charlequin said:I'm sorry... I can't read that sentence with a straight face. :lol
water_wendi said:Do you think you will be able to play your 360 Live Arcade games on the next console?
Chrange said:700 people who already knew about GoG. The point of PR isn't to attract people who already use your service.
notworksafe said:I said "could be screwed". What if they actually shut down and people were unable to download games? I don't know...just seems stupid to say "we're shutting down!" instead of "we're upgrading our site!".
Polk said:Actually they always were using something like "in current form".
Granted, they did say the idea wasn't gone. But a statement like this doesn't say to me "We'll be back in a couple of days with a redesigned site".This doesn't mean the idea behind GOG.com is gone forever. We're closing down the service and putting this era behind us as new challenges await.
Steam lets you backup your games and gives you the related CD keys for the games as well.Drek said:Doesn't that underscore a major selling point for GOG over Steam, Impulse, etc. though?
GOG lets you download the full installable of the game and store it however you see fit. On a disc drive, flash, burn it to disc, whatever. If you take literally 5 minutes or less after completing the initial download of a new GOG purchase you can have it backed up permanently.
To this point I believe they're the only digital distro games platform that offers that feature.
Sounds like a joke that didn't go over well, nothing more. It would've been a damn shame if GOG really did go under. I look forward to the servers coming back up, at which time I'll be dropping more dollars on more great old games.
subversus said:I struggled to make them work properly on my system, so yes, looking forward to possible announcements
You forgot the four sentences before that that say Gog is going away "in its current form."notworksafe said:Granted, they did say the idea wasn't gone. But a statement like this doesn't say to me "We'll be back in a couple of days with a redesigned site".
But what does that mean? Will they be selling Good Old Icecream? Or Grumpy Old Grannies? Saying things like "going away" and "shutting down" is a bad PR call, no matter what. I love that people can defend it, however.water_wendi said:You forgot the four sentences before that that say Gog is going away "in its current form."
:lolFersis said:EVILORE: IM CLOSING GAF THIS WEEK, BYE LOLZ
Two weeks later:
EVILORE: Lolz,joking doods! Check the new Search feature!!
If you thought they were going to start selling ice-cream that explains a lot :lolnotworksafe said:But what does that mean? Will they be selling Good Old Icecream? Or Grumpy Old Grannies? Saying things like "going away" and "shutting down" is a bad PR call, no matter what. I love that people can defend it, however.
... still, though. Why play around with it like that? You're a business, with paying customers, some who have invested hundreds of dollars in the products on your site. Shutting down, unexpectedly, with no clear indication of what's happening, for an entire week: it's shitty. Period.water_wendi said:You forgot the four sentences before that that say Gog is going away "in its current form."