GOG.com NOT shut down

[Trippy]

Edit: Liars.

http://www.gog.com/

http://twitter.com/gogcom

  Dear GOG users,

We have recently had to give serious thought to whether we could really keep GOG.com the way it is. We've debated on it for quite some time and, unfortunately, we've decided that GOG.com simply cannot remain in its current form.

We're very grateful for all support we've received from all of you in the past two years. Working on GOG.com was a great adventure for all of us and an unforgettable journey to the past, through the long and wonderful history of PC gaming.

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.

On a technical note, this week we'll put in place a solution to allow everyone to re-download their games. Stay tuned to this page and follow us on Twitter and Facebook for updates.

All the best,
GOG.com Team

[Merusk]

That seems rather sudden, since they just tossed up those Age of Wonder deals earlier this week.  Glad I didn't try to buy 'em after all.

[Goreschach]

Rumor is that GOG is being spun off from it's parent company.  It's possible that they're getting purchased by a publisher, or that they'll drop the GOG label, or they'll switch to a steam style delivery system.

[Sky]

That sucks, great service.

[koro]

Rumor is that GOG is being spun off from it's parent company.  It's possible that they're getting purchased by a publisher, or that they'll drop the GOG label, or they'll switch to a steam style delivery system.

From what I've been hearing, the likely candidate is Atari's European publishing arm.

If that is what it is, then it's virtually guaranteed to be coming back with DRM and/or significantly higher prices.

[fuser]

No warning? Great thanks forgot to download one purchase before it shuttered.

[Sir T]

Dammit, I was about to buy Outcast off them  

{edit}

wiki

On September 19, 2010, the website for the company was changed to a message that appeared to suggest GOG.com was shutting down, and would offer those that had already purchased games a means to download them later. However, Internet forums discovered that this "shut down" came after a news item that CD Projekt would have an announcement about the service on September 22, 2010.[4]

[Tebonas]

That really really sucks.

[Setanta]

Damn, I had a backlog of old games I wanted for them. I hope I didn't delete the install files for the ones that I already have.

[Big Gulp]

Damn, I had a backlog of old games I wanted for them. I hope I didn't delete the install files for the ones that I already have.

I was inches away from picking up the MOO1&2 and MOM packs on Saturday.  Glad I didn't pull the trigger...

[Tebonas]

Why are you glad?

Once downloaded, all those games would have worked without GoG actually existing anymore.

[rk47]

It's a bad PR stunt. They moved from the beta age.

[UnSub]

Might not be getting Interstate '76 from them after all then.

[Big Gulp]

Why are you glad?

Once downloaded, all those games would have worked without GoG actually existing anymore.

Because I hate making back ups, and who knows whether or not I'd be able to dl those games again.  At least with Steam I know my old copy of Freedom Force is just a click away.  I'm reasonably sure that Steam isn't going poof overnight.

[Stormwaltz]

God fucking damn it.

I have games I didn't have a chance to back up, and my computer's been down with a dead hard drive for the past two weeks.

I bought almost two dozen games from those guys. I loved that service.

[Pezzle]

Hate making backups?  MoM is what?  21 megs?  I can understand not wanting to put effort into a massive backup routine but the games in question are tiny.  Get a flash drive, drag and drop.  

Stormwaltz, the official word is all purchased materials will be available for download again on Thursday.  My guess is our accounts will be migrated to the new service or allowed access to the archive under closed accounts. 

[Big Gulp]

Hate making backups?  MoM is what?  21 megs?  I can understand not wanting to put effort into a massive backup routine but the games in question are tiny.  Get a flash drive, drag and drop.  

I don't want to make back ups of anything if I can help it.  As long as its in the cloud with a reliable company I'm happy.

[fuser]

Hate making backups?  MoM is what?  21 megs?  I can understand not wanting to put effort into a massive backup routine but the games in question are tiny.  Get a flash drive, drag and drop.  

My GoG backup folder was ~5GB. They had a lot of big CD media based games, i76, Descent, Freespace2.

[Merusk]

Hate making backups?  MoM is what?  21 megs?  I can understand not wanting to put effort into a massive backup routine but the games in question are tiny.  Get a flash drive, drag and drop.  

I don't want to make back ups of anything if I can help it.  As long as its in the cloud with a reliable company I'm happy.

Buy the game, upload it to the cloud on a backup service. 

[Phire]

Yay it was all a PR stunt :/

[Tebonas]

Supid stunt, especially the robes in the life feed. But Baldurs Gate without the disc hassle almost makes up for it.

[fuser]

Pulling out my purchases onto a flash when its back up. Won't purchase from them in the future if steam is an alternative.

Marketing dictating how a customers purchased product is available without warning is not a good campaign. This is against one of their selling points.

GOG.com's founders gave media an overview of the site's new features via a live web broadcast. They will include:

• 10% faster than the old site
• Revamped welcome page, community pages and game pages
• Ability to handle more traffic and users
• Facebook "Like" button
• 150 games certified compatible with Windows 7
• Streamlined sign-up process for new members that doesn't require email confirmation
• Download calculator bar that displays how much time the game is going to take to download
• Catalog that displays games by genre and lets people browse by Bestersellers, New releases, and Recommended games
• Community Page that includes favorite topics, the ability to tag game-specific forums to participate in, and view hot forum topics
• GOGmix - user-created list of games and recommendations

[Stormwaltz]

Their list of improvements is funnier than their attempted joke.

Facebook like button? 10% faster? Beam me up Scotty, the future of old games is here!

[bhodi]

Wow, it was supposed to be all a joke?

So, so funny! Funny like getting a call from your bank saying that they closed one of your savings accounts and then getting a call back the next day saying "Surprise! You'll treasure it even more now, right?"

I'll never use their product, ever.

[Musashi]

So they left all their customers in the breeze thinking they had to perform a hard drive circus act to get their games backed up, and it was 'just a joke?'  Fuck you guys.  Seriously.  That's just a dick move.

[Pezzle]

I thought that new features list was a joke!  What a terrible way to come out of beta.  Why not just say the service will be down for a day or two while an update/migration takes place.  Do not be concerned, protecting your investment is our highest priority!  They could even joke around about it being 10% faster and I would not care!

They will probably survive this blunder.  I can forgive them and keep using it, provided of course I still have my account and game access.

[Big Gulp]

They will probably survive this blunder.  I can forgive them and keep using it, provided of course I still have my account and game access.

Not me.  You fuck around with paying customers like that and you don't deserve to be in business.  I'll stick with Steam exclusively from now on.

[HaemishM]

Well, that was... stupid. 

[Pezzle]

They will probably survive this blunder.  I can forgive them and keep using it, provided of course I still have my account and game access.

Not me.  You fuck around with paying customers like that and you don't deserve to be in business.  I'll stick with Steam exclusively from now on.

It seems clear I was less concerned about the shutdown than some.  Since they said previous purchases would be available again Thursday it did not seem like such a huge issue.  A stupid move?  Oh yes.  The whole gaming industry does stupid shit all the time. 

Clearly I am more forgiving than the Emperor.

[Lum]

dick move (dik muv) See: 2010 GOG.com site relaunch

[caladein]

So they left all their customers in the breeze thinking they had to perform a hard drive circus act to get their games backed up, and it was 'just a joke?'  Fuck you guys.  Seriously.  That's just a dick move.

Huh?  From the very beginning they said they were going to have ways for you to download your stuff within the week.  The phrasing was stupid and it was a bad PR stunt, but the end-of-the-world "Must make backups oh no!" vibe was all from the reaction.

[Ingmar]

[Big Gulp]

The point is that if your business model is digital distribution then you'd better damn well make sure that you have trust of your customers.  Doing something this fucking stupid for publicity?!?  Not exactly giving me warm fuzzies.

[rattran]

Bad stunt. Will not buy.

[Musashi]

So they left all their customers in the breeze thinking they had to perform a hard drive circus act to get their games backed up, and it was 'just a joke?'  Fuck you guys.  Seriously.  That's just a dick move.

Huh?  From the very beginning they said they were going to have ways for you to download your stuff within the week.  The phrasing was stupid and it was a bad PR stunt, but the end-of-the-world "Must make backups oh no!" vibe was all from the reaction.

It's not the point.  Say you had two or three hundred dollars worth of games on their site.  Not a terribly outlandish gaming budget.  Of course you don't actually have most of that shit installed, because you're a gamer and either high right now or just plain lazy.  So you hear this news, and like I'm sure many folks did, you think, "Wow sucks they went under, now I have to perform gymnastics with all the porn on my hard drive to make room for all the shit I need to re-download, there goes my Sunday."

And then today rolls around.  And they're like, "Lol, JK."  But your porn is gone forever now, man.  Gone forever.  That shit is weak.