I dont know about that, this site sounds pretty cool...

and Your Coolness has decreased by 75

*ding*

Congratulations GOGOB you have reached level 2.
You gain 250 Strength
You gain 125 Stamina
Your Coolness has increased by 75
Your Focus has increased by 50
You have obtained 5 Skill Points



This comment was edited on Oct 23, 2008, 20:50.

The DRM-free aspect is notable - there are very few (if any!) pay-for-download game services that don't have some kind of online activation and/or security check tacked on. Even Steam adds its own special protection for older titles.

Um, you do realize that GOG stands for "Good Old Games", right? This is a platform for classic games. Why the hell would anyone even begin to consider offering "newer" DRM-free games on that particular service? Please. Get a sense of reality and grow a brain. kthx.

Yeah because 5 year old games are brand new. I must've missed the memo that said "old means whatever CJ_Parker wants it to mean". Take your own advice there little guy.

Damnit. Now there's no reason for me to avoid the site since it's in open beta. I should just shred my credit card right now and pray I forget the numbers.


What's worse is System Shock 2 was released when I went on hiatus from PC gaming; by the time I came back it was already dated. I've never played it. Now I don't have much of an excuse. Edit: Didn't realize they don't have SS2. Good thing for me, I already had the card out.

Interesting side note: Of the games on my shelf (and not stuff in a box and tucked away) reside the original Freespace, Freespace: Silent Threat and Freespace 2. I still load 'em up and play through on occasion.
This comment was edited on Oct 23, 2008, 19:20.

I thought Gothic was published by Jowood..?

No. Gothic was originally published by Shoebox Interactive in Europe (German speaking territories). Shoebox went out of business at some point during the early development of Gothic 2 and JoWooD picked up Piranha Bytes to publish Gothic 2 though they did not acquire the full rights to the original Gothic. Those rights have always remained with Piranha (Pluto13) as far as I know. JoWooD only owns everything from Gothic 2 going forward with Gothic 4 (and possibly G4 expansions) probably being the last title(s) that they have the rights to publish before the Gothic brand falls back into the hands of Piranha.

The real accomplishment will be getting newer titles without DRM on there and that's what will draw me to the service if they can do it.

Um, you do realize that GOG stands for "Good Old Games", right? This is a platform for classic games. Why the hell would anyone even begin to consider offering "newer" DRM-free games on that particular service? Please. Get a sense of reality and grow a brain. kthx.

Wonderful. I just downloaded Fallout 1+2.

It's worth the price to get great Win 9X games that run on XP without tweaks.

GOG.com has a new loyal customer. Leave it to the Poles to save Western Civilization once again (The Battle of Vienna)

I am actually playing through a game of Fallout 2 for the first time on a not quite legit copy, just to try out the series. I have really liked it, think I would probably play it again. Saw the post here, went to GoG for the first time and saw you had it. Now my Conscience will be clear.

As far as whether or not the "DRM-Free" sales pitch means anything to you doesn't matter, it will to a lot of others, and is a completely valid feature for them to point out.

I disagree but fair enough, to each his own. I'm all for a DRM-less service but most of the "good old games" I remember didn't have any(and no I'm not counting semantical nonsense like cd-checks being the same as a kernel level driver). There are plenty of titles with DRM from the past 5-7 years I'd like to see on there but I guess that's up to the publishers.

I love what you guys are doing, Tom, keep up the excellent work!

Thank you so much!

Actually the [Freespace 2] EULA/ToS/whatever explicitly allows you to make full copies of the game for others. It was one of the few games that ever did.

If we ignore the fact that they retracted that clause, the internet at large does NOT constitute "friends and acquaintances" by any sane definition. FS2 has never been freeware.

DRM means Digital Rights (or Restrictions, depending on your preference) Management. Anything which forcibly restricts what you can do with digital data is a form of DRM!*

A CD check restricts you from using the data without putting the CD in the drive. Copy protection restricts you from copying the data. Encryption and online authentication may be the sorts of technology that have become more associated with the (relatively recent) term 'DRM', but the term is very much applicable to older technologies as well, and GOG is explicitly ensuring that their games are free of ANY of that kind of thing.


(*) I'll add "and which was included expressly for that purpose", to avoid any silly responses.

That's not our goal. Copy protection IS a form a DRM, and our games are all copy-protection free.

The biggest issue I have with GoG.. is that I'm spending all my money there.

QFT

The real accomplishment will be getting newer titles without DRM on there and that's what will draw me to the service if they can do it.

So let me see if I've got this straight: you think there's even the slightest possibility that some company is going to go to the trouble and expense of incorporating DRM into their game, only to turn right around and give GOG the right to distribute it without DRM? What have you been smoking, son?

The only reason I can think of that companies might be tempted to do this with older games is that they are older games and their mainstream sales potential is basically tapped out. What advantage is there in it for new games? If it's sales they want and leaving DRM out increases sales, they can do that already without GOG's help.

This comment was edited on Oct 23, 2008, 15:47.

2 out of what, 50 games? I'd rather the focus of their message was DRM-free in upcoming titles rather than the 2 titles they "liberated". The real accomplishment will be getting newer titles without DRM on there and that's what will draw me to the service if they can do it.

First of all, your splitting hairs on the whole "Copy Protection /= DRM", but that isn't really the point. You are now trying to defend your original statement of the "attention whoring" when in-fact the company has at least 2 games on the service with original DRM stripped, which in itself allows them to make that statement about being DRM Free without "Attention Whoring".

Secondly the company itself is selling games through a digital distribution method without including DRM of their own. Thus also allowing them to use the term DRM Free without the so called Attention Whoring, most (if not all) of the other sanctioned Digital Distribution services for games do include DRM of their own or the original in some fashion. Just admit that your original accusation of the company using the pitch for attention whoring purposes was incorrect.

As far as whether or not the "DRM-Free" sales pitch means anything to you doesn't matter, it will to a lot of others, and is a completely valid feature for them to point out.

2 out of what, 50 games? I'd rather the focus of their message was DRM-free in upcoming titles rather than the 2 titles they "liberated". The real accomplishment will be getting newer titles without DRM on there and that's what will draw me to the service if they can do it.

Actually the EULA/ToS/whatever explicitly allows you to make full copies of the game for others. It was one of the few games that ever did.

This clause was subsequently removed. Check for yourself:

http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/FreeSpace_2_EULA

By the way, in the FSOpen installer page, it doesn't say anything about downloading it free - it actually encourages readers to buy the retail game from Gog.com or Ebay. Check it here:

http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/FreeSpace_Open_Installer

So they installed SecuRom into my Windows kernel? Disc checks or manual lookups != DRM.

At least two of the games offered there (Soldiers and Colin McRae Rally 2005) had Starforce, which is undeniably DRM, according to your definition. It's likely that other games would have something alike. Also, it can be argued that disc checks/manual lookups are a form of DRM, since they are designed to prevent unauthorized use or copying.

This comment was edited on Oct 23, 2008, 14:48.