GOG.com

[octavius]

The whole catalog - ~20 titles is on a 50% sale. Witcher 2 is 75% off right now.

Your last statement is the inherent irrationality in every human being.

Well, if I buy every game I'm missing on sale now then I won't have any future sales to look forward to...

 

[J_C]

Any opinions on FTL ?

Great rogue-like sci-fi game.

 

[mediocrepoet]

I'm kind of curious if some of the IE stuff will get marked down really low. I have all that shit on disc. I wouldn't mind having digital copies just cuz, but $10 (and even $5 really) is kind of steep for stuff I can just dig out of boxes if I get the urge. I've been sort of slowly picking up digital versions of stuff I still have on disc if they get discounted enough to justify a re-purchase.

 

[DalekFlay]

But your quibble has little to do with the point I was responding to: the 'devaluation' argument is a load of crap. Hell, the proof is borne by the indie developers themselves who openly embrace drastic discounts on their games a reasonable amount of time after initial release. You don't see guys like Edmund McMillan or Introversion or... quite frankly... any of them complain about such price slashes? Quite the contrary they openly embrace them. Even Jeff Vogel woke up and figured it out. All of these guys are desperate to get their games in indie bundles where they couldn't be 'devalued' any greater. Seems like the only people I've seen complain about devaluation are CD Projekt and Origin -- two of Steam's competitors.

Pretty much.

A lot of games are simply not worth full price to a ton of people. I like modern shit shooters but only if they're sub-$20. You can either sell it to me for less than that or never sell it to me, those are your options. A lot of publishers are realizing the former is better than the latter, so after the idiots buy it for $60 for a while we have large sales like Steam does.

Quality games (or massively hyped games) will still get day one $60 sales from a lot of people. I paid that for 3 or 4 games this year.

 

[Metro]

And it's not surprising why it is digital storefronts like GOG and Origin who would complain versus the developers. Even under the most onerous of sales agreements a developer is still probably going to get around 70% of the profits. Moreover, they'll get that seventy or so percent from every digital outlet that sells their game. If you're GOG or Origin you're only getting your 30% from your own storefront so odds are you're not too wild about handing out 75% or higher discounts on individual titles since that eats into your profit margin.

Of course GOG can shoe-horn that 'devaluation' jargon into their DRM free stance -- it is part of their marketing. They're 'niche.' They stand for 'quality' and 'gamer principles!' They pat you on the back with a couple of wallpapers and audio files you can grab anywhere on the net (along with the DRM free game itself, quite frankly) and reassure you that you've made the right choice because you haven't 'devalued' this lofty product! For Origin/EA to make the argument is laughable since they've been 'devaluing' the integrity and quality of games for decades now.

 

[kaizoku]

guise...

Arma 2 and DayZ, tell me about it.


I don't play FPS. I don't even like first person view.
Is this DayZ anything worthwhile?
How would you compare DayZ to Stalker?
Is it online only?

 

[tuluse]

DayZ is online only. It's not really like STALKER at all. There is an island that you and everyone else on the server are on, and there are zombies. It's a fully player driven world. The other players are more of a threat to you than the zombies.

I never really got that into it, but some people love it.

 

[Metro]

DayZ is apparently shit now with all the hackers and such. Got too mainstream for its own good.

 

[toro]

One thing I like about GoG is the fact that is really nice to see the games "sitting" on the shelves. All pretty, no dust, ready to be played

It's definitely more warm than the Steam's approach with the impersonal "View Games Library".

 

[Deuce Traveler]

The issue I have with GOG.com is that their appearance lead to the pulling of abandonware off of sites like Abandonia. On the other hand, they did have a number of games that I couldn't find on abandonware sites before, and their 5 indie games for $10 sale last month was awesome. I think that once a series of years passes (15+ years), music, movies, books and games should be placed into public domain unless some special features are to be added. Because they are DRM free and give away games sometimes, I visit GOG.com each day, and overall I do consider myself a fan. I'm not a fan of Steam because they make you load their software onto your computer in order to play games you purchase.

 

[Humanity has risen!]

I just don't believe that it is healthy in the long run to condition the consumers expect not to buy a game at all if it's not at 75% plus discount, I'm sticking to my guns with this. Good games cost money to make, and you're not helping their prestige and perceived value by dropping the price dramatically so soon after.

For now many have found it profitable because it garners a lot of attention, but the near totality of these PC games never had much sales to begin with. It's also telling that a lot of them are either quick and dirty console ports, indie games made by small teams, or games imported from/outsourced to eastern European developers bought for a song.

If the PC is to have a true renaissance and host true middle budget games, PC games need to keep their value longer, period.

You will see that the absolute biggest studios have their biggest games keep their value for the longest time, see Activision with the Call of Duty of the year, and Bethesda.

 

[Metro]

It depends on the pricing. Yes, good games cost money to make but you can usually make a good game for a hell of a lot less than $60. I have no problem paying the $20 or so a lot of these new wave RPGs from Kickstarter are costing. Now, if after a year these $20 games get reduced to $5, so be it. It's a conscious choice by the developers and it clearly isn't hurting them otherwise they wouldn't allow such discounts.

All of that aside, I think price and quality are distinct issues. A classic game doesn't become any less classic if it's available for 75% off a year after it's release.

 

[mugarod]

I think I am burned out with all this sales, sure there is lots of great games for dirt cheap but I havent even played half of what I have on steam and gog as it is.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

I think I am burned out with all this sales, sure there is lots of great games for dirt cheap but I havent even played half of what I have on steam and gog as it is.

Same here. By the time I catch up to the games I got off of GOG.com it will be Christmas of 2013 or 2014. And the games I am looking at will be discounted further, so I can get FTL for $3 then instead of $5 now. Or the dollar will finally shit the bed and I'll need to spend $3000 due to 1930s Germany style hyperinflation.

Shit, maybe I should buy now.

 

[Turjan]

You will see that the absolute biggest studios have their biggest games keep their value for the longest time, see Activision with the Call of Duty of the year, and Bethesda.

Well, Bethesda games are on Steam, so...

It's the publisher's decision whether they want to sell the game for 75% off or not, not Steam's. I guess that most publishers that give these deep discounts don't have the number of customers to ask for lots of money, except in a very short time frame when they can excite some impulse buyers at release.

 

[Infinitron]

Indie RPGs, 75% off

Inquisitor, Grimrock, Geneforge series, Torchlight, The Real Texas

 

[Crooked Bee]

The Real Texas is pretty sweet. An Ultima-like with action-y combat set in a kind of purgatory Texas, basically. Good writing and atmosphere. Has even got the Name-Job-Bye thingy and a little bit of text parser input. For $3.74 it's a steal.

 

[Bruticis]

Finally grabbed Inquisitor since it was cheap. I was holding out for a Steam Greenlight release but I guess I can always double dip during another sale if that ever happens.

 

[kaizoku]

I have to say this promotion, while looking great, is leaving me butthurt because I bought most games at -- well, not at full price -- but at a smaller discount.
(I'll have to see if I can pull a real figure by looking at all those emails)
I don't mind paying "full" price for an indie at all, since I feel I'm helping them out. But for other games, where I'm only feeding the publishers, it does piss me off.
Well, stupid me in buying them in the first place... fucking OCD.

Does GOG does this 50% and 75% promotion every year?



As for the question if this is helping or killing indie developers... I really don't know.
There are a lot! of factors to consider, but as they say, the proof is in the pudding. I'd really like to read a dev blog about this.
But my idea is that having a game selling at full price, with sporadic discounts helps with sales.

 

[mck]

I'm super interested in The Real Texas. I think I'll pick it up when I get home.

 

[Infinitron]

I have to say this promotion, while looking great, is leaving me butthurt because I bought most games at -- well, not at full price -- but at a smaller discount.
(I'll have to see if I can pull a real figure by looking at all those emails)
I don't mind paying "full" price for an indie at all, since I feel I'm helping them out. But for other games, where I'm only feeding the publishers, it does piss me off.
Well, stupid me in buying them in the first place... fucking OCD.

Does GOG does this 50% and 75% promotion every year?



As for the question if this is helping or killing indie developers... I really don't know.
There are a lot! of factors to consider, but as they say, the proof is in the pudding. I'd really like to read a dev blog about this.
But my idea is that having a game selling at full price, with sporadic discounts helps with sales.

I believe this is the first time they've dipped down to 75% discounts on massive scale. So don't feel too bad.

 

[Captain Shrek]

Got Inquisitor. Now I will find out what the fuss is about.

 

[Commissar Draco]

Got Gene Forge 1-5 for 3.74 jewgoldz, Mods pin this thread will ya?

 

[Morkar Left]

The Real Texas is pretty sweet. An Ultima-like with action-y combat set in a kind of purgatory Texas, basically. Good writing and atmosphere. Has even got the Name-Job-Bye thingy and a little bit of text parser input. For $3.74 it's a steal.

I wish they would have made it in a top down view engine. This Lego 3D is horrible. Still bought it because of the western theme.

 

[Kosmonaut]

The Real Texas is pretty sweet. An Ultima-like with action-y combat set in a kind of purgatory Texas, basically. Good writing and atmosphere. Has even got the Name-Job-Bye thingy and a little bit of text parser input. For $3.74 it's a steal.

I wish they would have made it in a top down view engine. This Lego 3D is horrible. Still bought it because of the western theme.

Do you recommend it Morkar?? I'm tempted on getting it now that is on discount.