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GOG is getting acquired by its original co-founder

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Re: GOG is getting acquired by its original co-founder

#411

Post by nottorp »

georgeecollins wrote: post #372
trinsic2 wrote: post #358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's an opinion that "Most" people pirate games and it's also an opinion that pirating games translates directly to lost sales. As Gabe said and I agree with him piracy, if it's anything a service related problem. You don't need DRM to overcome that. You just need to make a good product and respect you audience. The people that pirate for the wrong reasons will do it anyway and you don't gain much from restricting co…

>> The people that pirate for the wrong reasons will do it anyway and you don't gain much from restricting copies. That is also an opinion. Also-- as an aside-- I am curious what you think the "right" reason is for piracy. DRM free games is not a new idea. They have always existed and people have tried different models with them like including advertising. Do you remember the Ford driving simulator? The skittles game…

Are you confusing the absence or presence of copy protection with how a game is supposed to make money?

> why it is so common in the best games?

What best games? It's common in design by commitee predatory crap like EA/Ubisoft titles.

Thing is, a pirated copy isn't a lost sale. It's more like free marketing. It's possible that the above assholes would make more profit if they stopped spending on copy protection and advertising and just made and sold games.

In a world where it would be impossible to pirate software, I bet they would have at best 25% more sales. No one can afford to pay for every game, especially at launch price, so they'll just make do with fewer of them.

Linky about marketing costs:

https://www.trueachievements.com/n53671/aaa-game-development...

Juicy quote:

the CMA says that "this publisher also submitted that for one of its major franchise’s development costs reached $660 million and marketing costs peaked at almost $550 million."

Re: GOG is getting acquired by its original co-founder

#412

Post by 71bw »

izacus wrote: post #228
JLO64 wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Polska is in Central Europe tho

Haha, we all Slavs keep telling that to ourselves, don't we? :P

To cite what might be deemed the lowest quality source possible: [1].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Europe

Re: GOG is getting acquired by its original co-founder

#413

Post by qubitcoder »

abustamam wrote: post #317
computerex wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People only pirate games because the publishers make it too painful to play games legally. I have pirated games that I own simply because it's easier to play. This pattern has been shown time and time again. When people pirate, it's usually due to a problem with the experience. People pay for convenience. Now a days a lot of people are pirating games because the quality of games has gone down the drain. Publishers ar…

I think a lot of people pirate for a lot of different reasons. I don't pirate games anymore because I just play PS5. But I definitely did so as a teenager because I was broke, not because the experience of buying games was bad. Now I'll pirate if providers make it hard to do things right. I know I never "have" to pirate, but my wife once "bought" a movie on Amazon. A few years later, she was no longer able to access…

Or, just don’t play the game. I don’t mean to be flippant, but why waste time on software employing shoddy practices? Wordle and Apple’s mini crossword-minis are sufficiently stimulating and quick.

My tolerance for software like that is very limited. It’s almost an immediate long-press and uninstall.

Re: GOG is getting acquired by its original co-founder

#414

Post by scotty79 »

rvnx wrote: post #151
Mathnerd314 wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Research from the University of Amsterdam’s IViR “Global Online Piracy Study” (survey of nearly 35,000 respondents across 13 countries) found that for each content type and country, 95% or more of pirates also consume content legally, and their median legal consumption is typically twice that of non‑pirating legal users.

Fun fact, this study was financed by YouTube to create a legal shield. In 2017/2018, they were in the position where MPAA and RIAA were saying: "Piracy costs us billions; Google must pay" + they had European Parliament on their ass. Google financed that 'independent' study to support the view "Piracy is not harmful and encourages legal spend". So the credibility of "independent" studies, is something to consider very…

Doesn't make it false.

Re: GOG is getting acquired by its original co-founder

#415

Post by scotty79 »

nightski wrote: post #271
Tarball10 wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They might spend $600 on 10 of those games, though. It's not all-or-nothing.

They might still spend $600 on 10 more games though. Or spend it on a subset of the games they pirated because they want to support the developer. Who knows.

If somebody spends $60 on a game but doesn't play it should they get automatic refund?

If the deal is providing entertainment for a price then why the publisher feels entitled to keeping the money if the entertainment didn't happen?

That's the basis of most of the Steam's business.

Re: GOG is getting acquired by its original co-founder

#416

Post by scotty79 »

georgeecollins wrote: post #91
Fiveplus wrote: post #23

> Can I still download offline installers? Yes. This is the only line I was looking for. I stopped buying on Steam sometime ago because I realized I was just renting licenses. GOG is the only major storefront where I feel like I actually own the product. As long as offline installers remain a core tenet, I don't care who owns the company. That said, it helps that it's someone returning to their roots rather than a pr…

OK, but the model that Valve pioneered is the model that supports 90% of all commercial PC games made today, a higher percentage if you cut out MMOs and free to play games, which you certainly don't own. I love GoG and I have worked closely with a lot of people there on projects they are great. This announcement seems like good news. No one has to sell games on Steam. No one has to use a model where they "rent licens…

> They don't because too many people pirate games to make that a viable business.

Piracy is what makes games a viable business. Even now marketing budget for a game can exceed development costs. Each pirated copy is not a lost sale. It's marketing brain worm implanted in a person that you didn't have to pay for.

The fact that most pirated games become bestsellers is not an accident. And it's not the other way around.

It's the same thing as with Windows. It wouldn't be most used and best selling operating system if it wasn't amply pirated.

Apple, to have anyone use a copy of their OS, has to bundle a device with it. And Linux has to give it all for free to buy its mindshare. Piracy makes Windows business model viable.

Re: GOG is getting acquired by its original co-founder

#417

Post by georgeecollins »

straygar wrote: post #384
zx8080 wrote: post #377

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I am guessing you don't know my background. Don't be shy, share it.

Maybe it's this George Collins: https://www.mobygames.com/person/2294/george-collins/credits... And this being one of the panels mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPSAb1BDHgI

Since I am completely embarrassing myself: - Review of a DRM free game I sold in 1980 https://archive.org/details/BallyArcadeAstrocadeArcadianAltS... - That you tube link is pretty old, I was on a panel at Games Beat this year, I think because a more interesting person got sick.

Re: GOG is getting acquired by its original co-founder

#418

Post by pjmlp »

yunnpp wrote: post #249
pjmlp wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have it easier having Windows as main OS.

I suffer Windows at work, so I stay clear of it in my personal stuff.

I used to think like that, but doing Linux installs since 1995's Summer eventually gets tiring, especially in gaming and graphics workstation laptops, thus it lives on VMa for me.

Re: GOG is getting acquired by its original co-founder

#419

Post by toyg »

mindcandy wrote: post #332
fc417fc802 wrote: post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both you and GGP make concrete claims but fail to provide evidence. Can anyone cite published sales data or is this all mere conjecture? We've been exposed to what seems like FUD about piracy killing sales since approximately forever - you wouldn't dOwnLoAd a cAR - but seemingly zero actual evidence to date.

My source is first and second hand reports from management of game companies having worked in the industry for decades. But, they don’t make numbers like that public. The best public report I can find is https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S18759... which shows a median difference 20% of revenue for games where Denuvo is cracked “quickly” but also no significant difference if Denuvo survives for at…

> Web apps are primarily DRM

I've been saying that for decades at this point. Web apps trade post-release support issues with slightly higher development costs upfront (dealing with browser compatibility), but the real kicker is that the company is now in complete control of who gets to use what and when.

Re: GOG is getting acquired by its original co-founder

#420

Post by 71bw »

SXX wrote: post #229
prmoustache wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those kinds of promises only engage a small niche of nolife who follow news about upcoming games. Most customers only hear about a game when it is released and reviewed and/or recommended by a friend and will never have heard about them.

Yet those niche nolife hardcore fans is exactly what makes or breaks games. If 10,000 unhappy hardcore fans will go around pouring shit on your game and company then you likely never get 1,000,000 players who could've potentially liked it. Nolife hardcore fans will also be the the first to buy your game, review it and tell everyone if they did not liked it. CDPR got huge amount of trust after Witcher 3 and they mostl…

>CDPR got huge amount of trust after Witcher 3

...which was a complete shitshow on release as well...

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