Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

GOG Patrons- Join gamers keeping classics alive

gog.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 85 posts

Re: GOG Patrons- Join gamers keeping classics alive

#51

Post by 1980phipsi »

Zambyte wrote: post #43
Cthulhu_ wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just because a company doesn't have their IP available for modern systems doesn't mean they abandoned the IP, see also all the remasters and remakes coming out today. That said, my gut feeling says it's mainly about them not willing to invest in it, because they can't see the economic viability. If GoG were to go to the rights holders and say "Hey lad, we have a platform and a lot of experience in reviving older game…

See all the remasters and remakes that didn't happen because they weren't legally able to. We are worse off as a society that enforces artificial scarcity on ideas than we would be if we returned to a world that did not have such bogus laws (not that long ago, but beyond the memory of anyone alive).

I think it's reasonable to argue something like, "some IP protection is good, but too much is bad, and we probably have too much right now." It would be impossible to calibrate the laws so that the amount of IP protection is socially optimal, but we can look at the areas where the protection is too much and start there.

Re: GOG Patrons- Join gamers keeping classics alive

#52

Post by egypturnash »

1313ed01 wrote: post #38
egypturnash wrote: post #34

Honestly I find GOG's whole mission of "update old games for modern Windows" kinda weird when I compare it to what people who want to play old console games do: they just fire up an emulator . Running a virtual Windows machine sounds like a much easier solution than individually patching every crusty old executable to run on the modern OS, and re-patching every single one of them when MS rolls out yet another new gra…

Their DOS releases are fantastic. I install the games, then copy the files to my virtual C: directory for DOSBox-X and know those games will always Just Work and I will never have to reinstall anything or mess with configurations. Some games I also copy to my phone to play in DOSBox in Android. To repeat myself from old threads, it would be awesome to have something like a WindowsBOX, like DOSBox but emulating (proba…

Really I'm surprised nobody's done "WinBox" yet. Proton kinda covers that except it runs in Linux, not Windows. I dunno how it handles old Windows games as I've got zero nostalgia for those, my Steam Deck mostly runs modern stuff from small teams.

Re: GOG Patrons- Join gamers keeping classics alive

#53

Post by bigfishrunning »

rpdillon wrote: post #24
intexpress wrote: post #22

This patron thing seems weird. GOG should just accept preorders for games that aren’t available yet. And use that money to make the game available.

The problem with this is that the game might never become available. Taking pre-orders in the hope you can obtain IP is sketchy at best.

So structure it like Kickstarter, where if we don't get X dollars and secure the rights before X date, everybody gets their money back. Some insurance like that for the customers would make it a lot less shady

Re: GOG Patrons- Join gamers keeping classics alive

#55

Post by freehorse »

xnorswap wrote: post #46
Cthulhu_ wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's what it looks like. I kind of get it, as there's no guarantee that a game they make available again will sell enough to cover the costs - it's as much a preservation effort as a commercial one. For a lot of games it's just a matter of configuring dosbox and packaging it, I can't see how that would be very expensive. But for others it's a lot more involved.

If this were a real preservation effort, they could set up a charitable foundation for computer game preservation, and encourage donations to that.

But either case we talk about commercial products. The games are still copyrighted commodities to be sold. I assume they get licensed by the copyright holders to update them and sell them in gog. I do not see how a "charity"-based process would make sense or be honest here.

Re: GOG Patrons- Join gamers keeping classics alive

#56

Post by nikanj »

freedomben wrote: post #7

Emphasis added: > The GOG Preservation Program is our ongoing effort to save classic games from being lost to time. That means working to secure rights , fixing compatibility so they run hassle-free on modern systems, and even rebuilding missing features so the experience is the best you can get, while staying true to the original. It still baffles me how the "rights" to a game (or any IP) can be a thing when the com…

If you don’t sell me a copy of your family albums, I should be allowed to freely sneak into your house and make a copy? After all, you still have the originals and are not making money from them

Re: GOG Patrons- Join gamers keeping classics alive

#57

Post by ConceptJunkie »

egypturnash wrote: post #52
1313ed01 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their DOS releases are fantastic. I install the games, then copy the files to my virtual C: directory for DOSBox-X and know those games will always Just Work and I will never have to reinstall anything or mess with configurations. Some games I also copy to my phone to play in DOSBox in Android. To repeat myself from old threads, it would be awesome to have something like a WindowsBOX, like DOSBox but emulating (proba…

Really I'm surprised nobody's done "WinBox" yet. Proton kinda covers that except it runs in Linux, not Windows. I dunno how it handles old Windows games as I've got zero nostalgia for those, my Steam Deck mostly runs modern stuff from small teams.

ReactOS has been around for 20+ years. You can run some old games on it, but it's hardly at the level of WINE and projects based on it.

Re: GOG Patrons- Join gamers keeping classics alive

#58

Post by RavingGoat »

paxys wrote: post #45
lucraft wrote: post #4

Terrific thing! The FAQ should state explicitly that patron money will only be used for preservation, not put into GOG general revenue, if that is indeed true.

That distinction doesn't really exist. You have to pay employees. You have to pay for equipment. You have to pay for office space. And the countless other costs of running a company. There's no way they can realistically say "this particular dollar we got from you was used for exactly this purpose".

Every company I've ever worked for can do this so it seems logical that so can GoG. Every department has a budget.

Re: GOG Patrons- Join gamers keeping classics alive

#59

Post by freehorse »

jon-wood wrote: post #17

So let me get this straight, GOG, a privately owned company, wants me to donate money to them so that they can buy the rights to games in order to sell them to me?

It is true, but occasionally it is a practice in some companies with certain business models to leave part of users contributions free up to the users to decide. I have bought some games from their preservation program, and gave me the option to add some extra donation for the project, which I did. I guess this is similar to that.

Moreover, if somebody is really into these old games, they may want to support it and get access to the behind the scenes material, discord, vote for which games to prioritize etc. I don't think this is very different than eg subscribing to the patreon of a creator to get some extra content.

Re: GOG Patrons- Join gamers keeping classics alive

#60

Post by freehorse »

whazor wrote: post #41
jon-wood wrote: post #17

So let me get this straight, GOG, a privately owned company, wants me to donate money to them so that they can buy the rights to games in order to sell them to me?

why not a classic game subscription

For many of those who like and buy from gog, that would not go well at all. The whole point of gog is that you actually own a copy of the game when you buy it. A subscription-based access to games would be antithetical to that. It is the main, if not the only, selling point of gog currently.
Post reply on HN