HKayn

HKayn, 9 miesięcy temu

The Heroic Games Launcher can download and run GOG games. It’s a community-run project, but officially affiliated with GOG.

HKayn, 9 miesięcy temu

Nowadays the Heroic Games Launcher is the preferred solution for downloading and running GOG games. It’s a community-run project, but officially affiliated with GOG.

HKayn, 9 miesięcy temu

There really is no difference. For almost all intents and purposes, GOG’s offline installers can be treated the same way as physical CDs of way back then, with one of the only exceptions being that you cannot resell them.

HKayn, 9 miesięcy temu

When have they not had the full package on GOG?

HKayn, 9 miesięcy temu

It’s not legally binding, since it isn’t part of the user agreement you review when buying games on Steam.

HKayn, 9 miesięcy temu

You legally didn’t “own” your physical games either if you haven’t noticed.

HKayn, 9 miesięcy temu

GOG is funding the FOSS Heroic Games Launcher through an affiliate partnership: heroicgameslauncher.com/donate

HKayn, 9 miesięcy temu

The end result is still part of GOG’s revenue going toward the development of Heroic.

It doesn’t meet your high standard and that’s okay. I prefer to count my blessings in this regard.

HKayn, 9 miesięcy temu

Frostpunk 2 is also available DRM-free on GOG!
www.gog.com/en/game/frostpunk_2

HKayn, 10 miesięcy temu

I don’t know how you can say that it’s not a competitor.

It’s because they’re hyperfixated on Linux, just like the majority of the Lemmy userbase.

In reality any x86-based handheld is potential competition for the Steam Deck.

HKayn, 10 miesięcy temu

How did you try to get The Thaumaturge to run? I found that I could run many games on my library without issue using the Heroic Games Launcher, which is arguably the premier Linux client for GOG games.

HKayn, 10 miesięcy temu

Have you tried the Heroic Games Launcher? It’s currently the most advanced launcher for GOG games on Linux, even implementing support for some of GOG Galaxy’s online services. Additionally it’s officially affiliated with GOG, so you can “donate” to the project by purchasing games through the client.

HKayn, 10 miesięcy temu

Well-deserved shout-out for GOG. Its standalone installers make actually owning your games much more convenient than it would be on Steam.

HKayn, 10 miesięcy temu

Wrong.

HKayn, 10 miesięcy temu

Your statement “if you’re on Windows” is still wrong.

Additionally, the Heroic project is officially affiliated with GOG, so saying that they don’t care is also wrong.

HKayn, 10 miesięcy temu

github.com/Heroic-Games-Launcher/…/v2.13.0

HKayn, 10 miesięcy temu

What we should do is blame OP for deliberately choosing a title that makes it look worse than it is.

HKayn, 10 miesięcy temu

GOG exists and has managed to carve out a DRM-free niche for itself for more than 15 years now.

HKayn, 10 miesięcy temu

Don’t confuse their initiative for benevolence. At the end of the day it’s all still for their own benefit and their ecosystem.

The contributions to open source are still a nice side effect.

HKayn, 10 miesięcy temu

If you want to own your games, buy them on GOG.

HKayn, 10 miesięcy temu

Who is against free games?

HKayn, 11 miesięcy temu

Certain clauses may be unenforceable, but not the entire EULA.

HKayn, 11 miesięcy temu

Damn, your machine must have been heavily locked down to be able to figure that out!

HKayn, 11 miesięcy temu

I would have bought it if it landed on GOG, like the original did.

HKayn, 11 miesięcy temu

Explain.

HKayn, rok temu

If the lurkers don’t agree with you, does that make them trolls too?

HKayn, rok temu

It’s easier to make small saves for games like The Pedestrian, because essentially all you have to track is which puzzles you’ve solved.

Whereas in an RPG with a persistent world like Cyberpunk or Skyrim, you have to save the state of every single object and mechanic the player has interacted with during their run, and there are usually a whole lot of those.

HKayn, rok temu

I’m currently at work, so disclaimer: the following is an AI-generated summary.

• The UK government has responded to the petition to stop game publishers from destroying players’ access to purchased games, but the response is complex and not entirely straightforward.
• The government’s response suggests there may be some legal avenues to pursue, particularly around the requirement for clear information to be provided to consumers about the longevity of online games.
• The key issue seems to be that most online games do not clearly disclose when their service will be shut down, depriving consumers of information needed to make an informed purchase decision.
• Pursuing this angle through consumer protection regulations like the CPRs may be more promising than directly trying to prevent game shutdowns, which the government response suggests is not clearly prohibited.
• However, there are many open questions about the specifics of how to report and pursue potential violations, including around time limits, penalties, and differences between UK and Scottish law.
• The creator of the video acknowledges this is a complex legal maze, but believes there is potential to do “a lot of damage” to the industry if the right approach can be identified.
• Gathering more signatures on the UK petition may help, but the creator is skeptical this alone will lead to legislative change.
• Overall, the response provides some promising leads, but significant work is still needed to determine the best path forward and how to effectively leverage the apparent legal violations.
• The creator expresses frustration at having to essentially act as “self-checkout law enforcement” to get the government to enforce existing consumer protection laws.
• Despite the challenges, the creator remains determined to find a way to hold game publishers accountable and prevent the destruction of purchased games.

HKayn, rok temu

I can understand the decision somewhat.

Putting “The Lord of the Rings” first in the title would imply that this furthers the main canon, when it’s actually only set in its universe.

They could have indeed chosen a better subtitle though, like “from The Lord of the Rings”.

HKayn, rok temu

This basically boils down to “read the terms & conditions”, which isn’t unreasonable.

If a game states in its terms that access may be revoked at any time and you buy the game, then you have no reason to be surprised when access is eventually revoked.

Obviously when terms aren’t clear enough or intentionally obfuscated, that’s indeed an issue for legislation to act upon.

HKayn, rok temu

I didn’t say they deserve no protection at all. You are twisting my words because my opinion doesn’t align with yours.

I advocate for games having a clear indicator for any online dependencies. I do not advocate for outlawing said dependencies or mandating “offline patches”.

If you are clearly told that you’re buying an ephemeral product and you are still surprised when it shuts down, then I don’t know what to tell you.

HKayn, rok temu

With GOG, you can at least have full confidence that the game will continue to work without any outside connections.

HKayn, rok temu

All this wouldn’t be necessary if gamers would just stop buying games that are obviously live services with remote kill switches.

HKayn, rok temu

Because most gamers don’t care.

HKayn, rok temu

How else do you expect the moderators of that sub to keep out raiders and spam bots?

HKayn, rok temu

How is Valve using Proton a grey area?

HKayn, rok temu

No one in the comments seems to consider that this could very well be an additional revenue stream that GOG desperately needs.

HKayn, rok temu

Then just pretend it doesn’t exist. I don’t understand how this affects the GOG userbase. All that happens is people speculate about how GOG is out to kill DRM-freedom.

HKayn, rok temu

What are you talking about? GOG has been involved with Amazon for a long time now, and so far it has been exclusively beneficial for GOG users.

HKayn, rok temu

And that was the end of GOG

How?

HKayn, rok temu

You can use the Heroic Games Launcher, which runs GOG games through Proton, offers automatic updates and integrates with GOG cloud saves.

Buying games on GOG through their launcher also gives them a cut of the money!

HKayn, rok temu

There’s little to no business incentive for other launchers to add support for an OS used only by approx. 1.7% of PC gamers.

HKayn, rok temu

GOG is tiny compared to Valve. They simply don’t have the resources to invest in Linux R&D. Expecting them to do so is futile.

HKayn, rok temu

It’s in their latest release notes: github.com/Heroic-Games-Launcher/…/v2.13.0

It’s also featured on their donate page: heroicgameslauncher.com/donate

HKayn, rok temu

What can you tell me about their refund policy?

You can refund any purchase within 30 days. There are no restrictions on playtime, since GOG can’t feasibly control that.

You can get your refund either as store credit or to the payment method you used, however store credit is usually processed much faster.

Are the results on ProtonDB just as reliable for GOG versions as they are for Steam versions of games?

I can only vaguely answer this by saying the games that I tried (mainly indie games like Dead Cells and One Step from Eden) worked flawlessly.

Heroic Games Launcher has a Mastodon presence, so you can ask them there! mastodon.social/

HKayn, rok temu

You’d be doubling your building, testing and supporting efforts for a ~1.8% increase in sales at best.

Granted, these numbers are just rough estimates based on Steam’s hardware survey, but that’s the ballpark we’re finding ourselves in.

HKayn, rok temu

I could never get the hang of motion inputs in Street Fighter, so this is definitely intriguing me. Can’t wait to play it.

HKayn, rok temu

Is it the only site? No. Pick another one. Problem solved.