Question about GoG

[Chthon]

If I buy the game on GoG to get it a little early, does it:

1) Come with a steam code, and
2) let me transfer my save files over to steam.

Honestly I try to keep my games all on the same platform, since Steam has been so reliable for me in the past in combat zones and areas where there isn't much in the way of internet.

[keith.lamothe]

I don't think GoG copies come with a steam key, no.  I'm not sure they'd go for that in general.

But you can copy the saves from whatever version to whatever version.  It's all filesystem stuff, and none of the distribution options will interfere with that.  You would have to move the files yourself, though.

[cupogoodness]

If I buy the game on GoG to get it a little early, does it:

1) Come with a steam code, and
2) let me transfer my save files over to steam.

Honestly I try to keep my games all on the same platform, since Steam has been so reliable for me in the past in combat zones and areas where there isn't much in the way of internet.

No Steam key with GOG. If you want one, and don't want to wait for the actual Steam release (~5 hours), Humble Store provides both a Steam key and the DRM-free version. TLF is scheduled to launch there in just over an hour.

[Chthon]

If I buy the game on GoG to get it a little early, does it:

1) Come with a steam code, and
2) let me transfer my save files over to steam.

Honestly I try to keep my games all on the same platform, since Steam has been so reliable for me in the past in combat zones and areas where there isn't much in the way of internet.

Awesome!  Thanks


No Steam key with GOG. If you want one, and don't want to wait for the actual Steam release (~5 hours), Humble Store provides both a Steam key and the DRM-free version. TLF is scheduled to launch there in just over an hour.

[Chthon]

Humble store just updated... I don't see The Last Federation on there.  Is this a mistake?  Or am I just not patient enough?

[cupogoodness]

Not a mistake. Well, only on my end for telling you the wrong info. We contractually can't release on Humble Store until Steam launches as well. I forgot about that, and so we had to push it back to 5 PM EST to match Steam's release time. Very sorry for misleading you, I was misleading myself as well.

[Chthon]

Not a mistake. Well, only on my end for telling you the wrong info. We contractually can't release on Humble Store until Steam launches as well. I forgot about that, and so we had to push it back to 5 PM EST to match Steam's release time. Very sorry for misleading you, I was misleading myself as well.

*dies of boredom*

[keith.lamothe]

*dies of boredom*

See, all you had to do was wait long enough and the problem solved itself!

[Professor Paul1290]

GOG is a rather different service that caters to a different crowd than Steam.

GOG is not going to do Steam keys because both GOG and their users are extremely anti-DRM, and that includes Steam.

If GOG were to suddenly start giving out Steam keys they would literally lose a large portion of their users for indirectly supporting Steam (and by extension DRM).

I remember a while back they were going to implement regional pricing to make it easier to get publishers to put their games on GOG, which is something else GOG users are very much against. To say GOG's users were furious about this this would be an understatement. They eventually backed off from doing it as they realized they were going to lose a large portion of their users if they went through with it.

[Chthon]

GOG is a rather different service that caters to a different crowd than Steam.

GOG is not going to do Steam keys because both GOG and their users are extremely anti-DRM, and that includes Steam.

If GOG were to suddenly start giving out Steam keys they would literally lose a large portion of their users for indirectly supporting Steam (and by extension DRM).

I remember a while back they were going to implement regional pricing to make it easier to get publishers to put their games on GOG, which is something else GOG users are very much against. To say GOG's users were furious about this this would be an understatement. They eventually backed off from doing it as they realized they were going to lose a large portion of their users if they went through with it.

Well then, I suppose I will continue to use other services then.  Steam provides a convenience that other retailers do not.  When you have an unreliable connection, you need a service that can manage that and still get the game to you without corruption.  That's something I couldn't find with any other provider while over seas.  Sure it required DRM, but the DRM actually made the playing possible.

[keith.lamothe]

Yea.  There's a lot of strong idealism (that often takes a very uncompromising view of nuances like "we think this change actually provides better customer service") going on in that audience.  It gives GoG a niche market but they have to be really careful to remember their constituency.  Though I wonder if sometimes they intentionally try things they think may stir the pot, as a sort of PR boon.  Remember when they suddenly "shut down" a while ago, as a joke?

[Mick]

I like GoG-the-service for packaging together old classics in ways that run on modern machines while giving you a way to legitimately access them. I find the GoG-the-religion kinda weird and Luddite-ish though, and if a game I want is on both it and Steam, I prefer Steam every time. Steam's "DRM" is less onerous than requiring you to dig out a CD and put it in the drive. I don't want to go back to the "old ways" when it comes to buying and patching games, they were the gaming Dark Ages.

[Professor Paul1290]

Well then, I suppose I will continue to use other services then.  Steam provides a convenience that other retailers do not.  When you have an unreliable connection, you need a service that can manage that and still get the game to you without corruption.  That's something I couldn't find with any other provider while over seas.  Sure it required DRM, but the DRM actually made the playing possible.

GOG games are completely DRM-less and except for multiplayer and other services built into the games themselves they are completely independent of outside services. The only time you ever need a connection to use them is when you initially download them, after that you can pretty much do whatever the heck you want with them.

I guess with that in mind the "GOG solution" to this problem would be to download all the installers for games you might want to play offline then put them an external drive or burn them into some disks so you can install them later.
The other solution if you had to download the game through an unreliable connection would be to get them via GOG's downloader.

[keith.lamothe]

GoG-the-service
(...)
GoG-the-religion

That's a good way of putting it, actually   I love the service and they're definitely my favorite place to get games that aren't on steam.  And I'll almost always prefer GoG to steam if it's an old game I expect to have compatibility problems with newer platforms.

But from dealing with some of the community "adherents", so to speak... it is very wearying to be trying very hard to provide the best customer service I can but be accused of burdening the product with unnecessary DRM/whatever and then of lying about motivations.

Actually, just occurred to me, but it's kind of the flipside of the whole "DRM is treating legitimate customers like criminals" thing.  It results in treating legitimately customer-service-oriented developers like they were Activision or something

[Riabi]

Well then, I suppose I will continue to use other services then.  Steam provides a convenience that other retailers do not.  When you have an unreliable connection, you need a service that can manage that and still get the game to you without corruption.  That's something I couldn't find with any other provider while over seas.  Sure it required DRM, but the DRM actually made the playing possible.

GOG games are completely DRM-less and except for multiplayer and other services built into the games themselves they are completely independent of outside services. The only time you ever need a connection to use them is when you initially download them, after that you can pretty much do whatever the heck you want with them.

I guess with that in mind the "GOG solution" to this problem would be to download all the installers for games you might want to play offline then put them an external drive or burn them into some disks so you can install them later.
The other solution if you had to download the game through an unreliable connection would be to get them via GOG's downloader.

Yeah, GOG is actually a pretty good service. Personally, I like having all my games in one spot, and lately that spot has become Steam, so I've not bought any GOG games in a while, but, I think I have 70 or 80 in my library there.