GOG, Good Old Games... has joined the Steam and Origin idea... not sure if I want another background program, but I do have a lot of those old great games...

http://www.gog.com/galaxy

Beta out now.

As a GOG fan I'm fine with it, since I don't have to install and use it (and I probably won't)...

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"GOG Galaxy is fully optional because you don’t need it to play games on GOG.com. If you want to, you can simply download your game via your browser, install it manually, and launch it offline, just like we've always done it on GOG.com. If you decide to use GOG Galaxy for some aspects of the convenience, you can still switch to offline mode at whim and play your games. Optional also means that all features in GOG Galaxy can be turned off. Not a fan of achievements or auto-updates? No problem, they're extras."

http://www.gog.com/galaxy
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If such a background software ever becomes mandatory I'll simply cease being a customer, knowing that the many games I've already purchased from GOG will not be affected. These are and will remain 100% no strings attached, the only Licensing Agreement I'll agree to, as I give no one the power to cut me off at their discretion.

[Other than GOG games...]

Yes, I know that I technically break the rules sometimes when I make backups of my static-key installation media (along with archiving ISOs) but since I'm not distributing any of my "illegal copies", no one cares. As a side note, some software encourages making backup copies.

And yes, *I* own my software/music/movies/etc. If stolen, the law will acknowledge that it's *my* property and will return it to me (the rightful owner) if possible. I just don't have the right to claim authorship and I'm suppose to follow whatever other clauses are included in the licensing agreement (one I probably break regularly is making personal backup copies, but what can be done about it?).

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He he...it's been a couple of months, guess I needed to rant. Thanks.

Optional, so no issues with it. For new games I could see it being handy but honestly I don't expect any patches for Freespace 2 any time soon

Yeah. It's not really keen to Steam. It reminds me more of Gamespy ot something.

If you want to play some of old games in multi now you can with GOG.COM games too...

Now I'm just waiting for the first one to begin a rant that he wants to play multiplayer PvP games without being online...

In addition to MP...

I get the auto-updating part, it's convenient. This is where it's all heading, full automation while surrendering user control for user friendliness.

In a way I'm fine with that, I'm tried of fighting it. I'll be replacing my online laptop with a new one running Windows 10 and I'll give in completely to the defaults/auto-updates/[user accounts] for a smoother experience. Pull-down menus and detailed file info (incl. file extensions), who needs them? System files? Keep them hidden and whatever else I shouldn't be seeing to protect me from myself.

I'll even keep the default icon GUI and/or go Metro. I'll go with all the defaults while placing my laptop's well-being in Microsoft/McAfee/etc.'s capable hands <cough>. Besides, we need to get use of these options fading away, only the developers know what's best for their customers...

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Autodesk Plans to Go Subscription-Only Over Next One to Two Years

"They are real customers …. They just happen to purchase from us perpetual licenses on an infrequent basis because they can. This isn't really good for our ecosystem [because] we would like to see everybody on our most current release. We think that's good for customers."

Perpetual software licenses will be discontinued in stages over the next 12 to 24 months..."
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Besides, my online laptop is just a toy, I go online to watch YouTube, organize music and pics, purchase stuff and read a couple of boards.

My REAL PCs will never touch the 'Net and with those I'll keep complete control. As long as I can continue to download games from GOG and install and play them on my offline PCs, I'm happy.

Don't worry Mark. GOG knows well that a majority of their games are also on Steam. And that their customers buy with them because it's no-fuss.

Any change in their DRM free approach woukd destroy their unique selling point.

I flipped into rant mode too quickly!

You're correct RSColonel_131st, after a little research I'm ok with this. I'll probably use it only as a glorified downloader to replace the current GOG Downloader once it's no longer functional (vs. a direct download which is still optional).

As long as I can continue to download my games, transfer them to my offline 'gaming' PC and install them with no other requirements/attachments, I'm good. Much like buying MP3s from Amazon, create an account, purchase and download, no further involvement necessary (also why I love iTunes and iPod Shuffles yet I have no account with Apple).

The usefulness of this is really limited to downloading. Due to the nature of most of the products on GOG they are not likely to be patched or hotfixed.

Where this WOULD be useful however is on a fresh install or new system where you want to re-install multiple games from GOG without having to babysit it or manually download and install everything.

Great idea as long as it's optional.

What would be great would be a "cloud save" with Galaxy so you can play on one machine and then another.

I remember some time back GOG pulled some publicity stunt that they were going under, then reappeared with a new website, or something like that.

Sooo, I don't trust them completely. As soon as I buy a game I download and archive [the Setup and extras] to three separate external HDs plus a rotating system of flash drives sitting in a safety deposit box (as I do with all my digital media now). If GOG disappeared tomorrow I wouldn't care, other than not being able to buy more games from them.

Well, that's a tad paranoid

I only have two external HDs... :P

Nah, GOG will not change their methods. They rely on the Anti-DRM guys to sell their stuff. Otherwise they are just competing with the same crowd that uses all the other services.

Doesn't GOG have that already? The few games I bought there could be downloaded with an client, several at the same time... don't remember if it installed them automatically.

In any case, yes, GOG knows that DRM free is their key feature, I bet my sweet *ss they won't change that.

The only safe PC is one that is not used.




The Jedi Master

That and use legitimate websites and programs and you'll pretty much never have issues. I must be magical but I can count the number of times I've had actual viruses on any of my machines on one hand.

Me too. I've gone 30 years using PCs without being infected, hacked, or anything that was my fault or on my end. Worst thing that happened was someone got into my Xbox account and charged the max you could in one day ($220 or whatever) via an account vulnerability that I couldn't have prevented unless I'd remembered to disconnect my Paypal account from it after I'd used it.
I didn't, but MS' fraud dept refunded me.

Of course, I've never been cavalier about where I go or what I click on or what emails I open. You don't need to be paranoid, just take reasonable precautions. Sure, if someone targets you that won't help, but to assume you will be targeted is the same as assuming you're going to be shot if you leave your house.



The Jedi Master

Give your teenage son access to a computer hooked to the Internet and you'll have malware and viruses.

I was actually kind of proud. The history check shows his interests are quite normal and his tastes worthy of approval.

Most funny thing my wife ever said was during an effort to remove junk from the computer - "Is there a lot of porn on the Internet?"

RSColonel_131st, It took months but recently I did a complete clean-up and re-organization of all my digital PC media including almost a 10k song CD library (first burned to loss-less for archiving, then the loss-less burned to MP3 for portability), all my pics, software, you name it! I got rid of (or re-formatted) all of my misc. burned CDs and DVDs, tape backups, floppies, etc. and put EVERYTHING on two master drives (one SSD and one trusty platter, data identical to the byte...let's me verify everything is ok with each drive).

Once a month or so I do a complete copy from one of the master drives to a third drive and then certain irreplaceable files to flash drive for off-site storage. I can't tell you how good it feels to finally be so organized, going all the way back to DOS (which I still use on occasion).


WileECoyote, you're right. The current GOG downloader lets you download multiple files at once, but it doesn’t install automatically, just gives you the Setup files.


Jedi Master, a PC with no wireless components and no connection to the outside world is about as safe as you can get. And although I moved to the sticks, I keep city habits of locking doors and enabling alarms (why change good habits?).

My main PC is Windows 2000 (forever), gaming PC and working laptop both XP, so I wouldn't go online with these regardless. They're networked via wire, very stream-lined with no firewall or AV.

I even consolidated some equipment for space and bought me a new chair...




Damn these Dells last forever...