GOG Says Sorry With a Free Game

[Andy Chalk]

GOG Says Sorry With a Free Game

GOG [http://www.gog.com] is sorry for selling a glitched copy of MotoRacer 2 and to prove it, it's giving away a code for a free game to everyone who bought it.

MotoRacer 2 somehow slipped through GOG's testing process with some "serious gameplay issues" caused by leftover traces of the game's old copy protection. It runs fine, but in motocross races players can't shift higher than third gear and in Superbike mode they can't get past fourth. This is, as you might expect, quite an impediment at race time, and it affects everyone who bought it; GOG said the problem was present in the masters it received from the publisher and it remains in all downloadable retail versions of the game.

GOG is currently at work on a fix but it has no idea when it will be ready, so in the meantime it's going to do everyone who bought the game a solid by giving them a free $5.99 game code. "Just log in and go to our support form, select MotoRacer 2 from the dropdown of games you have downloaded, and fill out the subject line with something like, 'I'd like a credit for my copy of MotoRacer 2'," a GOG rep explained on the community forum [http://www.gog.com/en/forum/moto_racer_series/announcement_to_our_motoracer_2_players]. "Our handy-dandy support team will get cracking on it and will send a code to you as soon a we can."

And while GOG has pulled MotoRacer 2 off the virtual shelf until it's fixed, anyone who bought it can keep it, re-download it whenever they want and continue trying to win races by winding it out in third. "GOG will never knowingly disappoint you, and we hope that this makes it right for you guys," the rep said.

And that, folks, is how you make, and keep, your customers happy.


Permalink

 

[Toasty Virus]

I love these guys, they really do make me so happy.

<3 GOG

 

[mjc0961]

Which game? Or can they just get any $5.99 game they want? The latter would be especially nice, it always stinks when companies try to apologize but with a crappy game (*cough*Undertow*cough*). Granted, I can still appreciate the thought of the former, but again, just the money is always better.

 

[JediMB]

Or can they just get any $5.99 game they want?

The way I'm reading it, customers basically get a $5.99 coupon code to use on a future order.

Very nice. GOG is quickly becoming my favorite Steam alternative.

 

[midpipps]

GOG rocks there is no other way to state it they always make sure to take care of the customer and their game selection is just unbelievably epic.

 

[Brawndo]

How does GOG make a profit without DRM? I've bought the original Fallout from them, and what's stopping me from disseminating the .rar file to everyone I know, or even worse, putting it up on an internet file hosting service?

Just a hypothetical.

 

[teh_gunslinger]

How does GOG make a profit without DRM? I've bought the original Fallout from them, and what's stopping me from disseminating the .rar file to everyone I know, or even worse, putting it up on an internet file hosting service?

Just a hypothetical.

Nothing is stopping you from it. That's the point.

Or rather, the point is: you can make a backup of your game and in the case that gog.com goes bust you still have your install file and a working game.

As for reasons not to upload it to TPB, well, that is up to your own moral code, really.


EDIT: Oh, and as for the topic, I think Mr. Chalk said it very nicely in the last bit of his piece. The guys at gog.com really are a bunch of nice guys. I've bought 25 games there so far and I plan to continue. If only the preorder of The Witcher 2 wasn't so far off.

 

[JediMB]

How does GOG make a profit without DRM? I've bought the original Fallout from them, and what's stopping me from disseminating the .rar file to everyone I know, or even worse, putting it up on an internet file hosting service?

Just a hypothetical.

Your decision to buy the game from GOG instead of pirating it speaks for itself, doesn't it?

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

And that, folks, is how you make, and keep, your customers happy.

See, certain companies could learn a lot from these guys. Huge great problem? Don't threaten to shut down the servers, listen, donate and keep them loyal.

 

[GiantRaven]

How does GOG make a profit without DRM? I've bought the original Fallout from them, and what's stopping me from disseminating the .rar file to everyone I know, or even worse, putting it up on an internet file hosting service?

Just a hypothetical.

I'm willing to purchase from GoG just for their willingness to let you do whatever with what you download. Such brutal honesty in digital delivery deserves my service as far I'm concerned.

 

[TheHecatomb]

Wow, Bethesda should do stuff like that.

On second thought it'd probably get them bankrupt.

 

[GonzoGamer]

That's cool.
Bethesda/Obsidian should do something like that for those of us who bought the $60 beta of Fallout New Vegas.

 

[Irridium]

And this is why I want to make sweet love to GoG.

 

[nagi]

Well, that's how customer support should work. "Defective item? Sorry, our mistake, here is something nice for your troubles" Even if it wasn't exactly/totally their mistake. No finger pointing.

(edit: another happy customer here. I don't even remember how many games I bought from GoG. Even some that I had from old.)

 

[Tarlane]

How does GOG make a profit without DRM? I've bought the original Fallout from them, and what's stopping me from disseminating the .rar file to everyone I know, or even worse, putting it up on an internet file hosting service?

Just a hypothetical.

Gog.com did a question and answer session on DOSBOX about a week ago and that was one of the questions. I'll put up their answer.

How do you try to beat piracy when there is no DRM?

Guillaume: As I mentioned earlier in this interview, the best way to beat piracy is to believe in your model full-heartedly and go beyond the typical fears from our modern mainstream society
Let me go against our values for a while for the sake of providing readers with a clear example (disclaimer: the below description is the exact opposite of what we are doing at GOG

Let?s assume (for a while only please, yikes!) that all the products on GOG have a DRM in place, need an Internet connection to be played, have different prices across territories (9.99 EUR vs 9.99 USD anyone? , are not remastered for any windows operating system (you just get the data files and there you go) and have no free goodies bundled with them (it is too time and resources-consuming for us at GOG you know... Business is about selling only in the end, so no room for free stuff!).
Do you want to buy my products or are you likely to consider some illegal routes to satisfy your nostalgic gaming appetite? I think we all know the answer to be honest

The titles we have on GOG have already suffered a lot (when they got initially released) from piracy, so the best way to stop this process is to deliver a passionate, genuine and hassle-free experience to the users. I often think that GOG is some kind of fair trade business, whereby we took commitments towards the industry by instigating a valuable rewarding model for the users, who in exchange thank us by sticking to those values as they fully realize this is the one and only condition to make the experience sustainable.

When our partners ask whether we believe our fair model can really prevent games from being pirated, I always share the same fact with them: many abandonware websites took down the products we started distributing on GOG.com and decided to become our affiliates instead. I think this example perfectly embodies what we?ve managed to achieve so far: GOG will not change the world, but we can change mentalities at least.

Whole interview is here. [http://www.dosbox.com/] Its an interesting read into their policies and process.

 

[Andy Chalk]

I've bought the original Fallout from them, and what's stopping me from disseminating the .rar file to everyone I know, or even worse, putting it up on an internet file hosting service?

There will always be a small number of jerks who take advantage of the situation do just that, but the hope is that when offered good games, good price, no DRM, most people will play fair.

And as far as I know, they're giving away a code that can be used to buy any $5.99 game GOG sells.

 

[GonzoGamer]

Wow, Bethesda should do stuff like that.

On second thought it'd probably get them bankrupt.

Oh. That's why.
Really Fallout New Vegas is the first time I've felt they needed to do something like that but at this point, I just want my money back.

Sorry I pretty much repeated this sentiment but I didn't see any of the comments until I left a comment myself.

 

[Orcus The Ultimate]

Wow, Bethesda should do stuff like that.

On second thought it'd probably get them bankrupt.

imagine all the people,

getting morrowiiiiind,

For Freeeeee eeeeeeee !