Wow, that simply does not compute...
So strange.
I was literally about to start buying a few things there. Damn.
So strange.
I was literally about to start buying a few things there. Damn.
GOG.com Closes its Digital Doors
- Thread starter Logan Westbrook
- Start date
You got that wrong - the source code was declared open source, which is why the community could take it and build the Source Code Project improvements to modernize things, but the game content itself has never just been released for free[footnote]Volition, the developers of Freespace, didn't actually own the rights to release the game content as their publisher Interplay owned the rights to the Freespace franchise itself, so all they could release were those portions of the engine that they'd written themselves (originally all the licensed code was omitted, which broke certain functions that relied on it, but the mod community has written replacements for those code sections now).[/footnote], and you still need to have the retail Freespace 2 files to use the new stuff.joethekoeller said:
For a good long stretch the community didn't see the harm in bundling full versions of the software along with their improvements to it, as nobody was actually selling new copies of Freespace 2 anymore, so it was in the legal gray area of "abandonware" - folks reason that if the only copies of a game on sale are vastly overpriced second-hand copies being resold, then they're not really doing any harm by distributing that "abandoned" software for free, as the original content creators aren't getting a dime either way; it might not be strictly legal but it's hard to see the harm in it either.
But when Good Old Games came onto the scene the FS mod community quickly dropped retail FS2 from their downloads and pointed everyone to GOG.com instead, as there now existed a legal channel for interested parties to purchase new units and actually give money to the content creators again. Now that it's gone I don't know what they'll do, as far as I was aware FS2 wasn't available anywhere else (legally).
Doesn't impact me personally, as I own a retail boxed copy of the game from way back when, but this news still sucks thanks to the difficulties that arise from recommending the game to people: Freespace 2 is still the best damn space shooter ever released, and the stuff the SCP community has put out there just makes it even more freaking awesome.
The trouble is now when I tell somebody that, dangle tantalizing screenshots in front of them, etc, I'm basically telling them "This game is awesome, go pirate it now!" because there's no place to direct them to so they can buy it. Which really sucks, because I think everyone should play that game but I hate to think of myself as an advocate of software piracy, and I'm essentially urging people to pirate the game when I tell them why they need it now. Here's hoping some other legal channel arises.
NO! [http://www.nooooooooooooooo.com/]
This is a dark and terrible day for gamers everywhere, whether they know it or not. GOG had the potential to be a go-to source for older games as they phased out of the mainstream conscious. /sigh
this week sucks.
This is a dark and terrible day for gamers everywhere, whether they know it or not. GOG had the potential to be a go-to source for older games as they phased out of the mainstream conscious. /sigh
this week sucks.
Ya harr, pirates you say? There be no such thing as a pirate in these waters, yarr.Irridium said:
OT: Hm, seems like a site I should've known about earlier, I would most likely have bought some games there.
I hope he's right.Shitflap said:
If not then noooooooo D: where will I buy cool old stuff now?!?!?
Good news everybody: GOG's PR man Tom Ohle has responded, saying, "As the message on the site says, this doesn't mean GOG is gone. We'll have more to share in the coming days. No need to jump to conclusions 
"
Sauce: http://www.neoseeker.com/news/14926-digital-pc-classics-service-good-old-games-closes/
"Sauce: http://www.neoseeker.com/news/14926-digital-pc-classics-service-good-old-games-closes/
