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Dear Santa,

The year has turned again, and it's that time: a time when everyone runs through their mental lists to see if they've been nicer than naughty and wonders what you'll bring them on the morrow. It's time for us to reflect on what we've done in the last year, what we wanted to do, and what we hope you'll bring us to help succeed next year as well.

The year has been pretty good to us, Santa, and we'd like to think that's part of you fulfilling our wish for last year--we've added over 250 Mac games to the catalog, more than 120 Indie games are now on GOG since we launched our "Bigger, Fresher, Newer" campaign last year, and we celebrated a 500 games in our catalog in January of this year. We've since gone on to a total catalog of [url=http://www.gog.com/games]674 games at the end of 2013--that's a long way since 2012!

We added some top games to our catalog this year, classics like Leisure Suit Larry, Neverwinter Nights 2, , [url=http://www.gog.com/game/system_shock_2]System Shock 2, Wizardry 6 & 7, and Wizardry 8, I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream, and we even finished off the Wing Commander series. We've seen some fantastic indies showing up on GOG.com as well, from Divinity: Dragon Commander and Expeditions: Conquistador to Papers, Please and , we've been adding new games to the catalog that we're sure will be looked at as future gems in the years to come. We've asked questions about what our users think GOG.com should be, we've produced--and ended--a regular episodic show about what GOG.com has released each week, we've fulfilled [url=http://www.gog.com/wishlist]hundreds of thousands of wishlist votes, gone to tradeshows in [url=http://www.gog.com/news/gogcom_e3_the_photodocumentary]and the US, launched a new program to help indies get on GOG.com, had [url=http://games.on.net/2013/07/we-see-pirates-as-our-competition-we-dont-see-steam-as-our-competition-gog-com-on-hatemail-torrents-and-sharing-games-legally/]of [url=http://news.softpedia.com/news/GOG-com-Is-Not-Ready-to-Support-Linux-Just-Yet-299948.shtml]all [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzPPcxp_uUQ]the , [url=http://www.gog.com/news/super_5_five_new_indies_up_to_80_off]celebrated our fifth birthday for a whole month, and generally had a grand old time.

Recently, we've experimented with some new things for GOG.com: we ran a charity fundraiser which (spoiler alert!) has raised tons of money for children, the poor, and wildlife all around the world; we teamed up with PC Gamer and Larian and gave away 3d-printed statues of dragons from Dragon Commander; we ran a pixel-art competition and were blown away by the great entries we received; we ran an Insomnia promo whereby we discovered the Internet's love for Jack Keane; we launched a guarantee where we promise that any game you buy from us will work; and we gave away all three of the original Fallout games to say goodbye to one of the greatest franchises in the history of gaming as it leaves our catalog. We also discovered that apparently the entire Internet wanted free copies of Fallout, because man did our servers ever struggle for the first few hours of that giveaway! We've welcomed back old friends and made uncountable scores of new ones over the last year here, and the craziest thing is that--for the fifth year running--this is the best year yet for GOG.com. With 63 employees from all over the world, millions and millions of customers and visitors each month, hundreds of new games, and limitless potential for the next year, Santa, we believe that trend will continue in 2014 with your help.

Which brings us to what we'd like to see in our Yule stocking. Last year we wished for LucasArts or Take Two to join GOG.com, and we really thought that we'd have enough good luck to make it happen. The business world can be slower than we'd like, but we still hope and dream of adding great games from one of those classic companies--or others!--to our classic games catalog in 2014. The rest of our wishes, we worked hard and succeeded at this year, but they're also still something that we want to continue to work on in 2014. Of course we want to release more great games--games like Wasteland 2, Pillars of Eternity, Carmageddon: Reincarnation--and others that we haven't even heard of yet. We want to see our indie program grow and expand well beyond its current scope because we've seen so many good games come our way through there but we know we're missing out on others that haven't found us yet. We want to launch audacious new features on GOG.com that will make us bigger, better, and more fun for our gamers. We want to look beyond the obvious and grow in new and unexpected ways to bring the DRM-Free Revolution to gamers who've never heard of us or who don't know about DRM. We defined our goal as a company for 2014 year simply: to help make the world's best games available DRM-Free.

So help us with that, Santa, and we're confident that we will continue to surprise, delight, amaze, astound, and impress gamers all around the globe; we'll continue to grow; and we'll continue to do everything that makes GOG.com a different (and dare we say "better"?) place for gamers. We never ask you for easy things, Santa, because we don't ask ourselves for easy things. We want to drive ourselves to make big changes, and we hope we'll be able to do so in 2014.

Happy Holidays to all of you who read this, and we hope that all of your wishes come true for 2014.
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mondo84: I wonder what 2014 will bring? If there are big changes coming as hinted ([url=http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.gamestar.de%252Fnews%252F3031390%252Fgogcom.html]translation to English):

"For 2014, the operators of GOG.com also announce some major changes to the portal web presence as well as several "breakthrough projects" - more precisely in every detail is one in this respect but not yet."
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mondo84: I think we might very well see a restructuring in some site features. Optional client? Redesigned forum? GOG was hiring web developers earlier this year as well. Whatever is coming, I hope it goes well and wish everyone the best.
I was originally bitching about an optional client as I felt GOG's time could be used better elsewhere, but in retrospect this is probably the best thing they could do for the website, aside from making the catalog easier to use. Being able to install and play (making patching much easier for devs), as well as being able to back up your games if you want, really is a smart idea.

I do wish the letter had said something to the extent of, "We have some big releases planned for 2014," too, though.
Thanks for oldie and goody games Wasteland and Wizardry,
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Stoltverd: What do you mean fallout is leaving your catalog??? D:
What about my sons???
They will never learn what true RPG are about... (Not high fantasy ones at least)
The games are leaving the sales catalog because Interplay lost the rights of their classic Fallouts to ZeniMax/Bethesda, at least until GOG manages to strike a deal with Bethesda to sell them again (which doesn't seem likely, as Bethesda is a very pro-DRM, non-consumer-friendly company, but, hey!, we can always hope, right?). If past games are any indication, though, being dropped off the catalog doesn't equal disappearing from the consumers' personal libraries, so, if you got the titles, they should remain there.

Just to be safe I'd make backups of the installers and all the nifty extra content GOG provides, so your kids will always have the chance to experience Fallout 1, 2 and Tactics later on. That's just one of the many great things about GOG: you now *own* the games -- as much as this non-forgiving digital age lets us own any thing --, so you can back them up just like you did in the good old days of the physical boxed disc copies.

Happy gaming, and thanks, GOG, for all the consumer dedication and love you keep showing us. You guys deserve the best successes in your endeavor.
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cyboff: Looks like GOG has some extra-hidden surprise sale for us :D But where to click? :D
That's quite a sale.... I guess they finally realized how much "nothing" is worth since it was up so high on the wishlist. Their being generous enough to grant it on discount at it's launch ;D

Also, I hope for lots of money in the new year, to take care of personal matters, as well as to be able to afford many titles that will undoubtedly be on my personal wishlist on GOG in 2014 and beyond.

Thanks for being great.
Post edited December 29, 2013 by JinseiNGC224
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ThoRn: Would like to see GOG add an DRM-Free adult game section for adult games (anime, porn, Japanese with English subtitles)
Ugh, no. How seedy.
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ThoRn: Would like to see GOG add an DRM-Free adult game section for adult games (anime, porn, Japanese with English subtitles)
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graspee: Ugh, no. How seedy.
You wouldn't have to access the adult section or buy those sorts of games or applications if you didn't want to. I'm sure it would bring more customers to GOG though. Seedy or not, sex sells... Everybody knows this.

What I like about GOG is they offer something that Steam generally doesn't. An adult section would be unique because Steam doesn't have one and that would bring in customers and more money and help to establish GOG even more around the world and maybe even make GOG more popular than Steam over time.

I'm not talking about or wanting to see porn movies. I'm talking about anime and non-anime porn GAMES, including indie porn games. However, I do think it should require a one time credit card proof of age, or linked to user account, to be able to access and purchase this material so underage kids aren't exposed.

But it would certainly bring in more money for GOG and that money could be used to bring even more adult AND non-adult DRM-free titles for everyone to enjoy. It should certainly be considered.
Post edited December 29, 2013 by ThoRn
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graspee: Ugh, no. How seedy.
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ThoRn: You wouldn't have to access the adult section or buy those sorts of games or applications if you didn't want to. I'm sure it would bring more customers to GOG though. Seedy or not, sex sells... Everybody knows this.
So does crack, but that doesn't mean you should get excited for the future of your neighborhood when the guy down the street starts selling it out of his living room.
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cannard: Go ahead and vote:

http://www.gog.com/wishlist/games/rapelay
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Crosmando: Looks pretty cool actually, haters gonna hate.
Well adult titles wouldn't be a bad thing to have, I know there's quite a few hentai games that are otherwise lost to the past (for Win 3.1 & DOS); Although with how the US enjoys super censoring anything sexual (although violence, beheading and running people over with cars is okay... (Skyrim, GTA, Carmageddon, Mortal Kombat... to name a few)).

Besides if you can't see what games someone else owns, then what does it matter? :)
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groze: The games are leaving the sales catalog because Interplay lost the rights of their classic Fallouts to ZeniMax/Bethesda, at least until GOG manages to strike a deal with Bethesda to sell them again (which doesn't seem likely, as Bethesda is a very pro-DRM, non-consumer-friendly company, but, hey!, we can always hope, right?).
Hmm I had the impression Bethesda got licensing permission to make the third game, not take over the entire franchise.

As for Bethesda in general, yeah I probably won't be purchasing anything from them unless it's DRM-free in the future, I seriously have hated how Skyrim required steam to activate and requires you to log in to play it, which has seriously turned me off to steam altogether. Not to mention I refuse to get D3 (Blizzard)because of it's DRM, and I probably will never get it ( they said 'screw you' and threw it into their rich-kid's club when they made SC2 & D3 always online).
Post edited December 29, 2013 by rtcvb32
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ThoRn: You wouldn't have to access the adult section or buy those sorts of games or applications if you didn't want to. I'm sure it would bring more customers to GOG though. Seedy or not, sex sells... Everybody knows this.
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mkell_226: So does crack, but that doesn't mean you should get excited for the future of your neighborhood when the guy down the street starts selling it out of his living room.
I think it shows how messed up some cultures views on sexuality are when "seedy" is used to describe games containing it, and they are compared to dealing.
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groze: The games are leaving the sales catalog because Interplay lost the rights of their classic Fallouts to ZeniMax/Bethesda, at least until GOG manages to strike a deal with Bethesda to sell them again (which doesn't seem likely, as Bethesda is a very pro-DRM, non-consumer-friendly company, but, hey!, we can always hope, right?).
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rtcvb32: Hmm I had the impression Bethesda got licensing permission to make the third game, not take over the entire franchise.

As for Bethesda in general, yeah I probably won't be purchasing anything from them unless it's DRM-free in the future, I seriously have hated how Skyrim required steam to activate and requires you to log in to play it, which has seriously turned me off to steam altogether. Not to mention I refuse to get D3 (Blizzard)because of it's DRM, and I probably will never get it ( they said 'screw you' and threw it into their rich-kid's club when they made SC2 & D3 always online).
There was a lawsuit which Interplay lost that gave Bethesda full ownership of the entire Fallout franchise's rights -- including the classic Interplay published titles sold on GOG. Interplay only retained the rights to sell them until the end of 2013.

If you're interested in reading more on the subject, feel free to check this Fallout wikia entry.
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groze: There was a lawsuit which Interplay lost that gave Bethesda full ownership of the entire Fallout franchise's rights -- including the classic Interplay published titles sold on GOG. Interplay only retained the rights to sell them until the end of 2013.

If you're interested in reading more on the subject, feel free to check this Fallout wikia entry.
I glanced it over, and it seems like Bethesda bullied their way to ownership of games (and the franchise) they didn't otherwise own. Interplay may have been partially at fault according, but ultimately Bethesda shouldn't own Fallout 1 or 2. Having permission to make 3 titles shouldn't let them take over an IP.

Man, is it just me or has a few decent game & software companies in the last decade turned into big dicks, bullies and hot-headed morons?
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ThoRn: You wouldn't have to access the adult section or buy those sorts of games or applications if you didn't want to. I'm sure it would bring more customers to GOG though. Seedy or not, sex sells... Everybody knows this.
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mkell_226: So does crack, but that doesn't mean you should get excited for the future of your neighborhood when the guy down the street starts selling it out of his living room.
Riiight, sex and drugs are the exact same thing after all, and both are automatically evil.Oh and in a militaristic society, war for profit is automatically not just acceptable, but heroic.The world we live in...
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mkell_226: So does crack, but that doesn't mean you should get excited for the future of your neighborhood when the guy down the street starts selling it out of his living room.
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BloodMist: Riiight, sex and drugs are the exact same thing after all, and both are automatically evil.Oh and in a militaristic society, war for profit is automatically not just acceptable, but heroic.The world we live in...
Sex? Drugs? Where's the sign up sheet!
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mkell_226: So does crack, but that doesn't mean you should get excited for the future of your neighborhood when the guy down the street starts selling it out of his living room.
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mabrookes: I think it shows how messed up some cultures views on sexuality are when "seedy" is used to describe games containing it, and they are compared to dealing.
Hey, I'm totally down with sex; it's lame-ass Hentai games that I have a problem with.
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BloodMist: Riiight, sex and drugs are the exact same thing after all, and both are automatically evil.Oh and in a militaristic society, war for profit is automatically not just acceptable, but heroic.The world we live in...
Well, having lived in neighborhoods with both Pr0n shops and drug dealers (both before and after they moved in,) I can say from experience that their effects on an area are pretty similar. And you know two things that aren't the same thing? Sex and porn!

Now where exactly did I say anything glorifying war for profit? Right, I didn't, so why are you gibbering on about it?
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sunshinecorp: Sex? Drugs? Where's the sign up sheet!
Haha!!
Post edited December 30, 2013 by mkell_226
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ThoRn: Would like to see GOG add an DRM-Free adult game section for adult games (anime, porn, Japanese with English subtitles) and maybe even a section for applications, system tools, and educational software.
Yeah I think that would be cool too, although for me, I would rather see classics that are not yet available, like Black & White and so forth. But this would also be great.
Post edited December 30, 2013 by legmaco