GOG suspends all sales in Russia and Belarus

Where were everyone's sanctions against China when they took over Hong Kong? Among probably at least a dozen other examples.

This is just a PR move, and I kinda hope it blows up in their faces.

I came here expecting some political blathering, Im not dissapointed.

Let's just appreciate for now people seem to be mostly respectful about it.

Yes! Lets make life on Russia miserable. I'm sure this will help improve their view on us Europeans and Americans. Lets force them to see China as the only solution. I'm sure it will be alright.


Last edited by eldarion on 4 March 2022 at 12:04 pm UTC

So i'll suspend all my buys on GOG

I came here expecting some political blathering, Im not dissapointed.

I came here to read some contemptuous messages on writings from other people discussing about what structure their life, liked by the owner, and Im not disappointed.

While I can understand what GOG is trying to do, I should say they aren't very good at explaining it to the customers. Yes, they wrote a statement, but that statement is somewhere at the bottom of the site, and on the second page already. And if I try to buy a game from them today (I'm from Belarus), I will only see that there is no box to enter my bank card number. No explanation, no link to the statement - simply no way to finish order. Looks like a site UI bug more than anything else.

Spoiler, click me

!GOG suspended order

Also, on a side note, I would like this approach so much more...

Yeah, I don’t agree with gog here. They should keep selling the games and donate all proceeds they make from those sales to Ukraine. And put up a big banner telling their Russian costumers they’re doing it, let them vote with their wallets.

Where were everyone's sanctions against China when they took over Hong Kong? Among probably at least a dozen other examples.

This is just a PR move, and I kinda hope it blows up in their faces.

There have been at least 20 sanctions against China since 1949, nothing as global as today's sanctions against Russia but I can promise you that if China decided to invade Taiwan they would be put under equal sanctions as Russia is today.

Nobody is actually willing to hear the sad truth, the propaganda sounds more comfortable.

If this is the truth, then any russian is simply dump... and I don't think so.
Honstly I believe they fear to get arrested and vanish... another sign of a dictators power.

It's easy to think this way but unfortunately you don't have to be dumb to be fooled by propaganda, it works just as good on Einstein level geniuses as the local village idiot. And that is why it exists, had it only affected the dumb people then no one would have ever bothered with it since the value would be minimal.

As an example just go over to Phoronix right now, people who are normally sane and of average intelligence are now there spewing insane ideas of Putin liberating the Ukrainian population from Nazis and so forth.

Nobody is actually willing to hear the sad truth, the propaganda sounds more comfortable.

If this is the truth, then any russian is simply dump... and I don't think so.
Honstly I believe they fear to get arrested and vanish... another sign of a dictators power.

It's easy to think this way but unfortunately you don't have to be dumb to be fooled by propaganda, it works just as good on Einstein level geniuses as the local village idiot. And that is why it exists, had it only affected the dumb people then no one would have ever bothered with it since the value would be minimal.

As an example just go over to Phoronix right now, people who are normally sane and of average intelligence are now there spewing insane ideas of Putin liberating the Ukrainian population from Nazis and so forth.

People prefer their information bubble, also lots of people are true animals now and enjoy people suffering,
and I'd say about 50% people are like this now. I don't understand how people having kids going to school
can become as animalistic... but remembering 1945 Germans I guess it is the same phenomenon.
People just deny what they see or when they see and believe it happens they think Putin can't be wrong, so if
Putin eats people then this is right thing to do, so they have to praise it and follow the trend. And it will
be very hard to make them understand (and sanctions won't work because logic will be misunderstood). And if these
people left alone they will end up building nazi state next and danger will not go away.

let me step in, i'm from Belarus. I understand the GOG's move but i must clarify the situation in Belarus. We protested against lukashenko in 2020-21 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020%E2%80%932021_Belarusian_protests. Personally i was in a custody because of it. There were tortures and at least 15 people were killed during protests. We are UNDER OCCUPATION now by fascist regimes. People of Belarus do not support war! They hate and despise putler/lukashenko. We live like in GULAG now. And even now people try to protest. 800 were detained in one day at anti-war protests. Some even began a rail war by destroying rw infrastructure to break russian troops supply chain.

Sabotaging Russian troops does sound helpful. If Ukraine falls, that can't be good for Belarus either.

Come to think of it, best outcome would come from revolution. Current regime is not considered trustworthy and current situation has opened some old wounds, especially in countries that have been previously been occupied Russia (or Soviet Union to be exact in most of the cases). Even if current regime would back out, that would probably not end all sanctions.

If key people die, go into exile or something similar, there's no guarantee that replaced by anything better. Military coup would have similar risks.

As for if revolution and would actually have impact, Arab Spring was quite massive set of uprisings with varied outcomes. There have been also studies what made the difference between successful and unsuccessful uprising. I haven't read the actual studies, but Wikipedia mentions that countries with infrastructure in good shape and low levels of corruption could have chance. Level of censorship is also a factor.

In case of Belarus having Russian troops in the country doesn't though help at all.

I disagree, helping Ukraine stand now will save both Ukraine and Russia. Losing Ukraine will end up as long standing
problem for both Europe and world. Also China will benefit from everything.

It all depends on what you refer as "helping". Helping to evacuate is one thing, giving more guns and forcing people to fight a war they don't want to is another.

Ukraine needs weapons and support, not trash talk from cheap cowards.

I disagree, helping Ukraine stand now will save both Ukraine and Russia. Losing Ukraine will end up as long standing
problem for both Europe and world. Also China will benefit from everything.

It all depends on what you refer as "helping". Helping to evacuate is one thing, giving more guns and forcing people to fight a war they don't want to is another.

Ukraine needs weapons and support, not trash talk from cheap cowards.

Indeed. Being pacifist is nice and all, but fighting against Russian invasion at the moment is much better alternative. It's Russia that's forcing people to fight war people don't want to fight.

Without giving weapons there's soon no need to evacuate. If we go to back to glory days of Soviet Union, borders will be closed and nobody is allowed to leave the country.

And here I thought political comments were against the rules.

the internet is the only way for russians the SEE/READ the truth instead of Putins propaganda.

Aaah, mentioning "the truth". ... as if we didn't know today that's a very relative concept.

I suppose you feel that you always are on the side of the truth, and others, with different opinions and feelings, are always on the side of propoganda?

War, war never changes. First victim of war, the empathy. First winners of war, a self-centred view of the world and the fact that the "others" gradually, but quickly, pass from 'another me' to 'stupid aliens'.

No political leaders are clean in this (his)story, and, if we have to rank the dirtiers, Putin is for sure at the top of this list. But so many why? (example: why NATO after the end of USSR continues to behave as if it was not ended? Why Ukraine could not remained a neutral country?).
The trouble for russian people is that Putin is basing its propaganda on true facts (even if minor to our western eyes: far-right ukranian militias that killed russian and this Dombass war that is running for now more than 8 years, with some ukrainian army exactions). Putin, ukrainian and western leaders are both ranking the importances of some more or less minor true facts to justify their own decisions.
Rational external people (European people for example), should send them back-to-back and support every path that favours de-escalation, for the sake of life, civilians. ...But also for the sake of some of these young russian conscripts that clearly don't want to do this war (and that can be our own children...they didn't choose to be soldiers). I prefer these russian conscripts in tanks that refuse to crush ukrainian that block their way or deliberately obey orders the more stupid way to make their tanks and squadrons impotent than these young europeans joining the ukrainian resistance with the will to truly fire and kill invaders. An invading army can't keep an invaded country, especially with such unmotivated police and soldiers. But go give reasons to these unmotivated russian conscripts to avenge a friend or a beloved, or to feel stuck between the need to save their lives and their will to not arm civilians, and we will be all fucked.

"West" is walking on a very narrow path, with massive consequence for European (and less for Americans...it is quite far from them). Russian people may aggregate even more around this politically-finished so little time ago (and rumour says with declining health, terminal-cancer) Putin, or revolt against him. I would not be the western leader that bets on one of these two possible options with insurance and determination, currently. Not on what should or will do russian people about Putin, and not betting if this KGB mad mind will or not send nuclear missiles when he will end cornered (by his economy or his people).
In addition, russian people are resilient people. Russia just signed free trade with china (some researchers on geopolitics even say that it would be the true cause of this war): they have food, gas and oil, they can trade with the world-factory that is china, without any dollar/swift and without any interference from the rest of the world, ... I won't even bet on the fact that they will care of commercial sanctions.

...so carrying on GOG decision? Same results: will it upset russian people against Putin or against GOG and western companies that fit and give reality to Putin's propaganda?

Simple fact is Russian government is full of shit, always was. One tsar after the other. Maybe european leaders are disgusting also, but they are sure as shit not the ones starting the wars this century, it's Russia and USA. And Russia is certainly the worse of the two, by a long shot.

And here I thought political comments were against the rules.

At least as far as the article goes, we are not far into offtopic territory. It would be hard to not to discuss about politics when article discusses about sanctions.

And here I thought political comments were against the rules.

At least as far as the article goes, we are not far into offtopic territory. It would be hard to not to discuss about politics when article discusses about sanctions.

- Politics is important, it affects everything and everyone. However, be mindful of what you talk about and spread. If it is likely to cause arguments, don't post it. Most of the time, political chat isn't really needed here. Obviously if we cover something political, that is inviting respectable debate keeping all the other rules in mind.

Political discussion is fine when it's topical, disinformation and arguments are not.

Ukraine needs weapons and support, not trash talk from cheap cowards.

Do whatever you want with your life, but do not force people to fight when they have other priorities.

Indeed. Being pacifist is nice and all, but fighting against Russian invasion at the moment is much better alternative. It's Russia that's forcing people to fight war people don't want to fight.

Without giving weapons there's soon no need to evacuate. If we go to back to glory days of Soviet Union, borders will be closed and nobody is allowed to leave the country.

This is not about being pacifist but being rational. A lot of people aren't willing to fight, why force them? Maybe for some people a piece of land is worth their life, but for many other the life of a son or having your father alive worth's way more.

You need to get some perspective on this conflict. Ukraine doesn't have a chance to win unless western super powers get directly involved, but that will not happen for obvious reasons. So, the only valid strategy against Russia is to use their weakness and right now that weakness is economic. The best we can do is to save as many lives we can.


Last edited by x_wing on 5 March 2022 at 1:50 pm UTC

And here I thought political comments were against the rules.

At least as far as the article goes, we are not far into offtopic territory. It would be hard to not to discuss about politics when article discusses about sanctions.

- Politics is important, it affects everything and everyone. However, be mindful of what you talk about and spread. If it is likely to cause arguments, don't post it. Most of the time, political chat isn't really needed here. Obviously if we cover something political, that is inviting respectable debate keeping all the other rules in mind.

Political discussion is fine when it's topical, disinformation and arguments are not.

"Disinformation"? I see what you did there.

And here I thought political comments were against the rules.

At least as far as the article goes, we are not far into offtopic territory. It would be hard to not to discuss about politics when article discusses about sanctions.

- Politics is important, it affects everything and everyone. However, be mindful of what you talk about and spread. If it is likely to cause arguments, don't post it. Most of the time, political chat isn't really needed here. Obviously if we cover something political, that is inviting respectable debate keeping all the other rules in mind.

Political discussion is fine when it's topical, disinformation and arguments are not.

"Disinformation"? I see what you did there.

What do you mean? Isn't that exactly what "be mindful of what you [...] spread" is about?