GOG aren't having the best of times recently, with details about their financial troubles painting a bleak picture, although it seems they have something of a plan. Later they announced some changes, including a tweak to what they mean by DRM free.
Now? They're attempting to go back to their roots, at least little, to woo customers back to their store with a small revival of "Good Old Games", what they were originally known as. The start of this is the addition of a Good Old Games tag, which GOG say will "showcase over 500 games that our Team has deemed iconic classics".
This is one reason I liked GOG originally, their commitment to bringing back and supporting old games, but they lost their way somewhat when trying to become just another store. Hopefully they will be doing more as time goes on to revive old games. Plenty of older games nowadays can run on Linux just fine through all sorts of open source game engines, and having an easy and legal place to get them for the data files is great.
To go along with this announcement, today they released the classic FPS, The Wheel of Time. GOG say this was done in cooperation with Nightdive Studios and that the "efforts and in-house expertise of GOG’s Tech Team the game received modern OS compatibility and hi-resolution support". Although, by modern OS, they only mean Windows specifically.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Quoting: slaapliedjeQuoting: constHa, I read the first book, asked my friends how many books there were (at the time 7 was the answer) and I responded with "He is going to die before he finishes the story..."Quoting: GuestI quite enjoyed Wheel of Time, and was reminded of it recently from the "tv" series adaptation (which I also enjoyed). Not yet read any of the books. Safe to say that I'll be snagging that one. I know it doesn't have a native version, but for games that old I'm not exactly expecting it. That's what I use wine for.Had you read the books (it's the most epic saga I've ever read), you probably wouldn't have enjoyed the series. It's a horrible adaption, yet it seems like it might not come of as horrible without the reference. :D
So, don't read the books until you finished the series or just switch completely. But be aware it's a long saga (~20000 pages iirc) with very detailed descriptions.
Did he finish it ?
I'd like to buy the books but i don't want anything incomplete.
0 Likes
Quoting: razing32Quoting: slaapliedjeQuoting: constHa, I read the first book, asked my friends how many books there were (at the time 7 was the answer) and I responded with "He is going to die before he finishes the story..."Quoting: GuestI quite enjoyed Wheel of Time, and was reminded of it recently from the "tv" series adaptation (which I also enjoyed). Not yet read any of the books. Safe to say that I'll be snagging that one. I know it doesn't have a native version, but for games that old I'm not exactly expecting it. That's what I use wine for.Had you read the books (it's the most epic saga I've ever read), you probably wouldn't have enjoyed the series. It's a horrible adaption, yet it seems like it might not come of as horrible without the reference. :D
So, don't read the books until you finished the series or just switch completely. But be aware it's a long saga (~20000 pages iirc) with very detailed descriptions.
Did he finish it ?
I'd like to buy the books but i don't want anything incomplete.
The story is finished but the last few books were written by Brandon Sanderson after Robert Jordan died. Luckily, his wife was very involved and Brandon Sanderson became my favorite fantasy author because of his work on this. He managed to catch the spirit and the characters but luckily didn't follow Robert Jordan in writing whole chapters about clothing and jewelry :)
Finishing this series makes for one of the most memorable times in my life. Reading the last books had become addictive, nothing else could grasp my interest and it may have been kind of unhealthy. After I finished, I fell into a hole. I suddenly had so much free time to fill and had to reorganize my life. Yet damn did it feel good, because luckily the ending was damn fulfilling, epic and left me in a good mood, so I took it as a chance to reorder my priorities, reconnect to some people and look into healthy habits I'd enjoy.
Anyone who watched GoT to the end probably knows it could have gone damn wrong :D
I'm still glad about that chance to reorder my priorities, but be aware reading this is a big endeavor and might become really unhealthy. :)
Last edited by const on 7 April 2022 at 9:49 am UTC
2 Likes, Who?
A few years back, I had a period where I bought most of my games from GoG.
Only single player games with Linux support, which where the less likely to cause problems.
I probably about 50 of them now, but I haven't bought anything in years now.
All my "recent" purchase have been on Steam, but even there I don't buy much games. I am trying to clear my backlog (which is not very large) before buying new games, but it takes times as I don't play that much anymore.
My Steam purchases have been mostly games with Linux support (Tomb Raider, Total Wars, …) and occasionally a non-Linux game (AoE2, AoE4).
But I am still considering buying some games from GoG. It is really convenient to install the game offline, and just focus on playing (no achievements or notifications).
The only thing I am worried about is the long-term support of these games on GoG.
Will it still run in 10 years and what if the store close down?
Only single player games with Linux support, which where the less likely to cause problems.
I probably about 50 of them now, but I haven't bought anything in years now.
All my "recent" purchase have been on Steam, but even there I don't buy much games. I am trying to clear my backlog (which is not very large) before buying new games, but it takes times as I don't play that much anymore.
My Steam purchases have been mostly games with Linux support (Tomb Raider, Total Wars, …) and occasionally a non-Linux game (AoE2, AoE4).
But I am still considering buying some games from GoG. It is really convenient to install the game offline, and just focus on playing (no achievements or notifications).
The only thing I am worried about is the long-term support of these games on GoG.
Will it still run in 10 years and what if the store close down?
0 Likes
Quoting: razing32Did he finish it ?
I'd like to buy the books but i don't want anything incomplete.
I'll give you my take on this:
Robert Jordan knew that he was terminally ill and added extra notes to his outline so that someone whom his wife would choose could finish the story for him. That someone turned out to be a young Brandon Sanderson, who has since established himself as a great fantasy writer in his own right (some of his other books are very, very good, among the best fantasy I've read).
Some people make the claim that Robert Jordan went into tremendous detail about scenes and people like Charles Dickens, while others will point to the prologue and epilogue of one of the books and say that he had a verbose style.
As far as I am concerned he did neither of these things. The details he gives are important to the story, and he only uses the style of writing in the prologues and epilogues in those places. I've never seen a whole chapter devoted to clothing and jewelry.
In fact, some of the early books are among the best in the series, like the first volume, The Eye of the World, the second volume, The Great Hunt and the fifth volume The Fires of Heaven.
However, what Robert Jordan did do was get bogged down in story details (not description details) during the middle volumes. He created so many story threads and extra characters that it was hard to keep track of them all. One volume in the middle has no climax (I don't remember which one offhand, and I don't want to wade through them to remind myself). In the end of course, many of the curious extra characters and story threads are just left without resolution, but don't let that deter you; they are minor characters.
What Brandon Sanderson did was bring the story back into full focus and restore what was great about the beginning of the series back to the end.
As far as I'm concerned the very end of the series was OK, not fantastic, but satisfying enough. Of course the characters in the series were extremely well done throughout.
1 Likes, Who?
slaapliedje Apr 7, 2022
Quoting: razing32He did the exact same thing GRRM is doing with Game of Thrones. He completed up to a certain number of books... then started to do prequels.Quoting: slaapliedjeQuoting: constHa, I read the first book, asked my friends how many books there were (at the time 7 was the answer) and I responded with "He is going to die before he finishes the story..."Quoting: GuestI quite enjoyed Wheel of Time, and was reminded of it recently from the "tv" series adaptation (which I also enjoyed). Not yet read any of the books. Safe to say that I'll be snagging that one. I know it doesn't have a native version, but for games that old I'm not exactly expecting it. That's what I use wine for.Had you read the books (it's the most epic saga I've ever read), you probably wouldn't have enjoyed the series. It's a horrible adaption, yet it seems like it might not come of as horrible without the reference. :D
So, don't read the books until you finished the series or just switch completely. But be aware it's a long saga (~20000 pages iirc) with very detailed descriptions.
Did he finish it ?
I'd like to buy the books but i don't want anything incomplete.
Robert Jordan passed away before the last books were finished, and the last three books were finished by Brandon Sanderson.
0 Likes
slaapliedje Apr 8, 2022
Quoting: razing32Ha, it is one thing to say 'you can find pirated shit that is patched!' And a totally different thing to say 'and here's how!'Quoting: slaapliedjeQuoting: GuestWish someone would sell me James Bond 007: Nightfire and The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II.I still have my Battle for Middle Earth collection that has the two of them. I think the last time I tried them in Wine, they failed, and I believe that in Win10 they are broken.
Well , not sure i won't get a ban from Liam , but i know for a fact there are torrents with whole collection working fine on Win 10.
The thing I find hilarious is all the talk of Abandonware. Some say that it isn't a real thing, and people who pirate shit (which mind you is copyright infringement, not theft, as theft means you no longer have a thing. While it may be argued that you are stealing revenue, those arguments assume the software would be purchased in the first place. And even if not, it is depriving someone of revenue, as again stealing means you had possession of it in the first place) are terrible individuals!
But, in my opinion; if you can no longer purchase something, and you aren't going after those who distribute it. It is indeed Abandoned. Whether that gives the right for people to freely copy it or not is certainty up for debate. But I want to ask the question..
If no one is able to get some game and play it in the future, is there any reason to acknowledge its existence? How many games did MS instakill by removing SafeDisc support? Made it so people had to pirate or cd-crack the game, even if they had previously bought it!
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slaapliedje Apr 8, 2022
Quoting: razing32Ha, it is one thing to say 'you can find pirated shit that is patched!' And a totally different thing to say 'and here's how!'Quoting: slaapliedjeQuoting: GuestWish someone would sell me James Bond 007: Nightfire and The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II.I still have my Battle for Middle Earth collection that has the two of them. I think the last time I tried them in Wine, they failed, and I believe that in Win10 they are broken.
Well , not sure i won't get a ban from Liam , but i know for a fact there are torrents with whole collection working fine on Win 10.
The thing I find hilarious is all the talk of Abandonware. Some say that it isn't a real thing, and people who pirate shit (which mind you is copyright infringement, not theft, as theft means you no longer have a thing. While it may be argued that you are stealing revenue, those arguments assume the software would be purchased in the first place. And even if not, it is depriving someone of revenue, as again stealing means you had possession of it in the first place) are terrible individuals!
But, in my opinion; if you can no longer purchase something, and you aren't going after those who distribute it. It is indeed Abandoned. Whether that gives the right for people to freely copy it or not is certainty up for debate. But I want to ask the question..
If no one is able to get some game and play it in the future, is there any reason to acknowledge its existence? How many games did MS instakill by removing SafeDisc support? Made it so people had to pirate or cd-crack the game, even if they had previously bought it!
Quoting: CFWhitmanI read the first book. I honestly couldn't tell you a single thing about it except that he described the flora and fauna extremely well! I think I remember something about a farm boy being forced to leave by monsters, and that us about it. Granted playing RPGs, I had similar backgrounds on a character before I read the book, as it is a pretty common theme in history, or old fiction where a young nobody can grow to greatness. Hell it is the plot to Fable as well.Quoting: razing32Did he finish it ?
I'd like to buy the books but i don't want anything incomplete.
I'll give you my take on this:
Robert Jordan knew that he was terminally ill and added extra notes to his outline so that someone whom his wife would choose could finish the story for him. That someone turned out to be a young Brandon Sanderson, who has since established himself as a great fantasy writer in his own right (some of his other books are very, very good, among the best fantasy I've read).
Some people make the claim that Robert Jordan went into tremendous detail about scenes and people like Charles Dickens, while others will point to the prologue and epilogue of one of the books and say that he had a verbose style.
As far as I am concerned he did neither of these things. The details he gives are important to the story, and he only uses the style of writing in the prologues and epilogues in those places. I've never seen a whole chapter devoted to clothing and jewelry.
In fact, some of the early books are among the best in the series, like the first volume, The Eye of the World, the second volume, The Great Hunt and the fifth volume The Fires of Heaven.
However, what Robert Jordan did do was get bogged down in story details (not description details) during the middle volumes. He created so many story threads and extra characters that it was hard to keep track of them all. One volume in the middle has no climax (I don't remember which one offhand, and I don't want to wade through them to remind myself). In the end of course, many of the curious extra characters and story threads are just left without resolution, but don't let that deter you; they are minor characters.
What Brandon Sanderson did was bring the story back into full focus and restore what was great about the beginning of the series back to the end.
As far as I'm concerned the very end of the series was OK, not fantastic, but satisfying enough. Of course the characters in the series were extremely well done throughout.
But after I read the 800 pages is when I asked my friends that told me I MUST read them.... and they said what he was up to... well, I gave up. I think at the time I had gotten tired of Fantasy novels and started reading non-fiction and science fiction.
But now I think it is time to read the Lankhmar books!
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Quoting: slaapliedje...I stumbled upon this yesterday, because I thought Simpsons: Hit and Run might be fun on my SteamDeck. Couldn't find it in Steam, so I googled and was directly transported to a bunch of Abandonware sites.
I read the reasoning why it's considered Abandonware and might agree, yet I had no issues finding used copies on ebay...
For me, it's mostly ok to download games I already own, be it physical or in a walled garden. As I can't find my physical copy of Simpsons: H&R any more, I nearly bought it on ebay, only to find that I already kind of lost interest in it and wouldn't want to spend money on it. That kind of was the moralic question to myself: Am I semi-pirating it because it's free or do I legitimately download it from third-party because it's abandoned. So I just moved on without this game. Maybe I'll come back to this decision in a while :D
Anyway, I'd vote for a generous abandonware exclusion from copyright law any time. Having it official would make it so much fairer.
Last edited by const on 8 April 2022 at 8:12 am UTC
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Quoting: GuestI quite enjoyed Wheel of Time, and was reminded of it recently from the "tv" series adaptation (which I also enjoyed). Not yet read any of the books.I'm opinionated about fantasy books, and Wheel of Time is no exception.
IMO, the first one is really very good, although it should be noted that the plot is very much Lord of the Rings reheated. In the second, it starts to bring you into the wider Wheel of Time universe, which has tons of interesting stuff. It's also very good. In the third, you get more of that, lots of cool weird magic stuff, lots of plot complication, lots of local colour of various sorts.
But some of the series' problems start to become noticeable around the third book; I started noticing that most of the characters were jerks, and some of the jerky things they did, the author didn't seem to notice they were being jerks. This was sort of even more so with the female characters. As complications piled on top of complication, the action started to slow down. As power levels stacked up, Jordan kept having to come up with ways to top that. Somewhere in there a new group of antagonists showed up whose defining cultural feature was indulging in squicky mind-control torture porn using these pain-conditioning leash things.
By the fifth or sixth book, I realized pretty much nothing was happening over the course of a many-hundred-page novel and I gave up. I feel like Jordan was a victim of his own success--the first couple of books sold like crazy, so someone, whether he himself or the publisher, decided he could do no wrong and didn't edit him.
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Won't use their service anymore. No linux = no me.
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