3 ms·

There is some nuance here. Company like Bethesda or CDProjekt are showing that having one long running game can work too. (Bethesda is a bit strange due to the

by di4na 9y ago

There is some nuance here. Company like Bethesda or CDProjekt are showing that having one long running game can work too. (Bethesda is a bit strange due to their military contracts but still). CDProjekt are even more interesting because they are behind GOG.com . Which spend time making old game playable on recent PC, but sell them for a price when they were abandonware before. Most of the time without DRM. The interesting part is they do make money through it. Which shows that you can keep a small but longterm income from your backcatalogue. At the same time, they are making abandonware harder to support through copyright exception since copyright holders now make money again ...

Pica_soO 9y ago
Agreed some companys- have a more longterm view. I may also point out that valve and blizzard games are well maintained and where never server-severed. Even those impose centralized control on there software though: http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~owend/free/bnetd.html http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~owend/free/bnetd.html
baud147258 9y ago
> Bethesda is a bit strange due to their military contracts I am curious to know what you are talking about. I've never heard Bethesda getting money from the DoD. And I've found nothing, since all search results are mixed with info about the military base in the city called Bethesda.
- di4na 9y ago
  My mistake. Was meant to be Bohemia Interactive.
  - baud147258 9y ago
    Thank you for your answer. Bohemia Interactive created a division, Bohemia Interactive Simulations, to handle the military training software, which has worked with other NATO countries. But from the Wikipedia page, the division has been bought by an equity firm, The Riverside Company, in 2013. So Bohemia Interactive doesn't deal anymore with the military, even if they might still have contact in the military, since they have developed military simulations.
kemonocode 9y ago
The beauty of GOG is in its similarity with Steam, but without the DRM. Much like Steam, they just don't sell games, they provide added value in their (optional, and I hope it stays optional) GOG Galaxy client, their community, things like that that do appeal to people. I always saw Abandonware as a necessary evil, flagrant copyright violation when the copyright holder has zero interest on their property, but GOG and such are a good alternative. Not only the games are sold at reasonable prices and put under rather regular sales, but avoiding DRM does make sharing significantly easier.
mrguyorama 9y ago
>Bethesda I assume you mean Bohemia Interactive, who make ARMA? I make the same mistake.
- di4na 9y ago
  Indeed. Bethesda do work well too with TES stuff too that said.

by di4na 9y ago

Pica_soO 9y ago

Agreed some companys- have a more longterm view. I may also point out that valve and blizzard games are well maintained and where never server-severed. Even those impose centralized control on there software though: http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~owend/free/bnetd.html http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~owend/free/bnetd.html

baud147258 9y ago

> Bethesda is a bit strange due to their military contracts I am curious to know what you are talking about. I've never heard Bethesda getting money from the DoD. And I've found nothing, since all search results are mixed with info about the military base in the city called Bethesda.

di4na 9y ago
My mistake. Was meant to be Bohemia Interactive.
- baud147258 9y ago
  Thank you for your answer. Bohemia Interactive created a division, Bohemia Interactive Simulations, to handle the military training software, which has worked with other NATO countries. But from the Wikipedia page, the division has been bought by an equity firm, The Riverside Company, in 2013. So Bohemia Interactive doesn't deal anymore with the military, even if they might still have contact in the military, since they have developed military simulations.

kemonocode 9y ago

The beauty of GOG is in its similarity with Steam, but without the DRM. Much like Steam, they just don't sell games, they provide added value in their (optional, and I hope it stays optional) GOG Galaxy client, their community, things like that that do appeal to people. I always saw Abandonware as a necessary evil, flagrant copyright violation when the copyright holder has zero interest on their property, but GOG and such are a good alternative. Not only the games are sold at reasonable prices and put under rather regular sales, but avoiding DRM does make sharing significantly easier.

mrguyorama 9y ago

>Bethesda I assume you mean Bohemia Interactive, who make ARMA? I make the same mistake.

di4na 9y ago
Indeed. Bethesda do work well too with TES stuff too that said.