Nearly 20yr always working for corporate overlords and no, many posts above are not even close to describe reality.
So, here is some real life experience not based on "common sense" or what was mentioned above.
Yes, most employers have no issue in you using their device for personal errands or use during on or off hours (this was the case in 2000s, not since at least 2010s)
Examples:

- in multiple companies have worked for the first screen - even before login - is a legal disclaimer reminding you that its not your device, the content is work product and you have legal responsibility (for the hw and sw) for the duty of care.

- in my latest role one could not even send attachments to outside e-mail accounts (besides dont even bother to connect storage devices)

- trying to install something just gets you a visit from IT; as from day one, if you want to install something it has to be approved by IT via requests one makes via the equivalent of a Google app store - there are no surprises on what is installed on a PC (even windows settings get reset if it goes against IT policy).

- If you think GOG not having the lastest version is annoying, in corporate world this is normal. Rare is the case where you have the lastest version (unless there was a security patch that was known that speeds up update).

- everything you do online is logged and tracked, you cant delete or hide your activity and in doubt, even if legit (e.g. banking), sites are blocked. But you can ask IT to whitelist a site, although its a hassle.

- use of VPN is mandatory, some even developed the own VPNs from scratch = their IP is more valuable and the cost is well justified.

- downloading content from websites is equally controlled and even sometimes opening a PDF can be issue (i.e. blocked by IT when in doubt).

- since a few years ago, there are weekly phishing trainings where users are tested to see if we fall for phishing or social engineering techniques. these are not PPTs or meetings, but actual very convicining emails with attempts wo warning or timings. it will be reflected in ones evaluation if you fail these random tests.

And many others measures that i wont bore with a wall of text but, the most important thing of all why one should never mix professional life with personal life - people who actually have life experence know this: everything you develop or produce is work product since you are using work devices.

And as such there is no expectation of privacy, meaning that the employer will know if you checked or not NSFW games, which bank you logged into, how long your sessions last, etc.... this is only used against you if you abuse the policy or someone really wants you gone.

Using a professional device as personal because its convenient is more a security risk for the user privacy than it is a security risk for the company.... TLDR: most companies dont care if you use the equipament some personal activity, because at EoD, you are legally liable (besides losing your job ofc).

Just in tiny Portugal alone there are about 1.2M companies, imagine how many are there globally....if things were as it was said, pretty sure that the dark web would have much more data... the issues mentioned here - as it also happes in other threads/online - are just assumptions to fill the lack of experience that is assumed as "true things/facts".

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Also...on a funny note: raise your hand when working on a project for months and everytime the other giant corpo IT policy is incompatible to your evil corpo, and just sharing a file takes much more time than it should.... (reason #3243: why games may take longe to complete = doing things in larger businesses even if simple, take more time)

Guys, context matters here.

alaric is a wealthy CS/tech guy. For software companies where human resources is their biggest moneymaker, high-value employee retention is something they have to compete with other tech companies on. If that means letting all their valuable software developers / 'engineers' do personal errands on whatever or whenever they want vs the alternative reality of them working for the competition, that's a very small price to pay.

However, if you're working some traditional industries where capital assets are the moneymakers and the labour market is very employer-friendly (i.e., you're disposable and there's a lineup of people waiting to take your job if you fumble), then obviously they'll be more strict with their 'personal errand' policies.

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Anyway, back to topic. Yes, we desparately need an 18+ blanket filtering system and give customers the choice to see whatever they want, including the option to block games they'll never ever want to buy.

11K patrons/mo = free $55K USD/mo and GOG management still can't get something like this done, eh? Another case example of poor resource allocation on their part.

None of what you said addresses network security, excepting companies that keep critical data offline, which is one of the reasons why identity theft is so prevalent.

Again, I'm not addressing modern practices re security, which I'm well aware of, I'm pointing out that the result of neglecting security is real and can be devastating for companies and individuals. It's a fallacy that the negative impact of breaches are minimal. It's true that they can be, but the perception that they are insignificant is not grounded in reality.

When an internet provider is hacked and it's customers' computers become botnet nodes, the impact is not minimal. The costs are passed on to consumers who wonder why their monthly bills keep increasing, but it's normalized so people grudgingly accept it -- until they reach the point where they can no longer afford to and it no longer matters whether or not they accept it, because the people who can continue to absorb the rising costs don't care about those who can't.

I mean, I get where you're coming from. But that Patron money is supposed to be injected into their game restoration efforts, not get scattered into other parts of the business like site design. Ideally this would be supplemental funding, rather than replacing their allocated funding in this area, but we never did get any guarantees over how the money was to be funneled and shuffled, so I can't speak with a comfortable degree of accuracy.

So, yeah, I know they're getting money from Patrons but if what they were selling these customers is accurate, they shouldn't dare re-allocate this wellspring of funds.

Yes, we all know these funds are allocated to this purpose. I'm gonna guess they can now hire 2-6 people to help with backwards-compatibility-ing old games while the rest goes into upfront payments (minimum guarantees).

So what the heck are the other, I'm guessing, 20+ software engineers / developers they had before the Patrons program started doing? Galaxy development? They can't take one person off for one week to work on such a basic filter?

What puzzles me about it the most is that this isn't just some "I guess we should do this so people will shut up already" thing. It's a feature that should (I think) logically help drive sales. I mean, it's simple, right? Don't waste time trying to push games people have zero point jack interest in. I don't care how many times you show me Huge Melon Schoolgirls X-tacle Edition, I still will just scroll by. The filter won't just make visiting the store a nicer experience, it will put some more focus on something I might actually buy.

Same with the broken tags. It's not just that tagging Tomb Raider as a 2D game is embarrsing, proper tags would increase the chance people find something they like. And buy it. But it's been years and it all just stays the same.

But then, maybe my idea that the store should focus on being effective at selling games is silly now that it's focus is on gainging subscribers.

+1, Breja. Been harping about improving the store for a few years now. Improving the store benefits all users rather than some niche fixes that only benefit niche users like Galaxy.

The last biggest store update I remember was the tag system 4+ yrs ago back in Apr 2022 - https://www.gog.com/forum/general/store_update_170_new_tags_to_help_you_with_more_accurate_catalog_browsing_and_filtering_561f5/page1

Since then, there's been nothing much going on besides the Patron marketing nonsense and the bell notifications that were meant to gamify the shopping experience by exploiting the addicts whom are the most mentally susceptible and vulnerable.

Meanwhile if you look at Galaxy changelog, there's been 20 updates since Apr 2022 - https://support.gog.com/hc/en-us/articles/360003936637-GOG-GALAXY-Changelog?product=gog

If customer discrimination hasn't been apparent to pro-Galaxy users, it should be apparent now.

"GOG Patrons spaces are now available in Polish, French, and German"
Lol. Polish wasn't even one of the initial launch languages.

Yup. Even the "GOG shouldn't have to" crowd should have reached the conclusion by now there's enough vocal interest in an abundance of content filters that putting such a small feature in place if only to shut the naggers up would benefit them (even if only in a PR sense) in the long run. Some people just aren't interested in NSFW for whatever the reason. So be it. Let them filter it out completely. And GOG, FFS, get that damn opt-out newsletter adult content front-end in place for users - those who support you in communities are getting sick of repeating the piss-poor advice of "contact support and ask them nicely to remove you from the list manually". That was OK for a while, but time enough was given to realistically have put this in place by now.

"You don't want to see degenerate smut on the home page? You must be a fan of age verification laws."

Absolutely bonkers responses. You can be anti-age verification laws while still not wanting to see this bullcrap on the home page. Ironically, the existence of this stuff might eventually end up placing GOG within those very same laws (specifically if Poland implements them), since many of them have a percentage threshold of adult-only content that would legally require them to comply with age verification systems.

The logical thing to do is get this garbage off of GOG entirely but I know that's not going to happen, sadly. So, the next-best thing will be what I've always advocated for: a tagging and filtering system so I can get that filth off my store experience entirely.

As long as it will be opt-in, not on by default (or for all users not signed in), and apply to any filtering option one may choose, not singling out this one thing.

(To be clear, considering the next post, meant that the filter should be opt-in, NOT that seeing such titles should be opt-in.)

The adult stuff being so prevalent really should be an opt in option. I sometimes browse gaming stuff during downtime while working, and i'd never check GOG because of stuff like this. To be clear I have no problem with adult games and own a few, but pornography was kept in the back room with a curtain for a reason in the 80's/90's.

Not to mention GOG has repeatedly sent out emails with adult content to underage folk. what a tremendously stupid thing to say in response.

weeelllll... aren't one disallowed to even register here if under16?

Not a single sex game in my collection and never even looked at one on this site, so that is complete bunk.
I am a collector. I like being able to whip out any classic from my NAS on a moments notice.

Whatever floats your boat I guess, but for me digital copies are not any more of a collection than jpegs of paintings are an art collection.