I suspect that most of those 95% of people (the ones who aren't having technical difficulties bad enough to keep them from buying) still don't like the bloat and the sluggishness of the thing. It just doesn't keep them from buying -- especially when Big Fish has sales like the one this weekend, with Collector's Editions going for $6.99.

You're probably right, Jenny100. The grief of the Game Manager is not enough to keep folks from downloading such good deals.

On the other hand, starting about 30 minutes ago, I downloaded seven well-reviewed games from Shockwave for $4.95: my monthly rate. And I can do it again tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, etc., without raising my monthly rate. All I want, just $4.95.

Do I own them? No. Can I play them as long as I pay the rent on them? Yes. Does Shockwave deploy web beacons to track how people use their site? Yeah. Why not? It's their site.

From where I sit, if you're patient, you can get some great bargains. The experience of a great game without the pain of the Game Manager and without the drain of paying anywhere near full price.

Seems like a good fit for lean times.

MrLipid,

I will probably go with Shockwave for future HOG but to be honest this bad experience with BFG has almost soured me on playing HOG. I was formally just a PC game player and very happy to wait until a new game was released and I am almost ready to play the sit and wait game again.

I downloaded two game demos yesterday, one being a CE. Download speed was very quick. Business as usual for me.

The speed problems I have aren't so much with the download speed as with the Game Manager itself. My download speed is about the same as with the previous Game Manager. But I can't start up GM3, browse around it, or close it instantaneously the way I could with the old GM2. It also grays out while it's "thinking about it" which is annoying. It tries to hide its sluggishness with splash screens when you start and stop it. It also puts you on a separate tab (with accompanied sluggishness) for things that used to be done from the same tab on the old version.

And activating a purchased game is usually MUCH slower. Often it times out before activating, though it seems to keep trying for about 5 minutes. This was never a problem with the old Game Manager. I suspect the problem activating is due to the extra demands put on Big Fish's activation server(s) by the new GM3 software (server side).

I see what you mean, jenny. On a technical level, the changes are obvious. I just haven't considered the little bit of extra time a big deal. As long as BFG continues to offer great games at good prices, I'm willing to put up with some minor delays in the process. But I make my own coffee - even grind my own beans. So, I'm just the sort who's used to waiting for good things.

My GM repeatedly goes blank - All I see is the outer edges of the box and inside the box its just plain white -I have to "wave" my mouse over the whole page line by invisible line in order to get it to return to normal.

It is very frustrating to go from an application that worked smoothly to one which is slower, doesn't work on all systems, and slows down the user's system.

It almost seems too much was done to quickly in trying to fix things and get ready for more changes.

My Game Manager is working flawlessly. Opens in seconds, sorts in seconds, downloads games quickly, activates games quickly, closes quickly.

And it doesn't matter.

<rant>

Watching BFG's response to those users whose systems performed poorly (or not all) with the new Game Manager installed made me realize a couple things.

The biggie was that I didn't need to own the games I played. Once that light bulb went on, it became clear that I didn't want to give any more of my money to a company committed to forcing all of its users to install a piece of software that didn't work for all of them.

It was that sustained corporate inflexibility that sealed the deal. Only dim marketing types would claim that the Game Manager is supposed to be the core of the gaming experience; the first thing you see before playing. And only those same dim marketing types would cheer the opportunity to stuff the manager with a seemingly endless random array of ads for other BFG offerings.

In just over a month, BFG has gone from a place I used to enjoy visiting daily to a website echoing a "Plan for Sustained Growth in the Casual Game Entertainment Sector: Collector's Editions Edition" that I have no interest in returning to.

</rant>

As the younger set says, Mr. Lipid, "This".

Gil.

Sorry to hear you're so irritated with BFG, Mr. Lipid.

Thanks for the sympathy, Sparkle, appreciate it, and you should know that I am not irritated anymore.

It's been a month since BF introduced their new Game Manager and I believe the discussion has run its course. If there is an important update to the manager, Marian or I will be sure to post to inform you.

Thank you for your understanding and as always, happy gaming!

Ana