Damn, I am seriously disappointed in GOG about this. I love them and hope this isn't the start of a larger effort. I want them to keep being a company that I want to be a customer of.
ticulatedspline•1w ago
eh. the graphic isn't awful. That SNES is a bit melty but chances are I woulden't have even noticed given the level of scrutiny i would have given it. Frankly I've seen worse photoshop jobs. Had they used a better model you probably couldn't tell, and in 2 years you def won't be able to tell. Less mad about using AI but a bit disappointing they didn't at least clean that up, that's pretty lazy.
then again it's a splash for an sale that's going to be up for like a week.
I don't shop at GOG because they're a paragon of human-first graphic design. Given their current tenuous finances if they wanna save a bunch of money not hiring someone to do these splash screens, whatever. go for it.
JohnFen•1w ago
It's not about the quality of banner itself. It's about my concerns that this is the tip of the camel's nose.
I'm certainly not going to stop buying from GOG over this one incident. That said, this does reduce the esteem I had held them in. Now I'll have to be on alert about them, where I didn't have to before.
Even though it does make me think less of them, if they limit this kind of nonsense to ephemeral banner ads, I can put up with it. If it expands, though, I'll definitely be less likely to continue spending money with them.
ticulatedspline•1w ago
> Now I'll have to be on alert about them,
For what? If the UI gets absurdly ugly or becomes some horrible lovecraftian mess and is unusable, sure, don't shop there. Are you going to download every graphic they use and comb over it for signs of AI?
like why? why does that matter?
JohnFen•1w ago
> Are you going to download every graphic they use and comb over it for signs of AI?
Certainly not. I have better uses for my time. All I'm saying is that my spidey senses will be up. It makes GOG a colder, less welcoming thing for me. It makes them more like everybody else.
And if they really do become like everybody else, then there's little reason for me to choose them.
ticulatedspline•1w ago
I think you need to assess what you're actually mad about. Like here's a graphic from 2013
Like it's OK? pretty amateur, those shells on the right are all kinds of floaty. If I were trying to get a job as a graphic designer I def wouldn't have that banner in my portfolio. Honestly if you posted that today someone might call it out as AI.
like would it have made you stop shopping at GOG? Are you mad that it's ugly or mad they didn't pay someone to make it ugly?
reality is that's just how these kinds of things will be made from now on. It's a lot like the uproar CGI had in the movie industry, but nowadays it's like all CGI. and yeah even in big budget films like Marvel the CGI still sucks, I still prefer practical effects but it didn't stop me from going to see movies.
JohnFen•1w ago
> I think you need to assess what you're actually mad about.
I'm not mad. I'm a bit nervous and disappointed. And I know exactly why. It has nothing to do with the quality of the graphics of the ad.
Besides, why would I "need to assess" anything? I have an opinion about these things. There's nothing wrong with that any more than there's something wrong with you having an opinion.
> like would it have made you stop shopping at GOG?
Of course not. But I'll point out that I have explicitly said that this ad isn't making me stop shopping at GOG either.
> reality is that's just how these kinds of things will be made from now on.
Yes, I'm fully aware of that.
> I still prefer practical effects but it didn't stop me from going to see movies.
It's funny you brought that up, because that was a large (but not the only) factor in why I did stop seeing modern movies.
vunderba•1w ago
Same - as long as they're not using AI for actual in-game screenshots then I don't have an issue with it. That being said - that is a rough image and would have taken only a few minutes improve it: (still has a few flaws but significantly improved from the original)
ah yeah that looks much better. they should have at least a little work on it, not a great look for the front page and had they used your version probably nobody would have noticed.
though as I posted below some of their photoshopped banners haven't exactly been works of art:
JohnFen•1w ago
ticulatedspline•1w ago
then again it's a splash for an sale that's going to be up for like a week.
I don't shop at GOG because they're a paragon of human-first graphic design. Given their current tenuous finances if they wanna save a bunch of money not hiring someone to do these splash screens, whatever. go for it.
JohnFen•1w ago
I'm certainly not going to stop buying from GOG over this one incident. That said, this does reduce the esteem I had held them in. Now I'll have to be on alert about them, where I didn't have to before.
Even though it does make me think less of them, if they limit this kind of nonsense to ephemeral banner ads, I can put up with it. If it expands, though, I'll definitely be less likely to continue spending money with them.
ticulatedspline•1w ago
For what? If the UI gets absurdly ugly or becomes some horrible lovecraftian mess and is unusable, sure, don't shop there. Are you going to download every graphic they use and comb over it for signs of AI?
like why? why does that matter?
JohnFen•1w ago
Certainly not. I have better uses for my time. All I'm saying is that my spidey senses will be up. It makes GOG a colder, less welcoming thing for me. It makes them more like everybody else.
And if they really do become like everybody else, then there's little reason for me to choose them.
ticulatedspline•1w ago
https://web.archive.org/web/20150426174907im_/http://static0...
Like it's OK? pretty amateur, those shells on the right are all kinds of floaty. If I were trying to get a job as a graphic designer I def wouldn't have that banner in my portfolio. Honestly if you posted that today someone might call it out as AI.
like would it have made you stop shopping at GOG? Are you mad that it's ugly or mad they didn't pay someone to make it ugly?
reality is that's just how these kinds of things will be made from now on. It's a lot like the uproar CGI had in the movie industry, but nowadays it's like all CGI. and yeah even in big budget films like Marvel the CGI still sucks, I still prefer practical effects but it didn't stop me from going to see movies.
JohnFen•1w ago
I'm not mad. I'm a bit nervous and disappointed. And I know exactly why. It has nothing to do with the quality of the graphics of the ad.
Besides, why would I "need to assess" anything? I have an opinion about these things. There's nothing wrong with that any more than there's something wrong with you having an opinion.
> like would it have made you stop shopping at GOG?
Of course not. But I'll point out that I have explicitly said that this ad isn't making me stop shopping at GOG either.
> reality is that's just how these kinds of things will be made from now on.
Yes, I'm fully aware of that.
> I still prefer practical effects but it didn't stop me from going to see movies.
It's funny you brought that up, because that was a large (but not the only) factor in why I did stop seeing modern movies.
vunderba•1w ago
https://imgur.com/a/PoEWDji
ticulatedspline•1w ago
though as I posted below some of their photoshopped banners haven't exactly been works of art:
https://web.archive.org/web/20150426174907im_/http://static0...
slop has been around a long time. it's just faster to make now.
vunderba•1w ago
https://xcancel.com/karpathy/status/1813263734707790301