Oh, the pretty!

Now, for those in the know, you’ve already heard about GOG 2.0 and some of you might have even been playing around with it while it was still in closed beta. I know for Kyle, he’s had it for several weeks now and the drool he’s left on his computer desk has now become sentient and we’re having to discuss squatters rights tonight.

But anyway, at the beginning of this week GOG opened up their 2.0 platform for plebs like me and I downloaded it immediately, even though I was still at work. I pestered all my friends to jump on the app, connect their platforms and allow the stalking to commence!

Game-stalking has been a severe itch of mine that was kept mostly in check by Xbox’s somewhat-limited ability to tell you what PC games your friends are playing. But they had to have an Xbox account, so I missed out on a lot of information. Like… what’s my mate Shanon playing at the moment since he only has a PlayStation and PC?

Heaven forbid I have to ask him in person!

It’s been my experience that friends are suitably impressed when you already know what they’ve been playing, and you start the conversation off by asking “so how are you finding [game]?”. They find it flattering, and once they’ve gotten over the shock of “how did you know that?” they get to the meat of their feelings on the game so much more freely because you’ve already opened a gate of trust and interest in their lives. That’s my experience anyway.

Now feast on this eye candy!

The “Friends in Games” section is beautiful. Being able to see a picture of the game being played instead of having to read is just usability 101 right there. Now a few days before taking this screenshot, the user’s avatar would show under the game but that seems to have broken/been taken away recently which is a shame. But hovering over the Xbox icon, you can see who exactly that person is.

Now here’s the great part. Being able to see the hour milestone of a game is genius and exactly what I need to find out who’s been playing what even if they haven’t been earning achievements.

Now we get onto the game page. I’ve been relatively unsuccessful in finding these pages on games I don’t own, but I hope that improves at some point. Because I’d like to be able to see who plays a game I’m thinking about buying. For example, the below screenshot I had to accidentally stumble across on a friend’s activity feed to find the landing page for. Through the store, you get a completely different page.

Then of course, being able to see every game you own (bar Nintendo) on one screen is all I could ever hope for. The list below is comprised of games I own on Xbox, GOG, Steam, Origin and Epic. Not only this, but selecting one of these games will show you your friends' progress and their connected platforms!

And in the words of my dear husband, “THANK THE POPE” there’s PlayStation in there too. Now, let me tell you why that is important. I have a few friends and several colleagues that have a Playstation and nothing else. Oh, how I’d love a way to find out what they’re playing without having to ask them. Reason? Well I think I explained it pretty well at the beginning of this post. These are people that I want to talk to more. And if I can find an easier way to do that, Imma do it! Of course, now Nintendo just needs to get on board and my life will be complete!

Just before I close off, I want to just give you my real-life applications of why I love looking at all these games and seeing my friend’s names there.

Bragging Rights

What is gaming without a bit of competition? My mate and podcast co-host, Leeh007 has challenged himself to get further than me in Shadow of Mordor before 2020 (good luck, pal). Now in this example, we’re both on Xbox, but if he were to play through the game on Steam, we can continue to have an easy way to compare progress. Of course, I wish GOG had a mobile app. But this will do for now.

On the flip side, this is also a fantastic way to congratulate someone else on their success! I mean, kudos to MrJordany for 100%ing Overcooked. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get three stars on every level? Insane! I would never have known he’d completed this game on PlayStation without this integration.

The one downside, however, is that you can’t merge achievements. While most achievements are the same over platforms, there are a good number that differ. I’ve yet to think up a way this could be possibly overcome. But in the meantime, I’m happy with how this works.

Motivation to play more games

So, look at this. A colleague/mate (Ralius18) and I have a one-sided rivalry regarding Forza Horizon 4. I tell him when I beat his time in a race and he plays FH4 the next day to reclaim his crown. It’s one-sided because he hates being beaten, and I couldn’t care less (in this instance). Clearly, he has more achievements than I do. The race times in FH4 are only public if you open the game and go searching for them. But it’s enough to get him riled up, which is always a thrill.

Through the Xbox app (on console or mobile) you have to actively choose to compare achievements with one another. Here I have basically all the information I need. In summary, I need to play Forza Horizon 4 more, and because of the rivalry, I don’t need any more motivation that his 32% compared to my 15%.

So, all this is important to me, why?

Even though I enjoy solo-gaming (a lot) I still love the gaming community. I want to know why people love the games they do and what do they love about them? Most people have never thought much about why they like a game, and I’ve learnt, people love to be asked deep questions about themselves. And frankly, I like asking them! GOG 2.0 feels like a hug. I feel connected to everyone at once as I get to peep into a small aspect of their lives and join them in their love of gaming.

I can’t wait to see how this application grows as more and more of my friends join the platform and unite so I can continue to be a master stalker.