Yeah I am pretty disapointed as I bought the GoG extension. I really liked the UX for my ChimeraOS and SteamDeck devices but it’s not worth a subscription in my opinion even at a discount…
Comment on Steam Deck / Gaming News #21
Localhorst86@feddit.org 2 months ago
40€ for junk store is an insane price, even more insane that its a yearly subscription 😳
sonalder@lemmy.ml 2 months ago
Localhorst86@feddit.org 2 months ago
Feedback in their discord seems overwhelmingly negative. Personally, them putting the GoG extension behind a paywall already left a sour taste in my mouth. Lack of GOG and Amazon support in Junk Store was always a big inconvenience that required use of heroic anyways, so for me it was more convenient to just stick to heroic. I will keep using Heroic launcher, instead.
I don’t wish junk store bad luck in their endevour, but I strongly believe if they actually pull through with this, it is going to crash and burn. Hard. It wont generate enough revenue to sustain long term development and be either partially or fully abandoned within 18 months. The concept of Junk Store is too niché to not be a FOSS community driven project.
They try to make it sound like it is not a subscription model: you pay $40 for 12 months of updates and support and keep using the software afterwards without receiving updates. But in practice, this wont work for very long. Store APIs are gonna change, backends are going to break, etc., making updates be a necessity. Software as a Service.
One thing I found to be a particular slap in the face for current supporters was a FAQ regarding the future of the GOG extension for the Decky plugin:
Q: Since GOG addon support is going to be bug-fix only, will it be added to the public domain?
A: We’re using the GOG addon as a canary in the coal mine. If enough people continue to support it by purchasing, that sends a clear signal we should keep investing time into both the GOG addon and maintaining the open-source code. However, if sales drop off significantly, it will indicate we can safely scale back or stop work on the open-source version without jeopardizing the project’s sustainability.It’ll be self fullfilling. People are going to stop buying the GOG extension for the current decky plugin, because future updates are not guaranteed. That reduction in sales is going to indicate to them, that there is no longer demand for it and every current supported is SOL. They are not even guaranteing a fixed ammount of support for the current extension here, they keep it vague and open.
If I had paid for the GOG extension, this FAQ would make me mad.
boletus@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
Please correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t this cheaper than their existing patreon subscription which is $5 a month? That would be $60 annually.
I’m still not going to pay for it when because I don’t think it’s a good practice in the open source scene but just want to put it in perspective.
Localhorst86@feddit.org 2 months ago
AFAIU, the GOG extension was a perk that you received for a one-time payment ($6 iirc), and I believe there were two different ways to make that payment. Continous membership/subscription to patreon was not necessary.
Unfortunately, they seem to have completely wiped information regarding this from their website, I can’t find it there anymore.
boletus@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
Thanks for clarifying. Even more baffling why they’re doing this
JunkStore@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Posted my response below to a similar comment in our discord server. Wanted to repost it here as I thought it was also relevant.
Thank you for the feedback.
While the GOG extension information was available on our website, we acknowledge it hadn’t been clearly highlighted. We’ve now made the full Decky-related content live on the site. It took us a bit longer than planned to migrate everything from the old site and the current wiki, as we wanted to ensure nothing was lost or overlooked in the process.
Before pushing it live, we took the time to review and check all content to make sure links were working, the information was accurate, and everything was easy to read and navigate. Our aim has been to bring everything together in one clear, accessible place.
That said, the same information has remained available and actively shared throughout - via our community wiki, in weekly Games Tested posts on Reddit, and through Discord. We understand it might not have been obvious to everyone, and that’s on us. We’re now working to make sure this kind of info is more consistently surfaced across all platforms, especially the main site.
Please also keep in mind that there are only two of us working on this project - and as you can imagine, we’re stretched pretty thin. While our developer focuses on building and improving Junk Store itself, I’ve been handling everything else: site updates, documentation, community support, and general project coordination. It’s been a steep learning curve, especially since my background is actually in high school teaching - specifically PE, Health, and Outdoor Ed.
We genuinely appreciate the feedback and are always looking to improve how we communicate and present information. If anything is still unclear or hard to find, we’d love to hear about it. Your input helps us ensure users don’t miss important updates, and that we’re growing in the right direction.