One thing that has started me thinking is, what if someone still has the game. Lets take for example several games:
Freespace 2
Railroad Tycoon 2 Platinum
Swat 4 Gold Edition
Rage of Mages
Icewind Dale 2
Baldurs Gate 2 with Throne of Bhaal

There are many more but here is what I do understand.
A legacy "dos" game like Rage of Mages, you do all the settings configuration needed to get the program to work on modern Windows 7, 8.x, 10 using DosBox or other substitute to get it running. Any changing in the code, you have done. Any changes to make it recognize and not go too fast you address (some complaints are showing up that this isn't working correctly on some games).

Now the rest of the games on the list, were mostly circa XP, 7 games (I believe, not relevant for question).

The question becomes then, do you make the configuration changes needed in the Compatibility section and then sell it?
What additional work do you do other than testing before you sell it.

The reason I ask is that I don't want to buy a game a second or in some cases a third time like in gold editions, some which contains extras one cannot find in the lets say the Original Swat 4 and the Expansion Pack for Swat 4 and the Elite Edition.

For those of us who have a basic grasp of those settings in the Compatibility tab, most changes are just a google away.

So when will a person know that their legal owned version, with label, serial number, etc is going to work with only a change maybe in the Compatibility Tab.?
You downloaded a mod and integrated so it could handle wider, larger screens or newer Nvidia or AMD GPU's
You create your own custom fix that isn't post out on the net as a fix for handling the issues of ever changing hardware.
You added more files to the game to get it to work?

It would be nice, even though this might cost you sales/revenue, to put the above details in general not specific (since then a person can follow what you did), so like
1. No changes needed if you own the product CD/DVD and/or key/serial number(gulp Floppy - highly unlikely compat anyways or not feasible anymore unless you buy external 3.5 floppy drive). However we have removed the DRM device/software/check.

2. Use of MS-DOS tools required. Need to use tools to run the dos game in windows as just simply trying to install or run will not work for this game. We also have removed any DRM on this product. MS-DOS tools are free on the net and googling will find quick answers. We have used proprietary software that is not generally available to the public to help get this program to work in Windows 7, 8, 10

3. Modifications for larger screens, resolution or GPU - We had to make alterations in the game that are not available openly online to include support for newer GPU's, or Screen Resolution, that if not applied will lead to distortion of the game, no way to correct font size if it appears odd, dealt with color turning to bright pixels or other replacement colors, etc.

Please note for the examples above and below I left off Mac and Linux since I do not have those and do not know enough about those OS's and how they would games to work, like Wine for Linux, Apple, no clue

So perhaps on a game page:(This is only a crude example, obviously would look better coded onto the game page)
FOR WINDOWS OS 7/8/10 ONLY
DRM Removal Only no other changes
Needs only Compatibility changes
MSDOS tools required to install program on Window 7 __ 8__10__.
We used publicly available software dosbox__ with their default recommendations
We used a proprietary program to help the game run that is not easy to find or is exclusive in house or 3rd Party sold rights to GOG
We had to make changes to some files or add files that would allow install and if it only was needed for these OS 7__ 8__ 10__
We have used 3rd party mods to get the game to work properly in 7/8/10 either to install __ or enable higher resolution and/or most recent graphic cards__
Maybe any other items I didn't list

This then allows me to know if I already have a game, whether just DRM Removal, DOSbox usage, fix install errors, fix resolution problem of new GPU's or screens and then I can decide if I need to buy it or not.

I have a ton of games on my wishlist, based off of games that as far as I know, other than DRM or maybe changing the OS Compatibility, if I already own the game legally, the GOG doesn't make any improvements. Perhaps the goodies or extras or whatever to call them I can then look to see if I got those or not. For me a soundtrack isn't a make or break item, so if just no DRM/one or two changes in compat tab, retail version still works, I don't need to buy the game.

I know when I picked about 10 games during a recently sale it was like $50. This was for modern games that I don't own, like a new add on (if I bought the original base game from you) to Stellaris - the Megacorps. Now imagine the cost if I added games that don't require any changes and only once again is just DRM is gone and Compat Tab changed, the cost could skyrockets into the hundreds or thousands I am sure.

So adding at least some detail as to what you did or didn't to make it work would be presenting a open and transparent information for all users to decide whether they really need to go with your version or can use their own.

Heck I still own many of the Dos Era games (sadly any 5 1/4 is useless as they don't even sell combo 31/2-51/4 floppy drives or external ones, and only the 3.5 is supported now in external drives (usually only USB). I have used dosbox before and sure I had to put a little file handling and moving of things and typing however I have it working. However I don't know if it works on larger screens or current GPU (except when I try it) and if there are available 3rd Party mods that maybe fix the screen size issue/resolution.

If this is not feasible, could you say in the reply section.

Thanks for the Understanding.

I agree: the community wishlist feature needs some improvements

I doubt GOG will ever do that.

If you have ever tried to get an old game running yourself you would know that most of the work is to find out what compatibility settings or software (game updates, DOSBox, Glide-Emulator, etc.) you need and how to configure them to make that particular game run well. Finding updates to old games can be a challenge in itself.

GOG does all the work in finding that out and test the game which costs quite a bit of money (wages for the people who are doing this). And GOG only gets paid for their work when people buy the game.

So why would they publish their findings? That would be equivalent to working for free. On top of that not only potential customers would use that information. Competitors would read that too and use the information.

See it this way: Old games cost far less than new games and are more often on sale. You can typically get old games for around 2$ or even less when they are on sale. Isn't your time that you would otherwise have to spend trying to get the game to run worth more than that?

You can find most of what your asking by web searching anyway. Unless its a really obscure game just do that theres a whole load of sites, blogs and forums out there which have fixes on.

And sometimes its better to do it yourself than rely on GOG anyway as some of the games they have released don't have the best settings set anyway.

Alternately, this is why source ports exist, like OpenRCT2.

Exactly what Geralt said. There wouldn't really be any benefit to GOG to do what you suggest, only downsides.

It would also make the game pages harder to understand. New users, who have absolutely no idea what "compatibility settings" or "DOS tools" are, would be scared away from the store with all such nerdy tech stuff.

Last but not least, when you buy a game from GOG, part of the deal is the technical support you get from the GOG staff, for your purchase. You seem to be suggesting they should be offering that technical support already beforehand, before you have bought the game.

You are just overthinking all this. It is rather simple really: if you are happy with your existing retail version of the game, don't buy the GOG version. If not, buy the GOG version.

I have bought lots of games from GOG I've had on CD-ROM form already, just so that I have an easily archivable version of the game, with needed patches and fixes already applied, instead of a CD-version where I'd have to hunt down for official and fan-made patches, possibly a noCD crack (or having to use a CD-ROM drive on my laptop, modern laptops nowadays don't usually even have any optical drives) etc.

Obviously I wouldn't expect just gaming types would understand dosbox and all others. These would be considered for experts only.

I have many games that fall into the work just fine on win 7, 8, 10 that are also sold here. It then leaves me with the question, did they make a change to an error I haven't encountered yet or did they add things or enhanced something I didn't notice was missing. That would be my reason for the game with current patch and those with a valid key/license should have no issue. I know you call that giving away their work, however if the DRM isn't bothering me or stopping me from playing, I would prefer to stay with the original. I can still at some future date buy the GOG version, like if I broke my disc or it got a bad scratch or some files become corrupted on the disc. This should be too much to ask that they at least warn you that if you already own it still works with little or no changes needed, maybe other than making it Winxp SP2 compat.

I understand the tech support. However it isn't always perfect, there are many threads about games not working right when bought. Not saying GOG is doing bad job. Just if you don't need tech support and can google a solution, it would be nice if they said what benefit I would get from buying the title again.

No not overthinking but how do I know what they might have fixed in the game that perhaps I haven't encountered yet but will. When I see a game I already own, lets say Railroad Tycoon 2 Platinum. I works in Win 7 but they list it here for sale. I wouldn't know what they did to the title or if was okay as is with the last patch. DRM Free and Tech support might not be needed, if so and googling my problem doesn't solve, I can still hand over my money to support GOG.

I hope that GOG isn't going anywhere anytime soon so I don't worry about archiving yet, so I am trying to be thrifty and used what does work without a second purchase to see if anything works differently. Saying they improved settings to allow for screens above 1920x1080, that then lets me know if I want to game at lets say 1440, that they have made it possible and if I google and the way to get that is too complicated, then naturally I would buy the GOG version.

I like to think they are giving away too much info and my ideas were just that ideas that I am sure could be improved upon without jeopardizing the work they do on titles. More money saved means more titles I can buy that I don't have or didn't know about it when released.