QA should be playing these games to completion. At least one of the events in the game was completely unwinnable.
replyDevs then and now use poison pills like this to discourage dishonesty, and I don't fault them for it. It's hard to make a living producing digital content that's easily replicated at almost no cost.
I very much doubt that GOG makes enough on such old titles to justify thorough QA.
replyAnd I absolutely fault the developera for it, because it's a stupid, counterproductive thing to do - if nobody knows it happens because the game is pirated, it will just get a reputation for being buggy and deter honest buyers just as much as pirates. So why do it? To secretly "get back" at the pirates?
Perhaps they could have made it slightly more obvious, especially after some threshold or lifetime date.
replyI think it's a sensible approach to discourage piracy. Consider the irony when pirates of Game Dev Tycoon find their virtual games fail due to piracy: https://www.eurogamer.net/game-dev-tycoon-forces-those-who-p...