The essential core of the democratic process is voting. A free, fair vote is not just essential, it is sacrosanct: Without it, everything else collapses like a house of cards. And that’s why it’s so disheartening to know that there are those among us who would prey upon our delicate democracy and twist it to serve their own selfish purposes. That’s right, I’m talking about Digimon fans.
Luckily, just as there are those eager to corrupt our democratic freedom, there are others who stand firmly in its defense—like, for instance, digital videogame storefront GOG.
“We’d like to share an important update regarding the recent surge in votes for Digimon World on the GOG Dreamlist,” GOG wrote on X. “Between July 1st and July 21st, the game received over 52,000 votes. After reviewing the surge, we found that approximately 26,000 votes during that period were cast by fake accounts.
“To preserve the integrity of the GOG Dreamlist and to keep this support fair and relevant, we’ve removed those votes. The Dreamlist goal is to show and convince the whole world that these games deserve to live forever. Ensuring the data behind it is accurate and meaningful is essential to that mission.”
The GOG Dreamlist, for those not familiar, is basically a site-wide wishlist where users can vote for the games they want to see brought to the site. You can nominate and vote on pretty much anything, from early ’80s classics to new releases: 1983’s One on One: Dr. J vs. Larry Bird has 36 votes, for instance (and deserves a lot more), while The Blood of Dawnwalker, which isn’t even out yet, has 291. Both of which are rookie numbers: The classic space sim Freelancer has more than 95,000 votes.
I’m of two minds on this. On one hand, it’s good to see GOG taking the process reasonably seriously: This isn’t the final word on what does and doesn’t come to the site, but it is influential.
But on the other, well, it’s the Boaty McBoatface thing, right? Internet polls are meant to be gamed, and frankly if you’re not screwing with them in whatever way possible to get the result you want, you’re not trying hard enough.
GOG, to its credit, gave a nod to those who were trying hard enough: “We remain extremely impressed by the genuine support for Digimon World and appreciate the passion of its fans.” That’s not going to stop it from removing those votes, though.
The good news for those overeager fans is that despite the haircut, Digimon World remains one of the big draws in the Dreamlist, with more than 82,000 votes still on its tally.
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