chautemoc: Ah. Well that's totally understandable. Which game was it? Thing is it depends on how skilled and smart the developer is at implementing it, too. Some seem to know it inside out and begin coding it into the game at the start of the programming cycle as you're supposed to. Some don't know crap and/or throw it in at the last minute with very little testing. I tend to buy from the developers that pay attention to these things and know their stuff. Capcom is one, BioWare is one...you should check out anything EA/BioWare has released in the last year as it's probably DRM-free. The new Prince of Persia game was, as well. World of Goo, The Path, The Witcher, Arma II...I think Borderlands will be if it's not already -- they said on the second print run it wouldn't require activation anyway.
The GOG thing is good, yeah. In a way I wish I didn't "need" to play new games cause I've got so many GOGs to finish...
The installs, activation, etc., yeah, I'm entirely against that. I generally don't buy those games, or if I do, it's not until they're very cheap (GOG-cheap).
Hellgate: London was my "final" poison pill. It seems the Devs have been turned to the dark side as well. . . publishers could not do what they do without the Devs cooperation. I bought Prince of Persia and World of Goo just to support their efforts (I should have said I don't buy any new releases with DRM, sorry forgot about buying WOG). I would buy more DRM free retail games if it was plainly stated that they were DRM free. As it is, you have no way of knowing what is actually on a disk or download. ( it would be REALLY nice if you could search "DRM free games" on Amazon) I was actively looking for DRM free games for a while but GOG eliminated the need to do that. Ironic, The Witcher has / does not have DRM, when it is released on GOG. . . I will buy it. I have been spoiled it seems, don't even want to research what patch release renders a game DRM free. . . =)
Actually it's been nice not being caught up in the "gotta have it" mindset these past two years. Didn't realize how many games I missed until GOG. My guesstimate is about 5 years until Steam totally controls game distribution. Their success with making DRM acceptable has been amazing, ending with, IMHO, the downloading of a UI and no ownership of a game whatsoever. I will have my large collection of GOG games and no need to be concerned about gaming by then. . . =)
I no longer buy from the bargain bin, good way to get a dose of StarForce, Tages or SecuROM or [ insert name here ] from the past. I actually had several problems, StarForce was the worst ending with SecuROM, getting that off my system was the most difficult . . . those null registry entries.
Edit: No ill will intended towards Steam users or those who buy every game, did the same myself, once upon a time, just trying to break free of the matrix . . . =)