Taking inspiration from the profile thread, I've found myself on the verge of thinking along the line:

DRM... do I really care?
I cared back then?

I was 8 years old when Revs and Aviator come out.
I had my BBC Micro running those beautiful games (I was seeing them like that).

Then come the DOS. Lots of exquisite games, with manual copy protections:
* Strange disks that where part of the game
* Questions on real-world maps
* Code at the bottom of manuals

Then come the CDs...
* You needed to have the CD to play

Up to this point, 1995, the cry to DRM was really low.
No one complained much. No one cared.
If you had trouble with DRM (I don't think was called like this) 99.9% of the time you had a pirated game.

Then come the Download/Digital age.
* It brought half-working DRMs, that left consumer stranded.
* DLC stealing policies (pay for nothing)
And the cry for "DRM free" raised more and more.

And here comes along GOG.
Selling OLD games. DRM free.
Everyone loved it.

At one point GOG decided to change something in its business. Possibly just to survive. Possibly to grow.
They decided to drop the acronym and become just "gog" (capital is for acronym).
Selling "new" games, but DRM free.

By the time, the DRM improved quite significantly: steam solved most of it's issues.
Internet speed grows in most countries (sure, not all) and overall customer experience improved.

I still see gog as GOG, not gog. Reality is not anymore.
The games that I loved to buy (DOS games) are far and fewer in between, and I bought for a resons: manuals and pros that are difficult to find on abandonware sites.

All that is gone now.
I'm left with a website that ... sell just a bunch of games like the next website.

If my experience with DRM is good, why I want games DRM free?
I didn't care back then, why I care now?

Not sure anymore.

It relies on your internet imo. If you have and expect to keep a reliable internet line in the future then you're not likely to run into DRM issues with any regularity. For me at least, not often enough to keep me from buying games.

no

Yes, I know what you saying. I came to that conclusion some time back, can't remember which debacle it was after. Basically its just a really poor steam now. Why poor, well, steam has a far and away better catalog of games, its just rubbish being released now. Prices also seem a lot better, you can pick up keys from lots of places at differing prices, and the sales actually have some % off the price. I don't like steam one bit, but if your happy with profiles, social gaming etc. I don't see why you would bother shopping here. Me, I have a fairly large backlog, and various outlets, so whilst its a shame to lose what once a good store, its really diminished in appeal.
To be honest, I doubt the majority of their customers now even know what DRM free means, perhaps a green play button.

Only if it requires a fast internet connection and a lot of bandwidth, which where I live might change.

With most clients you are forced to update your game before you can play...

combine this with an unsteady internet connection or with travelling one or the other time

and you allready have the reasons why I don`t like DRM and do not buy steam games anymore if I can help it.

Best regards

phil

P.S.: Not to mention the fact that I can install a game simply by copying it to my computer...

1. Personal philosophy
2. Solid internet connection (as mentioned ^)

I understand why people think it's no big deal, having DRM. Technology has mostly made it not the hassle it once was. That said, there are some instances when you can get bit in the butt, such as a company shutting its doors and your game is tied to their ecosystem. I think this is mostly an issue with multiplayer and certain features that require the online connection and are run by a particular developer or publisher.

As we see more and more special editions, add-ons, bonuses, etc., it may become more and more of a hassle if those things you paid for are locked behind a publisher's wall - when they go bye-bye, you may lose access.

I still care. Anything I really care about preserving and want to be able to play without hassle, I want DRM-free. I have a rig in the house that's not internet connected and if I want to play something on that, then it must be DRM-free. As well, I've been burned more than a couple times by DRM, so I like to avoid it if possible. And the thing is, DRM doesn't add any value whatsoever to games. Any game I've ever been interested in that has/had DRM was cracked almost immediately, so piracy isn't affected, which makes the purported purpose of the DRM completely ineffective and unnecessary.

That being said, I do use and have games tied to Steam and Origin. Most of them are games that I either got in bundles, got for free, or were gifted to me. There are a few that I bought that required the client and had no other options. But buying these types is getting rarer for me, as I find GOG still gets lots of games I'm interested in playing and my backlog is gargantuan as it stands. So no real pressing need to opt for DRMed games, really.

Before the digital download age it definitely wasn'd called DRM (DIGITAL rights management) and it wasn't digital either. One could have called it PRM (physical rights management), but it was just called copy protection. And I still have the original code wheel from Monkey Island. And the cloth map from Ultima 7 still hangs on my wall next to my desk. :-)

I still care about DRM, since I don't want to make myself dependend on internet connection and server availability. Also I don't like my games 'phoning home'. I never allow internet access to any of my programs that do not strictly need it to work. Old fashioned? Yes. But I just like having control over my computer, which is one of the reasons why I like Linux.

But I do agree that the appeal of GOG is waning. They clearly don't care about the ideals they pretended to uphold and they don't care a bit about their customers beyond the money they can squeeze out of them. They care less about privacy than Steam does (well, Steam was forced to care...) and they happily try to trick their users into installing Galaxy. And they consistently move step by step into the direction of becoming just another digital distributor. Or rather, they move two steps in that direction and retract one step to stop the outcry. But the net effect still is one step in the Steam direction. So yes, the question 'if I am OK with GOG, why the hell do I avoid Steam' is a valid one. So far my answer is still that I get DRM-free games here that I can download without installing any client, copy to any machine and play without internet connection. So yes, I still do really care about DRM-free, although I am aware that that makes me part of a small and continuously shrinking minority.

I still care about today's DRM, though I honestly care less so than earlier forms. Though it is less invasive to a degree, my connection is spotty sometimes and that makes some games not run for me.

I think the way to describe why DRM that requires a connection is not the right way to go is the "games as a service" idea. Latest proof of this is in mobile with Capcom Vancover, where the latest release to Puzzle Fighter will be shut down with no means to play at all anymore as they focus on Dead Rising. There is no way whatsoever to restore functionality after it goes dark. What if you liked playing that and it was your favorite game?

Big whoop I know, but what if that happened to a much bigger game that was online than more than just months?

Servers may down, and all internet services have bad or poor record, including Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, Sony. You can name more.

Modern DRM are just not reliable. Many people encounterd problems when they want to play games.
If you are fine with Steam, go buy games there.

I myself also buy Steam games, especially DRM-free ones. (Yes, Steam do sell DRM-free games.)
I have over 1000 GOG games, and I would love to buy more as long as they keep those games DRM-free.

P.S.
I no longer trust GOG since they introduced the super stupid Galaxy-bundled installers.
I have made doomsday backup for all my GOG games.
DRM-free is so good.
While I think GOG staff are bad guys and they are very unprofessional,
those offline installers still will never betray me.

insert meme here

It matters when you go outside the norm. Going on a trip and want to being a game? Moving and won't have internet for a while? Need to save some money for a bit and need to drop services? Have a kid with an internetless PC and want him to stay safe but have a good time?

Those are all things that happened to me. And that's when I realized that is rather have a drm-free version if available. And if it's not available, then it has to be highly coveted or highly cheap.

I'm almost never spending money on drmed games at this point. Why when there is an alternative?


P.s. I've also been burned badly by drm a few times. Neverwinter nights saying my key was in use, Ubisoft giving so many restrictions on hardware changes that it was so scary and confusing that I wouldn't play the game, I lost a needed manual for Carmen San Diego, and alpha protocol when nuts when it thought I pirated it (and I bought it - great game, patch removed drm). So it's not just when drm stupid me from playing my game with internet or CD availability reasons, but even when I do everything right, it can still attack.

I hate drm.

Is it 2012 again? GOG has been selling both old and new games now for years. If you only want old games, you're welcome (or may have to) to use "other" sites; otherwise you'll have to be patient, as GOG is still adding DOS classics, just not at the pace you may want.

(Pardon my rudeness, but I'm surprised this topic came up after all these years and I'd assume)