Sorry but I guess we'll have to disagree on this, mate. I won't make another huge post about it but you can read my point opposing your view in the paragraph you did not quote.

The vast majority of games on steam have drm, keep in mind that there are tons of shovelware on steam and most of the good and relevant games have drm.

I'm going to go to whoever has the games I want to play the most. DRM free or not, I don't care anymore. Obviously, I'd prefer DRM free, but I'm done fighting for the cause. I have only two rules now when it comes to purchasing games, and that's No Denuvo, and No Epic Games Store.

If GOG and Steam both have the same game I want for sale I'll buy it on GOG, but if I see too much more of developers abandoning games on GOG so they're outdated compared to their Steam versions then I will leave GOG for good. GOG needs to make that sort of thing visible to people on the store page.

I won't prioritize GOG anymore however. In the past I would buy games on GOG instead of games I'd probably enjoy more on Steam, since I wanted to support GOG and DRM-free. I won't be doing that anymore. There's only so much money I have to go around, and if Steam has big titles that I want I'm going to buy them, and if I have no money left for GOG titles that I wanted, but not as much as those bigger games on Steam, then so be it.

Also, I have no idea why people are claiming the Steam Client is a DRM. The client itself is not a DRM. Steam's DRM is part of Steamworks and it's totally optional to use, and is up to the developer themselves. The Steam Client is no different than Galaxy or the GOG Website. It's a way to deliver content to it's paying customers. Feel free to look up the Steamworks documentation to educate yourselves.

There's countless games on Steam that are DRM-free and have zero dependancy to the client once downloaded. The exact same way a game on GOG has no dependancy to Galaxy or the website once downloaded.

Of course is different. Just to name oe thing: A game once installed with Galaxy can be run without the client always. It is not always the case with Steam.

Client aside, even offline installers aside, the EULA and clauses are different. It is about your rights concerning the use of the software.

Everybody will use whatever they want and even they will change their minds and it is legit, but it is not fair trying to justify yourself with innacurate reasons.

Question on dependencies. Can you tell me each one I need for games on windows? I recently did a fresh install and am curious for learning purposes.

Of course it's not always the case with Steam, because Steam has optional DRM that has nothing to do with the Client.

The Steam Client is not a DRM, and a game install is EXACTLY the same as a GOG Galaxy install if the developer is not using the optional DRM within Steamworks.

If I install The Witcher 3 on Steam and GOG Galaxy they're both the exact same thing after install, and they both run without any dependancy to the client.

That's the same thing with countless other games. Pathfinder, Divinity, Trails of Cold Steel, so on and so on.

If we're calling the Steam Client is a DRM, then so is GOG Galaxy, and so is any Website that is selling you something.

I answered in your other thread about it.

My god the comments on this forum are a whole lot of stupid.

Anyway I think this is a fair question. Would I want to go back to using Steam as my main source for games if they introduce a DRM free tag?

At this point I'm going to say 'no' that would have to do a whole lot more than that. The reason being is because GOG still uses very good offline installers. They also tend to put more effort into ensuring the games come pre-packaged with dependencies and patches that are needed to make the game work. Steam also does this but GOG do it a little bit better.

Looks like the unfortunately low maturity level of the GOG forums is showing itself again when we're downvoting facts.

I'm sorry you guys are butthurt over what's a DRM or not, but the Steam client in itself is not a DRM. Please educate yourselves and read through the Steamworks documentation and find out what the actual DRM is, but of course you won't do that.

Again, the Steam Client by itself is not a DRM, just like Galaxy or the GOG Website isn't. You can downvote all you want, but the facts are always going to be the same.

Seeing this kind of behavior actually just makes me want to spend less money at GOG. You guys don't help your platform out at all when you act this way, and the GOG staff does itself no favors either when they don't remove an easily abused voting system from their forums.

That part was left out as it was completely irrelevant, and I'll ​explain you why:

That is irrelevant, just like a store using only a "proprietary" delivery company (like USP, or even a delivery company of their own) to bring that physical game or a vacuum cleaner to you, would be totally irrelevant to whether the product you are receiving is DRM-free or not.

You could argue why can't you pick the purchased object yourself, or use any delivery company, or the generic post office, to get it... but that still has nothing to do with DRM.

As long as the Steam client, or rather, logging into Steam ecosystem using the Steam client, is not required for using (=playing) the game, it is fully DRM-free. Remember, Steam client does not need to be even present in the PC where you play those DRM-free Steam games.

Some people seem to be completely confused of what DRM means. What client is used to enforce the DRM is irrelevant. It doesn't matter if that client is a "proprietary" client like Steam or Galaxy, or a web browser client. It is what they are doing with that client that matters.

If every GOG game you have would require you to log into your GOG account online with a web browser every time you want to play the game, would you still call those games DRM-free? I wouldn't, the requirement to log into GOG services in order to just play a single-player game is the DRM, not what client I would be using to log into my GOG account (be it Galaxy or a web browser).

Even if those games required you to have Galaxy, or a web browser, installed on your PC before the game would run... the games would still be DRM-free, as long as they wouldn't require you to log into your GOG account online with any of those clients, but you could play them in an air-gapped room with no internet connectivity to GOG servers... as long as either Galaxy or a web browser would be installed on that same system. Naturally it would be rather odd why the game would require the presence of a client software in order to run... but it would still not automatically make it DRM.

Oh no! There are no DRM-free games on Steam at all https://gg.deals/deals/?drm=16&store=4
neither in Epic Store https://gg.deals/deals/?drm=16&store=57

Out of 7,543 results of DRM-free Deals around https://gg.deals/deals/?drm=16
humble 5,102 are here https://gg.deals/deals/?drm=16&store=10 on Gog.com

Humble Store has 1,412 results https://gg.deals/deals/?drm=16&store=20 Still 80-90% activates on Steam,
yet in possession of a game "Seven" for free through Humble Store activated on Gog.com,

Gamersgate has 363 results https://gg.deals/deals/?drm=16&store=8 they have their own downloader and some unique games

One day ♪ one day ♫ One daaay ♫ We will go to the Stars and Offline Installers will secure our games forever...

It is not the requirement for the presence of a client (be it the Epic client, or a generic web browser) for the game to work correctly, that makes it DRM.

It is if the game expects you to be logged into the Epic online services with that client, that makes it DRM.

The client itself is totally irrelevant to the definition of DRM. It is what that client is requiring you to do that defines whether it is DRM or not.

As said, it a GOG game would require me to log into GOG services with any web browser before I can run the game, then I would consider it DRM, even if it allowed me to use any web browser for that.

Exactly.

Their argument that DRM is defined by whether the client is a multi-purpose generic one (like a web browser) or a proprietary one (like Galaxy or Steam) falls flat on its face when you consider a case where a game would require you to log into an online service with a web browser, before you can play the game.

According to their argument, that is not DRM because you can use a generic multipurpose web browser client for that. Any sane person understand that it would still be DRM, regardless of what kind of client is used to enable the DRM.


Now, I definitely do prefer that I can download my GOG games with any web browser, instead of having to use the proprietary Galaxy or Steam client to do it... but that still has nothing to do with DRM. It is a matter of convenience, rather than DRM.

I would not switch for couple reasons.

1.
Steam main focus is not DRM free. So most games will be using some forum of steam DRM.

2.
No offline installer. Backing up DRM free games from steam is pain, when there not package in .exe installer.

3.
Most DRM free games on steam are not really good. Lot's of game's are shovelware.

Steam is actually a forum of DRM. The fact most games require steam to run, proves it. Now value dose not force DRM on developers like some company's, but they promote it with steamworks and other features.
So you want DRM?