AFAIK some games do have LAN support, but default wise using the steam API.

And the comment was mainly aimed at that quite a lot of MP games are using a dedicated server, whereas here on GOG you can find MP games with LAN connectivity. And most modern games are using some kind of application binding, older games not. Hence GOG.

Sorry bit tired ans slow thinking/typing ;)

Which makes the whole discussion moot, if the games they want to play can not be bought on gOg anyway, and never will.

That was not part of the OP, and some of the older games are offering also more in terms of original concept and similar, don't they?

then your point is still pointless, as it do not apply to them


edit (after coffee...) - cutting people's internet is probably not going to convince anyone to join gOg, especially as they need it to create an account, buy and download the games...

I don't know if there any such must have game on GOG that they couldn't just as well get on Steam, especially if they are not into old games.

Stop trying to push them to GOG. If you sometimes discuss of games, just tell them about GOG (where appropriate) and why you think it rocks. Don't preach. They'll probably still stay in Steam, but at least they've heard your piece and haven't abandoned you as an annoying preaching ex-friend.

A colleague of mine once happened to mention he is playing some PC game at his home, and mentioned he bought it on Steam. At that point I mentioned I hang around more on GOG.com instead, he was interested to know why and I briefly mentioned my reluctance with DRM (he wasn't familiar with the term itself). It did seem a bit like a light bulb got ignited above his head, like "Yeah... what if Valve does sometime close its doors, what happens to my games then?". I did mention to him though that some Steam games may be played without the Steam client and service, but he needs to try them out himself if needed.

Anyway I don't think he ever necessarily joined GOG though, probably he is quite happy in Steam as that is where the rest of his games are. But at least he got something to ponder about. A bit like those who have bought lots of digital books on some service and then due to some thing they realize "Hey, is it really possible I might just lose my whole library of purchased books, just like that???".

If you care about your purchased games then gog is the way to go. I used to play Dawn of War 1 with the Apocalypse mod on Steam LAN offline with my son on a regular bases until one day when I clicked on the game and the LAN option was no longer there. I thought that my game bugged out but when I looked into it, I read that the game got patched and the LAN option was removed and the only way to play multiplayer is online. The game was updated while it was in offline mode. That was the last time I used Steam. I installed my retail discs and play the game on LAN to this day . If I buy something physical or digital the company should have no right to change my content without my consent. What would happen if everybody had the same business model? For example change my house or my car whenever the people that I bought them from would feel like it.

And indeed if those friends are more towards multiplayer games than single-player, trying to push them to GOG (at least at this point) is kinda useless. The multiplayer games they'd want to play are most probably not here, nor the friends they'd want to play with.

GOG/CDPR would need its own online-only multiplayer game (similar to what Team Fortress 2, DOTA 2, CS:GO or whatever is to Steam) to make such people to come even check out GOG, but then I know there'd be lots of arguments here for GOG starting to release such online-only games. Well ok, GOG/CDPR could also add client-less LAN game to it I guess...

It would work better if it was a free-to-play game (like TF2 kinda is) so that they could try the game and service for free without having to make any initial investment. Some Witcher-based team shooter or RTS. :) Or is that Gwen game supposed to be that multiplayer game pulling people here?

(That might be good enough reason for me to use Galaxy as well, currently I don't see the point using it. I download my single-player games easier with gogrepo.py)

For me...

Neverwinter Nights,
Neverwinter Nights 2
Planescape Torment
Master Of Orion (the 1993 version)

You cant buy those on Steam. Sadly, Baldur's Gate I&II are not in that list anymore since you have to buy EE editions to get classic versions.


However, if they are mostly interested in Online games, GOG is not a good alternative yet.

and? is there a rule saying "thou shalt not have more than one client installed at a given time!"

on this computer right now I got:

Galaxy
Steam
Origin
UPlay
Ich.io client
Big Fish client
WildTangent
and some other smaller thingies...

installed, and instead of imploding, it it just allows me to play the games I want to play, which includes gOg games.

I find this attitude to be a bit condescending and a bit elitist, to be honest. It is just software, for crying out loud.

The Witcher 3 for one, at one point it sold more widely on GOG than on Steam. No idea what the most recent figures are for that however. All of the Dungeons and Dragons games from Baldur's Gate onward are huge big sellers here so any fan of any of those is more likely to buy them here perhaps.

Different features/functionality appeal to different people however. I think it is fine to tell people about GOG and what we perceive to be the biggest benefits of buying games on GOG, and I certainly have shared that with all of my friends and had most of them buy at least one if not many games here over time, but I don't preach it. Once people know what is here and are aware of the fine points as to features/functionality they will ultimately buy their games wherever they find the greatest personal convenience for the things that matter to them the most, whether it makes sense to someone else who isn't them or not because we all assign value to different things based on our own personal preferences.

I vastly prefer GOG.com over any other service by a wide margin due to the DRM-free policy, and GOG's support which I consider "best in industry" compared with all other distributors/publishers/developers I've ever dealt with in 23 years of PC gaming. Second to GOG I like Steam for many of the conveniences and benefits it provides to me, however I have to take a few extra steps to avoid certain games that have draconian DRM or require additional accounts on other services that I may not fancy etc. I will almost always choose to buy a game on GOG than on Steam however there are a few cases where I have bought on Steam instead of GOG such as the Full Spectrum Warrior games which are sold here on GOG completely devoid of multi-player while they have multi-player on Steam.

While DRM-free and support are important to me, as is GOG's overall pro-consumer vibe and experience, I understand that while these are highly important to me they aren't important to everyone, or others may assign higher value to other features/functionality/etc. provided by other platforms that aren't as well supported here or perhaps not available here at all. People also may want to play games which are simply not available on the GOG platform currently.

Also, while I concentrate my games on GOG and Steam, I also own (free) games on Uplay, Origin collected over time, and I've bought some games from GMG that use Capsule, and Gamersgate that are standalone downloads, Shinyloot, Desura and other platforms also and while I'm much less likely to buy any non-GOG non-Steam games in the future, I've dabbled a bit with them in the past. Other people may not want to spread their game purchases across a half dozen or more platforms and may wish to concentrate on Steam or some other platform instead for simplicity.

Still other people may greatly prefer the more advanced features of the Steam platform such as the full featured overlay, video broadcasting, support for in-game chat within the Steam API which some games use, and other features most of which GOG does not yet have available except in a very limited and rudimentary state currently in the off-by-default Galaxy overlay (which only supports chat currently).

As the GOG Galaxy platform matures as well as the store front, game availability and other features, GOG will naturally attract a wider number of gamers simply on the merit of value of the features they provide. The platform will either sell itself to people... or not.

There's nothing to be shameful of in using multiple gaming platforms. Every living person isn't an extremist ideologist, and everyone values things differently. While I do consider myself to value DRM-free ideology highly, I do not have a highly polarized extremist view on that. In the marketplace as a whole, people who do have highly polarized pro-DRM-free ideologies are an extremely small minority overall, and only even a fraction of GOG's own customer base at that, which in turn is a fraction of the overall market.

Sharing information about GOG and DRM-free gaming is a kind public service if it is done with positive intent to friends or whomever. If one tries to ram it down people's throats in a judgmental condescending holier than though preachy way however, that does more harm to the DRM-free movement than any good it might cause. Nobody likes to be preached to. The DRM-free gaming movement certainly does not need a Richard Stallman type spokesperson to scare people away in droves, that's for sure. :o)

Get them to move to the U.P.

tinye at it's best.

The sad fact is that some people have become so dependent on Steam that when the shit does eventually hit the fan for them, they are quick to blame everyone except themselves and Valve.

I've had friends threaten to sue their ISP for internet outages because they weren't able to re-install a game. When we still had a LAN group, the organiser was called incompetent for holding it in a place without internet (a rural "Schützenhalle" shooting club), even though the event had been held there for the better part of a decade, because again, none of the games could be installed or run without an internet connection. We've been to holiday homes with laptops and no internet, and had to make the best of having no stable internet for two weeks in the evenings.

Ultimately, you've just got to let people make their own mistakes, but many are quick to lash out at others to deflect the blame when the consequences hit home. My unfortunate experience with hardcore Steam users (the few that I still know - most have gone over to console gaming and abandoned PC gaming entirely) is that they tend to be the sorts of people who don't take responsibility for their actions or their lives.

After some sleep: I also forgotten to point out that my remark was meant as a joke.

If they are die hards, nothing would convince them anyway (and it sounds like) ;)
thank you for confirming what I only suspected, so it did already happened! :(
Oh, I am your alt again according to Tauto! His medication is wearing off again ;)