ZOMG, looks like valve going to conqueror world next, right? Feels like more and more Orwell 1984 to me - total DRM everywhere.

I could be wrong but I believe VX Ace isn't quite as open as XP but also easier to use, I might find out for myself as this bundle is tempting. I think XP is higher on the tiers because VX Ace goes on sale all the time, while XP almost never is.

According to my friend, who's tried both, the DB handling in XP is a bit broken, and most of the issues where XP was better than VX (sprite sizes, tileset limits, only 1 style of Battle Screen) were fixed in VX Ace.

Coupled with the fact that the DLCs included in the bundle only work with VX Ace (and not XP), and that I already have To the Moon, I think I might stay with the $1 tier this time.

Skyborn which is in the PWYW tier of the current HB Weekly seems to fit the bill.
It has a nice Steampunk setting and can be finished in ~7 hours according to the reviews.
I haven't played it myself yet so i can't say anything about the combat.

I already own that one, so I might check it out one of these days. I assume it's an episodic game though? Or does the story end with the game? (General question to everyone who knows the answer)

The game has a proper ending. And even though I'm a person who usually don't like JRPGs (I often find them grindy, and I think they get repetitive long before you get to the end), I was pleasantly surprised by that game. It was just the right length, and had a pretty nice setting.

I decided to grab the $12, now to see if I ever build anything with it. I see there is a lot more DLC on Steam which a few more packs might be nice later if I enjoy using it. They seem to go on sale plenty though so I won't be looking into that now.

With the connections made to the Steam Workshop, I think it's going to work out well. I have the boxed version of VX Ace and I've really been wanting the Steam version just to access all the Steam stuff. And besides, all RPG Maker products are DRMed to the 9's, so Steam's actually a better DRM than what the normal software has.

When RPG Maker sold off a few years back, I had to go through a big rigamarole to get XP installed again. They were really nice about it, but I'm kind of glad Steam's their DRM if they're going to DRM it up anyway. (of course, DRM-free would be far better)

So, the Steam versions contain only the CEG? No extra layer of DRM as some companies (Topware) are very eager to do?

That's what my memory remembers from a while back. But no guarantee.

I see in a Sept 2013 article ( http://blog.rpgmakerweb.com/announcements/rpg-maker-activation-issues/ ) that they have a new DRM instead of the junk that it came with. And Steam's version has been out longer than that, I think. So it may still include their own unnamed system. I'm not 100% sure.

My memory's source was likely an unofficial blog praising Steam support and no more cogen issues.

I wasn't prompted for any additional registration stuff, and nothing other than what I've specifically installed has shown up in my programs uninstall options. As soon as RPG Maker VX downloaded onto my account, I was able to load it up and try it out instantly.

VX Ace opened just like normal for me. No retail code or anything.

Well, speaking of softwares there always have been DRM's of some sort and unless they're freewares (blender, gimp, inkscape, sunvox and so on...) it won't change anytime soon. I hate steam (I had troubles with steamguard last night) but in case of softwares that can be useful because if you do it the regular way, you have to get a different account for each developer for a single software and after a few years, it becomes hard to manage if you didn't take notes of all your logins and passwords. The auto-update is also extremely useful (instead of checking every websites).

But as we say : "don't put all your eggs in one basket" so for costly softwares, it's better to get them by the developer's in case you lose access to your steam account

Well. i think if we talking about SERIOUS software vendor, then they can distribute and update software on their own. For example my Firefox is autoupdating without any Steam.
Second, i dont gettin why they cant just give serial key for it?