True it helps, but I wouldn't rely on it for going full DRM. You mean start up time for GOG games. The games that rely heavily on steam. It has no effect on how fast the game actually loads.

If you got his computer, every bit helps... i assume.

Yes this is what I was meaning.
Better than nothing and there is other methods if it doesn't work.

But here we are. Best to not bemoan how things are being in our lives as then nothing will be getting done.

The same reasoning why some only buy at certain stores. Beliefs and principles.

Nothing is getting done because people continue to buy from companies that promote shady DRM practices or from stores that don't advocate for more DRM freedom. That clearly have the power to push it. It seems that people are only concerned about these issues when they affect them personally.

Take a look at how no one seemed to care about Xbox's requirement for always being online to play games until there was an outage. The backlash forced MS to change their policies. I believe gamers have more power than we realize; it's just that the majority don't care until it directly impacts them.

I agree with this sentiment. But cracking games is already illegal, so if you're resorting to questionable sites to find cracks for your Steam games, why not just pirate them outright? Why support developers who don't trust us and who believe we don't own the games we pay for with our hard-earned money?

On a positive note, it's reassuring that most indie developers seem to support DRM-free options.

I'm not trying to argue. Just ranting. Sorry haha

100% of my games work without Steam because I never buy off Steam in the first place, but you do you.

Well, you're techincally not really allowed to modify files to circumvent anything either, like making Steam games "forget" about the Steam check. So you either play completely by the rules, or you might as well just torrent. Personally, if I had a Steam game and wanted it without Steam, I'd prefer a torrent instead of workarounds.

Did so for many games I have on Steam to have a de facto offline installer. I barely ever actually pirate games these days (torrenting games I don't own), but torrents are still immensely useful even if you own the game in question.

Not to mention some developers/publishers on Steam literally just sell you cracked copies of their own games, like Rockstar (and in some cases EA) lmao

I am not looking down on anyone pirating games; there are endless in my mind valid reasons why they do it... and the reasons in my mind are rather increasing instead of decreasing, which is sad to realize as a reality. Because it could be different if the industry and the economy as a whole is trying to act more or even more towards the gamers and in general the consumers interest... and not just "mainly their own interest... especially if we step up the ladder of power".

However... there are "forces" opposite to this unfortunate development, kinda a counter-development... which is just weaker than the "worse" development because of a lot of factors (not going into details here). I got the possibility supporting those opposite forces, which is giving me personal gains and as well a lot of support for the industry, especially for GOG of course because most games i buy are from GOG. Sony Playstation is "only" at the second place... and every other store is just used very occasionally (if they got something DRM free, which is rare for the games i enjoy).

I am not a "white knight"; firstly i look what is good for me and secondly... if possible... i do look what is good for the others, including the industry, and in most or many terms i can feel satisfied with the solutions i get. In some terms... for example FF 13, i do not feel satisfied with the possibilities available to me... so indeed i have to "work out something" or simply pass on this game (for which i already own several licenses, just not the kind of license i am looking out for).

In general i try to be "sensitive" with my solutions for several reasons. If i can not handle it in a sensitive way... i got so many other games that are waiting to become played... so i just pass on it, instead of making the matter unnecessary complicated to me or "overstepping" boundaries i do not feel to satisfied with... on a personal level: My approach is just how it seems to work best for me, in general, not a approach i do consider great in every situation and for everyone.

No, you are not allowed tho and should not bring it up to loud, as it might be disturbing for GOG, which i can fully understand.

That girl, a russian woman... one of the rare geeks i would say, seems to be skilled at "repackaging" games, to spell it out in a sensitive way. Not because she is "to stingy" or whatelse... mostly it is simply born out of the inability getting stuff in her current situation due to many reasons. On top of that... it may even offer certain benefits many "legal buyers" never will be getting... perhaps because the industry is turning a blind eye on many issues related to it. However... SquareEnix is not the worst of them; in fact they provided many games DRM free already and are even removing Denuvo on many games. just... on FF13, a very old game, they just can not get themself into offering a "for many of us better shape"... for whatever reason.

I've tried on a bunch of games and Goldberg hardly did any diference. Of the ~15 tested only one was able to be run without the client, didn't matter because the said game is available on GOG.
Steamless however, did manage to make far more games be played without the client. Some of them don't work correctly though, like Mark of the Ninja will not save (old build, before the remaster).

Well look on the bright side of those "free"(wink wink) game sites. Malware laced games are like casinos. You gamble on each one, to screw you over and infect everything you own lol

Extra game, no? ;)

Nah, its not that worse for someone who already got all the game files and just may need a "cracked EXE", as this EXE can be scanned by hundreds of scanners at once and the risk of having a malware on it is, in this case, close to none.

The true risk is rather for those who do not own the game at all and will need "the full game"... in such a case almost everything could potentially be infected and it will become difficult scanning it by hundreds of scanners this way, or even impossible. However... those people not able, or in some cases not even willing, to buy any game may be able to deal with such risks and many of them certainly know "how to get mostly clean stuff". Mainly the inexperienced people... and yes there are a lot of them, may face a lot of hassles. Intellect is a valuable resource, it can be a higher value than just sheer coins, and yes, way to many humans got a limited intellect: So they may put their foot into every dirty hole which is appearing below their footsteps and not very surprising... the dirt will accumulate very quick.

Fun fact: Some GOG games sold here use a "Steam Emulator" i mean... "Ghost Wrapper" that starts 15 seconds slower to games already DRM-free on Steam...

To get these games startup faster the solution is to use a "Rube Goldberg Machine" (the same method used to make Steam games "DRM-free") on "DRM-free" GOG games legitmately bought on the biggest "DRM-free" store by replacing the Galaxy DLL... So people that get the Steam version through "other methods" still get a better experience than paying customers that wait years for a legitmate "DRM-free" GOG version lol.

And even then, 99.99% will be false positives. Windows Defender for example still flips out whenever you try to use any crack. Since Windows 10, always have to add them to the exceptions list or it gets immediately quarantined (even blocked from being downloaded.

Not really the files themselves, but torrent sites can often be veritable minefields. Pop-ups, fake pages/download prompts, ads. A person with no experience could pretty easily do the wrong thing somewhere like TPB.