I don't think the matchmaking code is already there in your app when you hook into / use the steamworks api for matchmaking. That's why you use it as a library.. it helps a lot (and is also evil proprietary in this case). You would have to reimplement that. I don't know how evolved steamworks is today but i'm guessing this goes right down to transferring to actual game logic.
But I agree, MOST of your multiplayer code is already there / made without any dependency on steamworks - direct ip play, at least with two people, could be easily added - it's a conscious decision not to at this point, which a lot of companies do to feel safe about dem pirates.

On that topic.. gog would have had a chance on their side in their gogworks (lol galaxy.dll i mean) library/protocol to provide such a command to any game using that. The offline installers would just have to include the galaxy.dll the game works with and thus you would have been set to at least fire that command even when the online part of galaxy does not exist in the future. "Galaxy - brings the LAN back together" what a slogan that would have been <3 Lo and behold the "drm free" slogan.. did they do such a thing. The answer is rhetorical and gives some directions about the direction gog is heading in my opinion.

Quake 3 didn't have a persistent account that recorded how many matches you played, your kills and losses, medals earned, rank, etc. Sure, you saw stat info after a single match, but it didn't persist from one match to another.

And if I recall correctly, Quake 3 required the CD be in the drive when playing. That right there is a form of DRM. With digital content, there's no physical media required, so there's nothing to stop anyone from sharing the game with tons of others.

Ironically, that's precisely what made older MP FPS's more enjoyable - It meant that each match you played, you focussed on the match itself, not the ego-driven "but mah social status" snivelling that actively drives people to cheat +1,000% more and act like complete dicks. (Not to mention the highly amusing concept of keeping track of how many "medals" and "ranks" were earned for bravely using that controller auto-aim and seeing all your enemies neatly highlighted through walls and on a mini-map...)

Of course. If you want to use Galaxy-Achievements for bragging rights, then you'll have to use Galaxy. Which should be obvious, since the only reason to collect online achievements is to show them to your 'friends'. However, if you only collect achievements for yourself, the offline, in-game achievements suffice and you don't need Galaxy for that yet.

However, I am quite sad that GOG locks more and more of the online components of games behind Galaxy. Multiplayer games haven't been DRM free here on GOG for quite a while. Luckily for GOG, I don't care about multiplayer. But as soon as they start requiring Galaxy for single-player games, I'll migrate to greener (truly DRM-free) pastures. (zoom-platform, for example)

Some (boxed) games had different (or no) copy protections, depending on the region, edition, etc...

It would be pretty weird if a game required there be nothing in the drive!

That was CD drive and that is something different or are you just trolling,again?
Correct,my boxed version of Return to Krondor needed a certain CD in the drive at different stages of the game which was a pain at times.

My Quake 3 Arena (BIG BYTES) didn't need the CD in the drive at all, I'm deadly serious.

Mine had no copy protection apart from the Cd-Key itself never needed the disk in the cd drive AT ALL same with my Doom 3 game after a certain patch v3.13 I think it was, Was Installed.

If only my internet was faster I could quite literally PROVE it to you all.

it was quake 3 arena gold including quake 3 team arena LOL.

Yeah, I meant the CD drive. I'd just be pretty surprised if a game required you to have nothing in the CD drive!
I'm just messing with you. Re-read what you wrote in post 50 if it's still not making sense.

Is that a question or a statement? All I know is my version did require the CD in the drive. Maybe Quake 3 versions differed in different regions?

That's pretty Odd Maybe you are right Maybe they do differ It's not a question or a statement I put ?!? on there when I'm confused Like how most Canadian's add Eh to the end of their speech, When they don't understand things.

and they have (in the past) stated that there will be no regionlal pricing, only complete games (game, extras, dlc etc) will be sold on gog.com.

their (gog) previous actions doesn't speak well for them when it comes to core values and promises