lol +1

https://49.media.tumblr.com/bf898dbf4a5d30b2c86cfda2e50c8299/tumblr_mo5cpsGoup1rcle5fo1_500.gif

The above changes is my understanding of the situation.

I'm aware that HDs are inexpensive nowadays, thank you. According to your example, we're talking about 4x 8TB for $980 + $100 for the bay. So roughly $1000 for a single 16TB Raid 1 system... just for backing up games...
Note that we haven't even touched hard drive life expectancy or possible failures of Raids (there's a reason Raid 5 exists).

If that's feasible for you, by all means go for it. It isn't for me and I doubt it is for the majority around here, even less so as a general rule.

In case it hasn't already been posted, Tom Scott made a video explaining what happened: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkSslseq9Y8

Many people here probably don't need this explanation, but I - the big dumdum - found it informative and helpful.

I am downloading every language of every game and all bonus content, have a bloody lot of games spread over GoG (most are from GoG), HumbleBundle and IndieRoyale and can't even fill my 4TB harddrive that is entirely dedicated to game installers, mods and patches.
I have two cheap USB2 / 3.0 docking stations for regular internal HDDs and another 4TB drive as a backup for the mentioned one in case the drive fails.

The green 4TB from Western Digital is 147,70€ around here (and Germany is expensive).
Most people won't fill a 2TB drive with this either though and those are available for 84€.
A single slot docking station is available for 20€.
You need to buy about 800-900 games and save all versions and extras to fill 1TB from GoG.

I have over 900 GOG titles in my account and my GOG folder is 1,38 TB big. Fact. Yes it's getting to a point, where it's not feasible (at least for me) to backup all my games.

This isn't about GOG though. It's about Steam and DRM.
If (we know it won't happen) Steam dropped all the mandatory stuff and you could backup games the same as here on GOG, how much TB are we talking then? With newer AAA titles being anywhere between 10 to 30+ GB big?
No. Not feasible. Not for me.

Again, my point still stands, delete the stuff you've played already and know you won't be playing again sometime in the near future. If you're THAT concerned, keep the save files. Typically when you uninstall from the control panel, there's an option for this.

I'm a lot more concerned about life expectancy of harddrives made or assembled in China, then about Steam hitting the fan. If you or others see this otherwise, again - go for it. I don't.
The portrayed better-than-Steam-solution was to download and store games. If you delete them, you're throwing the solution out.

And how, when and for how long I play my games, is really none of your concern nor has it anything to do with the topic at hand...

I'm not concerned about Steam at all, doesn't matter to me. I'm just saying that you could just delete the games you haven't played yet or have played already and clear up some space. If...you really want 900 games on your computer, then...alright....

Really now? With all due respect, check in what context statements have been made...

No I don't want to have 900 games installed. Yes GOG is better than Steam because you can install / play those 900 games for sure, even if the service went down. Doing so needs a certain amount of DVD / HD space. This can get to a point, where I see it as simply not feasible anymore.
Take a similar 900 games account on Steam, filled with AAA games over the last years which take anywhere between 2 and 30+ GB space. If we take an average of 10 GB per game, you'd need 9 TB backup space. Is that feasible and the best solution any gamer should want? Not for me, sry.

That's still what I'm saying. Why would you have all these games on your computer at once? Unless, of course, you're talking about your library, in which case it should be saved to the cloud, not to your computer, yes?
Before you start yelling at me, know that I have very little knowledge about this stuff. I'm just here because I'm bored, as usual.

Kind of back on topic, although the issue of seeing (maybe even being able to click) other peoples stuff seems over, the community servers are clearly under pressure. Being in Europe it's noticeable than when US wakes up nothing community related is accessible - market, badges, etc...

I don't know what media you use; but based on the way you've been citing the failure of backups, I wasn't sure sure you were cognizant of the fact or is it just hyperbole & FUD. I didn't explicitly list it; a Raspberry Pi with the case in which to mount it plus miscellaneous connectors, et cetera, is about $45; a little bit more if you want a mini LCD display, that is not necessary because it can run headless and I can temporarily hook up my 24" monitor if I need to directly access it. Also $10 per drive for Amazon to handle replacement & data recovery in case of failure, I haven't had one fail yet. I said I have 2 of these in separate physical locations so that's about $2200; extra redundancy and all that. More hyperbole?... I don't know how much of a pack rat you are; but all of my music, videos, pictures, retro & other gaming and any other miscellaneous software & other data fit in about half that. Since they're in external bays I can just add more when it becomes obvious that I'm going to run out of room. Take note of of my earlier mention of of paying $10 per drive for Amazon to handle replacement & data recovery in case of failure, I haven't had one fail yet. Obviously I already have. If money is a reason for lack of feasibility one can use 5TB drives in a 4 bay enclosure and pay the extra $10 each for a total of about $630 for. With an Amazon store card one can get terms that include 12 months same as cash if paid in full within that timespan for one time purchases of at least $500 or 6 months for purchases of at least $150. You can't pay off $630 in a year, but yet you're willing to spend money on digital downloads without being able to rely on backups; especially those that aren't DRM free? You've polled the entire membership of GOG to determine that more than half of them ("the majority around here") aren't able to pay off $630 in a year? I realize not everyone can do that, but I'm not going to assume whether a significant amount can or can't. This is intended to be informative.

If one really wants to do it on the cheap, get 2 5TB drives and use them in an 2 slot enclosure. Use one to do daily backups and once a week or so plug in the second just to mirror the first removing to second when done to reduce wear & tear. This can easily be done for less than $300. With an Amazon store card one can pay that off over 6 months.

You've obtained 900+ games, but yet it not feasible you to buy another hard drive? I understand it's none of my business, but if it was me I would re-prioritize my purchases so I could at the very least buy a 5TB hard drive (these seem to be the optimum sweet spot of size versus cost) and an enclosure. One could easily do that for less than $160. I would hate to lose 900+ games & whatever other data I might have.

You still haven't given a well reasoned response as to why you're so quick to dismiss backing up installers from DRM free retailers instead of relying on the goodwill & continued existence of an authorization server based service other than to infer that because DRM free services & backup media are potentially unreliable, and that hardware is expensive & subject to failure so one should bother to use or consider alternatives.

I prefer to be much more proactive. I'm not willing to rely on the goodwill of of any outside party that can unilaterally end my access to my lawful purchases and leaving me with no effective recourse. I am also unwilling to throw my hands to the sky, shove my head in the sand, say to myself, fatalistically accepting the status quo. Shamus Young has already explained, over 7 1/2 years ago, how if a company becomes insolvent to the point that they are bought out, go into receivership or declare bankruptcy, whoever promised to remove the DRM are most likely not going to be in the position to do so much more eloquently than I could have. With backed up installers from DRM free retailers one does not have to be concerned about this.