I've been using them and itch, mainly because (as you say)they offer DRM free installers without all the crap like pushing launchers/clients and(in the case of itch) there are a lot more decent niche games to pick from. If only one of em had a forum to post to, i'd probably be spending the majority of my time posting and buying there instead.
I believe Sultan was jesting with thee :)

If anyone needs help launching a launcher, let me know and whip up a launcher launcher. It’s hard to keep up with your launchers, you know.

So, just to have another voice, I’m not impressed by launchers.

That said, if you loaded a bunch of ads into it, it could be another revenue stream!

So, that's exactly it! I was thinking about buying Incoming + Incoming Forces on GOG, but I learned that the ZOOM version offers an expansion that is not on GOG, in addition to being patched for modern systems; from what I've read, the GOG version has been broken for a long time and nothing has been done about it. By the way, the ZOOM version is called Incoming Trilogy and comes with this:

Incoming: July 9, 1998
Incoming Subversion: September 9, 1999 (if I'm not mistaken, this is the missing expansion on GOG)
Incoming Forces: September 24, 2002

I forgot to mention that they have a Discord server. Well, I don't use it and I don't even know how it works, what I do know is that it's something similar to a forum, hehe. They also usually publish some things on "X".

Errrrr... I didn't realize it the first time I read it. XD

Holyyy mother of God... RUN everyone!

Launchers (and clients) are not DRM, and the GOG forum looks sillier and sillier when they insist they are DRM.

Yeah, I am aware of the discord and such, I just prefer forums a bit more :)

As for zoom having more complete versions of some games, yeah I know about that...I once linked a more complete version of a game sold on Zoom once, in fact, and I got a slap on the wrist by Gog for my troubles. Then when I pointed out that people in the Gaming Deals thread were allowed to do that all the time with no problem, Gog shuttered that thread completely.

I agree, a forum system is much better than having to connect to another site. :)
Sometimes GOG acts like an idiot, unfortunately. There are many arbitrary actions taken by "them".

If the player is forced to use a "client" or "launcher" to start a game, without the option to start it another way, then we have an indirect DRM, simple as that. Example: For many of its games, Steam requires the use of the client to launch them. Without the client you simply won't play; of course, there are some games that don't require the client to be run.

Clients are for sure a form of “DRM”.

The essence of “DRM-freeness” is OFFLINENESS.

At least that is practically the case as far as I am concerned. Of course it is not as simple as that and legally it would be a nightmare to define what “DRM” and “DRM-free” are supposed to mean, but I think we can safely say that without the advent of the accursed INTERNET we would not even be having this debate.

A CLIENT IS DRM in my book because it ties you to the internet. DRM-:free means “offline”.

Galaxy is not tied to online. I can use it to launch any game I own on GOG even if I'm offline. Further, I can run any game I don't own on GOG with Galaxy. REDLauncher likewise does not require an account or for you to be online at all.

Wonderful additional telemetry…

There isn't much use. It is good as a downloader and installer, and keeping games up-to-date if that's a concern for you. Online, for games you own it can track achievements (for games that offer them) and time spent playing. Offline, it doesn't do much, but if your games are installed through or added to Galaxy, it will launch them. There's nothing great about it offline, it isn't designed for that. It's just designed not to break if the internet stops working.

Okay, nice to know … I suppose. I don’t have any issues with downloading via a browser, I’m not bothered about achievements or online multiplayer, and I do not consider gaming a “communal experience” any more than I feel the need to read a book with someone else.

I would like to know, however : the RED launcher does not start if you use the offline installers … or does it ? As long as only Galaxy users are affected I kind of don’t care … :)

I agree that this isn't DRM, but this still comes across as "enshittification". There's no (user-driven) need for a red launcher, it's tacked on bloat that cheapens the overall product

Ouch.