I agree with that. GOG should always tell the game devs to release a manual patch for GOG gamers to use. But sometimes the game devs don't do this and it really should be fixed.

If that's true (I haven't noticed it) then that sucks. If it isn't a fully manifested bug everywhere, then it's not a huge problem. However, a more comprehensive patch will likely be available down the pipe. If it isn't that's when this becomes an issue.

GoG said that all patch downloadable through Galaxy would also be downloadable using the web interface but they also said that there might be some delay between the auto-patch availability and the self-contained patch.

That's understandable given what we know of how Galaxy auto-patching will work, it will be a lot faster to release a patch via auto-patch while releasing the same patch through a downloadable installer will require more testing.

So I suspect that for newer games that are patched often there will probably be a bunch of days delay between the two, or maybe even some in-between patches might be skipped. (i.e. the game receive patch a,b,c and d through Galaxy but only the cumulative patch d is released as a separate installer, etc...) but that's only my opinion.

You do NOT need to log into the updater to play the game. Even with that patch applied, you can launch the game directly via the .exe and the updater never even loads.

The only issue right now is that due to the (presumably holiday-related) slowdown in direct-download updates, the patcher currently has the update available while the GoG account page doesn't.

That's not DRM, but especially with the current direct download version having a game-stopping bug, I can certainly understand it rubbing people the wrong way.

Galaxy is the way to DRM.
Like you said, they´re very steadfast when it comes to their "core values". Look at "One World, One Price".

This is NOT DRM by any means...

GOG updates for standalone installers for AVP and The Witcher Adventure Game are going to be slower to get updated on GOG than via auto updating. Simple as that. If you don't like that then auto update.

GOG has already stated that temporarily Galaxy will be bundled with TWAG and AVP until the official Galaxy client is released because they didn't want to provide that separately. So everyone has the auto-updater available to them, and I imagine GOG sees no reason to update the standalone installer right now until then remove the Galaxy support from it which they will when Galaxy releases. But right now everyone can use the auto-updater.

I'm in the Galaxy alpha. Galaxy works no different that how GOG games work now with standalone installers, the only difference being tacked on MP and that Galaxy handles the installation instead with auto-updating, Once you install a game you can bypass it completely or play offline in-defiantly with Galaxy long after GOG bites the dust, which is nothing like Steam. A backup feature is even planned, and I'd imagine once that is implemented we won't even have to connect Galaxy online to re-install our games. So at the point we may need Galaxy to install our games, but unlike Steam it should be completely usable with or without GOG offline.

People are uninformed about Galaxy and are claiming this DRM when it is far from it... and it's a lot more flexible than Steam. GOG isn't doing this because its wants to enforce DRM... it's doing this because a vast majority of people (like Steam users) want a client, with achievements ect. Some developers won't even release games today without that. It's business, nothing more.

I was messaging the support already. I would have never thought it could simply be an technical issue about differences between an automatical update and the manuel one. I think in that case, it would be an informational problem like the Divinity - Original Sin Release where no one knew that the game wasn't for release for everryone because no one was informed.

But I also wonder how anyone could pass such a bug in quality assurance. Even one month after release.

I will write after I retain answer.

What if it was a bug introduced after a patch?

Also it appears that GOG does update the installer but does not flag those updates, probably because they know most people will just update with the auto-updater. The only update not added yet appears to be hotfix 1.1.1 which is a just hotfix, so that's probably why the update has not come to the standalone installer yet and may come with a larger update. It's also a holiday right now and it's probably not as easy to update the installers and vs just uploading the changed files to Galaxy's servers, and standalone installer has to be re-packaged.

Just give them some time, I'm sure it will show up at some point.

This is actually one of THE major problems at the moment, besides games vanishing from shelves like "The 11th Floor" for me and many others for other people.

The moment updates are not available without the Galaxy client anymore, I'll probably completely stop buying here (have reduced it a lot since regional pricing anyway).

Please, read the thread.

It's about being able to download/save/archive the patches, so you can have them on a computer that ISN'T connected to the Internet. Or if GOG goes away. Or if your Internet at home sucks and you have to download them at work like I do.

Actually this is a good question and I think one of the main points on why some people regard auto-updating as DRM while others do not.

As a start: Getting the game from an online account, it is clear that you need an online connection and an account to get the game. That does not make it DRM.
What makes it DRM is if a game patch is pretty much a "one way road". It is hard to explain. So I use my main "No DRM" template as an example:

If I download a game, can I install it to it's FULL capabilities (including all patches, DLC, etc) on any machine I want, even if the service I initially bought it from is not available anymore?
If the answer is yes, then I would categorize it as "No DRM".

In this specific case the Auto updater would install the patch automatically so you "probably" have no option to install the game on another machine if the service you get the patch from is not available anymore.

Again: It is my understanding that the patch will be made accessible later. But this is the main message I wanted to get across. HAVING an Auto Updater is nice. I love to have this comfort and level of laziness in my life. I just want to have an option to have all these games whenever the service becomes inaccessible/unavailable for whatever reason at whatever time in the future.

You technically can even with auto-updating & Galaxy right now, it just a little more involved... a issue that will probably be solved when the backup feature is implemented.

The update flagging is imho partly broken atm which is why you dont see whats updated at the momemt aside from visiting the whats been updated thread.