This thread has covered quite a bit of topics.

No, we don't.

This is patently ridiculous now. Extra, optional, (and at this point of time entirely fictional) features outside of the game themselves do not mean someone playing Zork or Machinarium or Under a Killing Moon without them are not getting what they paid for. They paid for the game, they have the game, they can play the game. Anything above and beyond that is irrelevant.

The situation doesn't fit in the slightenst in the definiton of 'optional' since patches aren't optional features, the moment they are put out they are as much a part of the product as the unpatched original chunk, and that's what people pointed out, that using the label DRM free on a product reliant on an launcher/updater with mandatory registration and auth server checks for patching purposes was disengenious since the model put forward wasn't DRM free anywhere in the world except maybe in Brad Wardell's mind and in the mind's of the rest of the good folks at Stardock/Impulse back in their day. It was quickly renderd into a moot point by the staff's assurance that a fully patched and dlc'ed build would replace the release version on gog's servers after a couple of iterations, which was exactly what happened.

Than we'll have to agree to disagree. :)

I think that in case they offered cloud saves, I'd be entitled to it very same way I'm entitled to soundtracks and whatever else there is, whitout any extra things I need to do in order to use ir. As IMO it's POS.

Have we mentioned Hitler yet? I think we should mention Hitler.

Hitler.

There, that is done.

Well, I'll end by saying that even GOG themselves use the terms "bonus" "extra" and "free" regarding content like soundtrack and the like. With the sole exception of things like manuals or esoteric copy-protection (such as Encyclopedia Frobozzica with Zork), I don't consider them to be part of the "full functionality" of the games, just nice extras. You, evidently, do, so fair enough.

Not exactly the issue was because at first it was only possible to download and install (i.e. there was no way to obtain a stand alone installer) the patch using the launcher, meaning there was no way to play a fully patched version of the game other than first installing the game then using the launcher, download the latest patches from CDP servers.

Later GoG team announced that the game installer would be updated from time to time with the latest version and finally, shortly after, that patches would also be available directly from GoG.

Dafuq?

So long as gamers are paying their god damn wages, you're damn right gamers have a sense of entitlement. Without us, they do not exist.

So yes, they do exist to please gamers. It is not entitlement to say that, any more than it's entitlement to say that my local supermarket exists to please its customers.

I call patching pretty integral to a game I buy to be honest. I've seen games that did this 'no-DRM' approach. It basically meant the DRM-free part was a crippled husk of a game without the day one patches, which of course required you to register your CD-key/log in.

I don't call that 'optional features', and if that kind of 'DRM-free' thing became common place, crippling the supposedly DRM-free part with day 1 patches would be even more common place than it is now. It's just trickery basically.

Mind you in these cases the only way to *get* patches is to use that service.

Voting with wallet comes to mind...if they don't please us, they are going out of business as no one will buy their games.

There are people who have a different mindset who respect their work and what they do. Let's just hope that helps to keep them afloat.

And if people start exploiting the system, they will also go out of business.

What ?? Of course patches are part of the "full functionality" of a game, that's not at all what we are talking about here.

We are talking about whenever having an optional client to auto-update/sync-save game/ keep track of library, etc... should be considered are part of the "full functionality" of a game or as an extra optional feature and whenever or not having to logon to take advantage of this optional client should be considered as being DRM (for the game) or not.

We mostly agree here, but every time I hear variation of artistic integrity ME3 ending fiasco comes to mind.

Well, the rest was pretty awesome ... ;-)