In lieu of a "download all your games" button which I would love, another useful feature would be the ability to see how much space your entire collection takes(with and without extras).

Or the disc of your choice.

But this idea I do like. I admit I have absolutely everything I've gotten on GOG backed up on physical discs somewhere, but even so I would take advantage of such a service. Assuming of course we're talking a retail-quality disc as opposed to something I could make myself.

More to the point, as you say, it might open things up to those without the ability to download any of the larger games in a sensible amount of time/for a sensible cost (depending on the internet the user has).

So... yeah, if done right I think it'd be a good idea, and certainly something I'd take advantage of.

When I buy a game from GOG, Desura, GamersGate, etc... I have the usual practice of download and backup all my games. I have them for a little time in my PC until I complete, let's say, 4.3 GB and I burn them on discs. I have a nice collection, and everything catalogued in a database. As for Steam, after I install a game, I use the client's feature to backup the recently downloaded game in an external hard drive whose only purpose is that. It doesn't take too much effort, time and money (DVD discs are really cheap) to do this if it is done regularly all the time as I do.

I guess if you have a big collection, never backup but you're interested now, you have two options: Or start doing it now, or with other GOG users start a campaign asking for this feature, although I think this will be impossible, due to the nature of GOG of being a download service only.

From a marketing point-of-view, I fail to see how this feature would expand the market for GOG though...

It might or might not cost more but there would be no burning involved if they could load the games on Gigasticks ... Those USB flash drives are getting cheaper every day. Some **** movie sites where you can rent and stream or purchase a disk or download to hard drive have also added the purchasing of digital movies on portable USB flash drives.

EDIT:However I myself have a 500 gig backup drive where I add all my downloads after installing already and can't really see that much of a market or real advantage to really offer such a service as it is quite easy to just drag the GOG download installer to the Backup drive once a week or so and then delete all the installers from the computer.
Might be a convenience for some but probably not very profitable for GOG unless they get the media real cheap and then sell Retail ... Plus they would get swarmed with complaints that a disk or drive wouldn't work and that would just be added hassle for them even Legally as the games are liscened eventhough drumfree. Way it is now they Sell to a customer and what that customer does is more or less out of their hands but to provide (backups) as such would cross the line into distributing product after already being sold in digital format and they would have no way of knowing where those backups would be going ... eventually ... Legally, probably better they didn't do it at all. IMO

I seriously considered setting up a GOG booth at a flea market here. I could have the most popular games downloaded and burned to a DVD. When someone want to buy a game, I have them give me an email address and password. I set up the account, buy the game, charge them for the game + $3 or $4, and then attach their GOG account credentials inside the DVD cover.

I come from an area with lots of folks out in rural areas without any real internet access. They all come to town once a month for a big flea market.

I nixed the idea, though, because good wireless Internet has become very popular in the past year or two and it's just a matter of another year or two before everyone has some sort of access.

Not just that, but there's licensing issues. You aren't licensed to distribute those games on physical media, and at present, I doubt GOG is either. I suspect their precise licensing terms with most publishers is for the digital distribution of these games.

All I'd be doing is providing a CD burning business ($3 a disc). They would be buying the games from GOG using a GOG account and giving me permission to burn their games for them. And they'd still have access to their GOG account. I'd do the downloading and burning at the flea market.

That's the way I worked it out, anyway. Besides, I doubt they'll kick up any fuss. Not for an old crook like me.

:D

Well, just wait for rock-like Blu-ray recordable disks from Millenniata in a couple of months and your backup will be able to last thousands of years (no really, it's true, no shitty joke here)....

Just added it to the wishlist. Even if GOG would require an special license to do this, they can easily circumvent the problem outsourcing the backup process to another company,

nah .... Media of the future will be recorded on Crystal Skulls .... They have sent a few back in time already to test their longevity.

Well, if they coded it properly, then it could download things once and then just download updates later on or things that get corrupted.

Also, I think that most people would be using it to begin with and so it would just be a small number of games at a time. It's a relatively small group that have more than 100 games and few have more than 300.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/millenniata-announces-blu-ray-optical-disc-available-in-spring-2013-2013-01-07
http://www.mdisc.com/

A "permanent", home-recordable storage solution is already available right now...

I must say I am extremely skeptical of their claims, it sounds to good to be true, so it probably is to good to be true.

It could never work. There are many factors you're not taking into account which GOG would have to. It's a hell of a lot of hassle and expense and the long term profitability simply isn't there.