In a way, it is. It does have a story line, but that's more like an excuse for all the grinding/crawling, there are some pre-written side quests but there's also an NPC who randomly generates side-quests and bosses. If you like Diablo-clones, you might like Torchlight, too, but if you generally don't enjoy these games, Torchlight does nothing that will make you change your mind. Nox and Divine Divinity have more story and a bit less grinding, as far as games with Diablo-like mechanics go.

Mind you, I'm not saying Torchlight is bad; it just sounds like it might not be your type of game, but then again I don't know anything about your preferences.

I'm actually quite surprised that worked. There used to be a mechanism in place preventing people with less than 7 rep from posting links. It was made in order to combat spambots. I wonder if it's been changed, or if it always allowed people to post links as long as they formatted them correctly (which I suppose spambots usually won't).

Maybe it blocks links outside GOG?

It's not that I do not like this kind of game (though I prefer story driven ones most of the time), it's just that I like to know what's at hand (;
Thanks for sharing your experience with me, I appreciate that.

It's a solid action RPG, it's just that the story seems neglectable compared to all the time you'll spend dungeoncrawling. There's level after level after level, you go deeper and deeper and, I don't know, maybe every 5-10 levels or so there's a boss and a fraction of the story? On the way there though, there's nothing that really advances the story, from what I remember, it's just hacking and slashing. Even the Sacred games have a lot more story-telling to offer. I think I played it for 20 hours or so and I could summarize the story up to that point in one or two sentences (if I'd still remember it, that is). ;)

Does it have a cool, satisfying ending so that you feel rewarded for all the crawling?

I can't say, I eventually lost interest in it. But that's not saying much, as the same applies to Diablo 2, Dungeon Siege 2, Sacred, Titan Quest, Throne of Darkness, and a lot of other Diablo clones I tried. (I did finish Diablo, Nox and Divine Divinity, but they're shorter and/or more focused on story-telling and exploration, less random and grindy. I might finish Torchlight 2 one day, as it does have a bit more variety in outdoor areas and quests and is not as linear as Torchlight.)

Hello. Also new here. Here is something I haven't understood.
Am I correct in thinking of the giveaways as new games that are purchased for that (or other) purpose or as game codes that have not yet been redeemed (like the Witcher 2 stamp collection)?

Is trading the same? I have not found a way to "re-own" a game in my collection (that is, convert it into a code to transfer its ownership to someone else), even if I have never downloaded it yet. I tend to thik it is not possible at all.
That would mean that the games are in my collection permanently, and that the only way to transfer them to someone else would be to give them my entire account. I'm not sure if the ToS allows this, but I think I can always leave it for my kids to inherit (and ignore it) some day --- fortunately there is no DRM to prevent this.

metro 2033. it's a perfect post-war game, with mutants and characters you'll care about.

Welcome to GOG!

There is indeed no way to "re-own" a game from your collection. Games offered in Giveaways, or otherwise gifted are either purchased on purpose, or then purchased as gift codes during sales and store until the occasion to give them arises.

I don't think that the sale of a whole account is the kind of topics GOG likes to be discussed on the fora...

Yes, there is no actual trading system on GOG, everything is built by users giving codes to each other in various ways - private messages, email, whatever. I give you This and I hope you give me That back. The only way for your kids to inherit games already redeemed to your account is to give them the email and password. Or the installers you downloaded, but they'd still need to log in with your credentials on the website (or future client) to get any updates, say for Windows 10, 12, or 13 where the fixes for Windows 8.1 will likely no longer work.

I believe that, in many cases, if you've purchased a game or movie but have not yet downloaded anything which came with it (including the "free" bonus goodies which come with most games and movies here), GOG Support will be willing to convert it into a gift code -- which, of course, removes it from your library as well. You have to contact support for this, though, and I think it's taken on a case-by-case basis. (I've never tried this, myself, though; I could be wrong.)

Oh, no. I was not advocating that, or even considering selling anything.
I purchased a bundle that included some games I already own, and wanted to know if I could gift them (either in a giveaway or privatly to a friend).

As for the account, well, if some misfortune ever robs me of the possibility of enjoying my game collection (and lets be honest here, there are too many ways in which this can happen), I would prefer that these games would be used by someone else, just like the physical copies I own. But that I can anser by reading the User's License. My real question for the community has been answered. Thank you all.

Stocking gift codes during sales is really an idea I had not considered. That is clever. :-)

Hi! Welcome! I know that your questions have pretty much been answered, but thought I'd quickly make a post of my own. :p

Well, I guess in a way, it's both. Giveaway games often are purchased for the sole purpose of 'giving it away'. When you purchase a new game, whether you own it already or not, you'll have the option to 'gift it'.
See THIS IMAGE!
For the purposes of this, I have added Arcanum to my cart. On the right, you can see I ticked the box that says "gift this order". You could then add an email and send it off to whoever you want. Often people also send this to their own email though, where they get a code for it, which they can then PM someone to redeem.
Also, If you already own a game that you purchase, because it already exists in your library, GOG will send you an email with a code, that you can then gift to someone else.

Very often though, people do use unredeemed codes, like the Witcher 2 code for giveaways, especially if they already own said game. Giveaways are not confined to GOG games, so you'll also see plenty of giveaways with Steam keys, Desura, etc.

As others have already said, there is no specific 'trading system' built into GOG. It's purely run by users. When trading, you also use the same 'gifting process' as above, but now you obviously expect a code/gift in return.

It is not possible to 'transfer ownership' to someone else. If you want to keep your copy of the game while still giving a copy to someone, you'd need to buy them a separate copy, or be satisfied with just giving them the files in person/access to your account, or something.
As HunchBluntley said though, if you don't want a copy of the game, assuming you haven't downloaded anything yet, support will let you remove the game from your account and get a gifting code instead.

If you already own some of the games, you should be able to gift those. :)

Anyway, I hope that all helps!