I'm not a huge gamer. The last game I played and beat was Paper Mario for the Gamecube. The last PC game I played was Starcraft way back in 1999, so forgive me if I'm not on the up and up with this.

I went on Steam and found their extensive gamelist and got excited at the choices on display. Then I bought a game but it required me to use the Steam app. to download my purchase. I got the app. and then when the game was downloaded I was required to login to the Steam app. and maintain an internet connection in order to play this single player RPG. That disappointed me because I wanted to play on my own time without a connection requirement. So I requested a refund and uninstalled the Steam app off my computer and erased the game I purchased.

Now I'm on this GOG site and I am equally impressed with whats going on here with the amount of choices and quality of games available. This game that I bought on GOG is another RPG title made in 2004 so whatever online component that was once a part of the game is long out of service and all that is left is the single player game. Will I be required to maintain an internet connection and login to GOG's servers just to play this one if I purchase it? If so, I will have to say no and then ask you where can I just straight up purchase games and download them without extra login requirements and account connections?

Thank you in advance to anyone who responds!

No. GOG does push their own client, Galaxy, but it is not required for any single player game. There are games that require it for multiplayer, plus for achievements and some such things, but all games have "offline backup game installers", which you just download and install on their own, and they do not require a client, logging on or any active connection. So what you want is what's circled in the screenshot I added (may need to expand that field first), NOT the big blue button. Larger games have multiple installer files, one .exe and possibly multiple .bin files; you need all of them downloaded and saved in the same folder to install the game. Additional content is available on the right, download what you want from that as well.

When I download the extra goodies such as maps, music and wallpapers where do I access them?

Mmmmm sounds like my experience. Saw some games i wanted, bought a few including a bundle...

Then the problems with DRM came on. Specifically copying the game to a different computer WITHOUT STEAM and it became obvious i had a problem.

Plus was given Skyrim not long after it came out and guess what, you need steam to redeem it, AND the client active to play it... Quite annoying...

Rebought those games on GoG (Was WAAAAY before steam's new refund policy came into play).

There are definately going to be a few games with online components that either don't work at all or are gimped. (Say, EA's Spore access). Other games, like Neverwinter Nights requires you to have a unique CD code (annoying) However you don't need a background application (as of yet) to download, backup, install or play any of the games here.

I have certain grievences with GoG so i refuse to buy anything through them right now; However experience (beyond being heavily behind on patches usually, games being pulled sometimes with no warning, and some stupid BS going on in the forums) overall is good. They will likely be a separate zip file, so you'd simply find them in your download folder... have to extract them to access them, maybe get a PDF viewer (Sumatra PDF heavily suggested)

Well I bought an RPG here on GOG that should keep me busy for quite some time and no requirement to login to GOG apps to play it. Also, first time I ever played a full size RPG without a disc! 2GB download. I'm liking GOG over Steam already. I'm going to disconnect my internet now and play offline. Thanks for the help, people!

I see others have answered your question in detail, so I'll just say welcome to GOG. I share a lot of the sentiment in your OP. What you're describing is similar to what I felt: disgust that caused me to give up on PC gaming for many, many, MANY years. Like over a decade plus. I want to "buy to own" and effectively that's what you can do here on GOG, unlike "Scheme"'s store. The selection has gotten better and better recently too, particularly with RPGs.