Because the first told the "purely optional" lie, and then when enough steam fanboys joined the community, they flipped the switch to "optional for singleplayer" and when enough don't give a fuck fanboys are here, they'll flip the switch for that too.
tl/dr: money

FTFY

I don't think that is true. I recall e.g. SimonG (who hasn't been active in the forums for a couple of years now I think) once saying that he refuses to buy any more games that don't use a client, because he considers offline installers so archaic while clients are so convenient.

I think that was his way of saying that he is not going to buy any more GOG games, only Steam games, as GOG didn't have a Steam-like client back then that auto-updates games, has cloud-saving and achievements etc. Anyways, if he was still around, I presume he would rejoice for GOG releasing Galaxy. Yay, more clients! :) (If someone doesn't remember or know SimonG, he used to be one of the more vocal Steam-proponents and anti-GOGers in this forum; frankly I don't recall him ever having anything positive to say about GOG).

I personally don't use Galaxy. I might use it at some point if I get interested in some multiplayer game utilizing it.

When it comes to opt-out marketing, "optionality" is merely window dressing.

I disagree on that; there is absolutely nothing wrong with complaining because you don't like something a company does, and I would even go as far as to say it's actually "healthy"; but I think that between placidly accepting everything and going crazy "end of the world" mode like some have done is those two threads, there has to be a middle ground somewhere.

I think that Gog would have got the message that this was a controversial move even if peoples remained calm and civil in their expression of disapprobation.

I wouldn't count on GOG ever catching onto any backlash quickly.

I am getting a strong whiff of plain old "All Business Is Evil" in this thread.
I love the 'Marketers are Thieves" rant. Explain how a business is to survice without marketing.
And the system some of you probably want....Aboliish provate business and have the Government run everything....sure worked great where it has been tired....The Soviet Union, China, Venezuela, etc.

This is going to come off as harsh, but the reality is you already were a 2nd class citizen the moment they decided that Galaxy was an important part of their store experience. That moment didn't happen yesterday when they announced this, it was a long time ago. There have been numerous hints along the way in Galaxy's development that has foretold all this.

Unfortunately my long time experiences with GOG do confirm this.

Hey, GOG is a business.and all businesses are EVIL.Get with the program, comrade....

That logic is pretty tired itself.

I can see that my opinion won't be very popular in this thread but... I think everybody should just friggin' relax. Even though I did reply to fables22 in the other thread what I think GOG did wrong and how they should have handled it, I think people are exaggerating A LOT.

I mean, come on guys, GOG didn't force Galaxy on anyone (including an installer is not the same as forcefully installing the program). They just pulled off a really awkward move trying to popularise it. Trying to make Galaxy popular and trying to get rid of the DRM free / optional Galaxy policy are two entirely separate things and it blows my mind that even users who I have found be quite reasonable (actually far more reasonable than me, I admit) are jumping to the conclusion that it must have been about the latter.

There's a whole number of reasons why they may want to spread Galaxy which do not involve attempts to introduce DRM: more data, maybe less stress on the server, probably less stress on the support team (who probably constantly have to inform people that the issue they encounter was taken care of in a patch), God knows what else, and I am sure that GOG wouldn't actually go as far as abandoning offline installers because they know that DRM free is an important selling point of theirs. Heck, it's still the first point listed on the front page.

And especially the guys who have been around for a few years should know that GOG aren't the best at public relations and it's FAR more likely that this was another misstep than part of some devious plan to get rid of the shackles of the DRM free policy.

That said: I do use Galaxy, I actually like Galaxy and I hope they will continue to improve it BUT at the same time I very much want them to keep it optional (and if they don't keep it optional I WILL pretty much abandon GOG in favour of Steam). I love the fact that GOG is finally able to release brand new titles with all the functionality of a Steam release (minus the trading cards, thank God), that I can comfortably queue up several games to get them installed without taking any other steps and that I don't have to keep looking at the website for update flags and manually install every single patch.

I know that many of you guys don't want this functionality but jumping to the conclusion that the introduction of Galaxy and their attempts to spread it were all about preparing an abandonment of the DRM free installers is just reptilian-level of conspiracy madness.

It's Anti Drm. carried to extremes..which I have seen. a lot of here.

I'll calm down when GOG learns that honesty is the best way to earn respect, and not one second before.
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Logical fallacies have nothing to do with logic.

Please tell me how integrating Galaxy into a STANDALONE installer would make Galaxy more popular. If someone would want Galaxy GOG is telling them on their front page where to get it (until this user does not use a script to get rid of it which would also lead to the assumption that said user don't want to know anything about Galaxy in the first place).

If GOG really should think that Galaxy is not well known enough for people using the backup installers they could include some messages in the ads running during installation.

But then again GOG was never saying Galaxy was not popular enough. Fable22 said herself it's about users not being tech savyy enough to install their games (one reason why nobody ever downloads a steam game or a origin game or a uplay game because you'd have to be able to download the client once ;)).

But since you only need to download Galaxy once including it in every game download is completely redundant and making its install the default makes it feel feel forced also. I am really not overreacting and I don't think the world is about to end - however I do feel GOG is losing touch with their community. ... more and more. Making crucial (and imo often wrong) decisions without asking anyone but their managers.