At this moment all indie developers (small developers) may sell their game on their own via indievania. All $ goes to the developers, so they have no excuse to do the steam-only games.

Well, look at it this way. If I don't copy the setup.exe file, it will most likely be cached by Windows itself in C:\Windows\Installer\{some_random_file_name_here} or in AppData\Local\Temp.

Using cracks to bypass the actual DRM is a totally different thing.

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EDIT: Or you can totally forget about the above, and just .ZIP or .RAR the game's installed files. They will run no matter where you extract them to afterwards.

Basically, it is as DRM-free as it can get just like with GOG or DotEmu.

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Or:

You don't really need the installer or whatever. If the data is packaged in CAB or similar formats, you can use WinRAR to extract it. Then just put all data in the right folders, and the game will work perfectly.

Big diff between having to actively crack out serious DRM from a game's files and just copying something from one folder on your PC to another to be able to reinstall it whenever.

Indeed. In fact, this is exactly what cracking is. Unfortunately when I had bought and downloaded games from GG and taken them to my computer to install I wasn't able to transcend time and space to get the setup file the "usual" way so I had to examine the launch file with a hex editor and write a XOR filter to use my game.

Thanks, very informative post - especially for collectors who face the danger of games being unable to collect properly (i.e. in a playable state without depending on others to still be around in the far future).

Only from a technical standpoint. In principle, they're exactly the same. The question of whether or not something is DRM has nothing to do with how difficult it is to bypass. It's a question of whether there is anything to bypass at all. In the case of GamersGate, there is something to bypass, and the installation system is clearly designed to prevent users from installing the games without connecting to the GG servers. The fact that it is ridiculously easy to circumvent is completely irrelevant.

But you also have to connect to Gog to download the installers. Is that DRM?

I'll spread the word;)

Connecting to GOG is part of the purchasing process, it's not DRM. You have to log in, otherwise you couldn't buy the product. You can then download it. The fact that GOG also stores the product in your account and offers you to download it whenever you want (provided you've logged in to download it) is an additional service provided by GOG. It does actually _expand_ the user's rights instead of limiting them.

Regarding GamersGate: I'm not sure whether GamersGate's login requirement qualifies as DRM. It _is_ a means of copy protection, but there may be legal differences between copy protection and DRM management, and there is no consensus about the meaning of both words between the customers either.

You have to walk to the store to purchase a physical copy, is that DRM?

Ah!, the Hitler of gog forums: "gog is DRM too". Ok, I'll bite.

You obviously need to sign up and connect to gog.com to enjoy your games..., ONE TIME. Once you have your setup and .bin files, gog doesn't matter anymore, they cannot access you, you don't need them for anything.

But there's nothing to bypass.
It's like going to the store and picking up the game.

With Steam it's like going to the store where only staff is allowed to do the shopping for you. And you have to request them to provide the game for you, and then you have to call them to play the game.

And with GG it's like the store where only staff is allowed to do the shopping, but you can fool them and do the shopping on your own.

It was a rhetorical question of sorts.
I wasn't suggesting Gog is drm, just saying that if one considers GG to be drm if you have to move the installer files on your pc then Gog could possibly be considered DRM as well under that definition.

But the question is if moving installer files is legitimate. With GOG you are entitled to do everything you just said, but I'm not really sure, if bypassing GG client is legitimate.

OP was stating it was DRM to not be sure if it is ok to copy the installer files from one folder to another from GG, afaik.

Also why should it matter? You bought the games and once the files are on your computer they're yours to do with as you see fit shorts of altering them....and just copying them doesn't alter them in a way that seems to violate those parts of a eula. It may in fact even be covered by most eula's paragraph about allowing you to make a backup for archival purposes.