By entry barrier, I refer to ease of use. Yes, you could theoretically use a GOG shortcut to run a game on Steam, but it is a hassle and most people don't want to bother with it.

Ah I see. Yeah, I understand that. But I'd still rather gog anyway :P

No. GOG is it's own service separate from and in competition with Steam. Don't worry though, GOG doesn't come with it's own client Like Origin (or Steam). All you need is the GOG Downloader (it's a small program) and once downloaded the game is yours.

Maybe you feel loyal to Steam? Well that's fine. But GOG ohas it's advantages.. I find downloads quicker, we have games that aren't on Steam and either the staff of the other gamers here are always willing to help if you have trouble running a game.

I buy from both GOG and Steam so you don't to worry about it being strange and different or being "disloyal".

So Yeah, Welcome to GOG.

I just wish I knew about the cross-buy thing when Steam had it on sale for 75% off once.

It was 90% off when I bought it on steam, then got the backup copies on GOG from the super awesome witcher backup page.

Most likely OP wants to buy it cheap somewhere and then sell or gift it, which would require a steam key for most trading sites.

I think this is one of those occasions where forums might be better served to have some mini FAQ at the front --- we seem to get regular visitors asking similar questions.....

Trust me, we will still get the question. XD

Where did the idea that GOG would sell a Steam key ever come from in the first place? They're obviously competitors.

It's like people asking who made a song in a Youtube video even if the artist's name is in the title.

Because that's only the case if you bother to do a little research, and some people prefer to post a question in a forum and get other people to answer for them. Especially on the internet, I suspect.

Many - most, in fact - sites which are "obvious competitors" to steam in fact sell steam keys nowadays :(

Am I right in thinking that Origin sells some games which activate on Steam? I think I saw F1 2012 on there when I was looking at their free game offer.

So what is up with the universal hate towards Steam on this forum? It's a good service too, you know.

I am aware this is GOG forum. But this kind of attitude is so annoying. Why can't you be the example to follow, and not bash other services? This is supposed to be a classy community, but this ain't helping the image :)

Live and let live?

It seems the general hate isn't towards Steam here as much as questions regarding Steam on GOG. And, some of us had Steam and were dissatisfied with it.

First result off of a yahoo search:
http://www.gog.com/forum/general/steam_keys_2/page1
I know I've asked a lot of seemingly obvious questions as well, but that's after I've looked around and found nothing satisfactory.

I don't get the feeling of Steam hate from this thread. I would be lying if I said most of the GOG community loves Steam, but that wasn't the issue here. The OP made a question which has an obvious answer, if only they'd spent half a minute browsing GOG on Google. No one was rude, he/she asked a question and users answered him/her, but it gets a bit frustrating when this happens frequently and could be avoided altogether if people weren't so mesmerized by Steam's "convenience" and sheer dominance monopoly over the PC video game market, and realized that PC gaming does not equal Steam.

Personally, I avoid Steam, but I don't hate it. I hate some things about it, but I don't hate the people who like Steam, everyone should look for what suits them best, and if that happens to be Steam, then, by all means, go with it.

I dislike Steam because of its inherent DRM and requirement of an internet connection to install games. I therefore avoid it like the plague. I don't find it unsurprising that a lot of other users of the forum of a shop that promotes itself being DRM-free dislike Steam as well.

However, the issue here (as others have already pointed out) is that time and again, people come here and kick off about not getting steam keys when buying a game. When these issues come up frequently, it's understandable that people get annoyed - and actually, it's a testament to the classiness of this community that nobody was rude to him.

"I dislike Steam because of its inherent DRM"

There are titles on Steam without any DRM at all, so there is no DRM *INHERENT* in Steam.