Can you please elaborate on and define what DRM is “allowed” on GOG? From my most recent understanding, you can still play offline and don’t need to use the GOG launcher or some other launcher that requires an Internet connection.
I get and respect that people have different places where they draw lines. But to me, it doesn’t seem like they are abandoning the concept of DRM free in any real way. The majority of these have small bits of extra content, often cosmetic, like twitch drops that need the software to be online to redeem/verify.
For the few games on that list that are actually unplayable or crippled in some way, I am disappointed. For additional free or giveaway content from the developer that is part of the original package distributed through GOG, I’m much more understanding of GOG if the developer failed to accommodate offline verification/unlocking of that content.
Agreed, but an important thing to note is that list of games is smaller than a couple years ago, and I believe many of the ones that were removed because the DRM was removed are listed at the end. A couple of those were just mistaken releases, but several were allowed on GOG by CDPR with DRM fully intact, most notably Hitman 1 with an always-online requirement, and several others had DRM fully intact and were removed only when enough people complained. My point isn’t and never was “GOG is bad too, actually”; GOG remains the first place I look when I’m looking for a game, and I install it with the offline installer, which gets archived on the NAS once I’ve established it works and I reinstall the game with Galaxy because cloud saves and auto updates are convenient. My point was that, while ABSOLUTELY a rarer occurence than on Steam, GOG officially DOES allow DRM for single player games, and it’s only vigilant complaints that keep that list small
Steam allows DRM and even offers its own. You also can’t download anything without the launcher, even if the game is DRM-free.
GOG also allows DRM, it’s just not as common
Can you please elaborate on and define what DRM is “allowed” on GOG? From my most recent understanding, you can still play offline and don’t need to use the GOG launcher or some other launcher that requires an Internet connection.
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/drm_on_gog_list_of_singleplayer_games_with_drm/page1 The list is still maintained
I get and respect that people have different places where they draw lines. But to me, it doesn’t seem like they are abandoning the concept of DRM free in any real way. The majority of these have small bits of extra content, often cosmetic, like twitch drops that need the software to be online to redeem/verify.
For the few games on that list that are actually unplayable or crippled in some way, I am disappointed. For additional free or giveaway content from the developer that is part of the original package distributed through GOG, I’m much more understanding of GOG if the developer failed to accommodate offline verification/unlocking of that content.
Agreed, but an important thing to note is that list of games is smaller than a couple years ago, and I believe many of the ones that were removed because the DRM was removed are listed at the end. A couple of those were just mistaken releases, but several were allowed on GOG by CDPR with DRM fully intact, most notably Hitman 1 with an always-online requirement, and several others had DRM fully intact and were removed only when enough people complained. My point isn’t and never was “GOG is bad too, actually”; GOG remains the first place I look when I’m looking for a game, and I install it with the offline installer, which gets archived on the NAS once I’ve established it works and I reinstall the game with Galaxy because cloud saves and auto updates are convenient. My point was that, while ABSOLUTELY a rarer occurence than on Steam, GOG officially DOES allow DRM for single player games, and it’s only vigilant complaints that keep that list small
You can download and then copy games with steam, that is the choice of the developer.
Today you learned!
I know that those exist. So enlighten me, how do I download them without the launcher?
The developer has a link sometimes, or otherwise any other mirror or torrent can work as well.
I little leg work isn’t gonna kill you ;)