wolfsite: But Steam is also bending the knee to China and is even creating a custom Steam app to conform to Chinese Censor laws.

Dogmaus: you might be surprised at how much is drm-free on Steam, it's just not mentioned. Last game I got there was a simple exe file I can move anywhere and launch at my will. I wonder if there's even more DRM-free games there, given how huge is that store compared to GOG. You might have to make your own installer but at least it doesn't take ages to download.
Some games will never make it to GOG, because curation. But are DRM free on Steam. So...

mrkgnao: And in case people don't know it, you can buy, install and play DRM-free Steam games from their website without the Steam client.

Orkhepaj: hmm with api or how?

Time4Tea: Thanks for posting and I respect your opinions; however, a few comments:

Time4Tea: Ok, but what do you mean by 'adhering to DRM-free policies'? There seems to be a clear pattern of erosion of GOG's '100% DRM-free' promise, with several games now on GOG that have already been mentioned including DRM. What line would they have to cross for you, that would constitute them not 'adhering to DRM-free policies'?

https://www.gog.com/forum/general/drm_on_gog_list_of_singleplayer_games_with_drm

Time4Tea: The problem I see with this is that yes, you might be getting a DRM-free game in the end by getting a cracked copy, but you are still rewarding the developer for making a DRMed game. From their point-of-view, your purchase is an endorsement that you are a-ok with them releasing with DRM. So, it doesn't do anything to support the DRM-free movement.

Time4Tea: I haven't played it either and you are entitled to your opinion. However, it seems to have good reviews. Besides, whether it's a 'good game' or not is rather beside the point. Is it ok to censor a game that is 'bad', but not a 'good' one?

Time4Tea: Have you tried Zoom Platform? Imo, they seem to be the most viable alternative to GOG at the moment.

Time4Tea: Then perhaps you should live that dream and stop buying games from Steam.

M3troid: Everyone do this. Sony, Nintendo, MS, etc.

At least steam does not remove games because "the gamers" say so.

frogthroat: First thing you said that I disagree with. Those incentives are for people to use the Galaxy. It's marketing. And trust me, you didn't miss anything in Cyberpunk 2077. Just some clothing (and not very good stats) that have the Witcher logo. And it's FPP so you don't see your clothes anyway. It's just fancy marketing -- "here's free stuff! It's shiny and sparkling! Completely useless, but it's free!" If it would be some bonus quest or something actually useful, I would wholeheartedly agree with you. But it's cosmetics in Cyberpunk 2077. It's cool to have, but you don't miss anything if you don't have it. Exactly the type of bonus that I am ok with in this kind of marketing.

GamezRanker: Thing is, they already believe that.....one extra person buying a game to confirm that doesn't change much...and the DRM free movement sadly isn't likely going to go far unless many more people get on board.

(i'd like to see it grow, btw....it's just I don't see that as likely atm)

Dogmaus: you might be surprised at how much is drm-free on Steam, it's just not mentioned. Last game I got there was a simple exe file I can move anywhere and launch at my will. I wonder if there's even more DRM-free games there, given how huge is that store compared to GOG. You might have to make your own installer but at least it doesn't take ages to download.
Some games will never make it to GOG, because curation. But are DRM free on Steam. So...

thefallenalchemist: Let me explain this. I mean that they just stop with DRM-Free altogether and become steam. A couple of games might be a cause for concern, but these seem to be features I can live without. If they drop DRM-Free completely, I'll leave.

thefallenalchemist: Isn't Zoom the Skype thing? I don't use that either.

wolfsite: Actually Steam has been accused of blocking games that the CCP would have issue with

https://gamerant.com/hong-kong-protest-game-china-ban-steam/

Joseph_Grey: @Time4Tea

Ha!!! You attacked me on a morrowind modding site for saying 'Lore is Law' 'Canon is truth'

Joseph_Grey: BANNED OFF A FORUM! FOR HAVING A THREAD ABOUT STAY TRUE TO THE SUBJECT MATTER!!!

M3troid: Didn't knew about that. Screw steam too, then.

Time4Tea: Oh .... HI! It's always nice to see old friends.

No, I didn't attack you. I disagreed with you about something and you interpreted it as an attack.

Time4Tea: You were banned from the OpenMW forum for being abusive. My understanding is the mods there gave you several warnings and you ignored all of them. What did you expect, tbh?

Time4Tea: I would like to announce that I have decided to boycott GOG for 2021. This is in response to several decisions the site has made over the past year that I believe have been deeply misguided:

Firstly, the continued slippage of GOG's DRM-free values. The promise of 100% DRM-free is what the site was originally founded on and yet GOG seem to be allowing this principle to be increasingly eroded. The games No Man's Sky and Absolver are two examples of games that include single-player DRM, which GOG is aware of and has failed to address. CDPR also seem to continue to believe the rules on GOG don't apply to their own games, firstly with Gwent and more recently the DRMed single-player rewards built into Cyberpunk. In addition, GOG's recent deal with Epic appears to be a cover for GOG to start selling DRMed games.

Next, the continued heavy pushing of Galaxy and the lack of maintenance of the offline installers. Several times in recent months, GOG has given incentives only to Galaxy users in the form of bonus content or free games. This has the effect of making non-Galaxy users feel like second-class customers. Also, there many well documented cases of GOG neglecting to update offline installers, even though they are updating the Galaxy versions, so they clearly have the updated files. This is not acceptable - offline installers are the core of the DRM-free concept. All of this points to a worrying trend which may ultimately lead to GOG abandoning offline installers entirely and making Galaxy mandatory.

Lastly, the recent debacle with Devotion. I won't repeat everything that has been said about this in other threads, but GOG's decision to be complicit in imposing Chinese censorship on non-Chinese users is simply unacceptable. The game needs to be released on GOG immediately.

Actions I would like to see GOG taking:

1) Release Devotion immediately.
2) Remove Gwent, No Man's Sky, Absolver (and any other DRMed games) from the store.
3) Remove DRM from the bonus cosmetics in Cyberpunk.
4) Cancel the deal with Epic.
5) Stop providing free games/incentives only to Galaxy users.
6) Assign adequate resources to maintenance of the offline installers.

For me to make any purchases on GOG this year, #1 needs to happen and at least a couple of the others. I.e. I want to see clear signs of a change in trajectory of the site, away from it's current misguided direction towards being a weak Steam competitor and back towards the principles it was founded on. I had been planning to spend $150-200 on GOG this year, but instead I will be spending that at Zoom Platform, to help build up a viable DRM-free alternative store.

Is anyone else intending to boycott GOG? Who is with me?

Edit:

People who are boycotting, to whatever degree they're comfortable with:
1) Time4Tea
2) Lifthrasil
3) mrkgnao
4) joppo
5) kdgog
6) Ancient-Red-Dragon
7) ReynardFox
8) Seceroth
9) TencentInvestor
10) pearnon
11) Leevi
12) gloombandit
13) fronzelneekburm
14) MajicMan
15) Chaossaturn
16) john_hatcher
17) Grahor
18) Orkhepaj
19) rjbuffchix
20) B1tF1ghter
21) _Auster_
22) HappyPunkPotato
23) llamas
24) rtcvb32
25) Setilla
26) fr33kSh0w2012
27) Hexchild
28) GreasyDogMeat
29) GlorFindel
30) Vendor-Lazarus
31) DevotedTitan
32) Zegpi
33) gargus
34) DrearierSpider
35) WeirdoGeek
36) Zorzy
37) Kohleran
38) plagren
39) Lesser Blight Elemental
40) Captainchicken84
41) dycaite
42) Amiko Novich
43) gloombandit
44) Agent-94
45) evilprotoss

People who are sympathetic to the concept:
1) Breja
2) TerriblePurpose
3) morolf
4) DukeNukemForever
5) McMicroDonalds
6) WinterSnowfall
7) flanner
8) Dogmaus
9) GamezRanker
10) PirroEpirote
11) Paliper

(current as of post #414)

Time4Tea: Well, bear in mind that point is not just referring to the Cyberpunk rewards (hence 'several times in recent months'). GOG have also been giving more substantial benefits only to Galaxy users. For example, just a few weeks ago, they gave Witcher 1 as a freebie to only Galaxy users, but not non-Galaxy. So, it seems clear who their 'preferred customers' are.

Time4Tea: My main issue with the Cyberpunk rewards is the DRM, not the fact it is just for Galaxy users.