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It's been a while I didn't see that question pop-up so I'll share my definition again.

"Is DRM every software element that doesn't participate at implementing the features that a client is intending to pay for."

My definition takes into account that some people consider DRM what others don't. I admit that the nit-picking minds might find a lot of holes in this definition, and I am ok with that.
Post edited August 12, 2016 by Potzato
DRM-free means a product isn't intentionally made defective.
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agogfan: DRM-free means a product isn't intentionally made defective.
Exactly this.
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agogfan: DRM-free means a product isn't intentionally made defective.
gog's stance against drm is quite honourable and I greatly hope to see it flourish.

However,
so long as we are in the minority, we will be ignored
so long as we are ignored, we will be in the minority
It means you buy it, you own it.
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wpegg: It's like warm apple pie.
That's what she said! *rimshot*
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agogfan: DRM-free means a product isn't intentionally made defective.
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paigosa: gog's stance against drm is quite honourable and I greatly hope to see it flourish.

However,
so long as we are in the minority, we will be ignored
so long as we are ignored, we will be in the minority
Whilst my cynical side thinks things will still get a lot worse before they start to get better, my gut says the tide is already starting to turn. Society is an elastic. Corporates can stretch us to their will to a fair degree... but they always seem surprised by the sudden and unexpected backlash when that elastic eventually snaps.
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paigosa: so long as we are in the minority, we will be ignored
this minority is constantly growing.
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paigosa: so long as we are in the minority, we will be ignored
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mobutu: this minority is constantly growing.
Don't fool yourself. There are vastly (millions) more people who are quite happy with DRM and Client-wares, there are probably more than that who just don't care. If anything those groups are increasing - just look at the rise of streamed TV, music, the adoption of social media and online storage. Are any of your devices really yours, does the majority know what they do?
The world is moving that way, us few here can complain and hold onto the past, but that is what it is really. GOG will force Galaxy on you eventually. All games will eventually become online on, TV will be online only, everything will be connected via the googleplex of advertising.
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paigosa: so long as we are in the minority, we will be ignored
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mobutu: this minority is constantly growing.
As one who reccomends gog to everyone under the sun, what do I tell them that will make it worth their while to come here aside from the highly unlikely possibility of steam magically going poof? Remember: they don't give a damn about drm because it gets them the games they want, rarerly gets in the way, and bugs happen, drm or otherwise.
Post edited August 13, 2016 by paigosa
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nightcraw1er.488: Don't fool yourself. There are vastly (millions) more people who are quite happy with DRM and Client-wares...
I don't think society is as mindless as us cynical types like to believe.

But the issue is made more complex by different types of people having different types of needs. For example, if I was the type of personality that only wants to experience something once before I get bored, then maybe streaming is for me. Why spend more money buying a movie when I can just rent/stream it once. Why spend more buying a song when I can just rent/stream it once. Why spend more buying a game when I can just rent/stream it once?

But I am a collector. I like to re-experience what I enjoy. That means I'll watch movies more than once, listen to songs I like more than once, and play games I like more than once. But maybe the problem is that corporations see me as a bad consumer and thus they don't want to target me because they think they're not going to make a lot of money out of me when constantly trying to sell me new shiny stuff. And they don't like me hanging onto old stuff that they don't want to support anymore either - and since I don't embrace DRM, they have no way of retrieving their old products from my cold dead hands. What I think they forget is, we pay a premium to own movies/music/games that we like, so if they expect they can move us all onto a rental/streaming model and still charge us the same or possibly more than we pay now... I'm pretty sure people are going to start adding up 1 and 1 and seeing they're only getting a half. I realise corporations know they can only make these changes slowly, hoping that society doesn't become fully aware as to how they are slowly but surely being increasingly controlled... but that brings me back to the elastic scenario. And I hope that elastic breaks sooner than later. If only it happens later, the ramifications to everyone will be far greater than they would be now.

Don't get me wrong, in the far distant future when people will be living in Utopia where everything is free and people can do what they want, streaming will be great as there won't be any fear that content could be removed. It will be stored on many mirrors all across the globe (and possibly the Moon and Mars by then) that are under the control of those who are dedicated to the cause of preserving that content and ensuring that everyone can access it without hassle.
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nightcraw1er.488: Don't fool yourself.
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paigosa: As one who reccomends gog to everyone under the sun, what do I tell them that will make it worth their while to come here aside from the highly unlikely possibility of steam magically going poof?
Maybe I fool myself, maybe I don't. But the undeniable fact is that gog is growing and gog is drm-free. And math taught me that the undeniable conclusion on this is that drm-free is growing. Yes, within a minority so far. We'll see how big (or small) this minority is in the future.
Post edited August 13, 2016 by mobutu
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paigosa: As one who reccomends gog to everyone under the sun, what do I tell them that will make it worth their while to come here aside from the highly unlikely possibility of steam magically going poof?
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mobutu: Maybe I fool myself, maybe I don't. But the undeniable fact is that gog is growing and gog is drm-free. And math taught me that the undeniable conclusion on this is that drm-free is growing. Yes, within a minority so far. We'll see how big (or small) this minority is in the future.
If Gog is indeed growing, then it is because its becoming more steam like to appeal to that market. If you think that is a rise in support for DRM free then that's fine. I just see it as a brief spikes as the gimmicks open. Connect, InDev, galaxy etc. Spikes, then back to normal. That's not to say there isn't some genuine growth, but all markets grow all the time, last sales figures I saw was one where they released Gog, humble, steam figures and Gog is a tiny fraction of humble with their DRM free-like setup.
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nightcraw1er.488: If Gog is indeed growing, then it is because its becoming more steam like
...while being drm-free. so drm-free, gog grows (while being in minority, yes).

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nightcraw1er.488: all markets grow all the time
there is no infinite growth.
DRM-FREE is a feature that can ONLY BENEFIT a gamerbro. It has zero negatives or downsides and developers usually, abhor it completely, when not downright rejecting it, fearing it, paying people to invent ways of enforcing its opposite (DRM), etc. DRM-FREE means FREEDOM and INDEPENDENCE of the buyer/gamer and as with any people owning a piece of property (even if they sell it or rent it), they hate not being able to control it fully themselves and restrict their customers to their liking, or needs, or fancy, in the levels THEY deem "necessary", in the name of "safety" and obviously, "profit". There is even PRM, which is for physical, actual items sold to consumers and this is even worse, its drawbacks even more dire and readily noticeable.

DRM-FREE means that the people who offer this as a feature to you, respect your business, your rights and treat you as a valued and why not? Valuable customer, also. It is part of the ages old dilemma; quality vs quantity. I myself have rejected even GIFTED games that were tied to a client or other restrictions before, while i have bought gladly, even fully priced, games here, DRM-FREE. DRM-FREE is your friend, your ally, a power not to be reckoned with. DRM-FREE is what drove me away from piracy once and convinced me to buy stuff again, because this way, i could fully own it. I became a pirate before, just because other vendors, through their licenses and agreements, offered me items that were DRMed and were in constant need of being tied to a client, checking in with crappy services (windows live, social clubs, etc) and even in some extreme cases, where and where MULTIPLE layers of DRM were present SIMULTANEOUSLY, the legit game wouldn't even run or was full of issues, to the point of it, the legally, expensively bought package, wasn't playable until you applied a goddamn CRACK (gta 4 did that to me, for example).

DRM-FREE means the games having this feature deserves their price down to the last cent, even if other services offer the same game at a far cheaper price, but WITH DRM mixed in... DRM-FREE means you don't even discuss it, but shut up and throw your money to the people kind enough to provide you with it and warmly support them, so as stubborn devs and copyright holders can be convinced that their DRM-FREE-Phobia is completely baseless, groundless and PARANOID, it doesn't threaten their sales, profit or money and can actually benefit them on the long run, pretty much.

DRM-FREE is our friend and ally. DRM is our enemy. Long story short. That is why DRM pumped crap is constantly polished to appear shiny, offers better deals and tries hard to bait people over their side, convincing them to reject DRM-FREE feature and this, only when they aren't completely ignorant of its existence altogether, meaning, importance, potency. DRM-FREE means that only older guys who played games when that horrible calamity/misfortune called DRM wasn't even around, so they are mostly the people who know what it means and can appreciate to its fullest extent, the "no strings attached" policy of GOG on that matter, or anyone else (who offers DRM-FREE content).-
Post edited August 13, 2016 by KiNgBrAdLeY7