I prefer buying my games here, not only do I like GoG but they're mine as in "I can backup them on my NAS and in Owncloud" and as long as I keep a "legacy" machine I can play them in 10+ years still.
Who knows if those streamed (one might argue if those games are really streamed in this case) games are going to be up for such a long time?

I don't think it will make any effect. Playing games in the browser and without a Legal "download" button to save it on your pc, equals to DRM for me, the game is no longer on my PC as soon as I close the browser.

At best these games are no more than full sized demos to me and as such, serve no purpose. I'll gladly buy them here on GOG than play them in the browser. :)

GOG is not the rightsholder of these games and probably won't fight piracy of these games. If someone reported copyright infringement it was probably one or several of the parties who happen to sell their games through GOG rather than GOG itself. It makes perfect sense that only a few of the games sold here have been taken down.

Well since it was on the washington post, anything with high visibility and traffic has a chance to get their attention. A big red sign that says FREE DOS GAMES HERE would raise an eyebrow from any publisher, who would scan the list vs their old games and see if there's anything for them to be interested in.

It's sorta a head scratcher. I'd see it much better as how the companies can say 'hey we have a much more improved version of our game HERE from 2008!'; And it takes a special kind of persistent and patient mind to play DOS games with the graphics and with the minimalistic approach on how to play them. I don't expect anyone who plays COD to enjoy ADOM a rouge-like ASCII art game afterall. Yet they are so eager to worry about losing money when total lost sales might be a few hundred dollars, when in reality they are more likely to watch a Lets-Play and lose interest than playing the game themselves.

Exactly, that is what I was trying to explain.

Trying to run abandonware DOS games in a browser is a nonfunctional experience, at best, while when you purchase a game from something like GOG.com you expect a little more satisfying experience to say the least.

They solve two different purposes: GOG.com is for selling old software in digital format, The Internet Archive is for fuelling hype on news sites about something (DOS gaming) very few people are capable of valuing and enjoying the way it should be.

Really: I'm fucking tired of all this hype. The Internet Archive has a worthy mission, but all this mindless chatting about "reviving" DOS games when I have played DOS games non-stop during the last 15-plus years is unnerving.

I fully agree.

But what interests me - and I haven't check it, yet: Can you actually download the games? If not, I think it's even okay what they do - but completely useless for me. In a way I am all in for "preserving" games for the future. That's why I adore GOG for doing this by eliminating DRM and giving the games a chance to see the future.

The Archive seems to follow this as well but what if someone pulls the plug from the servers? Only if the games are downloadable DRM-free this would make sense in terms of preservation. But then again I feel that still active developers should have a say in this in case they have not abandoned these games themselves.

That's also a thing. For Abandonware, where there is no legal way to bring these games back to life, why the heck not?
Whatever legal issues this entails - even for the users of the service - that's a whole different topic. I am not a lawyer but I am fairly certain that the bombs will drop at some point.

Lol. I guess it actually might... somehow. Somebody should track which non-GOG games were removed and then ask the archive about their identity. :D

I think you can, but by default the immediate interface offered is the web emulation...

Of course the games won't work without something else to run on top of since current hardware doesn't support it, so DosBox is most likely... Then manual configuration, figuring out the IO/IRQ/DMA, weak resolutions, and needing to scour through the manuals to say 'oohhhh so S is Search!' or some other minor detail that was standard for like 3 years...

True abandonware might include titles like Castle of the Winds... one of my first favorite rouge-likes before i knew what the hell it was. Loved equipping a scroll and killing big baddies with it, even if it was effectively ignored :P

Don't think it will affect them. Most of the people that will play games on that site had zero intention to spend money on a game that old in the first place.

The site has mostly streaming only content...

GOG gives you a running program that works without glitches. These will save content and some are moddable. Then there are the bonus materials like FLAC audio, full soundtracks and support for the title.

I dont like that they allow downloads but you lose a sense of respect. As it stands I'll always buy from GOG no matter if they can be found for free or even cheaper elsewhere. I support the movement and what GOG and CDP stand for.