That last is not quite true, GOG do have some Demos on their Free Games page, and sometimes a link is provided on the game page itself. You can also visit the developer's web page in some instances and find demos.

However, game Demos are in short supply right across the gaming industry these days .... and I have no idea why ... unless stats has shown them that demos often ensure less sales. Or perhaps it is a cost cutting measure, due to lack of perceived benefit.

In any case, if there are demos available at other stores, that don't exist here for games that do, you cannot blame GOG for that, I think. Usually what appears here, is almost totally down to what the publisher/developer provide or allow.

Now back to your first point.
GOG make DRM-Free very easy. To get DRM-Free at Steam is not so easy.
From what I know of Steam, you must first go through the DRM hoop with any game you get from them, and then in some cases, once the game is installed, you can then follow some steps to make that game DRM-Free. There is a page here at GOG and linked to elsewhere that explains the very many ways to make those games DRM-Free.

You don't download an installer from Steam, that you can backup ... not that I am aware of anyway. You must backup the install folder, and then follow some steps to make the applicable game free ... some steps are quite convoluted and no game is guaranteed to remain that way, especially after any update or over time. So if a game can be made DRM-Free now, do it and backup, because tomorrow or later it might not be so.

Whereas with GOG, you can download an installer and install when and wherever you like, with very little fuss other than OS support. Unlike with Steam, there are no tricks you need to be aware of.

Nope, i was'nt talking about any devaluation ,and i never said Steam or similar companies are necessary to keep that from happening.

Regarding: : " publishers still have final say on lowest price those games can be sold at"
you are right about that and i am aware of that cause this is the case from the very beginning for any product, even decades ago.

Anyway it is known publishers are allowed to favor one company before another, and give some exclusive rights for certain products only to a number of Companies to sell.

On Tor's webpage, you can't buy direclty. They are still re-directing you to Amazon, Kobo, Google play... etc. Even though, all the books I've seen there are indeed DRM free. Even the re-direction points to the DRM free version.
Unfortunatelly, they don't have all the books I am looking for. But still, haven't searched their entire database yet :)

Thanks anyway.

There is a lot of big franchises on Steam I'd love to see on GOG. DRM is terrible though. Some years ago I bought a physical copy of the Half-Life 1 Anthology on ebay, not knowing it had DRM attached. I had no real idea what Steam even was when I bought that anthology. Turns out someone had used the Steam key. I still have the case and everything but can't redeem the game. Have brought it up a couple of times on Steam but support know perfectly well its not their problem.

Wtf? How can that happen?
And seeing as Valve is the publisher of the game too, it IS their problem. With proof of purchase of the boxed copy, you definitely should get to play it.
Just proves why DRM's rotten though, of course.

They didn't say the physical copy was new and unopened and sold by an official distributor liensed by the publisher, Valve. It probably wasn't, it was probably a used copy regardless of claims and appearance, and the previous owner probably activated the serial number on Steam themselves without mentioning that in the ebay sale.

A kind of fraud, in other words.

You immediately wanting to tar and feather Valve only makes sense if they bought it from Valve or an authorized Valve distributor, which I rather doubt.

DRM sucks, but one probably should be slower about jumping to conclusions about who is a villain in various contexts.

Oh no, I'm not acting entitled. I'm well aware it's my problem, not Valve's. It was Steam support actually who suggested I ask in the suggestions thread in case a Valve person looks at the idea. All I wanted Valve to do was bend the rules slightly providing I provide proof of the game and its contents. It's just a problem I'm currently stuck with. I was hoping Valve would help. But yes I agree it was a fraud. I just wasn't aware back in 2010 or 2011 what DRM even was or what Steam was. I just thought it was a DVD/CD key like games released before that had.

Valve could and should help you really, but as they already got their money, and none for resales, they just don't care.

Not sure why you did not report to Ebay or the seller to get your money back?
Especially as you may have been sold a stolen product.
That said, once a game has been activated on Steam, any discs are virtually useless.

With proof of purchase, Steam/Valve could query the person who activated, but if what i recall is right, resale is not supported ... certainly in some countries.

What would they do if they got no response? Players can be absent for long periods, and what you have might be stolen, though not by you.

Clearly a complex matter, and why Valve don't want a bar of it.

When I did suggest the idea in their suggestions thread pretty much everyone said it was obviously my fault. I didn't report it because I remember I left it too long to test the game(that'll teach me). It's worth noting though it's not just taken Steam keys from used games on ebay where this becomes an issue. A year or so ago I bought a physical sealed copy of the Cinemaware Anthology via Amazon. The code had already been used! I reported this to the Amazon seller and thankfully he refunded me but it can happen even with sealed games.

The villain is the one using DRM, no question there. But since it DOES have DRM and they can verify who has that code, it would have been very easy for them to cancel usage rights for it for that user (and if resale is forbidden, possibly take even further action against the account) and grant them to the new owner (who purchased in good faith).

Time shouldn't be an issue really, if a wrong doing occurred. There would still be a record of seller, perhaps even a valid contact still.

But I say that as someone who still has unsealed DVD movies I bought many years ago, and on a rare occasion something is wrong with a disc, and no doubt a bit late to take back to the store for a replacement or refund. One of the perils of buying things on sales, and I still haven't learnt my lesson, as I have been doing the same thing with blu-rays ... and I did similar with books long before DVDs were a thing, as many still remain unread ... a risk you take to get ahead. I also did that with games on disc.

It all perfectly illustrates the perils of DRM though. The user/buyer is not in full control of the situation, especially with physical items, but not only them.

I doubt it is as simple as that, especially from Valve's perspective.
The only person they owe anything to, is the original owner, and any buyer of second hand, especially if they don't support it, has no standing with them.

Logically, while Valve could maybe help with the situation, the issue really lies with the seller and buyer. And while DRM is the real culprit in many ways, it is what it is ... an industry supported mongrel, that limits our rights.

So you can blame Valve for Steam, which of course played a part. However, that DRM also allows them to legally ignore the issue. And aside from that there is costs and time and precedent, none of which Valve would be in favor of.

Unfortunately in a perfect world...

I agree. I've learned my lesson when it comes to this type of stuff although it's still worrying to notice it happens with sealed PC games.

For sure! I was just pointing out how much worse it was before, when GOG really only meant good *old* games.

No arguments here. :(

That is a worry indeed, but it might depend on who did the sealing.
And certainly you would be able to return the game to any legitimate place, as there should be significant records for investigation, something Valve could not legally ignore. Talking new here, not second hand.

My trust is in very short supply these days though.