I'll just add my 2 cents and say that being able to unpack files without having to launch any automated installer is crucial to me.

Portability of games is a key selling point, as in, I want to be able to play games in environments I have no (ms windows) admin rights for example (I like playing at work for example).
InnoSetup installers didn't help much in that regard, but being able to somehow unpack the files and copy them manually somewhere else was very useful (don't ask me about registry entries though, ugh).

Sorry if I may have misinterpreted something.

As far as I can tell, you didn't misinterpret anything at all. That's exactly the behaviour the encrypted RAR installers are supposed to prevent because there's a risk you might then ask support for help and not tell them what you did.

I made one here. Strangely many people don't get it. May be they are Steam users ;)

I could well see slashdot publishing this with a headline of "GOG.com introduces DRM to the blight of Linux users", and it might bring in quite a bit of attention. Then again a lot of it would be negative and counterproductive, and I don't really want to hurt gog. I just want them to stop.

Call it however You want, but this whole password protected installer is simply a DRM. Great job GOG, You had to fuck up the one feature which made GOG stand up in the crowd.

Not necessarily counterproductive.

Gowor's stated intent matches TheEnigmaticT's stated definition of DRM and the whole point of trying to force them to change their mind is to provide enough negative press before we run out of inertia that their only means of salvaging the situation is to go on record with a big about-face apology like they did with the regional pricing.

It's not as if the downside to what they're doing is as obvious as the anticipated price discrimination that led to meteoric voting on the "no regional pricing" wishlist entry.

To go one step back. How much do you think is Gowor's approach sanctioned by let's say GOG management team? Developers can have some level of freedom in choosing their methods, and if they present it to management as "still DRM-free" they might not be able to notice some use cases like this especially if they aren't about "supported" paths. The fact that it flies in the face of their core value might be simply not apparent to them. I hope GOG management were alerted about this thread and red through it at least with some level of attention.

That sort of thing is why I replied to the GOG.com twitter account and want someone to post on the gog.com subreddit. (Facebook and Google+ too, if it's possible to do something useful there. I don't use those sites so all I know is that they're linked from the site footer.)

Using those spots as places to expand beyond the GOG forums is a good compromise between "don't think the worst of them" and "we can't afford to risk losing inertia. This isn't as clear-cut to the average buyer as regional pricing was."

I don't know but all we can do for now is keep this topic alive and vote in the wishlist and use social networks as ssokolow pointed out. Like many people I'm very disappointed. This is a shot in their foot. There are a lot of Linux users here (+16000 voted the "Add Linux versions of games" feature) and from now many won't be buying windows games because we can't even use wine (or at least it's harder, the opposite of GOG's policy). As it has been said before, we all know we can not expect support from an unsupported platform in a game, but don't make things harder unnecesarily.

I hope they change their minds about this.

Don't you think that attitude's a bit defeatist?

As a nod to the idea that Gowor's superiors may not be aware of what he's doing yet, I haven't even made an attempt at getting bad PR to go viral. A company like GOG survives against the likes of Steam in large part because of the world's perception of it.

(In fact, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if they don't know, given that bluetext regulars like JudasIscariot have yet to return to their usual haunts. Half the reason I'm pushing so hard is so that, when they do return, they'll be blindsided by as big and united a rejection of the idea as possible.)

Speaking of which, when paraphrasing Gowor's stated purpose for the RAR encryption in other forum threads, might I suggest using the phrase "(Digitally) Restrict" as in "(Digitally) Restrict the ability of novices on Windows to unpack the games without running the installer"?

I admire your optimism.

I'm also voicing my concern over this. The fact that the official reasons given for these password protected RAR files are easily addressed in better ways that don't hinder any user at all makes me genuinely worried about the future of the company.
I've only got about 100 games, I usually buy a few every month or two whether I have time to play them or not, partially just to support the ideals, but it seems they've strayed too far from their original intentions and I don't feel comfortable supporting that anymore.

Hope for the best, plan for the worst, and believe whatever it takes to keep fighting.

Very true. I'm inclined to agree with WizardStan above; GOG seems to have changed their entire gameplan a good while back and the more I see of the new and improved GOG, the more I realize that it just isn't for me. Sadly, there aren't many options of where to get games if you want them DRM-free, so I'm still clinging on. =/