Got a URL to articles on that? I'd love to read more about it as I don't closely follow everything going on out there but in the small amount of news I take in over time I've never heard of Valve pushing developers to use DRM, they don't seem to care. The others you mention I don't know either way either but my default assumption would be that you're right. Either way assumptions and opinions about such things (mine, yours, anyone else's) are often wrong and factual data on the topic if it exists anywhere at all would definitely be nice to know. There definitely are tonnes of DRM-free games on Steam being tracked on a Wiki though, so I get the strong impression that Valve doesn't give a crap and leaves it up to publishers to decide.

That's fine of course, everyone has different tastes/needs/prefs. I find Origin slow and clunky myself and rather bare and featureless although I'm sure that is exactly why it appeals to some folks. I am more of a power user and like a lot of features/options/configurability and details showing for things. I guess you could say that I am pro-clutter, and I like to cram lots of stuff on the screen rather than big shiny buttons one might mash their nose at on a mobile device etc. :) Steam has it kind of both ways with the multiple default views I can have super details showing or the faceplant sized game buttons, then there's Big Picture Mode too which is actually a very well polished interface that is consolish. I like the aesthetic of it but prefer the traditional UI myself.

Steam does have an offline mode that allegedly works for just about everything. Someone wrote an article on this in the General Discussion forum here with full details on how to offline all of your Steam games. It's a good read and for folks that want to remain offline it'd be a big help I believe. In spirit I would strongly favour that too and the freedom from chains and whatnot, but in practice my computer is powered on 24/7 and online 24/7 and Steam runs 24/7 and there's no practical consequence to me leaving it online so I just don't end up caring much. It'd matter to me more if I had a laptop or something that I actually needed to use offline though. I'd never knowingly buy any games from anyone that had always-online DRM on them though even if I am always online (although I do have a few that I obtained unknowingly, some of which can allegedly have that disabled though).

+1 - I ditched Ubi before that fiasco but when I heard about AC DRM I sunk the last nail in my mental Ubisoft coffin and washed my hands which sparkle to this day.

I consider Origin and Uplay rather equally bad personally but I have both installed but not starting up with the OS. I use them only for the occasional free game they provide as a promo or that I win in a giveaway or somesuch. I don't mind using it to play free games, but I wouldn't buy from them directly on principle and past bad experiences with each company. Steam on the other hand to my personal taste is like a gourmet client and service in comparison to those two, and much more flexible and feature rich - the leader of the pack if you will. It too shares some aspects that are less than favourable although some of those bother me less than it bothers others.

I can agree with you though in that GOG is my #1 preferred platform to which I own the most games on currently as well. In terms of features and functionality at the moment Galaxy in its current state of beta would fit dead last but that is only because it is so new and incomplete so far. I suspect within a year Galaxy will be much more feature rich and gaining ground in features and cool bits and doing so in a much more consumer friendly manner overall than any of the others.

i just assumed, based on what makes sense for me. thats why i was asking. i don't have any articles on that, sorry.