GoG or Steam ?

[Azzy]

Heres my understanding of GoG patch release timing.

 

GOG can be left without the patch, that is the dev sits on the update waiting to see if anything significant pops up Steam users are used as testers. I presume this is cause GOG either use weird delivery mechanisms or compressing the game folder and uploading to GOGs servers is onerous and worth waiting however long to save doing twice.

 

Then when GOG get the patch they install it on a bunch of different rigs and see if anything breaks then they make it into their installers/patches. So in addition to them perhaps catching bugs and seeing if the dev can fix them they also have their own installer patching process that can go wrong or require fixes. Oh and GOG are European so depending on delivery times of patches from devs it might not match up and the testing they perform is delayed till the next day.

 

So in summary the devs can sometimes slow things down by not delivering the patches to GOG in a timely fashion, after that GOG slow things down by testing the patch works and adding their installer and possibly making patches.

 

Just a disclaimer I don't have a Steam account so I'm not 100% on the details of what happens there I think Steam distribute whatever the devs give them without checking. All info provided is probably just nonsense I imagined reading somewhere.

[BillyCorgan]

Steam key for me. 
 

(I prefer, best for update, library etc...)

[darrenkuo]

I will claim one copy for GOG and one for STEAM.

 

Sounds Good ..

 

But how about after first , second , third expansion packs ..

 

I ever done the same thing for baldur's gate 1/2  EE version , but i just figure out you will always get new contents from nice game,

 

Reserve more money for future update contents which will be more wise for this wallet ,

[Abel]

Simply put, legally:

 

- With GoG: the game belongs to you

- With Steam: the game doesn't belong to you, you just own the right to use it

 

There, I go for GoG of course..

 

True. Few people know about this. If steam decide one day to stop supporting one game, you can lose it (since you can't burn a backup and use it without Steam), even if you bought it. You've accepted a license agreement that disallow you to complaint. But it's just one example of awful Steam politics. GOG sell games they have tested and that run well. Steam don't care, and the last one i bought never ran at all, and nothing to do about it (maybe a problem with XP and XCOM). Steam don't care. Steam don't care about anything but money and to be the bitch of the awfull DRM world who enforce you to have the web connected all the time. Steam have a server problem? you can't launch the game? Steam don't care. You want to burn a disc as a backup? steam don't care. I'm to the point where i prefer not to play a game than buying it on steam. I'm fed up with DRM that prevent me for using my game or reading the film on the DVD i just bought. If PoE were to be released only on Steam, i would have passed. I hate Steam like i hate EA since the day they have murdered Ultima Online.

 

GOG, definitely GOG. The only way to play PoE to me with NO bad surprises, ever.

[Lephys]

^ That's true, except for the "you have to be connected all the time." I understand some people have issues with that, but that doesn't change the fact that nowhere in Steam's programming does it require you to maintain an internet connection to play a game.

[bonarbill]

Steam's DRM is completely optional.  I can start Wasteland 2 and Divinity Original Sin right now without opening steam.

 

I'll be going with Steam anyway, since I'm a Linux user and Valve has been more supportive of my platform than GOG.  Also, I'm a rabid Valve fanboy.

Edited February 25, 2015 by bonarbill

[Messier-31]

GoG for me.

[Silent Winter]

Steam's DRM is completely optional.  I can start Wasteland 2 and Divinity Original Sin right now without opening steam.

Can you install it without opening steam?

[wolfrider100]

GOG for me since I already pre-ordered Pillars of Eternity though them, but I may

 

buy a second copy though Steam in a few months when it drops a little in price.

Edited February 25, 2015 by wolfrider100

[Delicieuxz]

No wonder GOG is pushing galaxy. Automatic patching is really 99% of what people care about. I wonder how long it will take for people to notice once it's out - and what will be the reason then for still preferring Steam over GOG. :D

What then will be the reason for someone to choose GoG rather than Steam, when Goglaxy will just be a Steam clone with fewer features, less refined a client, and not as many newly-released games? Both Steam and GoG offer DRM-free, but only GoG restricts their offerings to being DRM-free. DRM-free only is a great policy that draws and encourages developers to choose it, but it doesn't create an advantage when a publisher wishes to use DRM, because they usually just don't offer their game on GoG.

 

Unless a publisher uses Steam's CEG for DRM protection, Steam games don't have DRM, and then the Steam client and being logged-in / online isn't required to play games downloaded from Steam. GoG has no advantage of being DRM-free unless a publisher chooses to put DRM into their Steam release while offering a DRM-free release on GoG. Otherwise, GoG is DRM in the same sense that Steam is DRM:

 

- A logged-in account is required to access the games for download

- Downloading an installer is required - GoG uses their own installer for each individual download, while Steam's client is the one-time installer for all downloads

- Neither service requires the installer / client to be used afterwards, so a person can either delete the installer, or uninstall the client, if desired

- In the case of either service, a downloaded game folder can be archived, stored, extracted, and used anywhere and on any PC without restrictions

 

 

I have no issue with either Steam or GoG's services, but someone who thinks that they are getting even 1% more freedom through GoG's DRM-free versus Steam's DRM-free is experiencing it exclusively inside of their own mind. The two are completely equal in steps and protection measures when it comes to DRM-free releases. But Steam's client re-usability for all game downloads is an extra convenience added to every download.

 

If anything, GoG is more restrictive with their access than Steam because Steam's client lets any number of games, DRM-free and non, be downloaded without visiting a website every time, browsing for the game from the user account, saving the installer to desktop, running the installer, then deleting the installer afterwards. Then creating and managing the game launch shortcuts and folders...

Edited February 25, 2015 by Delicieuxz

[Delicieuxz]

 

Steam's DRM is completely optional.  I can start Wasteland 2 and Divinity Original Sin right now without opening steam.

Can you install it without opening steam?

 

 

Steam handles that the same as GoG: Downloading the installer is required for the first installation. The Steam client is a one-time installer for all games, which requires being logged-in to download. GoG's installers are needed to be downloaded for each game, and doing so requires being logged-in to GoG's site to access the installer download from a user's account.

 

In both cases, after the installation is done, the GoG installer or the Steam installer / client can be deleted / uninstalled, and the game folder can be access by any means a person chooses, and can be archived, moved, extracted, and the game played by whatever means a person opts for. Steam and GoG are equal in their DRM measures for DRM-free games. It's only a question of whether a person would like the possibility of a one-time installer to access all games versus a separate installer for every game that they choose to download.

[Silent Winter]

 

 

Steam's DRM is completely optional.  I can start Wasteland 2 and Divinity Original Sin right now without opening steam.

Can you install it without opening steam?

 

 

Steam handles that the same as GoG: Downloading the installer is required for the first installation. The Steam client is a one-time installer for all games, which requires being logged-in to download. GoG's installers are needed to be downloaded for each game, and doing so requires being logged-in to GoG's site to access the installer download from a user's account.

 

In both cases, after the installation is done, the GoG installer or the Steam installer / client can be deleted / uninstalled, and the game folder can be access by any means a person chooses, and can be archived, moved, extracted, and the game played by whatever means a person opts for. Steam and GoG are equal in their DRM measures for DRM-free games. It's only a question of whether a person would like the possibility of a one-time installer to access all games versus a separate installer for every game that they choose to download.

 

Let me put it this way - can it be reinstalled without opening steam?

For me there's a difference between logging in to your account to download something you've purchased, and requiring you to log in to use the thing (installer) that you purchased.

 

For games that can be easily archived as full-installs (like BG, which has no external files), then backing up the game that way is fine.

If that can be done with steam games, then groovy. (though I'll stick with gog rather than start a new account)

[Delicieuxz]

In the cases of both Steam and GoG, the user purchases a license for the game, not an installer, and not an account. GoG also has a Terms of Use agreement, which reserves GoG the same rights to terminate an account, and to change their Terms of Use without warning and at their discretion.

 

It's the same as it always was in gaming: a purchase is for a license to access and use the software. Steam's subscriber EULA is not related to the game licenses bought on Steam, they are separate matters. The EULAs for purchased games are written and provided by a game's publisher, and one doesn't relate to which service the software is purchased through.

 

Steam's DRM-free capability isn't advertised as Steam's motto, and so people sometimes gravitate towards thinking Steam is the model which GoG's DRM-free rule is in opposite of. Also, Steam pioneered digital distribution, coming from a time when DRM measures were getting more antagonizing, and Steam was naturally interpreted a different form of DRM. Because of the evolution of things, GoG is presumed to be novel by some people in offering games DRM-free (and it is novel to be DRM-free as a rule, and maybe was novel in general when GoG appeared), but wherever both services have the same game for sale without DRM, then it is just par with Steam.

 

Steam is a 3rd-party license reseller, and Steam is a toolset, which includes the option to apply a copy protection measure, Steam's CEG. But if a person chooses to use Steam for DRM-free titles, then they aren't at a disadvantage compared to GoG.

Edited February 25, 2015 by Delicieuxz

[Cryptomancer]

If I'm a KS backer with a digital copy, do I get to choose where I activate it? GoG or Steam? I assume yes, and that this is the basis of this poll, but I just wanted confirmation.

[Ink Blot]

If I'm a KS backer with a digital copy, do I get to choose where I activate it? GoG or Steam? I assume yes, and that this is the basis of this poll, but I just wanted confirmation.

Yes. When the game is released (possibly shortly before?) you'll go to your Rewards page in the backer portal and generate a key for Steam or GOG, whichever you want to go with (you won't be able to generate both).

[Abel]

In the cases of both Steam and GoG, the user purchases a license for the game, not an installer, and not an account. GoG also has a Terms of Use agreement, which reserves GoG the same rights to terminate an account, and to change their Terms of Use without warning and at their discretion.

 

It's the same as it always was in gaming: a purchase is for a license to access and use the software. Steam's subscriber EULA is not related to the game licenses bought on Steam, they are separate matters. The EULAs for purchased games are written and provided by a game's publisher, and one doesn't relate to which service the software is purchased through.

 

Steam's DRM-free capability isn't advertised as Steam's motto, and so people sometimes gravitate towards thinking Steam is the model which GoG's DRM-free rule is in opposite of. Also, Steam pioneered digital distribution, coming from a time when DRM measures were getting more antagonizing, and Steam was naturally interpreted a different form of DRM. Because of the evolution of things, GoG is presumed to be novel by some people in offering games DRM-free (and it is novel to be DRM-free as a rule, and maybe was novel in general when GoG appeared), but wherever both services have the same game for sale without DRM, then it is just par with Steam.

 

Steam is a 3rd-party license reseller, and Steam is a toolset, which includes the option to apply a copy protection measure, Steam's CEG. But if a person chooses to use Steam for DRM-free titles, then they aren't at a disadvantage compared to GoG.

 

 

I won't discuss about the DRM free stuff on Steam, because i'm not aware of it. All i know is that while i never had any problem with GOG, i had some which 2 of the 4 games i have on Steam. Plus, what's with your "Steam is better because it offers the choice to a publisher to put DRM if he want"? Hey, we're not publishers, but customers. The question of the poll is about whether people will take a GOG or a Steam version of PoE. Ok, so, there are more choices of other games on Steam, because, whoever is not afraid to be fooled can take the risk on Steam. But it is a whole different topic.

 

There is another thing i don't understand. Why all people, including developpers, say that there will be a Steam version, and then a DRM free GOG version when Steam could afford the 2 of them? (Is it me who did not understand something? Possible) You claim that the archive we download on GOG uses the GOG installer. True. Well, dunno how to install a game without any installer. Is your point that GOG rebuilt the whole game in its own installer and force you tu use it? Well, it is just on the game archive and you don't have to run a third part software to do so, like Steam. It's true that GOG sells (or offers as a permanent gift) many old games for Win XP >>> Win 8 that were rebuilt to run well on these OS when they couldn't beforehand (try MAX with GOG version and without it and you will understand that the last Windows it supported was Win98), when "Steam don't care"? But, hey, other games are another topic, like i said.

 

To me, Steam is messy. It's a whole ****ing pain in the ass to use, filled with TONS of advertisement EVERYWHERE, which i hate. Last time Steam even made my game crash because of advertisement pop-ups. Even with the offline mode, you have to run Steam (and i try to avoid running useless soft while playing because of the 3Gb limit of WinXP). Dunno about this DRM free legend Valve seems to have promoted according to you. I didn't know, and well, i don't care either, nor they do about their customers.

 

Some more details. First, for me, GOG games are cheaper (Wasteland 2 was a good example, more than 15% off compared to the Steam price, few days after the game was shipped by Inxile). 2nd. If i buy a game which was designed to run on windows 7 and if the game won't run anymore in the whatever-version-of-Windows-of-2020, there is a good chance that GOG rework the game to run with the new windows version, throughout their installer. If you already purchased it, it's a free service. If you can't run the game, there is a true customer support and if there is no solution, GOG will compensate it (once more, if you purchase a game that don't run at all on Steam, they won't do anything and will compensate nothing: "Steam don't care"?). Already seen that. For me, GOG version is the only way to play PoE safely even in 2025. Another good reason, for me, to just ignore the "cool because over-adverstised with some fancy features and no support at all Steam" and go with GOG.

 

Say you are not bothered to have a Steam version which may not run at all, or be definitely out-to-date some years away, because the Steam fancy features are convenient. True, they may be. Not that Steam is a GOG-like robb... retailer.

 

For people who want to take Screenshots in game and see their FPS without Steam, just use FRAPS, like Sensuki do in his videos.

 

For people who claim that Steam saved the game world because they helped games to find their market... LOL! Hum, sorry. Just pay some attention to the way the games are listed on Steam. First is the most AAA/popular, or very recent games. Last, on page 1867186764564, the indie ones. Very great games like "Legends of Eisenwald", brought on Steam to have some visibility are just fully ignored by Steam (well, after all it had only 83000 dollars on KS, not enough bankable hu?), and even very hard to find for people who already know about it because of the messy UI (for me at least). All is done, as far as the UI to highlight AAA games which are over-presented. No, Steam wants to have a large catalog and sell well. They "don't care" about saving the gaming world or helping little companies to be known.

 

If there is something i did not understand and discussed in the bad way, let me know. I hate Steam, but not to the point that i can't recognize my own limits, or when i'm obviously wrong. Thx

[Lephys]

Just pay some attention to the way the games are listed on Steam. First is the most AAA/popular, or very recent games. Last, on page 1867186764564, the indie ones. Very great games like "Legends of Eisenwald", brought on Steam to have some visibility are just fully ignored by Steam (well, after all it had only 83000 dollars on KS, not enough bankable hu?), and even very hard to find for people who already know about it because of the messy UI (for me at least).

Unless you like... select "Indie" in the genre to browse. Or sort by pretty much anything other than "new/popular." In fact, there's now a Discovery Queue, which has shown me all kinds of games I had never even heard of before.

 

That, and a lot of the little games tend to get put on ridiculous sales when they come out, to get the word spread.

 

I understand people preferring GOG, or just not liking Steam for various reasons. But, it's not exactly pure evil. I'm not going to try to convince anyone to like Steam, but at least hate it accurately.

[Silent Winter]

In the cases of both Steam and GoG, the user purchases a license for the game, not an installer, and not an account. GoG also has a Terms of Use agreement, which reserves GoG the same rights to terminate an account, and to change their Terms of Use without warning and at their discretion.

...

Sure - but that's the developers'/store's POV,

from my POV, I'm buying a game to play - the installer is the 1s and 0s of that product.

The EULA is something most people don't read and is largely unenforceable in many jurisdictions.

If gog decided to terminate my account for whatever silly reason (like they go out of business), I've stil got the product I bought.

 

My question was about how easy it is to archive the installed games from steam - if there's nothing to stop you zipping up the installed game folders and backing those up for use on a future machine, then it's 'DRM-lite' if anything and not such a big deal.

[Viperswhip]

I love CDP and GoG, but I don't want to check for patches and so on, and the steam workshop is pretty easy for certain games (like Rome Total War 2) and so...

 

Well, if the Nexus has a POE section, then maybe GoG, but likely Steam.

[Delicieuxz]

 

 

I won't discuss about the DRM free stuff on Steam, because i'm not aware of it.

 

 

Wasteland 2 is DRM-free on Steam. Here are some incomplete lists of others:

 

http://steam.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_DRM-free_games

http://www.gog.com/forum/general/list_of_drmfree_games_on_steam/page1

 

 

 

 

Plus, what's with your "Steam is better because it offers the choice to a publisher to put DRM if he want"?

I don't mean to be putting forth a sentiment like that, and it isn't something I've determined within myself.

 

 

 

 

There is another thing i don't understand. Why all people, including developpers, say that there will be a Steam version, and then a DRM free GOG version when Steam could afford the 2 of them?

A lot of developers simply are unaware.

 

 

 

 

To me, Steam is messy. It's a whole ****ing pain in the ass to use, filled with TONS of advertisement EVERYWHERE, which i hate.

 

Steam is highly configurable, and all advertisments can be turned off. Here is an image of my clean-looking Steam setup (and GoG shortcut links on my desktop), with the Steam app settings opened where you can see the bottom checkbox labelled "Notify me about...". Uncheck that, and you won't get any poop-up advertising upon exiting a game, or upon starting up the Steam app. What advertising is shown is also configurable, so a person can tailor it to genres they're interested in. GoG places advertising too, during the installing of games.

 

To get this basic Steam appearance like I have, just click View -> Small Mode, from the Steam app top bar menu.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For people who claim that Steam saved the game world because they helped games to find their market... LOL!

 

Well, the pioneering of digital distribution for PC games, bypassing and reducing the influence of publishers, and giving developers better revenue, and making it easier to market, update, and release their games, and also to communicate with the people playing them... pretty much did save PC gaming. Everyone was jumping to console gaming, screwing PC gamers, releasing terrible ports for generic games, and the devs themselves were the ones stating everywhere that being a PC-first developer, or a developer of traditional PC gaming genres, was no longer viable.

 

 

 

No, Steam wants to have a large catalog and sell well. They "don't care" about saving the gaming world or helping little companies to be known.

Valve hasn't stopped improving their Steam platform, and it is an impressive and convenient feature set as it is now. I think that Valve and Gabe Newell are not in a position of needing to worry about money, or to chase it as most important. Valve turned down EA's Steam acquisition proposal for $1 Billion, with Gabe saying they would rather disintegrate than sell out. Gabe probably has billions, yet for hobbies does some metal and mechanic working. Valve has operated Steam in contrast to the way which big publishers always did, and in a way that big publishers like EA have complained about, because it raises the status and clout of the customer and reduces that of the publisher.

 

 

 

 

If there is something i did not understand and discussed in the bad way, let me know. I hate Steam, but not to the point that i can't recognize my own limits, or when i'm obviously wrong. Thx

No problem. People should feel satisfied with their decision wherever they choose to rest their game collection. Even without using Steam, a person can still make use of some Steam features, like live-streaming of any game - just visit the community hub for a game, and click on Broadcasts, and a viewer will see a list of people currently playing and streaming that particular game. It's great to find out if a game will be enjoyed before purchasing it.

 

[Bryy]

Steam.

 

The whole "but it is DRM freeeeeeeeeeeeeee" crap does nothing for me.

 

Most of the games on GoG are too old to have DRM anyway.

[Luckmann]

Steam.

 

The whole "but it is DRM freeeeeeeeeeeeeee" crap does nothing for me.

 

Most of the games on GoG are too old to have DRM anyway.

 

Well that's a bold-faced lie if there ever was one. That, or ignorance.

[Lychnidos]

 

Steam.

 

The whole "but it is DRM freeeeeeeeeeeeeee" crap does nothing for me.

 

Most of the games on GoG are too old to have DRM anyway.

 

Well that's a bold-faced lie if there ever was one. That, or ignorance.

 

 

Do you have data showing that over 50% of the games on GOG were released after the rise of the DRM?

[Flow]

 

 

Steam.

 

The whole "but it is DRM freeeeeeeeeeeeeee" crap does nothing for me.

 

Most of the games on GoG are too old to have DRM anyway.

 

Well that's a bold-faced lie if there ever was one. That, or ignorance.

 

 

Do you have data showing that over 50% of the games on GOG were released after the rise of the DRM?

 

 

When exactly did DRM "rise", and how do you define it? Copy protection has been around since the 70s. Then there's the various forms of non-software protections... code wheels, picking out words from manual pages, etc.

[cresentdark]

I don't know I don't see it take much if anything out of my gaming I have owned many games and several copies of different games with or without DRM and saw no difference. So unless it effects my gameplay who really cares it's not hurting you in anyway.

Edited February 27, 2015 by cresentdark