• sugar_in_your_tea
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    11 months ago

    Yup, but you know you’re getting DRM-free with GOG, and there’s value to that.

    But many games still use Steam DRM even if they remove their other DRM, meaning you need the Steam client to be running for the game to run. And it’s relatively common for games available on GOG to have Steam DRM on Steam.

    That said, it’s not really something I worry about. Steam provides enough value to me personally that I’m okay with not every game being completely DRM-free. But if all things were otherwise equal, I’d opt for GOG.

      • sugar_in_your_tea
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        11 months ago

        Okay, but:

        • that can change at any time if Valve bothers to patch it
        • it’s technically piracy
        • it takes effort the average person isn’t going to do

        DRM-free avoids that, hence why GOG has value.

        • 520@kbin.social
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          11 months ago

          that can change at any time if Valve bothers to patch it

          Sure. And DRM free can become DRM laden with a patch too

          it’s technically piracy

          No it’s not. It doesn’t even legally count as copyright infringement. You are legally allowed to crack your own legit copy of software. The only thing possibly in the way is the EULA of the software (almost all of them have a possibly-illegal no reverse engineering clause)

          it takes effort the average person isn’t going to do

          The average person isn’t going to be backing up their games in the first place.

          • sugar_in_your_tea
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            11 months ago

            DRM free can become DRM laden with a patch

            Only if you download the update for that game.

            The patch to the Steam DLL could impact every game, and it still requires the user to patch the binary. Steam updating the binary to patch out the fix has a much bigger impact than a game adding DRM later.

            You are legally allowed to crack your own copy

            I’m pretty sure you’re not, though there’s potential for some gray area. Here’s 17 U.S. Code § 1201, (a) (1) (A):

            No person shall circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title.

            And yes, the average person does “back up” their games by having a copy of the installer in a Downloads directory or maybe a separate drive. They’re probably not going to use a NAS or cloud service, but that’s probably still more likely than applying a patch to a binary.