this post was submitted on 14 Mar 2024
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What value do they give you exactly?
The games are mostly priced the same, they don't have integrated modding support, no input remapping, no remote play, no in-home streaming, no steamcmd for server operators, no VR client, no Linux client and no Steam Deck support.
The only thing they do give you is no DRM, but nothing stops a developer from adding a DRM-free game on Steam.
Steam is DRM. Note the warnings all mention third-party drm. Eventually your login to steam expires and you can't play your games, and steam can revoke games and your access to them at any point for any reason.
Steam is good, but let's not imply it's providing a DRM free experience.
Steam is only DRM if Steamworks is required for the game to launch, e.g. I can copy my Baldur's Gate 3 files to a different PC and launch them without Steam.
It's up to the developer how they behave if Steam is not present.
See also https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/The_big_list_of_DRM-free_games_on_Steam
I didn't know that. It's good to know. Thanks.
I think what they mean is that when you buy the game on Steam, you can't just download the game files through their website. You need to install their client. Which can be seen as a form of DRM.
No, I meant what I said, I was wrong and have been corrected.
I really like steam for its friends network and local streaming, but these are the reasons I occasionally buy on gog:
Games that my wife likes to play so that they don't tie up my steam account. I still find it weird that ALL games in steam get locked down when one is running. I understand it keeping the same game from being run more than once simultaneously, but more than that is unnecessary.
I also buy games on gog (when available) that I mod a lot, because it's really easy to stop updates on gog (updates often break mods).
She can play your steam games in offline mode without affecting your online activity. As long as the game developer/publisher allows offline use.
Obviously doesn’t solve all your problems but figured I’d mention it if it gives you more flexibility.
I do know about that, but I want it to be as easy as clicking on a game to play it without worrying about toggling the mode. I know I could make a separate account for her too, but we share machines and again that becomes a barrier when wanting to just click a game to play it.
In this niche case, gog is just plain better.
You also can share games with family mode with steam. So even online my SO and I can play games from either of our accounts.
That is a cool feature, and I do use it though in a different way. I made an alt account that I buy vr games on so that I can share them with friends. That way if a friend is playing one of my vr games through family share, it won't lock up all the games in my main account.
In the example you're talking about, say your SO is playing a game shared from your account - it locks up all the games in both accounts! Pretty annoying if you want to play a game, now.
But if it's a gog game, there's no issue at all.
No DRM is definitely better :)
all of the things you have listed are things we as individuals can and have implemented without steam, theyre pretty good like adding code to wine and pushing linux to the larger audience and i myself have been on steam for 11 years with 320 games, but integrated modding? i mean we had mod managers before steams implementation.
game streaming we have moonlite and shunshine > for amd hosts, and theres more.
input remapping can be done through standalone applications i use sc-controller for remapping my steam controller.
id say steams vr client is more of a negative than a positive, leads to segmentation and issues with device support when we should of focused on a wide approach to vr. like what google did with android, funded a free and open eco-system>(less so now)
steam sells accessibility and DRM, personally i see this as a bad thing. force people to become dependent. and while gog isnt natively on linux there are work around like downloading from gog.com or installing heroic games launcher.
So we can agree that GOG does not objectively give you more value for your money as OP implied.
Value is personal, I for one want a game, I dont want a bloated web browser that only connects through steam, which is what the steam client is. All the thing I need steam to do I can do and I can do it in a more agnostic way and less bloated. I use wayland therefore steam does not run without xwayland support enabled and even when enabled I can't stream my desktop over steam remote.
If you do however want a streaming, mod manager, vr, forum, store front, download manager, DRM and much more in one bloated application then yes the value proposition is there.
I highly value diy solutions in software, you on the other hand may not. And this is fine. GOG offers more to me than to you as steam offers less for me than for you.
That is your opinion. Steam is growing and it satisfies millions people. Just not your style does not mean it is bad.
yes and analogous to value also never said steam is bad