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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Steam DRM is easily bypassed. Look up hacked steam DLLs
Okay, but:
DRM-free avoids that, hence why GOG has value.
Sure. And DRM free can become DRM laden with a patch too
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)
The average person isn’t going to be backing up their games in the first place.
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.
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):
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.