• SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Thatā€™s only if you download the game and store it in a way that wonā€™t degrade, when their servers are offline, you canā€™t download it anymoreā€¦

    This is such a red herring reason, and I donā€™t know why people hold onto this like it matters, at all.

    • Undearius@lemmy.ca
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      2 days ago

      Thatā€™s true for pretty much every product you buy.

      The difference is that Ikea isnā€™t going to take your shelf when they feel like it or if they run out of money. Neither is GOG. Thatā€™s why it matters.

      • SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        I didnā€™t know IKEA made video games?

        And why does that matter? When they go out of business you canā€™t download even if you do or donā€™t have a license.

        Thatā€™s why it matters.

        Because you now have a game that you donā€™t need a license that you still wonā€™t be able to access or play? So how does that make a single fucking difference lmfao.

        • Midnight Wolf@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          Itā€™s like youā€™ve never heard of archival or how to keep data safe, protected, or backed up.

          Also intentionally missing the valid point when compared to physical items just shoots yourself in the foot for any further arguments.

        • Undearius@lemmy.ca
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          2 days ago

          I didnā€™t know IKEA made video games?

          They donā€™t, they make furniture. You clearly donā€™t understand metaphors.

          When they go out of business you canā€™t download even if you do or donā€™t have a license.

          If Ikea goes out of business, you canā€™t buy their products anymore and the ones you do have you need to protect and make sure they donā€™t degrade. Your argument is true for every single product, digital or physical.

          The games from GOG donā€™t have any DRM so you can very easily make copies of the game and safely store them elsewhere, even on new computers.

          Games that do have DRM lock you down to verify that youā€™re allowed to play their game, which severely limits how you can use your own product. If that game publisher or developer goes out if business than you canā€™t play the game that you already have, even if itā€™s kept ā€œpristineā€.

          People who bought The Sims 4 couldnā€™t play their offline game because the DRM stopped them, meanwhile people didnā€™t buy the game were free to play it when they wanted. The legitimate buyers of the game were punished simply because of DRM.

    • Ogmios@sh.itjust.works
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      2 days ago

      when their servers are offline, you canā€™t download it anymoreā€¦

      I have no idea what else you would be expecting?

      • SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Thatā€™s my pointā€¦ it literally doesnā€™t matter that they can revoke you license or not, when the servers are down, youā€™re fucked regardless.

        Hence why itā€™s a pointless argument to bring upā€¦

        What else do you think I meant here?

        • Alk@sh.itjust.works
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          2 days ago

          But you donā€™t need to download it again. Keep good backup practices and itā€™s eternal. If you lose it, thatā€™s the same as losing a physical object you bought at a store. Or if you donā€™t maintain your backup like you would clean and maintain a physical object you bought, itā€™s your fault you lose it. I can buy a game from GOG right now and keep it and use it until the day I die, then my grandchildren can use it after that.

        • Ogmios@sh.itjust.works
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          2 days ago

          You obviously donā€™t even know how it works.

          when the servers are down, youā€™re fucked regardless.

          As long as you keep the files you donā€™t have to access their servers to play it again. Thatā€™s exactly the same as even physical media. Itā€™s not like a company will send you a new DVD for free if you throw out the one you bought.

    • stardust@lemmy.ca
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      2 days ago

      Ummmā€¦ Thatā€™s the case for disc games too of only being able to retain possession once itā€™s shipped to you and you properly store it. Or any tangible good for that matter. I donā€™t what point you are trying to make.

      • SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Thatā€™s literally the point, itā€™s a useless argument since it doesnā€™t fucking matter lmfao.

        • stardust@lemmy.ca
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          2 days ago

          That GOG downloaded installers canā€™t be forcibly deactivated or taken away? Your phrasing is confusing so I donā€™t think people are able to tell whether you think GOG installers are a good or bad thing, or acting like it is useless and provides no further benefit than DRM alternatives.

          • SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.world
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            2 days ago

            How can the installers access a file that no longer exists since the servers are shut down and the files can no longer be accessedā€¦?

            My phrasing is confusing since the point literally is fucking pointless, itā€™s moot, doesnā€™t matter since it canā€™t be accessed licensed or not.

            • Trainguyrom@reddthat.com
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              2 days ago

              The offline installers literally are the files to install the game.

              Itā€™s as close as we can get in this day to having the disc and installing from disc long after the publisher was bought out and absorbed so many times nobody truly knows exactly who owns the rights to the game anymore. As long as your disc (in this case, offline installer) was stored safely and is still readable you can install it on a compatible computer (and thatā€™s often the harder part is finding a compatible computer!)

            • stardust@lemmy.ca
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              2 days ago

              You are just ignoring that the installers can be downloaded and saved. Or even just the game directory can continue to work.

              For people who value that it is a difference. Even how the game works is different with how some donā€™t work offline or lose ability to function offline once verification expires compared to non DRM counterparts.

              You are an idiot acting as if DRM and DRM free is the same as though some license terms is the only determining factor.

              • SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.world
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                2 days ago

                You are just ignoring that the installers can be downloaded and saved. Or even just the game directory can continue to work.

                Dude, no I am not, my very first comment in this chain talked about the needing to download and store it in a non-degrading wayā€¦. Fucking hell dude lmfao.

                What point are you trying to make here then if I already covered this at the very start?

    • ObsidianNebula@sh.itjust.works
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      1 day ago

      Iā€™ve read through your various comments, and Iā€™m not sure you see the difference here.

      With other platforms such as Steam, you download the Steam program that acts as a single installer for every game on the platform. You have to be logged into a valid Steam account to download a game from their single installer. If you use a new computer, you have to log into Steam and download from Steam. On GoG, you download an installer per game. Those installers can be transferred to any device and download the games even if the computer has never logged into GoG or even connected to the internet. You can store all the installers on an external drive, which you canā€™t do for Steam.

      If Steam eventually dies or your account is banned, you can never install those games again. If GoG eventually dies or your account is banned, you are correct that you canā€™t download new installers, but you can use any installer you have already downloaded.

      If Steam dies or your account is banned, the game you already have downloaded may not even work anymore due to DRM (this is on a game-by-game basis). If GoG dies or your account is banned, your games are guaranteed to still run since they are not dependant on GoG DRM (with a small list of exceptions people arenā€™t happy about).

      You may not care about any of this, but thereā€™s a decent chunk of people who want to keep their games regardless of anything the purchasing company does.