Why didn`t you say you had plans to release your game on GOG??

Fine, devs, don`t reply to a compliment. Perhaps you`re not as altruistic as I thought you were. I`ll keep myself wary of you then.

I would rather have them working on the next patch/DLC than perusing the forum for compliments.

You are right.  Stardock forced you to hate Steam so much you have to buy a GOG copy.  It is all their fault.  That does make sense.  I suggest arresting them for coercion.  Perhaps a class-action lawsuit.  Maybe both. 

So what's the deal with GOG? I'm using Steam and while it's not perfect, I don't - yet anyway - see any reason to give it the heave-ho.

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Steam is "evil" for various reasons, primarily the "I can't play my game without Steam" complaint.

I'm quite adverse to the requirement myself, needing third party, internet connected bullshit to play single player is somewhat irritating.  Assuming all things remain the same, all games on GOG will have no such restriction, and can be installed from setup files without having their platform to start with.  It's hardly the end of the world to be stuck with a Steam copy though.

What's gog

GoG.com is another site to buy games on, where many if not all of them are DRM free.  I myself will be picking up GalCiv3 from there at some point.

It might not have been something they planned to do until fairly recently.  A big part of GalCiv3 on Steam was so it could use the workshop and through that allow people to share ships, races, etc more easily.

I am no fan of Steam. hate Steam for various reasons i won`t go into here. In fact I tend not to buy any game on Steam or wait until it`s in the bargain bin before purchasing it. In fact 95% of my games are all off GOG. GOG does things RIGHT and ethically fairly.

I made an exception for GC3 since I loved GC2 and thought it would never appear on GOG.

 

Now I`m going to have to buy the game again!

Thanks anyway for releasing the game on GOG, you have restored my faith as  honourable Devs.

Why so serious.

I really dont understand the Steam hate. It just seems irrational to me. I use both Steam and GoG and I dont get why Steam is considered evil for requiring you to login to download a game online and GoG is not considered evil for the exact same thing. 

Example:  I buy GalCiv on Steam and download the game. This requires me to log into my steam account and be online to do so.  I can play it anytime without internet connection after downloading.

               I buy GalCiv on GoG and download the game. This requires me to log into my GoG account and be online to do so. I can play it anytime without internet connection after downloading.

As you can see there is no difference between getting the game on Steam or getting it on GoG.

I lived in the far north for over 6 months and played every steam game I had installed including Steamworks games like CIV5 or Skyrim without any internet connection. Many games on steam you can run directly from the games folder without running it through the steam app at all. I really think it comes down to misinformation when people say they hate steam. So many people think you require always online connection which it just flat out untrue.

It's not how you get it, it's how you keep it.

I buy a game off GOG, I get an installer I can archive and use without an internet connection.  I buy a game off Steam, I have to use Steam to install it.  Steam is access control, pure and simple.  GoG is not, it's no different than using a CD to install, you have it, therefore you can.  Even the least intrusive games on Steam still have that key fail point, and the ones that use Steamworks can't even be played without it.

To answer your question: We were under NDA.

That's interesting, I thought the updates were easier to manage via Steam when they were coming through faster, and that was the reason.  And also the steam data was something you wanted, especially early for the AI...

Hahaha GOG is somehow better than Steam?

I can tell you that GOG is just as "evil". They won't allow perfectly good games that are a bit smaller because they're "too niche". Since when are 4X games "too niche"?  

I get so tired of the ol' "Steam is teh evilllllll" posts. All businesses are "evil" at some level. They're all out for themselves. Some of them are just a bit more transparent about their real motives. 

To GOG or Steam?

N/M, I don't care, I get to be a customer again! 

The least intrusive games on Steam actually allow you to just run the game from the folder, so they dont have that key fail point. You activate once just like GOG and copy that game onto any computer without ever using steam again. I own quite a few games like this. Even some Valve games are DRM free like Halflife 2/ HL2 episodes and portal. All can be installed once and played without steam ever again.

You can also transfer steamworks games to another computer. I have done it myself to save on download time. People talk about steam as a control system but it actually allows much more freedom with your games than an old CD where if you lost the CD-KEY you were screwed or limited activations. On steam you can share games with 10 other people, and play from any computer anywhere. I remember the days of Starforce and SecurRom, those were access control. Starforce used to kill cd-drive hardware. I lost a drive to it when I bought the first version of X2: The threat by Egosoft.

All you need to do with steamworks games is login once to activate the game on the computer. Then play offline all you want. That means if you upgrade your computer every 5 years you would only have to login once every 5 years. That takes 30 secs. 

The amount of vitriol I see against steam over a simple login requirement once in a blue moon just blows my mind. That is not even in the same galaxy as EVIL.

Copying your install directory and manually editing the registry to make your install function properly depending on the game, isn't something any ol' computer illiterate moron can do themselves.  I can't tell you how many times someone has been unable to do so simple a task as to set up a Sins mod, it's beyond a great many people.

Your hyperbole on the view of detractors is no less absurd than people equating such a requirement with evil.  It hasn't even been done yet, the only uses of the word in this thread have themselves been statements making light of the detractors.  Few people will actually consider Valve to be an evil company, and such individuals are probably a few cards short in a more general way.

There's nothing wrong with people being upset that they're supposed to be okay with spending thousands of dollars on products that all rely on a single software developer's word that they wont some day be locked out of them.  Some people have spent a hell of a lot of money on Steam integrated games, that can't function without it, and they are entirely dependent on hackers to break the system, should Valve shut them down without ameliorating the issue themselves.  Valve can do so legally, for a variety of reasons, the hackers cannot fix the problem in the same legal fashion in many places.  For the USA in particular, you are technically a criminal for circumventing DRM schemes, even if doing so is necessary for you to utilize your legally owned product.  The wonders of poorly written laws paid for by corrupt lobbying efforts.

No need to edit the registry, just download steam on any computer and copy the old steamapps folder you already have on a usb stick or whatever. Not much on a computer that is more simple than copying a folder. A lot of people that dislike steam are just misinformed in how it works and all the features that actually benefit the consumers freedom to use their software.  A lot of people think it is harder to do things than it actually is, just as in your example of requiring a registry edit.

Many games on steam dont even require it to be installed after downloading if you really dont want to use it. Crusader kings 2, Europa Universalis 4 and pretty much any other Paradox game, FTL, Kerbal Space Program, Wasteland 2, and even a few UBISOFT titles, Farcry 2, and Assassins Creed: Directors cut for some reason.  I own all those games have personally tested it. Plus many more that you can find other people have tested. Its actually something that I wish Valve would mark on their store page which games are DRM free the same as they do with games that use a 3rd party DRM.  Those DRM free games work the same as any game bought off GoG. 

Steamworks is also the lightest of DRM to be basically not be one. As I said, a single login once every X years you upgrade your computer if you really dont want to be online is pretty minor access control. I would also put Steam in the TOO BIG TO FAIL market right now. 125+ million users are mighty valuable. Steam would be sold to Microsoft, SONY or Google before it would ever shutdown. 

I just buy the game where the best deal is. Both CDProject RED and Valve actually have very similar values and ideas when it comes to DRM. They both came about because of the Starforces and SecurROMs of the past. They are both companies that prefer to give the consumer more rather than take away.