"Please note that our version of Dawn of War offers a multiplayer experience tailored specifically for our GOG GALAXY client. It requires an online connection and is not compatible with other versions of the game."

The original DoW didn't have drm; why gog why?!?

They mean multi-player modes require an online connection, so no LAN, not the base game itself, if that's what you were concerned about. The way it's worded does make it seem like the game itself needs an online connection.

They love pushing their client and the mythology that "DRM-free" means merely a barebones single player game that can boot up and get past the loading screens, and every other mode or piece of content is a non-essential bonus (I'm exaggerating a bit). It's my belief that GOG/CDPR took down the former "FCKDRM" campaign out of sheer embarrassment at the fact the site had a compare/contrast between DRM-free and DRMed content, and the "optional" client basically checked every single box of the "DRMed" side.

Because the game is written in a way that multiplayer won't work without ever since it was brought to Steam.

I still have the original DOW and I am sure the CDs can still be found on the web.

Multiplayer has never, ever counted under GOG's DRM free guarantee. For whatever reason DoW2 put their skirmish mode into the multiplayer part of the game.

DRM = Digital Rights Managment.

Dependendencies =/= DRM

Dependencies controlled by a third party, with accounts and game ownership checks = DRM.

You are not going to get a straight answer on this as everyone has a different definition on what DRM is. Many threads on the subject have devolved in to users attacking each other over the definition rather than the principle of wanting DRM free.

For some people the very action of going online is seen as DRM.

*Jedi hand wave*
There is no DRM, move along!

Is 'Skirmish Mode' something where you needed to connect with other players?

If so, then that is a form of Multiplayer, and GOG have never to my knowledge promised that the MP aspect of a game is guaranteed to be DRM-Free.

I hate any DRM as much as the next person, but we need to be realistic about what GOG is. And really even just having the single player aspect of a game DRM-Free is such a wonderful benefit in this default DRM world.

Steam is a DRM store, and even they don't provide 'Skirmish Mode', so I struggle to see where that feature is DRM related. In reality it is just a provisional choice by the game provider. I don't agree with that provision, but I fail to see it as DRM, when it is not even available if you get the DRM version of the game from Steam etc.

Some have compared DOW2 to Hitman GOTY, but that game had genuine single player aspects hidden behind DRM, and so shouldn't have been at GOG in that state.

There are many games here at GOG, where the MP aspect is DRM. How is DOW2 any different to those? It's not like it doesn't have a great SP aspect.

It seems to me, that DOW2 has a lot of SP content DRM-Free ... which meets the guarantee brief from GOG.

It is disappointing that DOW 2 doesn't have LAN mode, but so many games are like that these days.

I am sure GOG do what they can, but much is beyond their control in the gaming industry. So place the blame where it really lies.

No.

In this case it's against bots, but the game is created in a way that it runs as subcategory of the MP mode. It sometimes is a mixed mode, but apparently in DOW2 bot games only are possible. It is a remnant of how these games used to be structured in the past befire authentification became a thing.

Maybe it's a matter of terminology? For me, "skirmish" is not inherently tied to "multiplayer". Instead, it contrasts with "campaign game". A skirmish game is a short battle on a fair (mostly symmetric) playing field.
Yes, the implementation of this playing mode is often (but not always) tied to multiplayer. I.e. the question is only whether humans or AI-bots take the player slots.

In the case of DoW2, the main problem is the removal of LAN play, which it once had! With it came the technical capability to "host" your own skirmish games, regardless of whether other human players joined or not.

There are other games sold on GOG, such as Supreme Commander, which still allow for LAN play (and thus offline bot matches). I fear the day when GOG proudly announces the Galaxification of those last survivors...

But... isn't a skirmish between you and bots a single player experience? Why would it be considered multiplayer? Where are these other players? The bots?

Heck, if the bots must be considered "players" then so does every CPU controlled enemy, every goblin in HoMM, every NPC in Baldur's Gate. There probably are no single player games in GOG at all, and possibly no more than a few in the whole world.

And if by that definition none of those games in Gog are single player then all of them can fall under DRM. So, sorry but I can't really consider Skirmish Mode is anything but SP.

The problem is, this wasn't Gog's doing and it is out of their hands. And Sega won't want to rework the game menu to fix this miscategorization. So I guess we're stuck with the game the way it is unless it is removed like Hitman, but I don't think it reached the level of "Screw you players" IOI did with Hitman.

Like i already said senran kagura shinovi versus needs to create a lobby area where you can play with other players or you can play against bots only. It's multiplayer area that needs gog galaxy to work.
I guess it's kinda similar to dow2 which i don't own. Now if they can somehow make it work without multiplayer these skirmish then we would be golden. It's a weird design choice that they made skirmish like that. Also i have not used galaxy yet.