You wouldn't believe how many folks did the same thing.. I purchased Orange Box in 2007 as soon as it was released*, only for HL2 and Portal** but I haven't installed it until 2013***. Then in 2013, a health problem had me staying at home for about one year so i finally gave in and ordered Skyrim. Since i made a Steam account, i installed HL2 too and then i bought another 6 games that i wanted to play. Then i stopped buying since i was fed up with the whole client thing**** and the DVD boxes without even a manual inside. Thankfully, i bought them for 6-7 euros each.

Almost 3 years later, i don't regret that i signed for Steam, since i played some great games (Dishonored, Skyrim, Human Revolution) but i would definitely regret it if i had bought many more games and realised at some point that i can't even make a proper backup and always depend on Steam and internet connection to install & play them in the future.

* i wanted to buy HL2 as soon as it was released since i was a big fan of HL, but my PC wouldn't handle it so i passed
** didn't care for the rest of the package
*** all these years i boycotted Steam even though i thought about giving in when Skyrim was released
**** although i haven't got any problems with it as it always stayed in offline mode and never used it for anything else such as to add friends, use the Steam forum or anything else


TL,DR; No offline installation, mandatory client, "cheap" retail versions = no support!

Being a person that buys , Indie, Humble, and Royal bundles at times. I find I need Steam to activate some or most of the games so boycotting would not work for me. However I really dislike the fact that I have to have Steam for those games. I also dislike Steams' one person strategy.There are 6 people in my household my Wife, 4 kids, and myself. I do not think I should have to purchase multiple of copies of a game so that we may enjoy it together. So if there is something we want to play together then I always look for an alternate path of purchase first. Console, or hopefully GOG.

Steam only DRM would make me consider buying it (Maybe). But no way would I get anything with Uplay or Origin.

Did you play Ground Zeroes?
Which you can with a DRM-free game.

And yet you have no more right to do so than you do with a pirated copy. Being able to and having ownership aren't the same thing.

According to whom?

Not legally, unfortunately. You're still bound by the license.

Honest question: Does anyone really care about the distinction between having "ownership" and having a license? Regardless of one technically only having a license to use the game, the simple fact of the matter is that you have an installer, and you're easily, conveniently able to do whatever you want, without having to resort to less savory sources.

Personally, I couldn't care less about the quantum of ownership I'm technically buying -- I only care about the end product I have.

Four months ago, my telephone company pulled the plug on me in the internet department, for a reason as lame as changing the infrastructure of the phone boxes. Apparently, they're terribly SLOW it hurts to have them as the only telephone provider in my region.

Then I tasted it. The DRM in Steam, Origin, and Uplay games. Usually I'm an Origin supporter. No more! For four months, my games would be sitting on my hard drives, ready to be played... only if they had internet to begin with, which I couldn't bring that. And then I truly woke up. I was calling out Steam for its overall terrible implementation, but now I call out all for being on the practice of DRM. And guess which games still worked. Obviously the few games I got from GOG.com <3, Desura and DRM-free Humble Bundle games, all still work like a charm, without anything beyond the existence of the mere files making up the games.

Before the four months, I hated Steam, I could describe how I hate it. But after these four months, I just can't describe my hate for it anymore. Its too great for words. I'm disgusted some companies only decide to release a game on Steam when they release on PC. Hell, I'd prefer an Android version of an app over a Steam-only PC version of the same game. And of course, the pirated copy is always better than a Steam-only game.

That's where GOG.com, Desura and the likes shine into play. They're supposed to be the leaders, not the wrongdoings of humanity such as Valve. I hate Steam games. I'm not gonna get me a Steam game anymore. I'm done. Get rid of the DRM and we'll talk. Excuses like 'offline mode' doesn't work with me, you actually have to get rid of the DRM.

That's all.

You're right. I was wrong when I said that :)
It's just that I see a lot of folks so compulsive out there... maybe it's one of today's gaming trends, who knows.
Feels really good when you actually start to play the backlog and accomplish something; sorry for stereotyping!
Cheers :)

Well said. That's why I use Steam.
With games costing pennies, it became easy to collect them, so people do. So I guess it's a trend.

Does Origin and UPlay games require constant internet to play? They don't seem to do that in my region. But do they anywhere else?

A licence IS ownership, or at least it should be. The problem is publishers tacked on other clauses to remove certain aspects of ownership, mostly resale or transfer of ownership.

With big commercial software these clauses have now been considered illegal (see oracle vs usersoft). Unfortunately computer games, thanks to a valve law suit, may not be software.

Also with services like steam and gog you get a licence for the game and a subscription to access to files (and with steam the drm unlock). So while you shoupd be able transfer your license, there are no such laws for subscription. With gog that means the new owner can't get to the installer, with steam they can install nor open the their licensed product.

I don't actively boycott Steam games, but it certainly reduces my likelihood of buying a game drastically. If a game is DRM-free on PC on disc, then I'll buy that first and foremost. If the PC retail version has Steam, I'll go for the PS4 or Xbox One retail version. If there is no boxed console version, then I'll go for the DRM-free GOG or Humble version when it's cheap.

But if the only option is Steam, then I tend to wait until it's a couple of bucks or bundled. And given that even most indie games are being released boxed on console nowadays, it's making my PC a little superfluous except for old games.

Actually, the thing that industry apologists frequently forget is that you "own" that licence. That licence may take the form of a digital acquisition or be manifested as a physical product, but at the end of the day, you legally own that licence, and the licensor is not at liberty to deprive you of it.

So this industry drip-fed argument that the sycophants constantly parrot about how you "only license games, you never own them" is moot.

That doesn't change the fact that legally you don't necessarily have the right to transfer the license you 'own'. A license comes with terms about it's transferrability. You're a licensee of the copyrighted product, not an owner.

example: (US, 2010)